Knb Secret Santa 2014

Secret Santa for the fans of the manga/anime Kuroko no Basket! Check the about page if you want to participate!

[knbss2014-blog]

Hey, guys!

I've posted every gift that was submitted to me, if you sent your gift to me and I didn't post it, please send it again! Also, if you haven't received a gift send me an ask, please!

Thank you for participating and I hope you liked the secret santa as much as I did!!

[knbss2014-blog]

From: @lumpylips

To: @schwalbini

Merry Christmas! I included all your favourite characters and nigou in the drawing, I hope you like it! The actual drawing has a softer shading but I couldn’t retain the feeling after all the processing to get it on the computer. I had a lot of fun doing this piece. The five of them would make an interesting team wouldn’t they? 

[knbss2014-blog]

From : Negla (@Takaokazunyari) To : Aqua (@queenesdeath)

This was my first time drawing ReoAka and it has been a delight to draw them :’D Merry Christmas (and a happy new year!) Aqua!  

[knbss2014-blog]

From: theseshittyhomos

This is for Cacie (@crimson-hue). I saw you liked Kuroko and since he is one of my most favorites I thought I would draw a pic of him. Hope you like it.

[knbss2014-blog]

24 hours at Shuutoku General Hospital

To: hakurenshi

From: lalaithwen

Pairings: KiyoshiHyuuga, OgiKuro, TakaMido, KiseKasa, MiyajiHayama

Note: Hello there! This is your Secret Santa Lala speaking! ^-^ I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and hope you like the story I wrote for you! I really wanted to give all your favorite ships and characters some screentime, they pretty much had a mind of their own, so, see what happened! Enjoy! :)

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December 24th

8:00 am

Right on time Takao Kazunari stood at the entrance to the nurses office of Shuutoku General Hospital to report in on his 24 hour Christmas shift. Usually cheerful and bright, the male nurse stood in front of the head nurse, who was giving him instructions for the coming day and night, his face pulling down in a frown.

Takao loved his job. Really. He loved taking care of people, talking to them, helping them. But not today. Not when he had to work for 24 hours on Christmas Eve. It wasn’t like someone was waiting for him at home, all sad and lonely that their beloved couldn’t spend this night with them. Still desperately single, Takao only had a stubborn and a massive crush on one green haired doctor.

He sighed, deeply and head nurse Tanaka looked at him, her eyes compassionate and soft.

"It’s going to be a tough night, Takao-san," she said, handing him a small pile of patient files, "but you know how understaffed we are at the moment and…"

Again he sighed deeply, cutting her off in the process.

"I know, Tanaka-san," he whined, clutching the files to his chest, "and it’s not like I have someone waiting for me or that this is the first 24h shift I’m working, but…"

Tanaka laughed, loud and bright and it made Takao’s lips pull up into an amused smirk. She looked at him, giggling.

"Don’t worry, Takao-san. I know you prefer to be at home watching cheesy Christmas movies on your sofa with some take-out, but," she looked at him, eyes shining with mischief, "I hope you are aware that Dr. Midorima volunteered on working the 24 hours at the emergency ward. His note came in just yesterday."

For a moment Takao looked at her, slightly dumbfounded, then he grinned.

"Oh," he snickered, "I see."

They exchanged knowing looks and Takao turned on his heel. He had a patient to prep for a surgery.

9:16 am

Takao Kazunari and Miyaji Kiyoshi were the only male nurses at Shuutoku General, both working at the Emergency Department. While Takao was a lighthearted flirt, easily talking to people, rarely in a bad mood and positive in most situations, Miyaji was your down-to-earth part time grump. It’s not like he was always in a bad mood, no. Miyaji just tried to avoid throwing his good mood around and preferred showing his affection and well-meaning in a more rough demeanor.

And today was definitely not a good day. Not at all. Not when he had to be at this hospital for the next 24 hours, not when they already had 6 emergencies incoming in the past hour. And not when Takao was in this stinking good mood.

"Takao," Miyaji said through gritted teeth, "I swear to everything that’s holy to me… If you don’t stop whistling this stupid song I’m going to shove a pineapple up your butt."

Takao’s breath left him in one swift flow, interrupting his impeccable rendition of Carol of the Bells, and he snorted through his nose.

"I never would’ve taken you to be one of the kinky types, Miyaji-san," he said and wiggled his eyebrows. Miyaji only shot him one of his infamous death glares and proceeded to push the big bed to the operation room.

10:36 am

"Takao-san."

With a jolt in his stomach, Takao turned around at the sound of the calm and even voice of Dr. Midorima, standing behind him, a thick folder in his taped fingers.

"Yes?" Takao smiled at him, bright and broad and Dr. Midorima actually flinched a little, almost making a step back by this display of sunshine in front of him.

"I…" he said, voice almost getting caught in his throat while steel gray eyes seemed to look right into his very soul. He cleared his throat. "I need you to lower the dose of Suzuki-san’s medication. She’s doing good and I think we can proceed as planned."

"Ah, sure." With a swift motion Takao took the folder out of the doctor’s hand. "I will get to it right away." With a wink Takao makes way for the door.

Midorima feels his ears going slightly warm.

It really wasn’t a secret that Takao thought Dr. Midorima was… interesting. And as soon as nurse Tanaka delivered Takao the news of the green haired doctor working the shift with him, the male nurse made a decision. It was Christmas. It was 24 hours in the emergency ward. And Takao was tired of dropping subtle hints. Tonight, he would seize the opportunity at full throttle.

12:45 pm

It could have all been so perfect.

He had planned their second anniversary in meticulous detail and still, still everything went wrong and instead of enjoying the day at the local ice skating rink, Ogiwara Shigehiro sat next to an emergency room cot where his boyfriend of two years, Kuroko Tetsuya, was lying with a pained expression on his usually so somber and calm face.

And it had started really good. The weather was perfect, a clear blue sky shining over snow covered streets, the air crisp and clear. They had met at the ice skating rink at noon to start their day, got two pairs of ice skates and… started skating.

They underestimated how crowded it would be.

They also underestimated the number of children running loose.

And Ogiwara had underestimated Kuroko’s ability to actually ice skate, which was basically non-existent

So, roughly fifteen minutes and a hoard of wild boys later, Kuroko lay on his back, face pale and contorted in pain, the lower half of his right leg in the weirdest angle Ogiwara had ever seen.

And now they were here, at Shuutoku General, the emergency room, to be exact.

"Tetsuya…" Ogiwara mumbled, taking his boyfriend’s cool hand in his way too warm ones. "I’m so sorry." He felt his voice shake in his throat, soft blue eyes slowly wandering over his cowering form. Carefully, he removed his hands from the other boy’s firm grip, but only to settle it on the soft brown strands of his hair.

"It’s not your fault, Ogiwara-kun," he then said, voice low and just slightly tense, "I know you spent a lot of time planning this day for the two of us and I’m really glad. Even though my leg hurts a little now."

A pained noise escaped Ogiwara’s throat and he felt the urge to just burst into tears.

"But… it’s Christmas and our anniversary," he said, laying down his head on the cot, "and I can really think of better ways than to spend it a the hospital with you being in pain."

Again he felt Kuroko’s hand gently caressing his head.

"Don’t worry, Ogiwara-kun. Accidents happen and next year, we will be more careful."

With a start, Ogiwara lifted his head, looking at the other boy with wide eyes.

"Tetsuya, I-" he started, but was interrupted by the sound of the curtains around them being pushed aside, a male nurse stepping next to the cot.

"Okay, Kuroko-kun! The doctor is now ready to see you!"

2:10 pm

Hayama Kotarou has never been one of the careful people. He was spontaneous, daring and a little hazard to himself and others. But, deep down inside, he had a good soul and a pure heart. For this reason, of course he did not say no, when his neighbor Mizuki-san, a woman in her early nineties, asked him, if he’d help her find her cat, Tamago-chan.

And only fifteen minutes later, Hayama found himself walking through fresh snow, being almost blinded by the sunlight reflecting off the white surface.

He found the cat, not half an hour later. The round and white ball of fur cowered in the snow, dripping wet, desperately meowing.

He got the cat.

Too late he realized he was standing on the not too thick ice of the frozen pond just behind the apartment complex.

"Oh shit."

It all happened in a heartbeat. Hayama heard the ice crack, he threw the cat in the direction he thought was the shore and then he felt himself fall, being engulfed by ice cold darkness, water soaking his heavy clothing, making him sink like a stone, unable to move, unable to save himself from his icy grave.

But he was lucky.

Mizuki-san saw him break into the ice from a distance and called for help, two young men were just passing by, hearing her call.

They got him out, called an ambulance.

Hayama didn’t remember much, only being pulled out of his dark and icy grave by two sets of arms, sunlight hitting his eyes, the blaring of sirens. And then everything went dark again.

3:06 pm

On one side, Miyaji was glad that Dr. Midorima put him in charge of the Hypothermia patient Hayama-san. It’d mean he was basically off duty concerning anything the emergency room had to deal with, as his main objective right now was to bring the young man’s body to a normal temperature again.

On the other side though, Miyaji wanted the busy emergency room back as soon as Hayama-san opened his mouth for the first time.

"Hayama-san," he said as soon as the man with strawberry blond hair opened his eyes, "Hayama-san, can you hear me?"

"Ugh, yeah?" His voice was hoarse and shaky, but he spoke, he was conscious and he would recover from what Dr. Midorima had said. "Where am I?"

"You’re at Shuutoku General Hospital," Miyaji explained, while the other man looked at him, a slightly confused look in his eyes, "you fell into a lake and are now at the Emergency Ward with mild hypothermia."

"Am I dead?" the patient asked, looking at Miyaji with wide and shining eyes. The male nurse started to feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Uh, no, you’re not dead. In fact you’re doing quite well," Miyaji then said, checking the temperature setting of the heating blanket that was put on Hayama. The blonde still looked at him, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape.

"Are you sure?" he then asked, his face taking on a cheeky expression. "Because I could’ve sworn you’re an angel and I ascended into heaven."

Miyaji looked at the man’s smug expression and blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Then he did something highly unprofessional; he just left the room.

4:36 pm

Kasamatsu Yukio was a man, who wouldn’t describe himself as blessed by fate in anything. Okay, he was kind of good looking and pretty smart, but that was it. Really. His opinion of himself didn’t let any room for more.

So, it wasn’t that surprising, when, on Christmas Eve, carrying two bags full of groceries, he got hit by a car.

It wasn’t too bad though. The driver wasn’t going too fast and yeah, it hurt like hell when he collided with the hood, groceries flying all over the place, but he didn’t see his life flash before his eyes.

Then he just lay there on the snow covered road, staring into the sky and contemplating, if the pain in his right arm was real or not. A small crowd had gathered around him, people looking at him with worried faces, someone asking if he was okay. He heard the car door opening, hasty steps on the half frozen ground, then a pair of expensive looking shoes and jeans coming into his sight.

"Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I really didn’t see you there, are you okay?"

Kasamatsu blinked at the man hovering above him, golden eyes looking down at him, filled with worry, his incredibly beautiful face guilty.

"I’m fine," he said in a monotone voice, "my arm hurts, but I guess it’s fine." He sat up, slowly, his head only slightly spinning.

"Do you need me to call an ambulance? I’m calling an ambulance!" The pretty man pulled out a phone from his parka, but Kasamatsu bid him to stop.

"No, really, I’m fine."

"Then let me at least take you to the Emergency Room, you need to get checked through for internal injuries!"

Kasamatsu started to lose his patience. “No. Seriously. I’m fine.”

As if to prove his point, he got up, standing on wobbly legs. At once the blonde was at his side, clasping his shoulders.

Man was that guy tall, Kasamatsu thought. And he smelled real nice. Like vanilla and oranges.

He violently shook his head. Maybe he really got a concussion…

"I’m driving you, please," the blond man pleaded, looking at Kasamatsu teary eyed. He sighed.

"Fine," he grumbled, "but then you leave!"

"Awesome," the other man chimed as if he didn’t hear the second half of his sentence, "I’m Kise Ryouta, by the way. In case you want to sue my, haha."

6:48 pm

"Oh my god, hurry up you fucknuts!"

Hyuuga Junpei was clutching the steering wheel of his Toyota a little tighter as the woman, Aida Riko, started screaming just a little louder than before. Next to him his husband Kiyoshi Teppei slightly chuckled, putting a calming hand on the other man’s thigh.

"If she could just be a tiny bit less vocal, that would help a lot," Hyuuga grumbled through gritted teeth, Kiyoshi just chuckled, again.

"Don’t say that, Junpei. She’s having a baby, she’s in pain, let her scream and shout as much as she wants to."

The other man just huffed, glaring at the icy road in front of him. “Yeah, but I don’t want to get insulted every 10 seconds, you know?”

At that, Riko slapped his head from the backseat.

"I heard that, asswipe," she yelled, clutching her belly, "and may I remind you that this is your fucking baby making its way out of my fucking vagina, not mine. Ohhhh, the two of you owe me big time, I swear to fucking god, you goddamn idiots! Surrogate mother of the baby of goddamn idiots, I can’t fucking believe it!”

Kiyoshi even had the audacity to laugh at that and was earning a death glare from two sets of eyes.

"What are you laughing at, idiot?"

Hands raised defensively, he grinned. “I’m just really glad, you know? In a few hours Junpei and I will hold our daughter for the very first time!”

At that, Hyuuga only continued to glare at the road. Still, he couldn’t deny the warm feeling spreading in his stomach at these words.

7:35 pm

Takao was more than done with this day. At one point, he just sat at one of the plastic chairs in the break room, completely by himself, a steaming cup of coffee in front of him, his head lying on the desk.

He knew this shift would be tough. Really tough. But he never imagined it to be a living hell. For the past 12 hours he wasn’t able to get only ten minutes of rest, he hadn’t eaten anything, let alone sleep for an hour or so. Miyaji has been miffed the whole afternoon because of the adventurous flirtation attempts of the hypothermia patient, which Takao found beyond hilarious, seriously, kudos to that guy, there was a crying model sitting in the waiting area because of the broken arm the guy had that he’d hit with a car. Half an hour ago a couple came in with a screaming woman, ready to burst, baby almost there, both men desperate and helpless.

And he hadn’t gotten any chance to talk with his favorite green haired doctor.

What a shitty day.

He didn’t hear how the door to the break room opened, or he tried to ignore it, silent footsteps coming closer, moving in his general direction.

"Takao-san."

The sound of an even and calm voice, the feeling of slender fingers on his shoulders and the sudden presence of another person behind him made Takao jump a little, almost knocking over his coffee. He slowly turned around and his heart seemed to stop for a moment.

"Ah, Dr. Midorima," he said, plastering a smile onto his face, "I didn’t notice you coming into the room."

The doctor shifted his glasses with his taped hand. “Of course you haven’t. You are completely overworked and tired and pose a hazard to yourself and the patients.”

Takao silently laughed at that, because, yes, he was right. Exhaustion had taken a hold of his body hours ago and he was ready to collapse.

"You should lie down for a few hours," Dr. Midorima continued, "the situation at the Emergency Room has quieted down a little, it should be fine."

"No, I’m fine, really, just give me a few minutes and two more cups of coffee and-"

"I am afraid this is not a suggestion, Takao-san."

With wide eyes Takao looked at the other man, steel grey locking with forest green. And Dr. Midorima didn’t look like he was going to budge, arms crossed in front of his chest, a stern look on his face. Takao felt like his heart was skipping out of his mouth any second, because, yes, this was real, this was Dr. Midorima standing in front of him, being worried about his well being.

He gave him a small smile, standing up, the chair screeching on the floor. “Okay then.”

"I will accompany you to the dormitory."

And so he did. Takao followed close behind the tall man along the short corridor to the nurse and doctor dormitory, a big room filled with bunk beds. At the moment no one was occupying any beds and the room was almost completely dark, except for a small Christmas tree made of plastic and decorated with colorful fairy lights, bathing the room in soft colors.

Dr. Midorima closed the door behind them. At the sound, Takao turned around, looking at the other man, confused.

"I… you can leave now," he said, a playful smile on his lips, "or do you want to tuck me in, too?"

In this moment, a flicker ran across Dr. Midorima’s expression, Takao could see this even in the darkness of the room. Something heavy, wanting, something that made his insides tingle and his heart beat a little faster. Takao’s eyes widened in surprise when the other man closed the distance between them, extending his hands, grabbing the back of his head, long fingers running through soft black strands of hair.

When their lips met, it was almost as if a bolt of electricity was shooting through Takao’s body, filling him with the most beautiful sensations.

A sigh escaped his lips and Takao slung his arms around the taller man’s back, hands gripping the navy blue scrubs tight.

8:45 pm

They had been at the hospital all day long and finally Kuroko was lying comfortably in one of the hospital beds, leg in a cast and propped up on a pillow. He was thoroughly exhausted.

Ogiwara sat on a chair right next to him, his face in his hands, breathing steadily. He too was tired to the bone.

"Ogiwara-kun," Kuroko said, voice soft, a hand reaching out and running through the light brown strands, "you don’t have to stay here, you know? You can go home and sleep in your own bed." The other boy raised his head, took the pale hand resting on his head in both of his, pressing a kiss onto the wrist.

"No, it’s okay, I want to stay with you." A small smile danced across his lips and Kuroko felt the familiar butterflies dancing in his stomach.

"You really don’t have to," he says, this time more insistently, but Ogiwara just chuckled.

"But I really want to stay, I mean," scooting a little closer to the bed, not letting go of Kuroko’s hand, "it still is our anniversary and Christmas, we’re finally alone so… Leaving now is pretty much out of the question.”

Kuroko nodded, a small blush creeping over his cheeks and he put his hand on Ogiwara’s.

"Okay," he said, "then I will not say any more."

And with that he sat up a little more straight, then leaned down to plant a soft and chaste kiss on the other boys lips.

"Merry Christmas, Shigehiro." Kuroko’s voice was nothing more than a whisper, but Ogiwara had heard him nonetheless, his eyes lighting up at the sound of his name.

"Yeah, Merry Christmas, Tetsuya."

9:14 pm

Miyaji hadn’t have the heart to tell the brown haired boy that it was way past visiting time. It was Christmas and the two high school boys were so terribly in love, he felt the slight urge to throw up glitter.

So, when he found them in the hospital bed, lights dimmed down and making out, not noticing a thing going on around them, he backed out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Screw hospital policies.

Now he only had to check on the hypothermia patient one last time, then he was ready to get some shut eye. The situation at the emergency room had quieted down considerably, so it was fine if he left the other four nurses in charge alone for a while. He hadn’t seen Takao in a while, so he figured if the other man was asleep, it was fine for him, too.

He stood in front of Hayama-san’s room, a little hesitant. The guy slowly got on his nerves, all talking and energy and oh my god, the flirting… But what annoyed him most of all was that he actually found the patient attractive.

What the hell was wrong with him?

With an exasperated breath Miyaji ran his hands through his caramel hair, trying to calm down his conflicting feelings.

This was stupid. So stupid.

What a stupid day.

"Hayama-san, how are you feeling?" Miyaji stepped in, trying to look as casual as possible. The man lying in the only hospital bed in the room looked up from the magazine he was reading.

"Now that you’re here, really good!" Shooting him a broad grin, Hayama tossed the magazine in the general direction of his feet. Miyaji was overcome with the wish to roll his eyes, still, he refrained from it.

"Good," he said, ignoring the previous remark, "if your temperature is okay, you’ll be released tomorrow morning." Jotting down a few notes into Hayama’s patient file, Miyaji half turned, ready to leave.

"If there is nothing else you need, I wish you a good night."

He tried to make his way to the door, but as soon as he had turned around completely, he felt a cool hand on his wrist, holding him in place. Slowly he turned back, half looking over his shoulder and into the serious face of his patient.

"Miyaji-san, please," the man said, suddenly looking a little desperate, "I… I know we started off completely wrong but," Hayama looked away, biting his lower lip, "please. I’d really like to get to know you better and… yeah, I think you’re super attractive but…"

Miyaji sighed so hard he felt his lungs would implode any second, interrupting Hayama in his nervous ramblings.

"My shift ends at 8 am. You’ll be released at around 9," he said, not looking at the other man who was observing him with wide eyes, "there is a small coffee shop at the other side of the road. I’ll wait for you there."

Without looking back, Miyaji left the room, a smile on his lips when he closed the door behind him, hearing the “Yahooooo!” coming out from the room, where Hayama fell back into the cushions, arms raised in triumph.

10:16 pm

Peace and quiet, that was what Kasamatsu had craved the whole day and that’s what he finally had. Since the man that had run him over, Kise Ryouta, was actually a pretty famous model, he payed for a single room which his own health care didn’t cover.

Well, he didn’t mind, having a room to himself without an annoying neighbor was really all he could ask for, so, when the last nurse left him at around seven, he was so tired he instantly fell asleep.

But now, now he opened his eyes, reading the time at the clock hanging on the opposite wall. He still felt pretty tired, but a little better than before, even though there was a dull pain left where his arm was now resting in a cast.

Looking down his arm lying on the sheets, Kasamatsu noticed a shock of blond hair messily framing the calm face of a sleeping Kise Ryouta. He felt the need to shake the model awake and throw him out of his room but, it seems painkillers had this very strange side effects of turning one into a wimp, Kasamatsu decided not to wake the peacefully sleeping man drooling onto his own hand.

Right now he couldn’t care less.

And really, that Kise guy wasn’t all too bad. He dealt with all the bureaucracy related stuff while Kasamatsu himself was being examined, organized a room without other people in it and was genuinely… nice.

Okay.

This time he’d let it slide.

Besides, he was way too tired to deal with anything but sleep now.

11:45 pm

"I can’t believe she did it without killing anyone," Kiyoshi said, standing in front of the big window to the infant station.

"Yeah, I was surprised myself," Hyuuga said, almost laughing "we should really do something for her, I… I mean…" He randomly gestured without saying anything, then his hands just fell uselessly to his sides. Kiyoshi just smiled.

"Ah, I know what you mean," he said, then he put an arm around his husbands shoulder and looked back into the small bed of plastic and metal where their daughter now lay peacefully asleep.

"She’s beautiful, little Hanako, isn’t she?"

Kiyoshi smiled down at his husband, squeezing his shoulder. The other man just took of his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"Y-yeah." He said, voice all choked up. Astounded, Kiyoshi looked down on the black shock of hair resting against his shoulder.

"Junpei, are you-"

"I’m not crying, idiot!" Still, tears were mercilessly dripping down his cheeks while Hyuuga watched little Hanako sleep peacefully in her little bed. "I’m not crying…"

With a chuckle, Kiyoshi squeezed his husbands shoulder and placed a soft kiss onto his head.

"Ah, I see," he said, voice soft while Hyuuga’s body was shaken by sobs and slowly but steadily he felt his own sight getting blurry until he felt the soft droplets running down his cheeks.

"I see."

December 25th, 8:00 am

Huffing out a breath Takao stepped out into the cold morning air, thick white snowflakes getting caught in his hair and on his muffler.

"Uhh, it’s snowing again," he said, turning around where Midorima was opening a black umbrella, "look, Shin-chan!" The doctor pulled his lips in a thin line and looked at the other man, displeased.

"Do not call me Shin-chan, Takao."

But Takao didn’t listen, he just grinned, took the other man’s bandaged hand hand led him into the general direction of his car.

Miyaji was following close behind, not noticed by the two of them. Suppressing a big yawn, he adjusted his muffler and made his way across the street, looking forward to a nice cup of hot chocolate, maybe two. He’d definitely planned on making Hayama pay for at least two more beverages.

Somewhere behind him, a baby was crying.

[knbss2014-blog]

From: Rebeca

To: Nami (@firebyfire)

Hey Nami! Hope you had a wonderful christmas! 

[knbss2014-blog]

Mornings (Aomine Drabble)

From: @mitobitch

To: @aoitoakai

Hiii-

I’m quite horrible writing ships so I hope you’ll enjoy a little fluffy Aomine drabble! Anyways, happy holidays and I hope you have a great New Year~ ^.^

The sun’s morning rays made their way, streaming through the blinds as an early reminder that the day had begun. Despite being somewhat awake for some time now, you never found the wanting urge to crack open your eyes until now. The sun had been too much of a bother to even try to continue your slumber. You shut your eyes as soon as you opened them due to the sun marking territory on your face. You wanted to groan at the unpleasant feeling, until you remembered that there was a sleeping figure behind you. Their arms draped across your body from behind and pulled you incredibly close to their chest, a simple sign of possession that made your heart flutter. You felt their steady breathing against your back, and oddly enough, it brought you comfort. Just as you reached up to close the blinds, the figure’s grasp on your waist tightened immediately and a small mumble erupted from their chest. You dropped your arm in defeat with a sigh escaping your lips.

“What are you sighing about, idiot?” A deep, groggy voice spoke up from behind you. They let out a loud, exaggerated yawn, stretching their free arm out in the air to rid all the kinks out of their awakened body. “You’re supposed to swoon in my arms when I hold you.” You couldn’t help but to snort and crack a smile. Your boyfriend’s stupid and cocky demeanor had an early start this morning.

“I might if you let me close the damn blinds,” You told him with an slightly irritated tone as you tried once more to close them, the sun getting on your last nerves. Aomine’s arms tug at your body once you finished blocking out the sunlight and you are instantly pulled into his chest once more. ”Now quit movin’,” Aomine grumbles lowly and lazily. You shiver unconsciously at the sonorous vibrations of his voice. You let Aomine nuzzle into your neck as he left small pecks around your favorite spots. ”Daiki..” You mutter quietly after some time. The atmosphere had a calm serenity, as if the day had stopped all together just to wait for the two of you. Basking in Aomine’s arms with the warm glow of the early morning, you had wished that you could stay like that for the longest of times. ”Hm?” He let out a noise of wonder. He had been nestling next to you, embracing the warmth it gave him. Aomine’s fingers danced across your waist to your stomach in light, gentle touches. You felt soft under his touch, comfortably soft.

“Let me see your face,” Your voice comes out low and almost inaudible. The sound had reached Aomine’s ears, but he refused to comply with your wish. Shaking his head, he snuggles against you, trying to get impossibly close to your relaxed figure. Aomine felt stupid like this. He wanted nothing more than to just hold you in his arms, listen to your slow, soft breathing, and cradle the snug, cozy feeling you gave him. He felt like he was some sickly little puppy in need of ease. It made him think that he was feeble in some way, sort of like he had a weakness. He was completely aware of it, still he refused to confess. You were his weakness.

Aomine didn’t want you to see him like that. Frankly, he didn’t want you to look at him in the morning at all because he knew that he’d look like some weak kid. He hated that about himself and he hated how vulnerable you made him feel. However, this feeling wasn’t supposed to make him feel or look weak at all. Aomine, being his prideful self, believed that vulnerability was a loss, almost as if he lost to a stronger opponent. If only he got it through his thick skull that the sentiment was the emotion of love and fondness. It was true; Aomine was completely and utterly fond of you. If only he admitted it to you, or to himself for that matter. Lifting his head up slowly, Aomine gazes down at your face. He absorbed your sleepy appearance- the way your eyes fluttered during your rest, the soft, warm glow painted on your cheeks, and all the wonderful little features that made you..you. He loved it all.

You feel his midnight blue orbs watching you, so you lean back to peek at Aomine’s face. Just as your eyes meet his, he quickly leans down to leave a swift peck on your lips. Before you could savor the feeling, Aomine pulls back and changes positions to allow you to lie on your back as he stays on his side, nestling close to your figure. His hand travels up to play with your hair and he attempts to avoid meeting your wandering eyes, as if it would be some sort of defeat if he locked eyes with you. ”Daiki?” You call for him, more of a question rather than a command. His eyes waver over yours warily, glancing between eyes before resting them back on your hair.

“What?” He asks you nonchalantly. Your eyes continue to study his features as your hand reaches to grab at his mass of indigo locks. You gently pull him down by his hair to kiss him once more. Aomine complies, mostly due to him being a sucker for kisses. Your hand trails down as you lightly brush your fingertips over his cheek and jaw line in a feathery motion. Aomine can’t help but to allow a smile etch onto his lips and into the kiss, loving every second of your touch.

Sure he was an arrogant asshole at times and he was definitely too stubborn to admit his feelings, but you of all people could definitely tell how Aomine really feels about you when he cherishes you during moments like this. Mornings had always given you a special and refreshing reminder that Aomine truly did care about you a great deal.

[knbss2014-blog]

Extraaaa-

From: @macaron-de-fraise

To: @luckynao

Merry Holidays Monmon!!!

Wahhhh- I’m so sorry that this got to you late!!! There’s so many little people running around the house I am about to kill them all-

Anyways, I actually haven’t drawn much knb or touched my copics in, like, forever (it hurt my heart)-so drawing this was great omg-

I hope you like it!!! Again, merry holidays!!!!

<3 Hatsumi

[knbss2014-blog]

To: Nari (@kisekinobaka) From: Momo

Message: Dear Nari ♥ Hello and merry Christmas (although I’m veryyy late; I don’t even know if this will be published since I’m so very late?? TT) – I hope you had a wonderful one! I’m not very used to writing your OTPs, but I chose to make you a short AoKuro fic nonetheless… I hope I didn’t make them too OOC ;; (If that’s the case, then I’m really sorry.) Anyway, this probably isn’t very good, but at least I tried… I hope that you’ll like it, even if it’s only a bit. :3

Title: An afternoon at the shopping mall Summary: They run into each other while shopping for Christmas gifts.

—-

“I’m going to leave you alone for an hour,” Satsuki explained in a serious tone. “So that you can go shopping for gifts on your own and maybe buy me something for Christmas, okay?”

Aomine let out a deep sigh as she smiled happily and tried not to let his utter boredom show on his face.

“Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled half-heartedly. “Do whatever you want.”

Today was a Saturday, which was a day of the week he usually spent sleeping, playing video games or reading mangas sprawled on his bed, and sleeping again; but today wasn’t just any Saturday. Today was, in fact, the last Saturday before Christmas – and truth be told, this was a real pain in the ass. Aomine didn’t give a damn about Christmas, honestly; but Satsuki did, and Satsuki had been nagging him for weeks about Christmas, saying that he had to go out and buy Christmas presents for everyone, and… He had given in, in the end. (Not that he was willing to, but he had no choice when his witch of a childhood friend was threatening to wake him up at 7 on Christmas morning.)

When she finally left, though, Aomine decided that he didn’t have to buy her a gift right now – since she dragged him to the shopping mall on a Saturday holiday, she didn’t even deserve one, anyway (although, like every year, he would probably end up getting her some bath bomb or powder from the closest store near his home on the 23rd). At the moment, his primary concern was finding a present to give his… Uh. Tetsu.

Aomine didn’t quite know how to describe him, actually, since he wasn’t his teammate anymore, now that they both came increasingly closer to ending their second year of high school; but he wasn’t just a… friend either. Hell, he didn’t even know if Tetsu considered him a friend after all that happened during their past years at Teikou – but more importantly, he had, you know, uh, feelings. Yeah, the kind of crap that made him blush like a schoolgirl whenever he thought about it. Exactly. And that was precisely why he tried not to think about it too often. In order to forget about these so-called feelings, thus, he quickly entered the first store he came across, pushing himself to focus on his main task at the moment: finding something, anything that would make a suitable gift for Tetsu. The one in was in love with, damn it.

As expected, this was extremely difficult. What did Tetsu like beside basketball? Was he even interested in anything other than basketball? It seemed to Aomine that his ex-teammate also liked reading, but he wasn’t too sure about it, and he didn’t know what kind of books could attract Tetsu anyway, so he gave up the idea of buying him another novel to put on his bookshelf. Getting him something to eat wasn’t an option either, as this guy probably never ate anything except those vanilla shakes he loved so much. And he didn’t even have the slightest interest in erotic magazines or DVDs!

Aomine grumbled. Well, that last part could mean that he might have a chance to, uh, win Tetsu’s heart. Still, he needed to buy him a decent gift before making any move – so in the end, he chose something simple and cheap and walked out of the store with the most recent issue of the Basketball Monthly magazine. It wasn’t the perfect gift, for sure, but it was something Tetsu would like; Daiki hoped so, at least.

As soon as he was back in a crowded shopping mall alley, he sighed and glanced at his watch. He still had half an hour left until Satsuki came back and he didn’t feel like spending these thirty minutes searching for a present to buy her. At all. (Once again, it didn’t mean that he wouldn’t give her anything for Christmas; it only meant that he didn’t intend to buy her anything right now.) As he felt his legs starting to become numb, he finally decided that while waiting for his childhood friend to come back, he could as well roam around the shopping mall for a bit – thus, he took the escalator to the second floor. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be seen in the crowded centre; here and there, mothers were shopping with their smallest children sitting in their carts, broke teenagers were window-shopping in front of luxury brand shops, and that was pretty it. Yeah, really, nothing in this overall mess that could attract Aomine’s atten-

“Aomine-kun.”

Well. Nothing – except, maybe, this voice that he knew all too well. Startled, Aomine instantly turned around, only to find himself facing Tetsu; and he was aware that his ex-teammate was here, in front of him, he’d known it from the very moment he had heard the sound of his voice, but seeing him here in the shopping mall still felt… Stressful.

“Uh, Tetsu,” he mumbled, trying not to let his embarrassment show. “What’re you doing here?” “Hello, Aomine-kun,” Seirin’s number 11 greeted him. “I came here to shop for Christmas gifts, but I am presently waiting for Kagami-kun to come back.”

Oh… Now that he mentioned it, Aomine had noticed that he was standing alone outside a store. So, waiting for that Bakagami bastard, then. There was no way Aomine could let Tetsu spend more time with Kagami than with him today.

“I’ll wait with you,” he stated. “It’s been a while since we’ve spent time together, by the way. Only the two of us, I mean.” “Actually, it has not, Aomine-kun. We saw each other two weeks ago.”

Eh? No way! Two weeks ago, he had- Met up with Tetsu to go shopping for new basketball shoes. Shit, Aomine had completely forgotten about that. But now he remembered – Bakagami wasn’t there for once, and he had been restless the whole time just because Tetsu kept slowly walking next to him like the little shit he was. (Don’t laugh at him, he couldn’t help it, okay?! It wasn’t even his fault that he didn’t know how to act around Tetsu anymore in the first place!)

“Uh, whatever,” Aomine muttered. “What is that bastard doing in there anyway?” “Buying me a Christmas gift, probably. Although I would rather you not tell him that I guessed.”

Wait, so that asshole also planned to give Tetsu something for Christmas? It couldn’t be! Aomine was supposed to be the one to give him the best present, okay; well, maybe not the best one, but a present that Tetsu would like, a present that would give him an opportunity to ask Tetsu out too, maybe, Aomine himself wasn’t really sure about it, but… In any case, he couldn’t let Kagami surpass him. He had to be the first one to give Tetsu his Christmas gift – fortunately, he could and he would do it right now. He took a deep breath before giving him the plastic bag in which the cashier had placed the magazine he bought earlier.

“Speaking ‘bout Christmas gifts, here is yours,” he said. “It’s easier if I give it to you now.” “Thank you very much, Aomine-kun,” Tetsu answered. “This is extremely kind of you.”

Tetsu’s tone was as matter-of-fact as usual and literally no expression showed on his pale face, but if his words were true then he was glad. That was all Aomine had ever hoped for, honestly. Well, maybe not all, but-

“I have it already, actually,” the other boy then added, almost giving Aomine a heart attack, “but I appreciate that you bought something for me.” “Uh… You’re welcome.”

And that’s all he was able to say. Hell, what else could he have said, anyway?! Tetsu had it already, he’d just told him that, and Aomine couldn’t do anything about it, okay; but when he turned around to face Tetsu, he (finally) noticed the small, half-happy half-invisible smile that adorned his ex-teammate’s face, and… Well. There was at least one thing that Daiki could still do before Kagami.

“Oh, and, uh,” he thus stammered. “Go to the movies with me next week. Like, on the 28th or something… Please.” “I was supposed to celebrate New Year’s Eve with Kagami-kun and our team on the 28th.”

What? No way! That damn Bakagami bastard-

“But I guess that I will be sick on that date.”

Startled, Aomine blinked in surprise; when Kagami came out of the store and both Seirin players went away, though, he thought he’d heard Tetsu whisper him see you on the 28th, and everything was alright again.

[knbss2014-blog]

[fic] prime time! [hyuuga/riko]

From: michiko To: Kai Pairings: Hyuuga Junpei/Aida Riko Word Count: 2,668 Warnings: SFW, slight swearing, canon-compliant, spoilers for the end of the manga Message: Hi! I’m sorry for making you wait so long for your gift ;_; I hope you like it; I’ve never written JunRiko before but I had fun doing it, and since you mentioned your favorite team was Team Seirin I made sure to mention everyone at least once, even if they don’t all have speaking lines in the fic.  Happy New Year!! ( ´ ▽ ` )

It hasn’t even been one day since they won the Winter Cup, but everyone enthusiastically agrees when Koganei proposes they do the first shrine visit of the year together, as the number one basketball team in Japan.  Mitobe suggests (or at least, Koganei “translates” Mitobe’s suggestion) they visit Ana Hachimangu since the shrine is within walking distance from Seirin High and it’s not as likely to be quite as crowded as the more famous shrines in Shinjuku. 

After taking a vote, everyone decides that it would be better to stop by shortly after midnight so everyone could spend the rest of the New Year holiday with their families (or in Tsuchida’s case, girlfriend).  When Kawahara innocently asks Riko if Kagetora-san would let her go out that late, Junpei immediately cuts in with an offer to pick her up at her house and walk with her to the shrine.

At the time, Junpei didn’t think twice about volunteering himself; after all, he lived closest to the Aida household, and he’d pass it on his way to the shrine anyway.  And if getting the chance for a little alone time with Riko meant having to be on the receiving end of leers and smirks from all the second-years for the rest of the night, well, that was a small price that Junpei would just have to suck up and pay. He’s pretty sure that all of the second years in Seirin High except for Riko herself know about his big fat crush by now, so he just assumes everyone else in the team refrained from volunteering to be Riko’s escort because they took pity on him. 

When he’s greeted at the Aida residence by a shotgun barrel pointed at his face though, Junpei instantly realizes the real reason why no one else volunteered to pick Riko up had nothing to do with sympathy for his love problems and everything to do with Kagetora-san’s overprotective tendencies.

"Happy new year, shitty Four-Eyes," snarls Kagetora, peering at Junpei through the shotgun’s sight. "Where’s Ditzy Boy and Pretty Boy?"

"E-everyone else is meeting us at Ana Hachimangu, sir," Junpei stutters as he hastily raises his hands up in surrender.  Out of all of the basketball teammates, Kiyoshi and Izuki are the ones that live closest to Junpei and Riko, but it made more sense to just meet at the shrine gates since their houses were in the opposite direction. Plus, it would be easier for everyone to gather around Kiyoshi; as the tallest member of the team, he’d be easy for the others to quickly locate in the crowd, and they could always use Izuki’s Eagle Eye if someone got lost.

Kagetora narrows his eyes at Junpei. “This better not be a date.”

"I-it’s not a date," Junpei denies vehemently, despite the growing heat in his cheeks. "The entire team’s going to be there."

"It better not be a date,” Kagetora repeats in a low, dangerous tone as he slowly moves the tip of his finger closer to the trigger. “If my precious princess isn’t safe and sound back here by 1:30AM on the dot, you’re going to wish for death as a sweet release by the time I’m done with you—” starts Kagetora, only to be cut off by a yell and a swift flying kick to the head from said precious princess.

“Happy New Year, Hyuuga-kun,” Riko greets sweetly as she gets up and brushes herself off, “You can just ignore Papa. I already told him what we’re doing, and Mama said it was fine anyway.”

Kagetora’s clearly down for the count and Junpei doesn’t want to be around when he wakes up (he knows how much Riko’s jump kick hurts thanks to firsthand experience), so he nods in agreement and follows Riko out of the front gate of their house and towards Ana Hachimangu.

The shrine is only a fifteen-minute walk away from Riko’s house and they’re not late, but the late December air is cold enough to make the pair walk at a brisk pace.  Junpei had figured that they wouldn’t have much to talk about since they’d seen each other the day before yesterday, when they’d won the Winter Cup and everyone had collapsed against each other in the locker room in a heap of exhausted bliss, but Riko chatters on about all sorts of topics, from their families’ plans for the New Year (she wanted to make osechi-ryouri together with her mother, and Junpei was eternally grateful that he wouldn’t have to be their taste tester) to training menus for the new year (after all, it wouldn’t do to rest on their laurels). There are plenty of other people headed in the same direction, and the excitement thrumming through the crowd becomes infectious as they approach the shrine.

Once he can see the red torii at the entrance to Ana Hachimangu, Junpei slows down to take a closer look at the young woman walking by his side. Because they’ve known each other for so long, he’s seen her wear outfits other than Seirin’s school uniform plenty of times, but that doesn’t stop him from basking in the different, fresh feeling of seeing Riko in casual wear every time.  She’s wearing her usual light brown pea coat and what looks like a simple skirt and tights today though, and he isn’t sure whether he should feel relieved or disappointed. On one hand, Riko would definitely look good in a winter kimono (if her yukata during the summer festival were any indication); on the other hand, just like in the summer festival, he’d probably be too nervous to properly compliment her, especially since it was just the two of them right now, and everyone else would end up beating him to the punch.

Before he can get even more depressed at his inability to declare what everyone else can say so easily, he notices the scarf on Riko’s neck. Riko tended to wear neutral or pastel colors with her casual outfits, and her accessories were no exception. Junpei wasn’t a fashion expert, but the cream-colored scarf she generally wore on cold days coordinated just fine with all of her coats.

Riko’s current scarf, however, has alternating horizontal stripes in vibrant red, black, and white. It looks thick and warm around Riko’s neck, and the short frilly fringe at both ends gives the scarf a decidedly girly touch.

It’s so colorful and different from what Junpei’s used to seeing on Riko that he can’t help but blurt out, “What happened to your scarf?”

"Huh?" Riko stops walking and looks down at her chest.

"It’s different from the cream one you normally wear," Junpei remarks casually as he stops beside her before noticing his mistake. "N-not like I keep track of your outfits or anything! I just haven’t seen you wear that one yet, is all!"

Riko ignores Junpei’s stuttering and touches her scarf. “I knit this myself!” she boasts, beaming sunnily. “I wanted to have it done in time for the final game, but I was busier than I thought, so I finished it this morning.”

Junpei automatically lifts his hand up to touch Riko’s scarf as well, only to realize what he was about to do might be considered too intimate for Riko’s liking. He covers his mouth with his hand and coughs while glancing away in attempt to conceal his earlier actions.

Riko unwinds the scarf from her neck, unfazed, and holds it up for Junpei to inspect. “I knit twelve stripes, see?”

The scarf is longer than Junpei expected, and sure enough, he counts twelve horizontal stripes, four in each color.  ”One for each member of the team, including you, right?”

"Actually, the last stripe was for Nigou," says Riko. It’s her turn to look away now, her grin faltering slightly. "But I’m glad you think of me as part of the team," she adds after a short pause, so softly that Junpei almost misses hearing her statement.

"What are you even talking about?!" he yells loudly. A couple of other people nearby turn to stare at both of them, but Junpei’s too infuriated to care. The notion that Riko wasn’t a part of Team Seirin had never crossed Junpei’s mind, and if Riko ever thought for a second otherwise, he’d do whatever it takes to convince her she was wrong.  "We wouldn’t have made it all the way to number one without you!"

"Of course, I know that,” Riko huffs angrily.  ”It’s just… When I see everyone out on the court, giving their all, sometimes I feel a little frustrated that I can’t do more, you know?  I should have focused on this area when making the training menu, or I should have been able to foresee that particular play the opponent used, those kinds of thoughts.” 

There’s an unfamiliar note of hesitation in her tone, and while Junpei thinks bright summer yukatas and colorful knit scarves unexpectedly suit Riko, self-doubt certainly does not. ”Don’t be ridiculous, you do more than enough for us. Definitely more than Nigou does,” he points out.

"Nigou’s integral to the team! We wouldn’t have a cute mascot without him," Riko laughs mildly.

You’re not our mascot, but you’re way cuter than Nigou will ever be, Junpei thinks to himself as he sighs and pats her on the head.  Surprisingly, she doesn’t shake him off. “You’re missing the point. You’re not just one of the team, you’re the most important part of our team. And don’t ever forget that.”

Riko blinks at him twice, stunned, before smiling at Junpei again.  Her smile is different this time around—tender, subdued— but no less dazzling. “Thank you,” she murmurs shyly. 

The two of them stand there silently, Junpei’s hand resting lightly on Riko’s head and Riko quietly smiling at him.  After a moment, he realizes Riko’s still holding her scarf in her hands.

"Give it here," Junpei says, gesturing towards the scarf.  Riko looks at him curiously but doesn’t complain when he gently takes the scarf from her; the wool feels softer in his hands than he’d imagined. He swiftly wraps it around her neck before she can protest. "So you won’t get cold and sneeze on me again," he grubles, even though he’s pretty sure he’s blushing hard enough that his face will burst into fire and burn them both any second now.

“That was an accident!” Riko exclaims, pouting and crossing her arms.  “Which reminds me…”

Oh shit, Junpei thinks, I didn’t want her to remember that.

“Weren’t you about to say something about if we won the match and became champions?”

“I wasn’t going to say anything! You’re just imagining things!” They’re almost at the shrine, so Junpei starts to speed-walk toward the red gates. “M-more importantly, help me look for Kiyoshi and everyone.”

"What do you mean, ‘more importantly’?" demands Riko as she jogs after him. "You sounded like it was pretty important that time."

“I-it wasn’t that important,” Junpei stammers, glancing around wildly in a desperate attempt to not have to look at Riko. “W-well, i-it was kind of i-important, b-but it doesn’t matter, so you should just forget it…probably…” he trails off.

Riko grabs the cuff of Junpei’s sleeve. ”Just spit it out already. You’re kind of gross when you’re indecisive,” she says, pulling Junpei to a stop.

"What?" sputters Junpei as he turns around, but all angry retorts he plans to use die on his lips as soon as he sees Riko gazing up at him from under surprisingly long lashes, the tip of her nose slightly pink from what Junpei hopes is more than just the cold. 

Junpei can feel the flush rising up his neck and covering his entire face.  The pressure of four fouls in the fourth quarter of the final Winter Cup game feels like nothing compared to what he’s feeling right now—if he chooses the wrong words, makes one misstep, he might end up wrecking what they have now, as friends, as classmates, as captain and coach of the number one high school basketball team in Japan.

But as he gazes at Riko, he also remembers how she’d smacked him on the back during that same quarter to get rid of his nerves, how she’d looked at him with absolute faith that he’d pull through when their team needed it the most, and he marvels how the same girl can inspire both terror and tranquility in him without even trying.

Ah, fuck it, thinks Junpei, because if there’s anything he’s learned in the past couple of months, it’s to play with no regrets.  He clenches his fists, ignoring the sweat on his palms, and opens his mouth to finally declare what he really thinks of the amazing, frustrating, lovely woman standing in front of him.

"Captain?"

Junpei lets out an unintelligible shout of surprise and reflexively jerks his arm out of Riko’s grip as soon as he hears a familiar voice call out to him. 

“Kagami-kun!” Riko exclaims, “When did you get here?!”

"Oh, Coach, you’re here too," says Kagami as he stops in front of Junpei and Riko. "Us first-years came here together about ten minutes ago, but we lost Kuroko so Furi and the others told me to go look for him."

"I’m right here, Kagami-kun," says a familiar voice from behind Kagami.

Kagami twirls around to reveal none other than Seirin High’s phantom sixth man standing calmly behind him while holding a small paper cup with white curls of steam escaping from the top.

"Kuroko! How long have you been standing there?!" howls Kagami.

"I’ve been waiting here since shortly after Captain and Coach arrived," Kuroko states calmly. "Please learn to read the atmosphere, Kagami-kun."

"What?!" Kagami and Junpei simultaneously yell. Kuroko was probably just making fun of Kagami, but Junpei really hoped that Kuroko hadn’t seen what kind of expression he must have had on his face earlier.

“There’s no need for the both of you to shout,” Riko sighs exasperatedly. “Let’s just go find everyone else.”

“I received an email from Fukuda-kun a few moments ago,” Kuroko says, fishing in his jacket pocket with his free hand for his cell phone so he can show everyone the message. “He says Furihata-kun found the rest of the seniors and that they’re all waiting by the top of the stone stairs.”

“I guess that means Hyuuga-kun and I were the last to arrive,” Riko remarks, clicking her tongue.

“We should head up there now—no sense to keep them waiting,” suggests Kagami with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Kagami-kun’s just saying that because he wants amazake,” says Kuroko.

“What’s wrong with that?  Besides, you don’t have the right to judge – you’re drinking amazake right now, aren’t you?!” Kagami retorts, and the two first years start bickering over the cup in Kuroko’s hand as they walk up the steps.

Junpei laughs as he falls in line behind Kagami and Kuroko, relieved that he’s no longer the center of attention, when he feels a tug on his coat sleeve.  Riko doesn’t yank hard enough to stop Junpei in his tracks this time, but it’s enough to get him to look at her again.  She motions for him to move closer to her, and he leans in, hoping he’s not close enough for her to hear his heart banging wildly against his ribcage.

“If you don’t want to tell me now what you wanted to say before, that’s fine,” she says near his ear, her voice low and soft but strong enough not to be drowned out by the crowd.  “But when you do want to tell me, just make sure you don’t half-ass it next time, Captain.”

Junpei straightens his back and looks down at Riko, who’s smiling up at him with the same grin she wears while breaking his Sengoku figures or increasing the sets for the team’s training menu, and thinks that out of all the different outfits and accessories she might have, Riko looks best wearing a smile, after all.

[knbss2014-blog]

Kanji Practice

To: Robin (churpchirp) From: David (haibaleon) Message: I saw you liked Kagakuro so I wrote a little thing. I hope you like it.

There’s a small bit of cultural reference and a fair bit of very sparse Japanese in here (I don’t speak it, these are just words, if you find anything incorrect please put a comment and I’ll fix it!). But for those of you who are like me and have to do research for these things, I’ve interspersed some footnotes. It’s likely that you’ll understand at least a few of these footnotes. Feel free to skip the footnotes if you understand what something is!

A big thanks to corelton and makichan for beta-ing this. Heart eyes at both of you. <3_<3

Kagami flopped onto the floor and heaved an exasperated sigh. “Why do I need to learn kanji? I speak Japanese. I can read kana. Kanji is an old system for old people.”

Kuroko jabbed him in the side, and he flinched. He propped up on his elbows and scowled at Kuroko, whose expression did not change. “You need to pass your exams, Kagami. You can’t play basketball with me or the team if you don’t.”

Kuroko restacked the papers he’d collected for kanji practice, as if their orientation would make his boyfriend more willing to do the work. “Kagami. One more won’t kill you.”

———-

The whistle echoed off the walls of Seirin High School Gymnasium #1. All eighteen members of the basketball team gathered around their coach.

"Everyone here knows the Inter High qualifiers are around the corner. Four teams, three advance to the knockout stages. But as some of you remember —" she momentary fixed her gaze on Kagami, who met her stare sheepishly, "— we have exams upcoming soon. And if you don’t finish in the top two-thirds of the class, then you have to do a mandatory, extra study session at the school the following weekend.

"Now, you first-years might think ‘that’s not so bad!’" She whipped around to face them. "But that Saturday is the first match of the round robin. And if you think that Seirin can show its full power without the seven of you, you’d be wrong. So after you finish your cool-down, come bring your exam scores, and we can assign some of the upperclassmen to you to help with tutoring.

"Now go do your cool-down stretches! You need to make sure you stay fit and don’t hurt yourselves!" The players wandered off to various corners of the gymnasium, but before any of them could get too far: "Kagami! Kuroko!"

They stopped on a dime and turned to face her as she approached. “Kagami-kun.” She looked up. “Remember? We were keeping an eye on your grades?” Kagami gulped and nodded. “And you’re doing better than you were last year! You’re passing all your classes!” She beamed momentarily, then her eyebrows narrowed and she took on a dour expression. “…except for Japanese.”

Kagami shrunk a bit, and glanced away to avoid eye contact with Riko. “I… don’t know how to read or write kanji. I can read kana; for Japanese class I find English translations of the works we’re reading. Then I write my essays in kana and take a low grade for not writing in kanji.” He cracked a guilty smile and looked back at Riko.

She punched him in the stomach and he wheezed. “You know you need to get good grades. And you know we’ve offered to help you with your studying! Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

"I figured I’d get through it okay…" She punched him again.

"Kuroko?" His features sharpened and he looked at Riko. She aligned her shoulders to face him. "Could you teach him some kanji? Once or twice a week? You won’t be able to get him caught up but anything you could do to help this dumbass—” she shot a glance at Kagami “— pass his exams would be good.”

Kuroko nodded. She turned back to Kagami. “You’re lucky you’re doing well enough in your other classes that you will probably pass.” Riko gave him a solid jab in the side and walked away. Kagami fell into a heap on the ground.

"Kagami, you’re really stupid, you know that?" He walked over to Kagami and hauled him back to his feet. "Let’s go cool down." They wandered off to the nearest wall to finish up with practice.

———-

Kuroko didn’t mind teaching Kagami kanji. If nothing else, it gave him a valid excuse to spend more time with his boyfriend. (Of course, no one else on the team knew they were dating (yet), so he doubted Riko assigned him to tutor for that reason. But he’d take what he could get.)

Kuroko briefly passed through his parents’ kitchen to say goodbye to his parents before walking to the vestibule to gather his things. He grabbed a windbreaker and plodded out the door, briefly sticking a hand behind him to prevent it from slamming.

It was late April. The mornings still held a clean crispness, the last vestiges of winter holding on. He’d not need the jacket in the early afternoon when he returned from Kagami’s apartment.

It was a 20-minute metro ride and walk to Kagami’s from his parents’ house, and he arrived at about nine thirty. He doubted that the door was locked or that Kagami was awake, but he knocked anyway. Silence. He knocked, slightly louder this time. Nothing.

His first suspicion was confirmed with a twist of the handle and a slight push. He walked into the common area and hung a right down the hall and towards Kagami’s bedroom. In the light filtering in through the blinds, he saw Kagami fast asleep.

He turned around, and padded back across the common area and into the kitchen. He bent down, and opened the freezer. He grabbed what he needed and headed back into Kagami’s room.

"FUCKING HELL WHAT IS THAT!" Kagami woke up with a start, throwing off his blankets and chucking the offending ice cube across the room.

"Kagami, you said we’d meet at 9:30 to study kanji. It’s 9:45." He stifled a chuckle at Kagami’s Hulk underwear. "Get up, get in the shower. We — you need to study."

Reluctantly, and with the threat of another ice cube (this time in a more uncomfortable place), Kagami was up and moving towards the shower.

———-

"What kanji do you know?”

"A few. A couple that I’ve seen around, and the few that I learned from my parents when I was living in America." He grabbed the pen and a sheet of the kanji practice paper.

The first thing he wrote was 火神 大我 [Kagami Taiga]. “I’ve written this one a million times, obviously.”

He moved onto the next line. His stroke order was completely wrong, but he scratched something that looked… roughly like 誠凛高校 [Seirin Kōkō1].

"Anything else?"

"A few important odds and ends. Hospital. Pharmacy. Store. Numbers. I recognize a lot more than I can write. But since I never learned how to accurately write them, they don’t stick in my head."

Kuroko nodded. “By this time next week, we should have the first grade of the Kyōiku2 kanji finished. You probably know many of these, but have never written them out. This will be one of the easier sessions we do. It’ll also be the most important.

"That said, I’ll start you off with colors. You’ll remember them too, since all of the Generation of Miracles have colors in their surnames. You’ll stay more focused." Kuroko flashed a knowing glance at Kagami. "Except murasaki3. It’s not in the Kyōiku kanji set.”

Kuroko scooted around the kotatsu, and weaseled his way in between Kagami’s legs and arms. “It’ll be easier for me to show you how to write the kanji from here.” He smiled slyly up at Kagami.

"Let’s start at the top." Kuroko wrote 赤 [aka4] flawlessly. “This is the first kanji in Akashi’s name — aka.” He then wrote stroke by stroke, showing Kagami how to write out the character. Kagami leaned over his boyfriend, and spent a couple of minutes copying the character until Kuroko was satisfied with the work.

They cycled through the rest of the promised kanji — 青 [ao5] (Kagami growled at this one), 黄 [ki6], 黒 [kuro7] (he smiled), 緑 [midori8]. The last one was probably too hard, Kuroko thought. At least Kagami was more interested in learning.

They spent the rest of the day learning the remainder of the first year kanji, wrapped up in a cocoon of warmth, writing utensils, and gridded kanji paper. It took significantly longer than Kuroko had expected, and he didn’t leave until 6 that night. He left Kagami’s apartment with a kiss (and a blush), and trotted back home to his parents’.

———-

"You’re awake this time." Kagami rolled his eyes, but bent down and they shared a brief kiss before ambling over to the kotatsu and plopping down to study. Kuroko once again nestled inside of Kagami’s arms.

He leaned back into Kagami’s chest and directed his voice somewhere upwards. “Quiz time. You need to remember the kanji you’ve already learned. Can you write the kanji for chikara9?

Kagami grabbed a pen and a gridded sheet and instead wrote: 黒子大好き [Kuroko daisuki] — “I love you, Kuroko”. Kuroko could feel him smirking somewhere above him.

He turned bright red and attempted to hide it by placing his head on the desk of the kotatsu. “That’s not right, Kagami.”

"I don’t know, Kuroko." Kagami beamed, proud of how clever he was. "It sure feels like it."

1 high school 2 lit. “education kanji” — these are the 1,006 kanji that elementary school kids learn. 3 purple, violet 4 red 5 blue 6 yellow 7 black 8 green 9 power

[knbss2014-blog]

Hey guys! I'll post all the gifts until tomorrow, because there were some late ones, so don't worry if you haven't found yours yet (:

[knbss2014-blog]

To: Yka (@fukuroudani) From: Machan (akashis-emperorseye)

Message: Hiya I hope you like your gift and I want to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year and just want you to know that I trieddddddddd orz I’ve never drawn Nijimura before so I hope it reaches your standards aha uwu and on the top of the list you put nijiaka so I thought I’d draw them decorating a Christmas tree together! (Ignore the mistakes please I made a false estimation on how much time I had and was sitting here at midnight on the 29th finishing it unu) Anyway, have a good rest of the day/night Christmas buddy!

[knbss2014-blog]

From: papricots

To: curlyghost

Since it’s after Christmas now I’ll just say Happy Holidays! I haven’t watched season 2 yet but I’m totally in love with Murasakibara now. 8) Hope you like this!

[knbss2014-blog]

From: churpchirp

To: somnia

To Chaco, 

I have written this story for you. This isn’t my ship but I tried my hardest and I hope I didn’t mess up any details that are extremely important (I know the little details matter when its your ship). 

Anyways I really really hope this is to your liking and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas (:. All my love to you this holiday season and I really enjoyed writing this so thank you. 

Also I would like to note there is really nothing NSFW in this but I believe there are two curses.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Green eyes strayed to the clock on the wall, 4:17 still too early. Midorima had sworn he would study for at least three hours before he could go. He was rather bored but now that he had committed to studying for three hours that was what he was going to do.

Well maybe he was not so much bored as he was anxious. Never in his existence had Midorima Shintaro had such a strong desire to visit earth.

He glanced down at his lucky item which was sitting beside his work on the desk. Today it was a stuffed hamburger plush. It would seem a ridiculous object to be carrying around especially where he lived, yet he refused to let it out of his sight.

Earlier that day he had travelled down to earth to get this plush. For Oha Asa Midorima went down to earth every single day. This was something he had always done, he needed his lucky items.

Without thinking Midorima let his eyes travel to the clock once again, 4:23. He groaned leaning backwards in his chair and staring at the fluffy white clouds above him. Despite the variety of earthly objects around him looking up always reminded him, he was not on earth. Midorima Shintarou was in heaven.

 He was not dead, he was an angel. Midorima had always lived in heaven. He always flew down to earth to get his lucky item of the day. The other angels did not make fun of him or comment on it because, they were angels. As long as Midorima was happy and not breaking any laws it was no concern of theirs what he did. Midorima had always been strangely fascinated by the humans, studying them and even practicing some of their earthen traditions. Despite his interest in them Midorima rarely spoke to humans. In fact he tried to avoid it as much as possible, he found them troublesome and unintelligent.

Some angels did speak to humans, they granted wishes, spread cheer and with Gods power performed miracles.

It was not that Midorima could not do those things, grant wishes and the like but he simply had no desire too. Despite his fascination with the human race he was above them and he had no reason to extensively interact with them.

That’s how it used to be.

Everything had changed about eight months ago. It was a normal day and Midorima was looking for his lucky item. This one was particularly hard to find which caused him to spend more time in the shop. Precisely four minutes more.

If Midorima had not stayed those extra four minutes he never would have seen the person who entered the shop. He never would have met the short, red haired Akashi.

Akashi was different than most humans, he was intelligent and in Midorimas eyes he was fascinating.

Since that day the two had met up to play shogi or basketball. Akashi just happened to be good at the only two human traditions Midorima knew.

Their meetings had grown more and more frequent and at this point they were meeting up every day and sometimes to Midorimas shock they did not partake in the human traditions he knew. Sometimes they just spoke with each other.  

Angels rarely just spoke to each other. They sang, they flew. Honestly Midorima wasn’t really sure what angels other than himself did.

Of course Akashi did not know Midorima was an angel. He couldn’t know.

Midorima looked again to the clock, 4:29. He was not meant to meet Akashi until 5:30. One hour left.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were playing shogi today. Midorimas eyes were focused on the board, trying to figure out the best way to win the game. He had never had won before. This mortal was surprisingly good at the game. Midorima confidently moved his piece and looked at Akashi.

The red eyes did not even look up from the board. Akashi let out a simple, “Hmmm….” Before moving his piece, without a moment’s hesitation.

Their eyes met and Akashi’s lips curved upward into a slight smile. Midorima immediately refocused on the board.

He could not win this match. His mind raced through possibility after possibility of what he could do but, there was no way. Akashi had won, again.

“Good match Shintarou.” Akashi calmly stated, it was if he had always known he would win.

Midorima narrowed his eyes, “Your skills at this game are unmatched Akashi.”

The redhead chuckled, “Perhaps someday you can win…if you play against someone else.”

Midorima bristled, this human was pushing him. He was not used to losing much less to a mere mortal. Although Akashi had proven time and time again that he was …more than every other mortal. Akashi just laughed as he watched Midorima straighten up in annoyance.

“I am absolute after all Shintarou.” Midorima glared down at the shorter man, “Someday I will beat you Akashi.”

Akashi met Midorima’s eyes and for a second did not say anything he simply stared into his eyes. Midorima stared back at him until he could feel himself getting uncomfortable.

Midorima had experienced this uncomfortable feeling before when visiting the earth and it was not something he particularly liked. Despite this he refused to look away from Akashi’s red eyes. He would not lose this time.

So the two stared at each other both refusing to look away.

Then Midorima laughed. He didn’t know why he was laughing but, Midorima Shintaro actually laughed. He tried to stop these annoying noises coming out of his mouth, nothing funny had even happened.

Akashi began to stand as he simply smiled at the taller man, “Until we meet again Shintaro.” Before he turned to walk away.

“Aka-” Midorima stopped himself why was he calling Akashi back? The redhead had already turned around and was looking at him expectantly. Midorima could feel his face growing redder by the second. “I-it’s nothing Akashi….” He trailed off. Why was it so difficult for him to get the words out, must be some strange human condition he had yet to experience, he promised himself to look it up later.

Akashi was still smiling as he turned around, leaving Midorima stuttering.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were playing basketball today. Midorima felt lighter every time he sunk a perfect three pointer, watching his shots soar over Akashi’s head made him feel good. It made him forget all about the stuttering mess Akashi had left him yesterday.

 He had tried to look up his symptoms in his medical book last night when he had arrived back in heaven. Unfortunately he had not yet nailed down the cause of this mysterious sickness he had contracted. Nonetheless he had immediately informed Akashi that he was sick today and not to come to close to him. This illness probably made him seem more human anyways. Although he still wasn’t sure why that had made Akashi laugh. Wasn’t sickness something unfortunate?

As he sunk another shot he pondered the other mysterious thing that had happened today. When he had first come down from heaven to pick up his lucky item Akashi was already waiting outside the store, holding an orange lawn flamingo. According to Oha Asa an orange lawn flamingo was Midorimas lucky item of the day. Akashi’s retrieval of his item was quite convenient as it saved him time. Still he could not understand why the image of the redheaded boy holding his lucky item had made his heart skip a beat.

“Shintarou stop ignoring me.” This was a command from Akashi himself. Akashi was right of course, why was Midorima thinking about the past when Akashi was right in front of him?   

“Why don’t we take a break?” Akashi continued. Midorima silently stopped and turned towards the bench wiping the sweat off his brow. Sweating was an annoying phenomena he was not used to and he often experienced while playing basketball.

He reached for his water bottle but before he could pick it up he grabbed something else. Freezing completely Midorima glared down at whatever had stopped his hand only to find a smaller hand in his. His eyes travelled up the arm attached to this mysterious hand only to see Akashi’s eyes already locked on his. He could feel his entire face heat up. He was holding hands with Akashi.

Midorima scanned his brain trying to figure out when humans typically held hands and why it could be triggering his illness. He came up with nothing, his heart was pounding so fast he could do nothing but stare into Akashi’s eyes. At this point he would have been positive he was dying of a heart attack except for the fact that angels could not die of heart attacks.

“Shintarou…” Akashi’s voice was but a whisper bringing Midorima back to reality with a slight tug on his hand. Midorima allowed his body to be pulled toward Akashi’s, maybe he had a miracle cure. Akashi did not look away from Midorimas eyes.

Slowly Akashi closed his eyes and leaned in even closer, Midorima wondered if he had passed his sickness onto the other man. Their lips touched.

Midorimas eyes opened wider as he felt Akashi’s lips gently press against his lingering there even so slightly and then pulling away barely a millimeter only to whisper his name again, “Shintarou…” before pulling back.

Midorima didn’t know what to think, he was frozen as the redhead regarded his face. Finally he straightened up and his taped fingers ghosted over his lips, “Tha-that was…” He let his words trail off because embarrassingly he could not think of what that was. Hundreds of words ran through his mind but he could not find the right one. What had they just done?

Akashi smiled, “It was a kiss Shintarou.” A kiss. It was a kiss? Midorima did not know what this meant, this was a word he had never heard or read before. What was a kiss?

As he looked down, embarrassed he could not understand what just happened he realized they were still holding hands. He pulled his hand away.

“Akashi, I-I have to go.” Midorima was a mess and he tried to ignore the hurt look on Akashi’s face as he turned and ran away. He could explain later anyways.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Midorima had done his research, he knew now exactly what had happened. Well not exactly but he had done his research. He was now aware that kissing was something two people who were in love or had a mutual sexual attraction did. Midorima had been unaware he and Akashi were either of those.

Of course Midorima did not really know what either of those would be. Angels didn’t fall in love. Angels did not have sex. There was a reason angels did not do those things. It was the same reason angels were different from humans. Angels were a class apart from humans, they were better than them. So why had Midorima allowed himself to be kissed?

Midorima had decided it was because he did not know. It was lack of knowledge that had led to this fate and it was not his fault. His feelings for Akashi… they were only friends and he had to establish that. He would not, could not be anything more. He was an angel.

Still there were his symptoms…he didn’t want to believe it but they were scarily similar to something an old friend of his had experienced…

Well had that person really even been his friend…and it had been so long ago… Still he would never forget, Takao Kazunari.

Takao had been an angel like him, the two of them had always been together. Since their existences had begun. It wasn’t like Midorima had chosen to be friends with Takao. The other angel had chosen him, always clinging to him and following him around.

Takao’s end had been a tragedy in everyone’s opinion. All of the angels were a community, they all lived in heaven, Midorima knew all the angels names and they knew his. Everyone had known when Takao fell and every angel had wept despite the fact the other angels had barely even spoken to Takao.

Midorima had not wept. Takao had made his choices and Midorima had warned him about the consequences every step of the way. Takao had not listened and now Takao was gone. Midorima would never admit that he could possibly miss the black haired ball of light. How could he be anything but happy that he wouldn’t have that annoyance with him for the rest of eternity?

When Takao had left heaven he had become a human. In the eyes of most every angel Takao had fallen even though that wasn’t precisely correct. Leaving heaven and falling from heaven were two very different things but they both happened so rarely that most angels chose not to recognize the difference.

Takao had fallen in love with a human and he had left heaven, forsaking his immortality, his closeness to God and his position as an angel to be with said human. Midorima did not understand even now he thought leaving heaven for someone like Akashi would be preposterous but… why were his thoughts going to Akashi. The two of them were only friends.

Midorima’s mind wandered back to Takao, to what the previous angel had acted like before he fell. Honestly Midorimas actions now were scarily similar to Takao’s then, frequently visiting earth to see the same person, constantly thinking about one specific human. He considered visiting Takao but almost immediately dismissed the idea. He didn’t need to see him, at this point Takao was probably almost 60 years old. Midorima knew Takao was still alive because he could hear Takao speaking to him almost every night.

Angels could hear when a human spoke to them if the human called them by name and knew who they were. It rarely happened because angels lived so separate from humans. Takao knew Midorima though.

Takao spoke to Midorima almost every night telling him stupid, annoying things about his day, his life with the human he had fallen in love with. Midorima always ignored him.

Midorima stood up, it had barely been three hours since he left Akashi and he was overwhelmed with everything. He walked over to his mirror. Mirrors were one of the things he enjoyed about the human world, he liked being able to see his appearance.

He stared at his wings in the mirror, they were the only physical characteristic that separated angels and humans. Huge, feathered and white they boasted a twelve foot wingspan and were at least seven feet high. It was easy to hide them around humans because by simply thinking about it he could make them completely disappear. Midorima did not prefer that because he truly loved his wings. It was unfortunately necessary around Akashi…

There was a bit of dirt on the tip of his left wing, Midorima pulled in his wings and reached behind him to rub it off. He looked in the mirror again. It was still there. His brows furrowed as he craned his neck to see why exactly this dirt wouldn’t come off, it marred his perfect wings. Upon closer inspection Midorima realized something. It was not dirt. The feathers had turned black.

Midorima rubbed at the feathers. They were black. He tried to stop himself from panicking but he couldn’t. Why were his feathers turning black? Midorima had committed no treason, he had committed no act so vile as to turn his wings black so why…

No, they couldn’t be black, it was just hard to get the dirt off. Midorima pulled the tape off of his fingers and rubbed at the feathers maybe now…nothing. They were still black.

He focused his eyes back on his reflection in the mirror and his heart almost stopped. Almost half of his left wing had turned black. How on earth… Without thinking Midorima’s arm flung forward, punching the mirror. It shattered but Midorima didn’t care.

Could it have been the kiss? Ridiculous, it was not as if he had fallen in love with a human. Still Midorima had run out of options. There had to be a way to fix this, yes there was. He would return to earth, retrace his steps. Most likely he had encountered some demonic residue on earth and that was why his angelic form was being affected. He was not going to fall, he would be fine.

It couldn’t have been the kiss…Midorima refused to let his mind wander. There was no way it was the kiss he hadn’t even known what it was. He would just go back to earth, to the root of his problem and fix it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was getting frustrating, Midorima had gone almost everywhere he had been that morning and he couldn’t find the slightest reason his wings would start turning black. He was currently en route to the last place he had been, the street basketball court. Although he was starting to seriously worry, what if it was the kiss?

Midorima did his best to push those thoughts out of his head, it HAD to be something else.

As he rounded the corner to where Akashi had played with him earlier he realized there were still people there. A sense of dread crept deep into his stomach. This was unusual, Midorima was not fond of humans but he rarely felt such an unease when approaching them.

As he got closer and closer Midorima realized something was wrong. He felt nauseous and every step he took made him desperately want to take three steps back. However this just fueled him on. The source of what had changed the color of his wing had to be here and once he figured it out he would be able to figure out how to reverse it. Although it was strange he had noticed nothing earlier…

Still it was a struggle for him to get to the court. He was currently less than a block away, lush, emerald colored trees lined the sidewalk hiding the inside of the court from view. The street was almost deserted so nobody saw Midorimas struggles. Every part of him desperately wanted to turn back, he wanted to fly straight to heaven and never return. But he had to know.

So Midorima trudged on, this short sidewalk forcing him to exert more effort than he had all day, even when he was making his flawless shots.

As he finally reached the entrance to the court he froze, unable to move. It took him no time to process exactly what he was seeing. Demons.

There were demons playing basketball. His eyes flashed around the court so disgusted by them and yet he could not look away.

Midorima had never seen a demon before. Clearly they existed, they were the exact opposite of angels, constantly wreaking havoc on earth. It was rare for angels and demons to mix at all since angels spent most of their time in heaven and demons spent most of their time on earth or trapped in Hell.

Yet somehow there were three demons right in front of him. Midorima felt like puking. Still he could not move and he could not take his eyes off of them.

Luckily the demons had not noticed him yet and strangely enough they did not appear to be doing anything…demonic, they were simply playing basketball.

Each demon looked distinctly different and they were making no attempt to hide themselves from any human eyes. One of the demons had sickly grey colored skin and limbs that were revoltingly long. Each of his arms appeared to have an extra joint and so they were bent at two different places in the middle. His legs were bent and it seemed he wasn’t able to straighten the joints in them so he moved using his arms as a second set of legs. The demons body was slightly hunched over. His face looked strangely humanoid with delicate features, he was also wearing human clothes which looked quite out of place. Long glossy black hair hung around his shoulders.

The second demon was huge, he had two horns coming out from the back of his head which looped twice out to the sides. His horns were black and appeared to have dozens of tiny spikes along the top and bottom.  This demon was not wearing a shirt and only a pair of singed black jeans. Midorima did not know much about the different types of demons but this one was undoubtedly a fire demon. Every time he breathed in his ribcage glowed, it was like his skin turned into molten fire. This effect spread across his chest and up into his throat. This demon did not have feet but some sort of muscular talons with long claws that twitched toward the ground as if they wanted to grip it every time he landed one of his jumps. Luckily they didn’t because that would wreck the court.

The third demon was smaller than the other two and darted around their hulking forms. He had orangeish hair and sharp pointed teeth which were visible when he opened his mouth. One of his teeth was long enough so that it stuck out on the side of his mouth, creating a drop of blood when it poked into his skin. He had long pointed ears which faded to black near the tips and two thin horns that pointed straight up out of his head. He was wearing shorts and an unbuttoned top. Midorima thought for a second he looked the most human out of the three until he dashed forward, his shirt flying backwards. His abdomen was ripped apart, red gashes crossed from side to side and bits of white skin hung down. Most of his ribs were visible from the side, some poking through the sparse skin on his chest.

 This demon ran forward only to be stopped. There was a fourth demon Midorima had somehow missed. This demon was also dressed in casual clothes and it looked like every end of him had been dipped in ash. His arms were a chalky black color starting at his forearms and ending with long talon like fingers. His legs, visible in his shorts, were the same with the chalky black color ending right below his knees. Even the tips of his gray hair look like they had been dipped in black ink. The most noticeable characteristic was his wings- they were long and thin stretching out from behind his body. The grey coloring on them had bits of black here and there but unlike the rest of his body the placement seemed random. Small strings of a material that looked like spider webs stretched between his body and wings in random strands. Little pieces even dangling below his wings. The overall effect was as if a broken, wing shaped spider web existed on his back. Somehow this demon was inexplicably good at basketball as he appeared to disappear between the other three demons only to show up somewhere else and pass the ball.

A shiver passed through Midorimas body, they were repulsive. This was clearly the cause of his wing discoloring, it had not been the kiss. Midorima was starting to realize he might be in trouble. Even though he had gone to the effort of purchasing a pair of sunglasses as a disguise they would probably notice him. He wasn’t sure if it would be better if they realized he was an angel or thought he was a human.

 Demons tended to be extremely jealous of and volatile towards angels. After all most demons used to be angels, they had just fallen. If an angel actually fell from heaven, was forced out because of their bad choices they became a demon. Of course demons could reproduce if they wished but that was rare since typically demons showed so much atrocity towards one another. These basketball playing demons were atypical to be spending time together in a group.

Demons treatment of humans was different than that of angels, demons would sometimes ignore humans or other times demons were known to steal their souls, torture or kill them. Whatever they recognized him as, Midorima wasn’t safe.

“Shintarou?” A familiar voice called from behind him. Swirling round Midorimas eyes locked on Akashi. His mind flooded with worry, Akashi couldn’t be here. A human being close to so many demons was incredibly dangerous who knew what they would do.

“Come with me.” He grabbed Akashi’s hand and ran down the street.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Midorima eventually stopped dragging the smaller man after him. He had led them into an alley and they had to be at least 6 blocks away so Midorima believed they would be safe for the time being. Still the appearance of four demons had him worried. It was rare enough for one or two demons to be spending time together but four?

Midorima realized Akashi might be confused about what had happened and he left his thoughts to gaze at the redhead. Akashi was already staring at him with an amused grin.

“I didn’t know you were coming back today.” This may have been the first time Midorima had ever heard Akashi say he did not know something.

“I, well yes I forgot my… belonging…” Midorima realized this was a poor excuse but he held his head confidently as Akashi stared up at him. The next thing he knew Akashi’s body was pressed against his, pinning him to the wall.

It was not necessarily unpleasant, and if he was being honest Midorima liked the feeling. At this point he was also more educated in what this type of gesture should mean unlike his former self. Akashi was probably trying to share his body heat with Midorima. It was a bit chilly outside and taking in all the circumstances it was very considerate. Midorima was touched.

As Akashi started grinding their hips together and put his hand on the back of Midorimas neck it was surely to make sure Midorima was not cold at all.

This is what Midorima thought until Akashi kissed him, again. Midorima worried for a split second that this would darken the color of his wings but, of course it wouldn’t. The change of color had clearly been because of those demons, kissing Akashi was fine.

This kiss was different instead of lingering Akashi began moving his lips against Midorimas forcing both of their mouths to open and deepening he kiss. Midorima had not researched this kind of kiss and he was unsure how to proceed in this type of situation. He simply did not move.

This tactic did not divert Akashi from whatever his goal was and as far as Midorima was concerned at least Akashi was having fun and not asking questions about why Midorima had suddenly dragged him down the street so he just let the shorter boy continue.

That was until Midorima felt Akashi’s other hand moving down his back and slowly over his ass. Midorimas spine stiffened and he hoped Akashi would understand he was not a fan of this. Akashi clearly did not get it because his next move was to squeeze.

Instantly the tall green haired boy pulled away.

“In what way is that meant to keep me warm?” Akashi just stared at him before laughing.

Akashi was laughing at him. Midorima could feel his face heat up and he felt something he was not used to feeling. As he struggled through his human vocabulary to try and identify what new emotion this could be he heard a voice,

“Sei-chan?” Midorimas body froze. This was unmistakably the voice of one of the demons from before, they must have caught his scent.

Akashi was staring at the entrance to the alleyway they were in. He probably heard the voice too. Since the alley had a dead end Midorima was running out of options if he wanted to keep Akashi safe and he could sense the demons were getting closer. Not just one, all four of them.

He wrapped his arms around Akashi’s waist and taking in a deep breath, spread his wings. With one powerful motion Midorima had the two of them flying stories above the alleyway and landing on the roof of the tall building his body had just been pressed against.

Midorima gently let Akashi down and then stared at him. Akashi’s red eyes sparkled as he stared at the angels wings.

Midorima breathed in deeply, there was no hiding this anymore, “Let me explain…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akashi still hadn’t said anything. Then again Midorima had not really done a good job of explaining, “I’m an angel.” Was all he had offered. Since then the two of them had simply stood there with Akashi staring.

Midorima thought he would have asked questions or something. Slightly self-consciously he folded in his wings and was about to will them to disappear, “Stop.”

Finally he spoke. Midorima froze not moving, he could sense Akashi was not finished talking, “They’re so beautiful.” The red head continued, “It has been so long since I’ve seen an angels wings.”

Midorima stiffened, “So long? Akashi what are you talking about.” Ridiculous. How could Akashi have seen an angel before?

Akashi smiled up at him. His red eyes looked almost, melancholy, wistful. Midorima thought these were the right words. At this moment Midorima also identified the emotion he had felt earlier: anger.

“I used to be an angel too Shintarou.” Wait what. This made absolutely no sense. Midorimas mind reeled. There was no way.

“Wh-what are you talking about Akashi?” Midorima could feel his heart pounding, at this point he believed he could actually have a heart attack.

Akashi smiled sadly, “I fell.”

“When you say you fell,” Midorima began, “you mean you left.” Even as Midorima was saying the words he knew there was something wrong with them. Akashi was young, if an angel left heaven they aged just like any other human. Therefore if he had left Midorima would have known, Midorima knew all the angels.

Akashi kept smiling at him and stepping forward he reached out one hand and pressed it against Midorimas cheek. Midorima leaned into his touch. He could not believe would not believe Akashi had fallen.

“You can call me by my first name now Shintarou.”

Midorima smiled, he knew for humans specifically Japanese ones calling one another by their first name was an important step. Except he did not know Akashi’s first name.

“What is it?”

Somehow even though Akashi was smiling he looked sad.

“My name is Seijuro.”

Midorima felt like his heart fell out of his chest. He could still recall what the demon had called when the two of them had been standing in the alleyway. “Sei-chan.”

No it had to have been someone else.

“I’m sorry Shintarou,” Midorima opened his eyes and focused on Akashi. Akashi was about to tell him it was a joke the redhead had to be joking. “I’m going to make you fall now too.” Akashi’s smile grew as he said these words and then he leaned forward and kissed Midorima.

This kiss was different than the other two kisses they had shared, it was not sweet and quick like the first and it was not demanding like the second. This kiss made Midorima feel he was being consumed. He didn’t stop it though, he wished so desperately that the two of them could go back to that first kiss.

Akashi stepped back and Midorima felt numb. He couldn’t allow himself to believe what he was seeing was the truth. He removed his sunglasses and cleaned them on his shirt, the prescription must be off or something that was it. It was because he had succumbed to these human sunglasses and trusted a human eye doctor. After he returned his sunglasses to his face he did not move.

Now it was his turn to stare.

Leathery wings cut across the sky in a shade of black so dark Midorima felt it would devour him.  A matching black tail twitched back and forth. The end of the tail had rows of sharp looking barbs lined up against each other. Black marks crisscrossed across the side of Akashi’s neck, going beneath his shirt. Lastly his eyes, one of them had turned gold.

If he ignored the wings and the tail it would be almost possible to believe it was still his Akashi trying out new color contacts. Midorima would chide him and then after Akashi made some ridiculous claim about how he was absolute they would go play shogi and Akashi would win like he always did.

Midorima felt tears were running down his face as he realized that would never happen. This was Akashi, his Akashi, his human was a demon. It was undeniable with the dark aura coming off of him.

“Why…?” Midorima fell to his knees, he couldn’t fathom what to say or what to do.

Akashi grinned down at him but this was not the typical smile Midorima was graced with. This smile was only cruel.

 “I wanted to watch as you saw your reflection, your wings turning black but seeing you realize I am a demon is just as good. Who knew you would get so attached.” With that demon Akashi started walking towards the edge of the roof.

“Seijuro, wait…” Midorima knew Akashi probably wouldn’t come back. He was a demon and that’s how demons were but Midorima wanted to say his first name at least once.

This time Akashi voice was softer, he sounded tired as if this was a masquerade and he was tired of acting. “You fell Shintarou, I win.”

Midorima heard the sound of someone flying off and he let his body fall forward tears streaming down his face. Why was he so upset? They had just been friends, according to his research on human life he should not be this upset and yet, he could not bring himself to care about his wings and the fact he could never return to heaven. All he could think about was Akashi, turning away from him.  Unless…and with that Midorima realized it, he loved a demon.

He lifted his head up slowly, his whole body was shaking as he reached out with one hand and tugged his wing down into his field of vision. It was black. His wings were completely black.

So this is what it meant to fall for a demon.

A sad laugh emitted from behind him. Midorima turned around slowly, he felt exhausted. Who knew emotions were so harrowing.

Akashi was still there flying slightly in the air in all his demonic glory.

“See you in hell Shintarou.” With that the demon flew away.

Midorima felt new tears crowding at the edges of his eyes. His Akashi…

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Epilogue Part 1 (Cause its Christmas and this story is not supposed to end sadly):

              The wind blew snowflakes threw the air, swirling through the sky like angels dancing in the wind. Akashi watched them drift softly to the ground, in a different life he would have reached out his hand to touch one. Only in a different life though. As it was all the snowflakes melted as soon as they got near him. Apparently once you went to hell you would radiate heat for the rest of eternity.

            His eyes refocused on the scene beneath him, it appeared to be everything Christmas was made to be. The house glowed from the inside as snow fell softly outside. Banks of unmarred snow surrounded the house and twinkling lights covered the outside. Yet Akashi was outside in the cold. Not that he had any desire to be inside that house, with its inhabitants.

A scoff echoed from behind him and Akashi was momentarily startled by the fact that someone had snuck up on him. Not allowing himself to show he was startled, he listened to the individuals gait to figure out who they were. It didn’t take long and the next moment a light haired demon with spidery wings stood beside him.

The two said nothing as Akashi thought back to the man who had always surprised him. His eyes refocused on the house. It was Christmas Eve and he wanted to get closer, he wanted to see into the house. He wanted to see the people or, maybe just one of them.

“You should just go talk to him.” Chihiro said it almost as a grumble. Akashi did not say anything he simply watched the house, he wanted to knock on the door and see the new demon. He wanted to see the green haired man’s face blush when they accidently brushed against each other. He wanted to feel the green haired man’s hand in his own. Mostly he just wanted to be with that man again but, he wasn’t sure he ever could.  

It had all started out as a simple game, the first day Akashi had seen Midorima Shintarou he had been honestly surprised to see an angel on earth. Angels were stuck up and self-righteous, Akashi had wanted to make this angel, whoever he was, fall.

He never knew it would end up like this. Never knew he would end up on Christmas Eve (a disgustingly religious holiday) standing at some human’s house and wishing desperately to be inside that house.

That would never happen though, Akashi had fucked up. He had never thought he would fall in love with an angel.

“You have to stop watching him, eventually he is going to get dragged to hell and there is nothing you can do about-” Chihiro started in a bored voice but before Chihiro could finish his sentence Akashi had him pinned to the ground. Akashi didn’t say anything, he just let his eyes bore into Chihiros. Chihiro continued because apparently he wanted to actually die today,

“It happens to every angel who falls, they get dragged to hell and then they end up like this.” Chihiro did not need to point out what he was talking about, Akashi was fully aware.

Chihiros wings, Nebuya’s horns, Akashi’s tail. These were a small portion of the physical characteristics each of them had gained when they had been locked in the pit.

There was a reason Shintarou could walk around in that house down the hill, looking completely human, albeit his black wings. Shintarou had never been to hell and Akashi was determined to keep it that way.

Akashi’s attention refocused on Chihiro, pinned beneath him. The snow had melted around his form leaving him lying in a puddle of water. The water was reflected darkly in the night and it accentuated Chihiros singed looking body and hair. Giving him the appearance that his body was melting into the ground.

Akashi stood up and released him, “Go, I will hear no more from you or anyone until I come to you.”

Chihiro grumbled and let out a curse under his breath before Akashi heard him flying away.

Some part of Akashi knew he was not being rational. He couldn’t really protect Shintarou forever, but he had to try.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Epilogue Part 2:

Midorima believed he was observing what would be considered a perfect Christmas. The tree was huge and covered in decorations, lights and tinsel. The tree was not the only thing covered in decorations, the entire house was.

To top it off there was a roaring fire and four little children playing in front of it.

They were not Midorimas children. They were Takao’s grandchildren. Midorima was currently residing with Takao and Takao’s wife. Takao’s wife was a very kind woman, she was American so it was thanks to her that Christmas was celebrated to this degree

This wasn’t his first Christmas with Takao’s family, it was his eighth. Eight years he had lived with Takao, eight years since he had fallen.

It was strange to think about his past life as an angel. It seemed as if Midorima had lived his entire life in some sort of dream and falling had woken him up. Living as a demon everything was more intense, it was as if he was no longer watching the world through a frosted window. He had been forced through the window and into the world.

Despite this there was one thing, one person Midorima could not forget. Akashi Seijuro. No matter how much time passed all of Midorimas memories of Akashi were crystal clear, every moment, and every touch.

Midorima had learned a lot from Takao in his eight years of living with the man, not that Midorima would ever admit it.

He knew he had loved Akashi but, Midorima believed that since then his feelings had ebbed.

Sure he still thought about Akashi a lot but this was most definitely because Akashi had been one of the most interesting people Midorima had ever met.

Not because Midorima still loved him, how could he still love the man who had made him fall?

“Shin-chan look!” One of the girls was pointing out the window, every one of Takao’s grandchildren had picked up that annoying way of calling him. Nonetheless Midorima moved to the window to stare into the dark at whatever imaginary thing the girl thought she had spotted.

Except Midorima didn’t even have to pretend. Smoke rose upward from the top of the hill… a fire?

“Go to the kitchen with your grandparents.” Midorima was unsure of what it was but as he watched the smoke rise he felt a dark feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“Neh Shin-chan are you going to check it out?” The other three kids had huddled around him.

“I am. You four need to stay inside.” Midorima turned around ready to leave before two of the kids attached themselves to his legs.

“Shin-chann~” the girl started again “I wanna help, I’m brave just like you!”

Takao’s grandchildren were somehow just as annoying as he was but, there was no way Midorima was letting them outside. He fixed them with a glare, adjusting his glasses.

“Go. Into. The. Kitchen.” Along with his glare this seemed to do the trick as all four of them scurried off. Midorima unlocked the door and began creeping up the snow covered hill.

The snow quietly hissed as it melted under his feet. The wind whistled as it blew past. It took a while but Midorima finally managed to reach the top of the hill.

Midorima froze the second he got to the top, he did not even blink. This was not the first time he had seen something like this but, it hadn’t happened in a long time.

Akashi was standing in front of him. The man seemed to be glowing, his eyes were both red and they were fixed on Midorima.

Midorima thought this was a blessing, very rarely when he saw these visions of Akashi was Akashi actually looking at him.

Midorima used to see Akashi everywhere, on the train, when he helped Takao feed the pigeons, when he practiced his shots. Slowly it had become less and less. This was the first time in months.

Midorima did not want him to disappear, Akashi looked so much more… vibrant.

It was probably true that his memories did no justice to what the real Akashi looked like but, this way at least he got to see him sometimes.

He focused on Akashi’s glowing red eyes, the pieces of red hair that framed his face, the visible puffs of air when Akashi breathed out.

Then Akashi started moving forward and Midorimas heart skipped a beat. These visions he had of Akashi never moved, they were stationary. Yet this one was moving, just maybe…

Midorima started to take a step forward, as the Akashi continued to slowly walk towards him, but Midorima froze. What was he going to do? He did not love Akashi anymore.

Still the Akashi moved closer and closer as Midorima was frozen, wracked with inner turmoil. The man did not stop moving until he was right in front of Midorima, “Shintarou…”

It was him, it was Akashi.

Midorima enveloped him in a hug without a second thought, the smaller body disappearing into his larger frame.

He knew one thing for certain now that this man was in front of him.

It had taken Midorima awhile to come to this conclusion but, eight years was a long time to think. Akashi had hurt him deeply, taking away his entire world. At the same time Akashi had given him an entirely new world and that thing he had never had before. Midorima had for a time been truly happy with Akashi, playing basketball, playing shogi, just being with him.

That was not an excuse for what Akashi had done but Midorima now realized he still loved him.

Midorima was in love with Akashi.

His arms wrapped tighter around the red haired man, willing this to never end.

“Akashi…” he mumbled into the man’s hair, “I…love you.”

He had not expected to say that all at once but, Midorima found it was true and he could not take it back. He could feel his face turning beet red as Akashi said nothing. Maybe this Akashi was just another figment of his imagination.

“Shintarou…” Akashi pulled back slightly so he was looking up into Midorimas eyes. Snowflakes swirled around the two of them. “After all this time?”

Midorima smiled down at him, “Always.”

“I love you too Shintarou, I’m so sorry…” Akashi loved him.

Midorima felt his heart could burst out of his chest at any moment. In a moment of sudden confidence he leaned forward and tilted Akashi face up so that their foreheads were pressed together.

“I forgive you… just don’t do it again.” Midorima did not look away from Akashi’s eyes for a second.

“That is a promise, Shintarou.”

[knbss2014-blog]

to: hatsumi (@macaron-de-fraise)

from: isabela (@queerryouta)

happy holidays, hatsumi! may your new year be filled with joy!

“Kise-kun,” Kuroko says, voice muffled. “Please let me breathe.”

Kise shifts, moves his arm away from Kuroko’s face, no longer covering his mouth and nose. “Sorry, Kurokocchi,” he says, sheepish, a smile in his voice.

“It’s alright,” Kuroko nods, and then silence.

They’re lying on Kuroko’s narrow bed, squeezed together to make room. It should be uncomfortable, maybe, Kuroko on his back, Kise folded to fit between him and the wall; but Kise radiates off warmth all under the blanket, his rhythmical breaths touch the side of Kuroko’s face, loud in the quiet of the night.

“You’re staring, Kise-kun,” Kuroko says, eyes never leaving the ceiling.

Kise chuckles, and it lingers in his voice when he answers “Yes. Yes, I am.”

*

When he reaches the school gates, Kise is there.

“Kise-kun,” he says, breathing the name out like a song. He blinks. “What are you doing here?”

Kise is leaning against the wall, still in his school uniform. He goes for casual, lazy smile spreading across his face whenever someone stares at him for far too long, but Kuroko sees his hunched up shoulders, his nervous fingers.

“Kurokocchi, Kagamicchi.” he says, voice soft, not quite secretive but not bright, like he usually is. “I came to visit.”

Kuroko raises his eyebrows.

“Why didn’t you show up at practice, then,” Kagami asks him, blunt, confused, a bit rude.

Kise laughs. It sounds forced, filled with trepidation.

“I actually wanted to talk to Kurokocchi alone,” he shrugs, the movement jerky. “So, you know.”

“Oh?” Kagami frowns, looking at Kise like he’s searching for something. Then his eyes widen, and his cheeks color red, as bright as his hair, and he says “Oh,” and “Oh,” and “Well, hm, I’ll be going then, see you tomorrow, Kuroko, bye, and, hm. Bye.”

Then he is almost running out of the school gates into the quiet street.

Kuroko blinks again, staring at Kagami’s retreating back.

“Okay,” he says, and, “Kise-kun?”

Kise is fumbling with his fingers. He does that when he’s nervous, Kuroko knows, when he wants to ask but doesn’t know how. 

Kuroko smiles. He’s been waiting since they were fourteen, when Kise started to touch him too often, a hand on his arm or at the small of his back, when Kise would suck in a breath whenever Kuroko grinned at him, when he noticed the way the sunlight hugged Kise’s hair and eyes and just wanted.

“Let’s go, Kise-kun,” he says, an answer, and offers Kise a hand.

Kise takes it, the smile on his face capable of outshining the sun.

*

Kise kisses him on their fifth date.

It’s an amusement park, this time, and Kuroko is mocking Kise for crying on the roller coaster, and they’re alone behind one of the game tents, and it’s a nice spring afternoon, and Kise—

Kise says, “Kurokocchi,” the name like a prayer on his tongue

Kise says, “I—”, voice chocked up. His eyes hang starts, the moon, he looks at Kuroko like his heart is filled too full, like he might just overflow

Kise touches Kuroko’s hair, then his cheek, and when he glues their lips together all Kuroko can think is Finally and I’ve been waiting, stupid and Oh, oh.

*

“And then,” Kise is saying, all excited limbs, a big bang. “She asked to take a picture with me!”

Kuroko’s sock-clad feet rest on Kise’s lap. They’re on the couch in Kise’s living room, early morning light filtering through the window. 

“That’s your big story?” Kuroko asks, dry as the desert. He lifts up the book that sat on his chest for the whole twenty minutes of Kise’s telling of his adventures. “Please never try to be a novelist, Kise-kun.”

“Kurokocchi, you’re so mean!” Kise cries.

Kuroko smiles, nudges Kise’s chest softly with a foot.

*

Kise texts him on a Tuesday in November, says I miss you, Kurokocchi (╯︵╰,)

Kuroko calls him. “You saw me two days ago,” he says when Kise answers after the first ring.

“I know,” Kise whines. There’s the sound of a door clicking shut on his end, a body falling on top of covers. “But I still miss you. It’s hard not to see you every day.”

“We didn’t see each other for months after middle school,” Kuroko says. It’s not an open wound anymore, the subject of Teikou, more like the ghost pain from a lost limb, which gets worst in the winter, makes Kuroko a little mean.

“I know that, too,” Kise says, quiet. He doesn’t sound hurt, not like he would have been three months ago, when they danced around middle school memories and regrets. “You have no idea how much I missed you then.”

I think I do, Kuroko thinks, breathes out, I think I do.

*

Kise is better than he was in middle school, better than he was the year prior. He leads the team with confidence now, relies on them too, a real ace.

Kuroko watches, and doesn’t feel sorry when Seirin beats him, doesn’t feel bitter when Kaijou beats them, either. 

He remembers when Kise used to think he was lame, used to look at him from above and dismiss his entire existence with a wave of hand. Kise still does that, to people he doesn’t know, people who haven’t yet earned his respect. Kuroko doesn’t think badly of him for that.

“Kise-kun,” he says, after a game is over. “That was a good practice. Thank you.”

Kise looks at him like he is the sun, smiles like he’s got the whole world in his pocket.

*

Kise headbutts him softly, a cat wanting attention. Kuroko shifts in the bed, turns on his side to mirror Kise’s position.

They stare at each other. Moonlight filters thought the window, illuminates Kise’s smiling face. Or maybe Kise’s face is the one actually radiating off light, Kuroko isn’t sure.

He touches Kise’s hair.

“Kurokocchi,” Kise whispers. “You’re staring.”

Kuroko looks at Kise’s small, private smile, his eyes of liquid gold holding nothing but fondness. He looks, and something inside of him sings, and he wants.

“Yes,” he breathes. “Yes, I am.”

[knbss2014-blog]

Dating is Easy

From: @wilde-poppy69 

To: @takeabiteofapple

Pairings: Kagami/Kise, mentions of Aomine/Kuroko

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: lots of swearing and flailing with some lime for desert

Description: Kagami has a problem. The one besides his hamburger eating disorder. Namely, his best friend if going out with a guy. Kise has a solution. Namely, fating fire with fire. Kuroko has a involuntary voyeur tendencies. And Amine has that smirk. All things considered, dating has never been easier. It’s like riding a tricycle. On a rope. That hangs a hundred meters up in the air. Above a pit filled with needles and Lego pieces.

A/N: I got carried away and ended up spinning my wheels for over 7000 words. I hope it will keep you entertained till the end. Merry Christmas and happy holydays, filled with filled with yaoi joy and sexy KnB boys! (^^)

Dating is Easy

-xoxoxo-

There has always been something about Christmas that made a little boy inside Kagami start a feat of holiday excitement. However, recently this little childish bundle of cheer and joy was being rapidly overshadowed by increasingly common outbreaks of cynicism and irritation - towards blinking, shining, shimmering Christmas lights that turned all and any remotely tasteful, respectable street into a rainbow-colored glittering pit, towards a multitude of Christmas songs that come November - fucking November - launched a full frontal attack of English-Japanese cheerful gibberish out of every shopping mall and coffee house of Tokyo, and last, but oh-so-not-least towards the whole army of elderly (and not so much) ladies that at the sight of holiday sales instantly turned into blood-eyed monsters smashing everything and (mostly)each other in their way.

One time Kagami was careless enough to share those kinds of emotion-soaked observations with Kuroko. Seirin’s notorious Shadow measured Kagami up and down with a flat look and noted that 1) for someone who lived in the States of all places that’s way too vivid, and 2) rather than Christmas, it must be his hormones that are out of control, since Kagami, according to Kuroko’s expertise, was obviously hitting late puberty. In return, Kagami put his fist through this newly found “Dr. Phill’s” locker and in the future swore to keep his observations and his hormones to his pubescent self.

Oddly enough, this time smashing things did little to improve his foul mood. In fact, since recently it had been rapidly becoming something of a trademark for Kagami. And he couldn’t quite put a finer on why that was. Everything was.. well, not exactly peachy, but in order, to say the least. Seirin got their championship, not all was apparently lost for Kiyoshi-senpai, even long-term foes somewhere along the way ceased being enemies and turned into rivals and - guardedly - even friends. So what gives? Kagami looked for the answer in the empty gym and on busy streets, but couldn’t find it.

What he found instead, was Kise. A consolation prize of sorts.

Kagami was just starting on his fifth burger, watching a fat snowflake descend heavily on the fast-food window glass, when his ears were suddenly and cruelly assaulted by a high-pitched "Kagamicchi!!". A yellow flash darted through the busy burger joint, sidestepping stupefied customers like a true basketball pro.

"Fancy meeting you here," Kise gleefully winked at the room in general and threw himself into a seat opposite of Kagami. A well cared for hand darted out aiming for a corner meat bun.

Kagami hit it with a tray without remorse. He was a true ace of the winning team. That is to say, he hated consolation prizes. And this one was questionable at best.

"Stingy!" Kise whined, blowing on abused fingers, but got over it rather quickly. "So that’s where Kagamicchi goes to store up on his daily protein supply. Gotta say though, man," Kise eyed the burger tower on Kagami’s tray like it was a pile of bricks," Kurokocchi’s tales don’t do you justice. You really gonna eat that?"

“All of it.” Kagami gave Kise’s still slightly twitching hand a warning look.

"So that’s a definite ‘no’ to sharing then?" Kise sighed.

"I don’t share food.” Kagami said, appalled at the prospect.

The blond whined some more, turning a few heads in the process. Flashy and loudmouthed, he was nothing like the guy who usually appeared in front of Kagami as if out of thin air in that same seat. Kuroko’s quiet presence after hellish workouts or a rush of another match was soothing and calming. Though Kagami would rather let Ni-go eat out of his mouth than admit to any of that. When was the last time they got to sit together like this?

"Kurokocchi, isn’t coming?" Kise was reading his thoughts and it was positively freaking Kagami out.

"How should I know? I never ask him to tag along in the first place. He does that shit on his own."

"Cruel." Kise declared raising a finger. Then suddenly leaned over the table and asked in a dramatic whisper that could probably be heard on the other side of the counters. "Have you heard? They say Aominecchi confessed!"

That didn’t make any sense, except….. Except that it did.

Because Kagami had heard.

In fact, it was all he’d been hearing about for the past week and a half.

Aomine confessed to Kuroko. Called him out to the stadium where they held the Winter Cup and confessed. His love, of course, not about the Winter Cup. What a joke!

Kagami could feel the irritation of the last days raise its head in him once again. “Not my problem,” he retorted solemnly and stuffed a burger into his mouth in one bite.

For some unperceivable reason, Kise interpreted that as a sign to go on.

"Oh, oh, and apparently Kurokocchi said ‘yes’. Can you believe it? I don’t think Aominecchi could believe it himself. Gotta feel for the guy. But I guess it’s to be expected. Even back in middle school everyone and their dog could see that Kuroko was all over his precious ‘Aomine-kun’."

Kagami suppressed an uncertain urge to hear the details about the ‘back in middle school’ part with another hamburger. It was really non of his business whether Kuroko wanted to go out with someone. Or if that someone happened to be a boy. Who just happened to be the ace of their rivaling team. And the biggest pighead, if you ask Kagami.

"Don’t care."

"Honestly though," Kise pressed on, "doesn’t it bother you at all that they suddenly started dating? I heard Aominecchi sometimes goes over to you guys to wait for Kuroko to finish practice so they could go home together? Hey, have you ever seen them hold hands?.."

"Christ, Kise! Which part of ‘don’t care’ sounded like ‘tell me more’? You know what, you wanted a burger? Here, have one. On me." Kagami showed a soft bun into the Kise’s gaping mouth before he could say anything else.

The blond coughed industriously, wiping a few very real tears off the corners of his eyes.

"That’s just mean, Kagamicchi! And here I was worried about you."

"Who the hell asked you to? And I just gave you food for free, you dare complain?"

"It was still in a wrapper, you jerk!"

"Ungrateful twat."

Kise didn’t stop grumbling, but still unwrapped, now slightly soaked with saliva, paper and looked thoughtfully at Kagami over the bread bun. “As I thought, you are bothered,” he reached his verdict.

"Want me to feed you another one?"

Of course he’s fucking bothered. His close friend, that he’d been showering and changing right next to for the past year, turned out to be into men and started dating his other close friend all in the course of one fine afternoon. Since then Kagami had a questionable pleasure of running into the happy couple making out behind the equipment room and feeding each other honey lemons during the joined Seirin-Touou practice. And everybody seemed to be perfectly fucking okay with that!

Kise didn’t cave. Kagami could see him intensely mulling something over and almost managed not to dread at the very thought of what might be going on inside the blond airy head. Then Kise got that provocative glint in his eyes that said 'I know exactly how to wipe the floor with your ass, buddy', and the feeling of dread settled comfortably in Kagami’s throat.

Kagami squared his shoulders at it.

He’s prepared for it. Whatever you’ve got, he’s fucking ready for it. Bring it on!

"I know what we should do!" Kise hit him with a truly model-worthy smile. "We should try dating, the two of us!"

Kagami was instantly floored.

-xoxoxo-

Taiga threw back his head, trying to catch falling snowflakes with his mouth, like he used to when he was a kid. The nostalgia of the cold feeling against his tongue unexpectedly worked to calm him down. Five days before Christmas. A time like that will fly by in a flash. Fifteen minutes until his agreed-upon meeting with Kise - almost eternity.

Now Kagami understood that back in that ill-fated burger joint he was played like a rookie. But back then all he could do was to not fall of his chair.

Between his choking, swearing, blushing and just general flailing, Kise managed to continue, unfazed. According to the blond’s twisted logic, it was mostly the novelty of it all, that took such a dramatic toll on Kagami’s pure heart. Were he, namely Kagami, to get more closely acquainted with the concept of men and dating together, it would no longer come as such a shock. Thus enter Kise, the selfless sacrificial lamb.

"I’m willing to do this for you as a friend. No, as your friend, it’s my duty to do this! How are the four of us ever going to hang out together, if you’re gonna jump at the mere sight of Kurokocchi? Or Aominecchi. And I’m not even talking about them together.”

The fact that the last time the four of them ‘hung out together’ was….. Was there even such a time?… To Kise that was apparently beyond the point.

"Just think about what it does to Kurokocchi knowing that his easily best friend and basket partner is a homophobe. It’s hurting him.”

"But I’m not homo-anything," Kagami protested meekly. "And how come we have to…”

"See? You’re already calling him a ‘homo’. That’s hurtful, you know. And also rude."

"I wasn’t…"

"It’s decided then. We’re meeting on, let’s see,.. Wednesday. I think, I have the afternoon off." Kise suddenly looked bemused. "Either that, or I’m kissing you right here, right now."

"The fuck?!"

"French style."

It must’ve been a case of brain overload. Or maybe Kagami, having finished stuffing his face, entered an almost drunken-like state of a digesting process that left him with not enough willpower to actually give a shit.

His opponent also felt him retreat and went in for the kill.

"Come on, it’s not like I’ll jump you, Kagamicchi. We’ll have fun, I won’t show you a bad time. And I’ll even take you to that steak place, you couldn’t get in last time - I know the owner. My treat," the blond hammered in the last nail on the coffin of Kagami’s protests.

"Hell, what’s the worst that could happen?"

Kagami was given no time to write down the list.

Now it was finally Wednesday. Morning. And a lifetime too late for Kagami to realize that he didn’t actually have to show up. After all, it wasn’t like Kise would hunt him down, or break up with him, for that matter. They weren’t actually dating! That was one thing Kagami had to constantly remind himself of just to stay afloat on the surface of sanity. It was the same as it had always been. The same! Two friends just casually hanging out, maybe shooting some hoops, maybe grabbing a bite. And yet, being, as he was, frankly speaking a novice in the dating department in general (men or no men), everything seemed different somehow. Catching fleeting glimpses of passer-bys on himself as he was waiting in front of the station, it seemed as if they were already in on his secret. Kagami could almost feel them watching him. Judging him. Waiting for the other shoe to drop.

At some point two school girls strolled by, then stopped a few meters away, bringing their faces together to whisper. For a moment their nearly identical dark coats and thigh-highs turned them into one formless creature with two whispering and sniggering heads. Kagami could swear he heard a joined “homo” roll down their unnaturally pink lips.

That did the trick. Kagami turned around promptly making his escape. Either he’s getting his ass out of here, like right now, or his brain will rot from paranoia.

"Kise can suck it!" he mumbled under his breath.

And that’s when Kise made his appearance.

Actually, Kagami didn’t see him right away. First he heard a pig-tailed head of the two-headed creature squeal. Kagami followed her gaze and.. right there and then wished to all the kami and bodhisattva he could remember that the concrete under him would please, oh please! simply crack open and swallow him whole.

No such luck. Instead, Kagami kept gaping at the creature that was undoubtedly Kise. The creature was wearing more fur and leather than the poor animals that they originally belonged to. The dark sunglasses (on a cloudy fucking winter day!) and massive cowboy boots completed the outfit.

"So?" Kise nodded the blond head - thankfully his own - in a greeting. "What’d ya say?"

What could he say?

"I thought I’d dress up a bit, since it’s the first date with Kagamicchi and all."

Oh. So that’s… for him?

"I hope the creature died a painless death," was all Kagami could master.

"How mean! This is a fake. I’m against animal torture, you know."

"Just pro-my torture then." Kagami grumbled.

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Let’s just go." The last thing he needed over here was for some celebrity-starved tourists to start taking pictures.

Kagami dragged his furry date a couple of blocks, choosing the narrowest, emptiest streets possible, before he got over his burning embarrassment enough to notice that the blond was rather disheartened. Now that didn’t quite amount to a pang of guilt, but still. Thinking rationally, it was a bit of a stretch, to expect Kise to dress up like a human being even on a normal occasion. And here he was actually trying for Kagami. That was almost heartwarming. Almost.

"The glasses have to go," announced Kagami decisively, for a bazillion’s time  tugging Kise away from a lamppost in his path.

"Yeah, I know."

-xoxoxo-

It actually wasn’t as shoot-me-in-the-head, I-want-to-kill-myself terrifyingly awful as Kagami thought it would be. Kise took them to an amusement park (who the hell knew those were open in winter?) and after the ‘mental patient in a rock star disguise’ outfit was reduced to an acceptable level in the nearest public restroom, they actually had quite a blast.

Kise turned out to be right - this date didn’t feel like Kagami was forced to do anything he didn’t want to. Heck, the date didn’t even feel like a date, safe for that one time Kagami nearly fainted when Kise very subtly held his hand while waiting in line for the next ride.

A couple of rides and a gut-twisting rollercoaster later Kagami finally managed to swallow a panicky lump in his throat and was able to breathe normally again. So all in all, it was a success. Probably. All things considered. Kagami was ready to keep considering and reconsidering some more, but his rumbling stomach ceased all of the brainwork. Again Kise didn’t lie. He really did take him to that steakhouse, the mere mention of which had Kagami drooling all over himself.

The alleged owner slash friend, Paolo or something, exploded in broken Japanese, praising Kise and the new winter collection (again, or something), while watching the blond’s ass with such eyes that Kagami had reserved purely for a steak itself, or for one of those magazines, he kept securely stuffed under the bed. Kise in turn smiled brightly and innocently, and ordered the most expensive thing off the menu. On the house.

"What?" he grinned up at Kagami, while cutting himself a very elegant bite of medium-rare premium beef.

"Nothing. Actually, did you….Nah." Kagami wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. "Did you notice how that guy, I meant the owner, how he…"

"Stares?" Kise huffed. "Yeah. Can’t really blame the guy. He’s into young Asian boys kinda stuff."

"I’d crush his balls if he looked at me like that."

"Heh, I have bad news for you, my friend. See, you say that, but you let me take you out on a date and my balls are still alive and dandy. Uncrushed."

"That’s!.."

"You can look, but you can’t touch - that’s my motto. A model’s curse, and all that. And did you notice we got all this on the house?" Kise’s expression suddenly turns all conspiratorial. "Hey, Kagamicchi, maybe we should try out some stuff. Give them all a bit of an eye candy. This is a date after all.”

"O..Over my fucking dead body!" Kagami struggled not to inhale a generous chunk of meat into the wrong pipe, while trying to simultaneously kick the blond under the table. Kise watched him for a moment, openly enjoying himself. Then suddenly threw back his head in a fit of slightly maniacal laughter.

He seemed to wreak havoc wherever he went, all thanks to that batshit sparkly personality of his. Well, maybe not all thanks - in some corners of his overly annoyed soul Kagami would have to grudgingly - very grudgingly - admit that Kaijo’s model-turned basketball ace was indeed very easy on the eyes. So at least one out of two heads that often turned after the blond, did so just to catch a glimpse of the long (way too long for a guy) eyelashes and heartwarming dark puppy eyes. Maybe. Maybe not. Who the hell knows?! Kagami’s not an expert.

Tumbling over his own train of thoughts, Kagami came back to reality only to realize that Kise had gone quiet. Mutilating the straw of now empty strawberry milkshake (Who would order that with a steak?!), he was now looking at Kagami with those same puppy eyes that have somehow managed to widen to at least twice their size.

"What?.." Kagami barked, suspicious.

"Nothing. Nothing, it’s just…" Kise waved his hand in front of Kagami’s face like he was trying to dissolve his worries into thin air.

"You’re staring.” He finished a bit sheepishly.

Holly fuck!

"I… I wasn’t!" Kagami protested, choking in turn on his own drink. The blond on the other hand seemed to have already regained his composure.

"It’s nothing to be ashamed of, really. I’m used to the attention."

"Kise, I swear to God, if you don’t shut up right now!.."

"Heh," Kise flashed him a wicked grin. "You’re not very good at this, are you, Kagamicchi?"

"At this what?"

"Wooing." Kise declared without batting an eyelash. "No wonder you have a problem with anything remotely romance related."

Kagami flailed.

"Where the hell do you even get this stuff?"

"From girls. Mostly. Sometimes from guys," Kise explained vaguely. "Here, I’ll show you. But you gotta relax, you’re way too tense, Kagamicchi. And don’t chicken out - there isn’t really a wrong move. Unless you opt for sticking your hands into someone’s pants without a proper ‘hello’. Oh, you got something right here, let me get that."

Kagami was still stomaching the ‘hands in someone pants’ remark, when Kise brushed his finger against his lips, indicating ‘something right here’ and promptly reached for Kagami’s  own mouth, all in one smooth move. Next thing Kagami knew, warm skin brushed fondly against his lower lip and retreated as swiftly as it had appeared. Kise with unwavering, absolutely mischievous smirk popped a retrieved breadcrumb into his mouth. “Yum!”

"What the hell?!.. Are you?.. Did you just?!!" Words failed him.

Kise looked like a well-fed satisfied cat.

"See, this is how it’s done." He said, still grinning.

As if everybody wasn’t already staring at them (You bet your ass they were! A couple of ordinary high schoolers in a fancy-pansy restaurant. Well, one ordinary high schooler anyway.) Kagami could now feel - almost physically feel - his back burn with intense, disapproving, scandalized glares.

"Fucking hell, Kise!" he breathed out.

Kise to his credit (and Kagami’s absolute dismay) didn’t even blink. “There’s of course a lot  more than just one way,” he continued in a tone Seirin’s biology teacher used to list all the bones and tissues in human body. “You can go for something more subtle, like ‘accidentally’ brushing your fingers against…”

Kagami made a run for it.

It was a total betrayal and cowardice, but if Kise started to brush his fingers against anything connected to Kagami’s body while Paolo and the rest of the crew and guests ‘looked but didn’t touch’, Kagami was ready to swear on his life those brushed limbs would fall off his body right there and then.

"You’re pretty cute when you’re freaked out, you know that Kagamicchi?" Kise caught up to him outside, sending a non-committal airy kiss to the dark-haired Latino in the window.

"Give me a break," Kagami was ready to beg. "I’ll be docile." He was also primed to give promises he wasn’t going to keep.

Kise, who had earlier fallen in step beside him, suddenly blocked his path, stepping into Kagami’s personal space . “It’s alright, I did promise not to show your virgin heart a bad time after all. And,” he added, looking up at Kagami  with those absurdly huge, begging eyes of his, “I never wanted you docile, Kagamicchi.”

Kagami felt something inside of him twist itself into a hangman’s knot, wither and die. Could’ve been his brain. Be that the case, he had no capacity left to assess the damage, really. Or the situation. Or the people around them (count the steakhouse lot in) giving them some very odd looks. Or Kise biting his lips millimeters away from his own.

"Can I go home now?" Somehow, maybe, if you wish upon a star…

"Did you honestly think I was just gonna feed you and set you free?" Kise raised an eyebrow at him. "That’s called freeloading, man. You got it confused with dating."

Right. Because dating is when you are humiliated and potentially molested in public.

"Com’on, the next stop is shopping." Kise grabbed his sleeve decisively and was back to dragging Kagami behind him like a rag doll.

Surprisingly, Kagami let him. He simply didn’t have the strength left to protest. Not when Kise was fully back into his ‘cheerful power up’ mode. The guy’s energy levels were seriously amazing. Somehow Kise managed to drag, point, grin and still find his way around the block, all the while chatting away for the both of them without ever stopping for a breath. He was also, it suddenly occurred to Kagami, apparently an overachiever, seeing as how he managed to fit three normal human dates’ worth of activities into a single day. And that’s while Kagami himself thought it a chore to even open his mouth. Maybe the blond was taking the energy from him, like some kind of life force-sucking vampire. But at least he wasn’t in Kagami’s face anymore. With every next centimeter of air separating  them Kagami could feel the vacuum of panic around his head lift just a bit more, making it easier to breathe… and function.

Kagami did feel another pang of dread once he saw the neat piles and racks of shirts and slacks and coats, and realized just who he had come shopping with, but Kise was on his best behavior. It turned out, as long as Kagami managed to keep Kise at an appropriate distance from anything fur-infused, sparkly, or stuff that looked like it didn’t belong in the realm of mere mortals, the blond had actually a pretty good taste. And once they ended up in the sportswear section… well, let’s just say, Kagami felt alive again. They tried on stuff none of them could afford. They fooled around with a basket ball that was no longer a part on an elaborate decoration. They went all serious in front of the staff and when they turned around Kise would make faces behind their backs. Kise did. Not Kagami. Kagami isn’t a kid anymore. Whatever Kuroko might have to say about that.

It was just snippets of a conversation. That’s all it was at first. A few words have suddenly drifted into Kagami’s hearing range, separating themselves from the usual ‘shopping mall during rush hours’ mix. Before Kagami could realize what exactly had caught his attention, a calm expressionless voice appeared again.

"… the Christmas gifts….. a scarf, maybe….. Senpai…", some indistinguishable mumbo-jumbo, "before….. Aomine-kun…", then "senpai" again. Stop!

Go back a second.

Aomine-kun? Aomine!

Kagami dropped a ten thousand yen shoe, twisting around.

The two distinctly blue-haired guys had just walked in and were now checking out the place, looking very cozy together. The hope that the voice Kagami had heard did not belong to Kuroko was mercilessly crushed.

"Kagamicchi, hey, d’you think I should get this in blue, or…"

Before he could hear Kise list all the colors of the rainbow, Kagami grabbed the blond and threw him into the nearest fitting room, getting in behind him and closing the curtain. He slammed a hand over Kise’s mouth before the other boy could explode with accusations.

"Uof uh woo woing?!" Kise ‘mooed’ into his palm, scandalized.

"Sorry! Just… don’t yell, okay?"

He could feel the rumbling of Kise’s voice in his hand as the blond mouthed an “uhmn…”. It could’ve mean anything really. Kagami took it as a ‘yes’.

"What the hell’re you doing?!" The blond whispered regaining control of his speech.

A valid question. What was he doing?

"Sorry, I saw Kuroko…"

"So?"

Kagami moved to explain and realized that he didn’t know how to. It had made perfect sense when he acted on instinct, he remembered that. But he forgot why.

"Look,.. I’m sorry, man. I know it’s a dumb plan."

"Okay, first of all, it’s not a plan.” Kise gesticulated profusely, realized he was still holding a bundle of jogging slacks, dropped them and continued with the outrage.

Kagami resisted an urge to use his hand again. “Just shut up for a sec, okay? He was there with Aomine. I panicked, alright? They could see us and think we were…”

"What? Shopping? ‘Cause that’s prohibited for guys from your crazy planet?”

"No…" Kagami mumbled feeling more and more like a donkey with five legs. "They could think we were.. together. Like, you know, on a date.”

"Yeah? And what are they gonna think now, when they see us coming out of the same changing room, together?"

"That’s…" Funny how he forgot to think about that.

"They’re gonna think that you’re screaming like a bunch of sissies that you are."

The life-saving curtain flew open. Aomine folded his arms on his chest, looking the duo up and down with a smirk. Kuroko was right behind him, wearing his usual poker face. “Hello.” He nodded a greeting.

There had been moments in his life, occasional moments when Kagami had wished he could see himself from someone else’s perspective, like when they won the championship, or during a particularly awesome dunk.

This wasn’t one of those moments.

Unfortunately, it was a tiny changing room with a huge mirror. With his back turned to them, Kagami could easily see Aomine and Kuroko watch him press Kise into a wall, a forgotten pair of faded pink pants still sandwiched between them. Which was kinda cool in you stop to think about it. Except, stopping to think about stuff wasn’t his strongest feature these days.

"It’s not what you think!" Kagami blurted out, mortified. "We weren’t doing anything."

"Yeah, we’ve pretty much heard all about what you think we think you’re doing." Aomine’s smirk grew even wider. It now had a distinct predatory quality to it.

There was a discreet coughing next to Kagami’s ear. Kise managed to look ready to explode with laughter and moderately embarrassed at the same time. “Let go?”

Jesus, he was still glued to the guy!

Kagami released the blond like he was made of melting copper. What to do next, he couldn’t fathom. It was Kuroko who saved the day .

"Let’s talk somewhere else." He offered and turned around, unreadable like a dozen of bricks. Kagami with his ill-fated ‘date’ dragged their feet behind him.

"Sorry ‘bout that," Kise clasped his hands together, looking sheepish. "Guess they heard me, huh?"

"Nooo! That wasn’t a soundproof curtain?”

"Lay off. I wasn’t the guy with the plan."

-xoxoxo-

Kagami didn’t remember how they exactly they ended up on a double date. He vaguely remembered Kuroko just going and asking point blank if he was a homo. And the following absurd discussion on whether it should be ‘homo’, ‘homosexual’, or ‘gay’. He distinctly remembered struggling to explain how Kise had said it would be just for practice and the little betraying shit going “I said no such thing. I believe my exact words were: we should try dating, the two of us”. After that the sequence of events stopped making sense. Somewhere along the way Kuroko suggested they make it a double date and the universe seemed to agree it was a brilliant fucking idea.

So to recap: one of these days he was having a burger, then he was having a date with Kise, and now he was - no shit! - on a real life double date with two miracles and a shadow. On a Farris. Fucking. Wheel.

What’s next? An orgy with the whole former Teiko team?  Kagami might as well let them take turns.

"Well, that was fun!" Kise  stretched like a cat, jumping out of the small glass cabin and back onto the firm ground." Kagamicchi, you don’t look too good. You okay?"

Kagami slowly lifted his eyes at him. “Peachy.”

The foul mood, the vexation that had followed him for the last couple of days was back with now doubled force. Kagami could feel it boil inside of him like a rotting stew. He was somewhat surprised to discover, that fact also meant that the feeling had been temporarily driven out in the first place, but was in no mood for celebration. All of his remaining energy was being used on trying not to bite the people who, he had to keep reminding himself of that, were actually friends.

Watching Kuroko hold hands and brush up casually against Aomine was hard enough as it was, but to have Kise hang off of his own arm, looking all competitive…

To make it home without exploding and doing something he would regret. That the goal of the evening. Evening? Had he really been keeping this up for the whole day? Kagami felt exhausted. Mentally. Physically. Exhausted. He was going home. He was getting into the shower and then he was getting into bed. No alarms. He’s sleeping this dating thing off for the next day. Or better yet, for a year.

"If we hurry up, we can still catch a movie. Kurokocchi, what was that thing you wanted to see?"

No.

Just, no.

No way in hell! Kagami thought and suddenly realized he was saying it out loud. Next to him Kise trailed off abruptly, surprised. Was he yelling or whispering? Did it matter?

"No," Kagami repeated as calmly as he was capable of. "Enough! For fuck’s sake, haven’t you had enough? You’ve had your fun. I get it! The joke’s on me."

"Kagami-kun? But dating is supposed to be fun…”

"It’s not a fucking date!" Yelling. Definitely.

"You!" He stuck his finger in Kise’s alarmed pretty face. "You said it was just for practice. It was supposed to help me,.. help… That doesn’t even make any sense! Anyway, it’s not a date, alright? I’m not a fucking homo! This is just make-belief. Got it?”

Before Kagami could make sure if they did or not, Kuroko walked over to him and calmly kicked him in the shin.

Whatever other words he was going to say got stuck on the way out. Kagami bended in half, wheezing, struggling to catch his breath. His head was a fuzzy, mushy mess.

"Wow, the guy really lost it." Aomine was watching him like he was a curious breed of Chihuahua.

Kise was quiet.

From where he was, Kagami could see his lower half turning away and walking off. “I got it. Excuse me a minute.” It sounded upset.

"Nice work," Kuroko offered his input.

 ”You bastard, you actually kicked me!”

"I should have kicked you harder. After you went and yelled at Kise-kun."

"You don’t get it. I just told the truth. That guy was…"

"No. You don’t get it. Go and apologize!”

Kagami stubbornly squared his shoulders.

"No way in hell!" Why did he have to?

A few minutes later he was in the nearby men’s restroom to retrieve a certain runaway blond. His jaw now sporting an impressive bruise. Kuroko didn’t look like much, but damn, that guy knew how to hit! (Kagami always managed to forget that, lulled into a false sense of security by his small size.)

Kise was easily spotted staring at the running water with his back to Kagami.

Okay, he might’ve gone a bit too far earlier, judging by the blond’s slumped shoulders.

"Hey…" Kagami started, but trailed off. He was so not good at apologizing. Actually, there wasn’t much besides basketball that he was good at.

"Hey,..uhm, sorry about earlier. The whole thing kinda… got away from me. My bad."

Still no reaction. Except, perhaps, Kise’s shoulders now started to tremble a bit.

Kagami narrowed his eyes with a sudden realization.

"Oh hell, you’re not crying, are you?”

That did the trick.

"Fuck you!" Kise spun around, grabbing Kagami by the collar. There was no tears in his eyes. Just plenty of fury. "You’re a fucking dumbass! An idiot with a potato for a brain! After all these you still haven’t got a fucking clue, have you?"

"You people keep saying that. I don’t get…"

Okay.

Never mind.

He got it this time. All by himself too.

That is to say, Kise’s tongue down his throat was pretty much self-explanatory.

…It felt like Kagami was on that Ferris Wheel again. Only this time it was spinning three hundred times faster an in every possible direction.

At some point he was skillfully maneuvered, so that they were sandwiched with Kise’s back to the wall. The other boy was grabbing at him, bringing them closer, deeper. Before letting go just as forcefully.

"How’s that for a make-belief?" he hissed into Kagami’s now swollen mouth.

Oh, Kise.

"Believable." Kagami said hoarsely.

Because what else could he say?

Kise’s eyes were gleaming and unfocused. Framed by curled up, long eyelashes. They were slowly drawing closer and closer until Kagami couldn’t take it anymore, closing the rest of the distance himself.

Kise leaned into him with his whole body, his hands now tugging at Kagami’s hair instead of his coat. An open-mouth kiss was caressing Kagami’s tongue and lips. But not demanding control - offering it.

'I never wanted you docile, Kagamicchi.'

Yeah, now he got that too.

Kagami pulled Kise sharply away from the hard surface and into his arms. This was all child’s play. And they were pubescent teenagers according to some expert opinion. They needed more. Like Kise’s lean body lined up against his with not a millimeter between them to spare. Like his own hands sliding over the blond’s body - hugging, caressing, fondling.

Kagami bit down on Kise’s lip and jerked their hips together, following a growing urge he didn’t fully comprehend.

Indecent? Forbidden? With another boy?

Who cared about any of this when they could feel each other like this?

Rubbing against each other through the rough material of their pants. Feeling the other respond to the maddening touch.

"Kagamicchi… Kagamicchi!"

"Shut up!" Kagami covered the begging mouth with his own. Fuck! If Kise were to keep moaning with that voice, Kagami would embarrass himself in three seconds.

It was as if someone had ripped off the lid on Kagami’s sanity and emptied out the contents.

The sound of Kise’s broken voice vibrated on Kagami’s lips. More. There was so much more left to kiss. To taste. Kise’s neck, his jaw line, his burning cheekbones…

When he caught a person’s figure standing next to them with his peripheral vision, Kagami almost had a heart attack.  

Kise caught on an instant later, both of them freezing simultaneously, both of them with ragged breaths and hearts hammering in their throats.

"Let me guess. It’s not what I think? You weren’t doing anything?" Kuroko didn’t even try to avert his eyes.

It was Kagami who couldn’t look at him instead. “How long…” he coughed out.

"…Have I been here? Let’s just say, long enough. This is a public restroom, you know.”

It was?

Gods! How long have they been here?

Kagami was struggling to gather what was still left of his scattered wits, but Kise collected himself faster. Sliding out of their embrace like he was made of liquid, the blond fixed his jacket and grabbed Kuroko’s arm.

"Let me show you where the door is, Kurokocchi," he offered his services, dragging him away.

Left to his own devices Kagami slumped against the wall and slowly let the gravity and steadily mounting exhaustion pull him down to the floor. His body was still vibrating from the recent strenuous activities. The awoken and not entirely spent desire was still there, circling through him, but not burning him from the inside anymore, just teasing. Kagami looked down at his hands - they were shaking.

Just what in holly fuck’s name had they been doing?!..

He didn’t know how long he sat there for.

-xoxoxo-

They didn’t get a chance to properly say anything to each other after that. Something, Kagami realized, wasn’t fair or right, but was incredibly grateful for it anyway. His mind frantically groped for anything ‘proper’ and came back empty-handed. Screw proper, he didn’t know words anymore. They did manage a few goodbyes in front of the now infamous train station. But the awkwardness was sipping through every 'so, I'll call you', and 'yeah, see you later… thanks!.. I mean, yeah'.

Kuroko finally put them out of their misery by taking official charge of getting ‘Kagami-kun’ safely home.

Yeah, right! Like there was something else left that he hadn’t been subjected to already.

Kagami didn’t protest.

They walked quietly for some time, with Kuroko paying just about as much attention to him as he would if Kagami was, say, a horse fly.

Kagami on the other hand felt an inexplicable, dreadful, but steadily growing urge to explain himself, and of course zero clue of how to go about it.

"Kuroko, listen, uhm.. back in the bathroom," he started not so subtly. If you don’t know how to go about it, say it point blank. "..Hell, I don’t know!" Yeah, that will clear things up. Way to go!

Kuroko awarded him a sideways glance.

"You are not very smart, are you Kagami-kun?"

"The hell?" Kagami started, but then promptly stopped himself. Aw, who the hell is he kidding!

Kuroko just waved his hand, cutting off the outrage with a sigh.

For a moment Kagami thought that was it. But then the other boy suddenly stopped in the middle of the street and simply said: “It wasn’t Aomine-kun, who confessed to me, you know. I asked him out.”

"Huh?" That wasn’t at all what Kagami was expecting to hear. In so many ways.

"He would’ve done it himself of course, eventually, he just wasn’t primed for it yet." Kuroko continued, ignoring Kagami’s confusion. "So I did it myself… I did it, because Kise-kun asked me to."

Kise asked him? To what,.. confess?

"Why?.."

Kuroko lifted his face and looked Kagami in the eyes. He had his slightly mischievous look on. (Which, unless you knew him like Kagami did, looked like every other poker face devoid of emotion.)

"Hmm… I should think, to set a good example. Since you weren’t getting any other of his signs."

Oh.

…

Oooh!

"Shut up!" Kuroko intersected just as Kagami opened his mouth. "You are not going to say anything smart anyway. So just let it sink in for a little while."

"Wait! Does that…"

"What did I just say?"

"But!.. Does it.."

"Yes, Bakagami. It does. Now shush."

"Pushy brat!"

Both of them.

They walked the rest of the way in silence on demand. Side by side. Kuroko lifted up his face, offering it to the evening breeze. Kagami’s mind was blank. His head heavy and feeling overstuffed, like it couldn’t fit another thought.

The phone in his back pocket vibrated against his butt just as they turned the last corner. And to think he was so close to making it home! Undisturbed.

Kagami popped the screen open and stared blankly at the enormous amount of emoji that made it a challenge to find the actual message. The text itself, once found, read short: "Let’s go to the movies next time." For some reason it made Kagami want to throw his phone against a brick fence. Instead he settled for punching in: "Fuck your movies!" and got a string of blushing faces in return.

That was unusual.

Kagami re-read his own message and paled. Instead of an intended snappy come back, what stared back at him was, "Fuck you in movies".

Autocorrect.

Oh. Dear. God!

 ”Are you okay?” Kuroko tried to peer over his elbow.

Kagami pondered that for a moment. There was a small bit of inability to process just what the hell had been done to him, a considerable bit of embarrassment and a huge chunk of confusion. SO they were what,.. a couple now? And what about that bit with Kise going around arranging confessions and setting up dates?

"Exhausted." He offered the final verdict.

Who the hell said that dating was easy? That it’s all unicorn rainbows and sheer fucking joy?! For Kagami it seemed more like teaching rocket science while riding a tricycle. On a rope. That hangs a hundred meters up in the air. Above a pit filled with needles and Lego pieces.

Kagami decisively shoved his phone back.

He’s not sharing those emotion-socked observations with anyone.

"It will get easier." Kuroko gives him a small but very knowing smile.

Kagami couldn’t even begin to explain to him all of the reasons why that couldn’t be true.

 -fin-