So sorry this took so long to get out. The chapter deleted itself twice and when you're rewriting the same chapter, after the third time you tend to lose motivation.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas period!

Chapter Five: Like Magic

~.~.~

Kuroko watched Kagami over the top of his arms. His head was down on his desk, feigning sleep, but he was alert. More alert than he had been in months.

The high intensity training which the Seirin High Basketball club members had been subjected to was taking its toll, but they were improving rapidly. Their teamwork was also steadily developing, especially now that they were all becoming use to Kuroko's lack of presence. They were ready for his passes far more often than not, though he still managed to catch them off guard on occasion.

Kuroko found that his own abilities were improving and adapting to his situation. Though he sometimes struggled to find privacy, Kuroko ensured that he spent at least thirty minutes a day meditating. He would have preferred a longer span of time, but that wasn't always an option. The ghostly tendrils that led to his core still remained where they were, but the centre of his core remained a pure green. The strand of green that remained we tightly intertwined with their icy counterparts, though Kuroko got the impression that they were caressing each other more so than strangling. The reason for the majority of Kuroko's improvement was not the expansion of his core. Kuroko was sleeping.

A full night's sleep. No distractions, no nightmares, just blissful rest.

He had found a saviour in Kise Ryōta. The blonde model had taken to Kuroko's home as if it were his own. Of course, he had originally protested at the arrangement, but the model had paid him no mind. With the knowledge of Kuroko's home address on hand, he had shown up on his door step on multiple occasions. It became common for Kuroko to wander home only to discover Kise waiting for him with a grin.

This was troublesome. Having what was essentially a guard watch over him 24/7 meant that he had to hide his powers to a greater extent. No longer could he disapparate directly home on the off chance Kise was already waiting outside or, god forbid, let himself in. Luckily for Kuroko, he didn't own many magical things from his passing through the veil, though he made sure to keep his invisibility cloak and resurrection stone hidden at all times.

His wand, however, was a complication. He liked to have it on hand because of emergencies, but keeping hidden up a sleeve wouldn't cut it for long. More than once, Kuroko had to quickly shove it down the side of the couch before being accosted by Kise.

Despite the relatively safe life he had in this new world, his lack of wand when playing basketball made him twitchy. His wandless magic was growing, but still extremely limited and Kuroko didn't like leaving himself vulnerable. He had a few ideas on ways to rectify the situation, however, he had yet to implement any of them.

A sharp yell from Kagami brought Kuroko out of his musings. It seemed that their teacher had finally noticed his teammate's lack of attention and decided that the way to get it was via a textbook connecting with his head. To his credit, the teacher seemed unconcerned with the hand that was currently resting on his head from what must have been a dream dunk from Kagami.

"How dare you sleep so shamelessly in my class," he demanded, making a public example of Kagami before walking off.

His redheaded teammate stewed in his seat for a moment before he looked over his shoulder. Kuroko made to turn his head away as though he was sleeping blissfully. He could feel the red eyes trace over his form before he was dismissed.

The bell rang and Kuroko watched as Kagami left without him. Kuroko slumped back in his seat and observed as the rest of the class filtered out. Soon, even the teacher had left the classroom, turning off the lights as he went and leaving Kuroko sitting in the shadows.

Kuroko concentrated on the far wall and urged the light switch to move. After a pause the room was flooded once more with light and Kuroko lent over to grab his lunch from his bag. It looked like he would be eating alone again today.

~.~.~

One of the elephants from the herd in the room was finally being culled away. The team was finally discussing the upcoming interhigh preliminaries and the plays they would need to make. They had been training, but it hadn't been focused at all on strategies which would need to be implemented. Kuroko understood the need for motivational training, and that roll from the canteen had been delicious, but they needed to go beyond that.

Their main upcoming opponent was Midorima, and the Generation of Miracles only got more difficult after that. Midorima was skilled, but like the rest of his former teammates he was arrogant.

"…and strongest opponent is Shutoku High. Last year, they were in the nation's top eight. On top of that, just like Kaijo, they had one of the Generation of Miracles join their team. If we can't beat them, we won't make it to the Nationals."

"Kuroko," Kagami spoke rather begrudgingly, looking down at his sheet. "You know who he is, don't you?"

Kuroko gave his partner a sidewards glance, wondering why he was getting so much cheek from the power forward lately. "I doubt you would believe me even if I told you."

"However, as Kise said," he continued and noticed the way Kagami scowled at Kise's name. He already beat Kise at basketball, he really needed to get over this petty rivalry. "The other four are on another level. If they've gotten even better, I cannot begin to imagine how good they are."

"Before we play Shutoku, we need to win out first game! Let's make sure we get the ball!"

"By the way, where is the coach?" a voice piped up from the back.

Hyuga push up his glasses and spoke. "She went to observe our first opponent's practice game."

As he finished his sentence, Riko walked into the room. Her face was ashen, but there was a fire in her eyes. "I'm back."

"Speak of the devil," Hyuga muttered, looking back over his shoulder at their coach. He took in her appearance and blanched. The next words only made him go paler.

"Coach, are you gonna skip today?" Shinji called out without a hint of thought.

Her answer was what could only be describe as a snarl. "Like hell I will!"

"Morons," Hyuga chastised, hoping to get in the coach's good books and be saved from her almighty wrath. "She wouldn't act like an idiot over an official game." He paused. "But you do seem unhappy. Are they good?"

"We shouldn't be worrying about Shutoku, when our first match isn't looking good."

"What do you mean?"

Riko turned away, bringing her finger to her chin. Her clear amber eyes were tainted with concern. "One of their players might give us some trouble. You can watch the video later," she stated, handing over the video to the team captain.

Riko riffled through her phone for a few moments and Kuroko stepped forward. "Have a look at this picture," she demanded, holding out the phone for Kuroko's view.

He gingerly took the phone and turned red, much to the confusion of the rest of the team.

On screen was a photo clearly taken by her own hand, held high above her in an aerial view. She lay back on her bed, her hair surrounding her like a halo in lazy curls. On of her legs cross the other, hiding anything truly indecent using the curve of her thigh. Her back was arched off the bed, accentuating her assets which were further pushed up by her free arm which wrapped around her body, one arm cupping the side of her breast. That, however, did not hide her breasts in all their glory wherein Kuroko hastily averted his eyes. Her own were playful; one eye winking while the other seemed to beckon the viewer forward. On the corner of the scandalous photo were cursive writing which read, 'come get me, Teppei' with a few small hearts surrounding the text.

He quickly tucked away the phone and handed it back to the coach. "I think you may have selected the wrong photo," he squeaked.

She took the phone back and also squeaked. The team looked back and forth between reddened player and coach like they had discovered a new species.

Kagami seemed torn by what had just occured. He had glanced over the shoulder of his partner for a moment and while he had not seen the details of the photo, however, he quickly picked up on the nature of it. Kuroko's red face seemed strange to him. Why was he blushing? He had thought…

Riko cleared her throat and changed the picture. "Sorry, it's the next one…" she trailed off, double checking before handing it over to the team. She seemed relieve when this time no one seemed startled outside of the appearance of their opponent.

"His name's Papa Mbaye Siki. He's two meters tall and weighs 87 kilograms. He's an exchange student from Senegal."

"He's huge!" Hyuga gulped.

"Are they allowed to do this?" Shinji exclaimed, a sweat drop rolling down the side of his face.

Even Kagami was shocked at the size of the exchange student. After living in America, he was used to tall opponents, but this was ridiculous. Nevertheless, he hid his apprehension and said, "He's just big."

In the photo, Papa gave a stern look, side eyeing the camera. His jaw was set, further defining the muscle that could be seen towards the bottom of the frame on his biceps.

This appearance gained no reaction from Kuroko. He had taken down bigger opponents on and off the battlefield.

"This Papa Mbaye… What was it?"

"Papanpa?" another piped up.

Shinji smiled. "It's Papa Try-Hard."

"Papa… Papaya Ito."

Everyone continued to argue over the name of the foreign exchange student. It helped to lighten the mood.

Riko sighed into her hand. "We're not getting anywhere. Kuroko-kun, give him a nickname."

Said player thought for a moment. A devious idea coming to him in a moment. He carefully schooled his features and delivered his idea in the most monotone voice that he could. "How about 'Daddy'?"

"EhhHHH?"

"It's a play on the name and will likely throw him off if we call it out during the match?" he explained.

"I'm not just gonna call out 'dadd-," Izuki began to pipe up before blushing. "During a match."

Kuroko shrugged. "Psychological warfare at its finest," he coaxed. Internally, Kuroko was dying with laughter. Riko smirked at his suggestion, whether she had cottoned onto his joke or agreed with his tactics, he was unsure. Regardless, this was going to be hilarious.

"Everyone from now on is to refer to Papa Mbaye Siki as 'Daddy'," she commanded.

Immediate protests were made, but Kuroko and Riko smiled evilly at each other.

"Enough!" Her yell quieted the protests and the team stood at an awkward attention. "He's not just tall. His arms and legs are long too. Everything about him is big," the coach, now serious, explained. "More and more schools are recruiting exchange student to increase their strength. Our next opponent, Shinkyo High, was only a middle tier school until last year, but with the addition of a single foreign player, they've become a completely different team."

Kagami scowled. "But we can't just do nothing."

"Who said we would?" their coach replied cheerfully. "So, Kagami and Kuroko, starting tomorrow, the two of you will have your own training regimen."

His counterpart looked pleased, but Kuroko wasn't happy.

"With all due respect. I don't think you should focus on myself and Kagami-kun," Kuroko stated, much to the shock of everyone present. "You said Shinkyo was a middle tier school until they recruited Daddy." Most of the room still blushed and cringed at the nickname. "That means the other players on the team are going to be the weak points. We should continue training as a group so that we can bypass Daddy and overwhelm the rest of the team."

With bated breath, the team waited for Riko's response. No one had dared up until this point to question her tactics. "You make a good case, Kuroko-kun. But for now, I need the two of you to become the trick up our sleeve. I want you to know everything about each other. How you react, how you move, even your breathing patterns," she commanded. "The rest will follow later."

Kagami was slightly insulted that Kuroko would argue against them getting special training. It was obvious that they were the advantage that the team needed. He felt awkward as he looked at his companion out the corner of his eye. Kuroko seemed concerned, an expression he didn't have often. He bumped Kuroko with his shoulder lightly to get his attention, but he was quickly shrugged off.

"The preliminaries start on May 18th. Until then, you wont even have time to complain!"

"Yeah!" the majority of the team called out. Kuroko couldn't help but notice Kagami was silent.

However, after getting the cold shoulder for no reason for so long, he wasn't about to ask why.

The rest of the training for the day went generally smoothly. The team, motivated by the speech and upcoming challenge, jumped higher and ran further in order to push themselves. Kagami and Kuroko dutifully played their part, but the was an ever-present tension surrounding them.

Riko wondered what was wrong, but didn't intervene. If it kept up for much longer however, then there would be something to say.

~.~.~

A bell chimed softly as he pushed open the glass door. In front of him sat a small reception area where an employee was looking confusedly between the bell and the area where he was. He waved to draw her attention and she jumped, but did not comment.

To his right, he noticed a set of brightly coloured couches, presumably a waiting area, with a couple of TVs lining the wall. One of the screens shuffled through works from the various artists from the establishment while another showed the starting screen for Red Dead Redemption.

What interested him more were the portfolios the lay on the crowded coffee table.

Kuroko sat down and started to flip through one of the books. In the background, the sound of humming quietened his mind and he did not noticed when one of the artists looked at him curiously before shuffling through another set of doors.

The first book was rather traditional, using thick lines and big blocks of colour in a western style. There were various sailor motifs and dragons, which while not necessarily beautiful in the traditional sense, were awe inspiring in their own way. There were various flash pieces, but some pages were taken up entirely by clearly custom designs.

Placing the book aside, he moved onto the next. This one was noticeably lighter, but no less impressive. Colour seemed to jump out of the page, eager to paint the world in its splendour. The majority of the work revolved around creating the image of traditional mediums. They had artfully created the impression of watercolours and brush strokes in a way Kuroko had not expected was possible. Their work seemed to contain a great about of symbology and metaphors. Striking, but ultimately not what he was looking for.

The third book was thick with various photographs and sketches falling out the sides. Contained within were traditional styles of a Japanese nature. However, halfway through the portfolio slowly began to shift styles. They various pieces took on a more abstract approach, wild lines and sketches making it difficult to interpret what some of the designs actually were. Controlled chaos would be how Kuroko described it. But once more, not what he was looking for.

The finally book had more promise. Again, it was not as thick as some of the others, instead the portfolio was set out neatly, clearly well cared for. It mostly contained realism, though on occasion the artist dipped into black work and dot work. For the most part they were simple designs, usually surrounding a main focus with a few minor details that added depth rather than taking away from the main attraction. A few examples later, Kuroko gently placed the portfolio down, taking note of the artist's name.

"Excuse me," Kuroko said after waiting patiently for a few moments. The receptionist jumped once more at his presence, but again she did not comment.

"My apologies, how may I help you?" she asked, putting her magazine down. He humorously noted that she seemed to be reading a playboy magazine in broad daylight. "I was hoping to get a consultation with Alex about a piece, whenever they're free next."

Clicking through the schedule, she quickly informed him that Alex would be finished with a client in a few more minutes and be able to fit him in. True enough, mere minute later, Kuroko found a finger tapping him on the shoulder from his position on the couch. He did not need to look very far up to meet his artist's eyes.

Alex could not have been more than 5"4, however her height was exaggerated by the thick soles of her boots. Her silver dyed hair was placed up into a messy bun, pinned in place by a thin graphic pencil. She appeared to be a westerner by blood, though her accent and mannerism gave nothing of it away.

"ID," she requested, holding out her hand.

Without hesitation, Kuroko pulled out a card. He had transfigured it earlier from an eraser. He felt bad for deceiving this establishment, but he wasn't about to tattoo himself.

She looked over it for a few more moments, but ultimately could find no fault within the fake ID despite her obvious disbelief of him being of age. "Right through here, Kuroko-san."

He followed Alex through the winding hallway. Rooms were separated only by dividing screens, so he could hear the buzz of other artists working along with the occasional groans from their clients.

The room he finally stepped into was rather small, but big enough for the purpose of their meeting. A sink and counter lined one wall, clean except for the various inks and equipment which lay on it. The adjacent wall was covered in various sketches, and judging by Alex's style, all done by herself. Some seemed to be half complete, only pencil filling in some parts while solid pen filled in the rest. The most notable thing however, were the pinned insects which lay delicately inside glass boxes on the wall. Had Kuroko been a little more squeamish he might have reacted, but after dealing with blast-ended skrewts in Hagrid's class and acromantulas, these were nothing.

In the middle of the room was rather comfortable looking table, leather lining the body. Next to it was a stool which Alex promptly perched herself on, grabbing hold of a note pad and pen.

"Are you a virgin?"

Kuroko sputtered a little, not having expected that to be her first question.

Taking in his shocked expression, she scoffed. "A tattoo virgin," she clarified. "Will this be your first?"

Eventually Kuroko answered that, yes, this is his first. Alex nodded, expecting as much.

"Are you after a custom piece or has one of my flash pieces caught your interest?"

"Custom," Kuroko answered, beginning to pull his wand out of his pocket. "Though I'm after a replica of this on my forearm."

She didn't question why Kuroko was holding a twig out for her inspection, but the corner of her right eyebrow twitched ever so slightly. She reached out to take hold of the wand, and Kuroko allowed her to grasp it by the handle despite her reservations.

The elder wand seemed so pitiful in her hands. One of the three most powerful objects in this universe was in her grasp, yet in the hands of a muggle, it was but a branch from a tree. He could feel the elder wand pulling at his core, yearning to be sent back to the Master of Death, yet it did not spring from Alex's grasp.

"Do you want it this length, or something smaller?"

"Same length. Identical in every way that you can manage. The only exception being that I don't want any colour."

The wand was the darkest of browns, almost black, so that wasn't a problem for the artist. She took a few notes and a photo of the wand for future reference.

"No worries," she muttered, looking over her notes once more. "An easy enough request. I'll need a 16000-yen deposit. After that it's 10500 for each hour, but I don't anticipate that this tattoo will take more than two to three hours considering you're not getting colour," she rattled off, twirling her pen around her fingers. "Heads up, the shading is going to be a bitch, but don't take any drugs or alcohol before you get here. It thins the blood and will fuck up my hard work."

Kuroko communicated that he understood and took his wand back from her grasp. "Before I leave Alex-san, I have one request. I'd like to use my own ink."

She shrugged. "Alright. But you'll have to sign a waiver saying that you wanted this, and that if you get and infection or anything else from the ink that it is not the fault of our establishment or myself."

Again, Kuroko nodded and promptly made a booking at the front desk. The receptionist barely even bothered to put her magazine down this time. Instead, she quickly typed in his details and handed a small card with his booking and pre-tattoo instructions.

~.~.~

Kuroko would have liked to apparate home. It would have been terribly convenient, especially considering the aches of basketball were starting to wear on him, however, he couldn't. Upon his arrival back to his quaint apartment, Kuroko silent thanked himself that he had the foresight not to. Kise had indeed promoted himself to actually letting himself inside his apartment.

When he saw the door slightly ajar, Kuroko allowed his wand to slip into his hand. Silently creeping along, he laid himself flat again the wall, making himself a smaller target. The training from his previous life was still ingrained in him and he silenced his footsteps without even thinking. He gently nudged the door open a centimetre further with the tip of his wand. The door did not creak as it opened, Kuroko having silenced the hinges through the elementary wards he had placed on the house.

Immediately, the smell of food wafted through to him. The sound a sizzling pan and low humming became much more acute. Kuroko allowed his shoulders to relax and slipped his wand back into his pocket. Pushing open the door all the way, Kuroko finally allowed himself into the apartment, locking the door behind him.

He set his bag gently down on the floor next to the door and made his way leisurely to the kitchen. Standing in the doorway, Kuroko admired as Kise cooked away. He must have heard his entrance by now, but made no move to turn around, instead concentrating on the task in front of him.

It was only when two arms wrapped around his waist that Kise, reacted, though not before Kuroko could get a say in.

"Have you burnt it yet?"

"Kurokocchi," he greeted, leaning back against the wizard. "Why must you mock my hard work?"

He wasn't quite tall enough to see over Kise's shoulder, but he did his best to peer around at the stir-fry. "Just trying to prevent the both of us from getting food poisoning," he quipped, leaning his head back against Kise's shoulder blades.

"How'd you get in," Kuroko eventually asked, his voice muffled by the fabric of Kise's shirt.

Without an inch of remorse, Kise replied, "I stole your spare key."

"Huh."

"Yep. I wanted to surprise you with a decent dinner, but you came back faster than I expected."

Kuroko noted the darkening sky through the window and that his trip to the tattoo parlour made him come back later than usual and concluded that Kise had either started too late or was extremely slow at preparing food.

"You didn't have too," Kuroko said. Kise started to speak but was cut off by Kuroko. "But I'm glad you did."

They stood like that for a few more minutes before Kuroko pulled away. As he turned to leave, Kise stopped him for a moment. Holding up his right hand, he placed a delicate kiss to the inside of his wrist. "Dinner will still be about twenty minutes. Go relax. I've already set the table."

Kuroko pulled away and nodded, ignoring the fluttering sensation within himself. This was actually a perfect opportunity to get some work down without having Kise as a distraction.

He set himself up at the small desk he had acquired recently. It was mostly stack with textbooks for school, but he gave himself enough room to work. He emptied out all of the ink from the small bottle into a clear bowl. It would be more ink than necessary, but he supposed it couldn't hurt to have some extra. He tapped the bowl thrice with his wand, looking over his shoulder to make sure that the noise hadn't drawn Kise's attention.

Seeing that he was in the clear, Kuroko hovered his hands over the ink, allowing himself to be pulled into his mindscape. The familiar colours which wrapped around his core greeted him like an old friend.

The tricky part was holding onto this place whilst bringing another part of his mind back to reality. The urge to completely allow his mind the flit from one to the other was an ever present struggled. Slowly he began to see the outside world within his mind, like looking through frosted glass. Eventually, it was clear enough that Kuroko was able to focus on the ink in front of him. Little ripples covered the surface, shaking from some unknown force.

With almost a tenderness, Kuroko directed his magic into the liquid, watching as the strands reached out to its depths. The ink did not glow, nor did it seem to react in any particular manner, yet it hummed. Not a humming like Kise in the kitchen, instead it was a steady beat which radiated from within.

The liquid seemed to calm, moving at a sluggish pace, rather than the quaking from before. Kuroko gently pulled the strands back, not wanting to disturb the liquid on the way out.

Within his mindscape all was well once more. The strands pulled back towards his core, wrapping around it like the arms of a lover. Emerald and ice intertwined and rested again one another.

The distant humming in the background had stopped and Kuroko fled from his mind. He felt his body fall back into the desk chair as Kise came into the room. In his hands were two steaming bowls, saving his hands from the heat only through his speed and stubbornness. They were loudly placed on the table and Kuroko made to get up, only noticing the shaking in his legs as he tried to stand.

Kise looked over in confusion, asking if Kuroko was okay.

"I'm just a little weak. Didn't eat enough today," he replied, using the chair to help push himself up.

Kuroko hadn't expected to become magically exhausted from infusing the ink with his magic, but he supposed it did require quite a bit of concentration along with wandless magic.

Tidying away the ink, Kuroko made his way over to the table before hesitating and making a detour to the kitchen. Kise frowned at him and the item in his hands when he returned.

"Those shakes are going to kill you, you know?"

This wasn't the first time Kise had lectured Kuroko on healthy eating. He supposed that the model had to have picked up some good habits.

"I'll still eat all my dinner, I promise. I could use the sugar boost in the short term," he explained, sitting down to eat. The pepper up potion within the familiar vanilla shake would certainly do wonders.

Dinner smelled lovely and tasted equally so. They both chatted lightly about their days. They usually revolved around the same things, artfully dodging the heavier questions about Kuroko's past for the time being.

Kise was working on a new spread in a magazine. This one, however, deviated from his usual cheerful shoots and took on a more mature approach. He was struggling a little with the raw emotion that it seemed to draw from him, but Kuroko was confident in his abilities. Kise was a natural when it came to modelling, and his dedication to the art only further enhanced his abilities.

Sure, Kise was brilliant at basketball, but Kuroko secretly believed that it was because it was one of the only sports to truly challenge him. However, outside of the Generation of Miracles and Kagami-kun, there were little who could challenge him; within Japan at least.

Meanwhile, Kuroko was trying to learn to be more open with others. In both of his lives, he had been a rather closeted person and had trouble opening up to others. He had hoped to be different with Kise, so when he blurted out, "I'm getting a tattoo tomorrow," it was a surprise to both of the men.

Kise was silent, thoughtfully nibbling on his lower lip. "You do realise that you aren't old enough, right?"

"I've found a way around it."

"…You haven't actually joined the Yakuza or something have you?"

Kuroko coughed, wasting a few precious drops of his vanilla shake. He stared at the spilled drops longingly. "Of course not," he finally answered.

"Okay."

He looked up, surprised. He hadn't expected Kise to accept it so easily.

"But I'm coming with you."

Ah, there was the catch. That shouldn't be an issue. Though…

"Okay," Kuroko also agreed. "However, try not to draw too much attention, please."

Kise chuckled. "Me? Draw attention?" He smirked. It was the kind that could seduce the devil himself. "Never."

Kuroko began to gather their plates, intent on doing the dishes consider Kise had cooked. He only protested for a moment, but finally handed over his empty dish.

"You're getting my name tattooed on your lower back right?" Kise called out playfully through the doorway Kuroko had disappeared through.

He chose to ignore him. There was one downside to the delicious meal, and that was how many dishes Kise tended to use. He also had yet to develop the concept of cleaning up as you go, so Kuroko began to stack the dishes to one side.

On the counter, they piled higher than Kuroko stood. Yes, Kise used way too many dishes and it had nothing to do with his stature, he thought.

Kuroko, under the assumption that Kise had either A. taken a nap or B. had departed the building, took out his wand and channelled his inner Molly Weasley. He only knew a few house cleaning spells, but it was honestly such a time saver.

Shutting the door, Kuroko almost ran into Kise who looked down at him surprised. "Hey, I was just coming to help with the dishes."

Ah.

"No worries. I'm just letting some of the pans soak and will do them tomorrow," Kuroko explained, dragging him away from the door.

Kise looked mildly confused, but allowed himself to be dragged away. Kuroko asked if had any homework, he said he didn't. He gave Kise a wack over the head for lying.

Reluctantly, for one of the party at least, the two studied together on the floor. Truthfully, Kuroko longer struggled with any of his assignments, which was extremely convenient consider all the work he had outside of high school.

Kise also breezed through his work, however, he struggled to actually sit down and get it done. Kuroko had been a good influence over the last couple of weeks, his grade improving just due to him handing in work more often than not. Not that Kise cared as long as he could keep playing basketball, continue modelling and spend time with Kuroko.

That night, Kuroko allowed Kise to stay the night once more. He was rather weak when it came to saying no to the blond male.

Curled up together on the futon, Kuroko forgot about his worries for the future and allowed himself to get a full night's sleep once more.

~.~.~

He truly made a beautiful sight, standing in the doorway. The morning light highlighted the sharp edges of his features bathing him in a warm glow. His hair, in comparison to his tense muscles, was soft, floating in the invisible breeze.

Kise had yet to notice that Kuroko had awoken, having followed him through the small abode. Over his shoulder, Kuroko noticed the impossibly clean dishes stacked next to the sink, waiting to be put away.

Spinning on his heel, Kise smiled to him, though the was a hint of something at the corner of his lips.

"It's crazy how fast you cleaned those dishes last night, Kurokocchi."

Kuroko shrugged, an awkward smile on his own.

"Almost like magic."

~.~.~

Hopefully I won't take as long to get the next chapter out.

Reviews and feedback go a long way to help :)

Thank you to everyone for your continued support. Whenever I get an alert for favourite and follows I smile.