Burning Bright: the universe in which Kagami Taiga is a girl and no one else, rather in the vein of Miracles, if you've read that. Assorted ficlets. Not chronological. Ongoing.

v.

Taiga slammed the ball through the hoop and turned to laugh at Kuroko, her face shining with joy and energy, and he'd once thought she was going to be a light and he wanted to be her shadow, but he- he-

She brushed her hair back from her face, and Kuroko thought about being the one to slide his fingers through her hair instead, of touching her face and pulling her down towards him, of how her face would change and her eyes would flutter and-

And then he thought, quite distinctly, damn.

iv.

When they got back from their run along the beach Taiga stretched her arms over her head and grumbled, "Gotta bathe again. Screw Midorima, seriously."

Kuroko said nothing, which had the effect of reminding Taiga that technically they did indeed both owe him, and making her more grumpy.

She slipped her hands under her shirt and stripped it off, wiping sweat from her neck and forehead.

"-" said Kuroko, watching her muscles flex under her skin, the strong line of her back curving into her shorts, her chest under the thick material a daring, heaving promise-

"Dry your hair properly before you sleep," she said, and disappeared into the portion of the room she shared with Coach.

iii.

Kuroko may never hate anyone like he hates the way Himuro-san says Taiga confidently and familiarly, like he's holding her on the end of the leash that is her name, with that casual air of command and affection.

He is wrong: Kagami-san curls into her seat in the bus afterwards with her knees pulled up to her chest, and stares out the window with her hand on their history.

He passes her his waterbottle and she drinks.

ii.

"Dude," said Aomine. "If you're not going to eat her chocolate-"

Kuroko smashed his bookbag onto Aomine-kun's thieving hands, and then stood above him threateningly.

"I can't believe you choked down Satsuki's but you won't eat her chocolates just because she made the same one for all of us," said Aomine.

"Shut up," suggested Kuroko mildly.

"Even Midorima got one," said Aomine, who was privy to all Satsuki's late-night quasi-maniacal rants. "She even packed off some to Akashi and Yousen. You know, that ex of hers."

"Shut," said Kuroko, even more mildly, "Up."

"You should start thinking about White Day, probably," said Aomine. "Don't want him to show you up."

He dodged the dictionary just in time.

i.

"Kuroko WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE," yelled Taiga, when after fifteen toe-tapping minutes she thought to look sideways, and there he was.

"Kagami-san is here," he said, and looked up at her in that way he had, flat, and yet considering.

"Well, yeah," she said, and flapped an envelope in her hand. "I wanted to ask you about this, a letter came in my shoebox. Momoi-chan said it was a love letter when I mailed her, but-"

"But?" said Kuroko.

Taiga shrugged her shoulders and looked down at Kuroko. "I don't- get love letters," she said. "I got a letter of challenge once," she added. "I… punched him out."

"Did you read the letter?" said Kuroko. "That seems like it would prove conclusive."

"…some of the kanji is really hard," said Taiga, and when Kuroko turned around to thunk his head against the wall, punched him in the shoulder. "SHUT UP," she said. "If it was kana I could have read it."

"Did you ask anyone to help you read it?" he said.

"I was going to ask you," she said. "But I couldn't find you before I had to come here." She turned her head, disgruntled. "I think he's late."

"At least you could read that," said Kuroko, and took the envelope from her fingers.

Taiga couldn't look at him reading her- ugh, really?- love letter, and kicked dust around with her sneakers. Man, Kuroko was going to laugh at her, in his sneaky way. Tatsuya would probably have laughed. Tatsuya would never have sent her anything like-

"Kagami Taiga-san," read Kuroko, then paused.

"I could read my name, asshole," snarled Taiga.

"I have always admired your spirit and strength of character," continued Kuroko. "Your enthusiasm for basketball and life has given my life new meaning and colour."

Taiga felt like curling up with embarrassment. And Kuroko was reading this, Kuroko, in his serious voice. She couldn't look at him.

"I offered to be the shadow to your light when we first met," said Kuroko, "I would like to ask you to consider my feelings behind the clubroom at-"

"Oh, come on," said Taiga. "That's not what it really says, you're just making it up-" She turned to snatch the letter from Kuroko's hands, but he really wasn't reading from the letter at all, just holding it lightly between his hands, and- wait, how had he known what it had said at the beginning, then, if he hadn't been- oh.

"I think," said Kuroko mildly, pointing at his name on a corner of the envelope, "I remember what I wrote."

"Oh," said Taiga again, and looked at Kuroko.

He looked at her and smiled a little, like he couldn't help it, that little Kuroko-smile that was rare and soft and true. "I'm not late," he said, and Taiga felt herself begin to blush.