This was an experiment in writing style that I decided like five sentences in was probably bad but I couldn't just leave it and so here we are.

Falling in love with Kuroko was a process similar to the rising of a tide.

It felt like something inevitable and unstoppable, powerful and natural and it had snuck up on Taiga slowly, and it was only when he was half-underwater that he realised what had happened.

.

(Falling in love with Kagami-kun was like being razed to the ground by a forest fire; the beginning was a lightning strike that sparked among the debris of his soul and burned and burned and burned, and once the fire had raged out the forest was revitalised, with more life and beauty than before.)

.

It wasn't until around the end of their second year that Taiga cottoned on that he was unusually attached to Kuroko. Taiga liked to think he was fairly honest with himself, and so it was, when it finally occurred to him to think a little more about his peculiar friendship with Kuroko, that he came to the startled realisation that somewhere along the way Kuroko had moved from 'best friend and basketball partner' to 'best friend, basketball partner and person I have feelings for'.

Taiga's never figured himself for a romantic; the only love stories he knows are the ones he's sat through when his mother had control of the television, and the way he loves Kuroko is different to any depiction of love he's familiar with. That's not entirely surprising, considering that Kuroko isn't exactly your typical love-interest anyway, even if you put aside the fact that Kuroko happens to be of the same gender as himself.

He never once questions that it's love, despite this.

.

(Tetsuya figured it out much, much earlier, and with more trepidation. Quite simply, Tetsuya has been sure almost since he met him, that one day Kagami-kun's star will shine far too bright to be contained in this small place, and he will leave. He cannot ever begrudge this to him – after all, basketball is a love that they share so fiercely, the love that has entwined their fates and sparked the feelings Tetsuya now carries. And Tetsuya knows this; he knows that if he had the talent Kagami-kun does, he too would dream of far-away leagues and shores and the excitement and thrum of the challenge posed by the highest level of play. For Tetsuya, the understanding that love has twisted its way through his bones is melancholic and terrifying.

Tetsuya is familiar with love stories. Love is a recurrent, familiar and pervasive theme in literature, even in books where it is not the focus. He can recognise the way he feels about Kagami-kun in tales which feature unrequited feelings and hopeless situations.

Tetsuya never questions that it's love, either. He's quite self-aware, and after all, all the signs point that way.)

.

Taiga tells Tatsuya first.

Honestly, it's mostly because he's not really close with enough other people to divulge this kind of information to them. It's not that he doesn't have friends – Taiga considers Furihata, Fukuda and Kawahara to be his friends, and if pushed he'd probably consider Kise to sort of be his friend, and obviously there was Kuroko, but, he's not going to tell any of them about Kuroko and his feelings for him. Tatsuya is his brother; he'll probably tease Taiga mercilessly after establishing his support for him, but that's okay. Tatsuya won't think this is weird or wrong.

Taiga sends him a text message one afternoon after school and asks if he has the time for a private conversation. Tatsuya is in the midst of his post-high school transition, which has been hampered significantly, from what Taiga can tell, by an extraordinarily grumpy giant who very much disagrees with the idea of Tatsuya's leaving.

'I always have time for a private conversation with you,' Tatsuya replies, and Taiga appreciates the sentiment, even if it's not strictly speaking true.

Safely home, he makes the phone call while sitting next to his bed on the floor. Somehow, this feels just defensive enough to protect himself from what he's about to do.

"Taiga, hi. What's going on?"

Tatsuya's being pretty straight to the point, which is different for them. It's not unwelcome, though.

Taiga takes a deep breath and, somehow, manages to get the words out.

"I... Tatsuya, I think I... about Kuroko..."

Well, it wasn't exactly his most graceful sentence, but this was really hard to say. Harder than he'd thought it would be, definitely, and even the lack of face-to-face contact didn't lessen the embarrassment.

"Are you okay with that?" It's hard to tell what Tatsuya is thinking over the phone, but Taiga doesn't think he'd have much better luck if they were right next to each other.

"Yeah, I guess so," Taiga answers, scratching at his head. "I mean, it's a little bit surprising, but that just kind of makes sense too, since... Kuroko."

Tatsuya laughs at his comment, clearly finding what he sought for in Taiga's answer. "Are you going to tell him?"

"I'm still thinking about it." Even if thinking isn't really his strong point, he is. They have one more year playing basketball together, and Taiga doesn't want to fuck it up. He has faith in their basketball, but it would still bring an awkward, uncomfortable element to their partnership for a little while that Taiga's not keen on introducing.

Tatsuya is quiet for a moment. "Well, I don't know Kuroko-kun very well," he admits, "and Atsushi doesn't really talk about his old teammates very much. But Kuroko-kun clearly cares very much about you as a friend, so even if he doesn't entertain feelings for you, which I'm disappointed to tell you is a possibility, I'm sure he'll be understanding."

Taiga knows its possible Kuroko doesn't return his feelings. After all, it's not as if the odds are all that good that Kuroko likes guys, or that he would have an exception for Taiga.

.

(Tetsuya, shockingly, tells Kise.

Honestly, he would have preferred to tell Aomine-kun, but he's pretty sure that path ends only in being very annoyed with him and punching him for stupid and/or crass comments. Besides, Aomine-kun doesn't know what it's like to look towards someone who burns so brightly that it feels as if you have discovered that you're a planet and this is the star you've been searching for to orbit.

Kise-kun understands what it's like to have someone come into your life and turn it upside down and become the absolute centre of it, so, as insufferable as he can be, he is also the best candidate for advice.

It's just kind of unfortunate that Kise-kun is so excitable about Tetsuya finally accepting an invitation to meet up. Kise-kun immediately attempts to make convoluted plans, which Tetsuya shuts down immediately. They'll meet for a drink. By which he means, 'I will be getting a vanilla shake, and you will get whatever it is that you want to have'.

Kise-kun is obnoxiously sparkly and cheerful as they meet, and he gets a vanilla shake too, which is also obnoxious, and they sit in the corner and then all the sparkles are gone and he's looking... surprisingly serious.

"What's up, Kurokocchi?" he asks. "I mean, not that I'm not super happy to get to spend time with you, but you usually prefer to hang out with Kagamicchi. Actually, I'm pretty sure you prefer to spend time with everyone except Midorimacchi before me. Which you know, is really sad for me, but, it does make me pretty curious as to why you actually accepted my invitation. I've kind of just come to accept that a no is always coming."

Tetsuya fights off his nerves by taking a long sip at his drink. "You were the best person I could think of to understand a situation I have found myself in," he finally admits. "I also believe you to be likely the most accepting of what I'm going to say."

Kise-kun brightens and sparkles a little. Honestly, Tetsuya is going to regret this so much.

"So?" he prompts.

"Be patient, Kise-kun."

Tetsuya enjoys watching Kise-kun squirm as he attempts to keep a lid on his curiosity. He does a remarkably good job of it, so Tetsuya gives in.

"I... may be entertaining feelings for Kagami-kun."

Kise-kun blinks once, then twice. Then a smile creeps up on him.

"Oh my god, Kurokocchi—" he starts, and he's loud. Tetsuya kicks his shins hard.

"What was that for?" Kise-kun whines, reaching down to rub at his leg.

"You were being very loud, and I didn't wish the entire restaurant to hear what you had to say."

Kise-kun sighs and leans back in his seat. "I always wondered if you'd figured me out about Aominecchi," he comments. Well, he hadn't, actually; Tetsuya hadn't thought it extended that far, but Kise-kun doesn't need to know that. "But that's so cute, Kurokocchi, you guys would be so adorable together."

Tetsuya huffs, and considers kicking him again. "I'm not sure that Kagami-kun feels similarly."

"Well, I didn't say I knew anything about Kagamicchi's feelings," Kise-kun says, "I was just commenting on how you'd be together." Kise-kun twirls the straw around in his cup. "But if you're asking me what I think, I think Kagamicchi likes you. It's the way he plays with you. Your partnership is way more intense with him than it ever was with Aominecchi. Like, it just runs deeper, from what I can tell having seen both of your on-court partnerships."

"Kagami-kun might seem very similar to Aomine-kun, but there's no way you can compare them like that," Tetsuya argues.

"Sure I can," Kise-kun says easily. "They're both basketball idiots, and they're pretty bad at the whole talking, feelings stuff. The best way to understand them is through basketball. It's even like that for me. Every time I fall back to the comfort of Aominecchi's style, it's like a secret confession. Sure, you could argue that Aominecchi's style is the strongest, but I don't have to use it as much as I do. The fact that it's the one that comes most naturally to me says a lot about me and my feelings, I think." Kise-kun smiles. "I'm a basketball idiot too, after all."

And Tetsuya really has nothing to say to that at all.)

.

Taiga's revelation changes exactly everything and nothing.

He and Kuroko are still the same as they always have been, and do all the things they've always done. They play basketball, sleep through classes, go to Maji Burger, attempt to study at either one of their homes, and talk about basketball. Yet somehow there feels as if there's an undercurrent that Taiga's only really just noticed. He's not sure whether it goes both ways, or if it only runs in one direction, but he tries not to let it affect anything. It's not as if Kuroko's acting any different. It's just that the way Taiga looks at him and the way he thinks about him.

.

(Tetsuya notices that Kagami-kun is acting weird.

He behaves the same as always, but somehow there's a sense of unease, and Tetsuya isn't sure where it's come from. Watching Kagami-kun has become somewhat of a habit over the past two years, and there's something off underneath the normality.

Tetsuya can't help but wonder if this is the beginning of what he's always expected – that Kagami-kun is preparing himself for the inevitable end of their partnership at the end of next school year and his departure from Japan.

He's torn between his desire to keep Kagami-kun close and convincing him to stay, and doing the right thing and letting him go. In the end, he's doesn't feel like he's doing a particularly passable job of either one. They're going on the same as they always have, pretending that they're not noticing the weirdness that seems to have developed between them from nowhere.)

.

It's just...

Taiga wants to do something, but he just doesn't know what.

He's never been good with girls, although that doesn't exactly mean a whole lot considering that Kuroko isn't a girl. But at least he sort of gets how things are supposed to work with girls. He has no idea where you're even supposed to start with boys. He's pretty sure you go about these things differently when you're both boys, and he barely knows how to deal with girls.

Things would be simpler if he knew what Kuroko was thinking and feeling. Sometimes he can just tell, but despite how they've bared some of their lowest moments to each other, Kuroko can still be kind of secretive when it suits him, and he tends to be especially reticent about divulging information regarding his personal relationships, because he was just that kind of guy who believed that those things belonged only to the people involved.

He's supposed to have instincts, right? He wishes they'd be of some kind of use right about now.

Taiga feels like he's always watching Kuroko these days, trying to get in his head. Kuroko can be such a mystery to him off the court, though, so it feels a lot like trying to wade through mud.

.

(Kagami-kun has been looking at him a lot lately.

It's a strange and somewhat heady feeling, to feel watched as opposed to feeling ignored. Kagami-kun has gotten much better at keeping his focus on Tetsuya, though his initial detection is still so-so [but then, Tetsuya loves when he catches Kagami-kun by surprise, so it doesn't bother him]. Still, Tetsuya can't figure out why Kagami-kun is suddenly watching him so much on the occasions he can corner him with his gaze.

Kise-kun's words echo through his mind, sometimes. He thinks about basketball; specifically, he thinks a lot about playing basketball with Kagami-kun. He doesn't feel as if he was wrong to say to Kise-kun that Kagami-kun and Aomine-kun cannot be compared so simply and easily, but it isn't like it's exactly untrue either. There are some notable similarities between them deep down where it matters most.

Part of him doesn't want to believe Kise-kun could be right, if only because then he'll have to admit that Kise-kun figured out his own partner before he did, but part of him wants to know if Kise is right or not. For all the time he spends people-watching, his observational skills can only take him so far in figuring people out because there's always so much more beneath the surface. This is exactly the kind of thing that most people hide away, even people who're as straightforward as Kagami-kun usually is.

Something, Tetsuya decides, has to be done. Clearly he does not have the resolve to let his partner go –that much is obvious already. He is also not the type of person to feel satisfied doing things by halves. He has faith in their partnership, in their friendship, that it can recover if Kise-kun is wrong, if his hopes have been misplaced.)

.

Kuroko kisses him first.

Honestly, it completely blindsides Taiga – somehow he gets the vague, grumpy feeling he always gets when Kuroko surprises him that stems from the notion that he really should have seen whatever Kuroko has done coming.

It happens like this: they are walking towards Taiga's apartment after they had gone to muck around on the nearest street court, and Taiga is looking for his keys in his bag when, in front of the door to his apartment, Kuroko reaches up and grabs him by the neck of his t-shirt and pulls him down. The reason for this was not immediately apparent to Taiga until Kuroko's lips were on his.

When they part a few seconds later, and Kuroko lets go of his shirt, they kind of just stare at each other for a moment. Kuroko's cheeks are pink but his expression is unrepentant, and it's a good look on him.

Taiga wants to ask a lot of things (why, is this what I think it is, do you feel the same), but words are hard even at his best moments, and better is to initiate another kiss, because Kuroko's looking ready to pull his disappearing stunt, and that is completely unacceptable when Kuroko has just kissed him. This kiss is much more relaxed, missing the edge of fear that tinged the kiss Kuroko initiated, but is over just as quickly, and Taiga turns back to his bag again because he still hasn't found his keys.

Kuroko is smiling, and they probably should be talking about this, but Taiga can't bring himself to care because once they get in his apartment they can go make out on his couch.

.

(They don't talk about it for a week, although kisses are stolen and exchanged regularly when they manage to catch a private moment; and sometimes not private ones. Tetsuya can't even be mad that Kise-kun was right because he's made a game of stealing kisses from Kagami-kun in public when he knows he can get away with it because people don't notice him and enjoying the way that Kagami-kun gets embarrassed and flustered because public displays of affection make him feel awkward [but he never tells Tetsuya not to do it].

When they do finally talk about it, it's when they're playing basketball together – basketball is sacred, so kisses have stayed off the court.

They end up sitting back to back as they speak [yes, they both have feelings for each other; yes, they want to give being together a try; yes, Kagami-kun is probably going to try for the NBA, but why on Earth should that mean he's leaving Kuroko behind? It's too early to be thinking about this, they have a whole year together at the very least, and their relationship is being built on a solid foundation of friendship and partnership and trust, and they can overcome all the obstacles in their path, he's sure], and coils in Tetsuya's stomach he's never noticed were there loosen.

"You should know this already, but I wouldn't have kissed you if I didn't like you," Kagami-kun says.

"Some of us enjoy the certainty of hearing such things said rather than implied, Kagami-kun," Tetsuya replies.)

One day I will stop writing trash fics, but clearly that day is not today. I hope you enjoyed it anyway.