Lives always manage to straighten themselves out and problems also seem to resolve on their own. Ruthless melancholy turned to harmless musing of the past. The Miracles, as they had expected, advocated their own teams, made their own rivals and friends, fought, lost, win their own battles, and battled each other. What they thought was to be a simple life of a first year high school student, turned into a journey of lessons that they sorely needed.

Aomine stayed glued partially to the past. He had taken an interest to Kuroko's new found light, Kagami Taiga. Even though he wouldn't admit it, he felt a little envious, not of Kagami's skill, but with his relationship with was similar to their former bond. Since they were bound to meet at the interhigh preliminaries, he decided to pay Kuroko's light a visit. He found Kagami at a basketball court in a nearby park.

"Oi, you're Kagami Taiga right?" Aomine asked. Kagami ceased playing for a minute and turned to glare.

"Just who the hell are you?" he questioned. Aomine explained himself and then proceeded to ask for a one-on-one match just to see how strong Kuroko's new partner was. Kagami was annoyed and refused at first, but after some coercing, Aomine got what he wanted, and he destroyed him. He looked down at Kagami with confusion, and then left, wondering why would Kuroko choose such a weak light?

###

Kagami swiftly returned to school, and Kuroko strolled through the hallways with him. As soon as Kuroko mention Aomine, a chill surged through his body, his ears ringed, and the dreaded feeling of nostalgia instantaneously returned.

"He said that he used to be your light," Kagami began austerely. "What did he mean by that?" he questioned. Although he was not certain, Kuroko thought he heard a hint of jealousy in Kagami's voice when he told him that. With a deep sigh, he hesitatingly explained what had happened to them. Kagami stood, comprehended, and then made a fist.

"Don't worry; we'll bring him back to his senses." He promised. Kuroko's knuckles bumped his, and inside he felt truly blissful. Hopefully this time, he thought, this light won't leave me behind, and he won't break hi promise.

###

The abrupt reminder of his former light hindered him from succumbing to the sleep he desperately needed. He tossed and turned within the covers for about an hour until he had kicked them away. Kuroko laid there, his hands folded together on his stomach as he gazed blankly up at the ceiling, and began recalling the promised Aomine made and broke.

###

"The sky's really pretty." Kuroko muttered softly, feeling absolutely soothed by the warm sun and the aroma of the grass they laid on.

"Yeah, it's as blue as your hair." Aomine joked as he lied beside him. They were playing basketball in the park at first, but because of Kuroko's lack of stamina, they were compelled to take a brief break.

"I like you, Aomine-kun." Kuroko confessed straightforwardly. He gawked, his face flustered, an expression Kuroko was not used to seeing.

"Is something wrong?" he asked obliviously. He wasn't disgusted or anything, but he was surprised that Kuroko felt the same way. Aomine scowled at him, his cheeks still flushed red.

"W-what do you expect? No one's said anything like that to me before."

"Sorry." Kuroko explained simply. Even though it was sudden, he needed to get his feelings out quickly if he was ever going to keep Aomine; he felt like he was gradually losing him. His rapid progression in his basketball skills caused less reliance on his shadow. Kuroko was happy for him, but he was worried at the same time.

"Oi, Tetsu." His deep voice beckoned, awakening him from his daze. "Do you really mean it?"

"Of course I do." Kuroko replied honestly. Aomine grinned and threw his hands behind his head.

"Is that so?"

Kuroko scooted a little closer to the point their arms were gently grazing each other. He nuzzled his head into the crook of Aomine's head and he allowed him to.

"Aomine-kun is nice to be with." He accidently said aloud, lost in his own bliss. His eyelids grew heavy and gradually closed, but he was still conscious when it happened.

"I really like being with you too, Tetsu. I don't think you can hear me now, now that you're asleep."

I'm not Kuroko yearned to say, but he refrained from doing so when he heard his voice become soft and sentimental.

"But if you can still hear me, please… please don't laugh at me; I want you to always be by my side, and I'm not talking about just basketball."

His heart nearly jumped out of his chest with joy when he heard those words.

They laid there peacefully for a while until Aomine stirred Kuroko from his supposed slumber. They started their way home, and were dead silent.

"Aomine-kun." He uttered, shattering the silence.

"Yeah?"

"I want to be by your side always, and I'm not talking about just basketball." He recited his words. Again he made the embarrassed expression that Kuroko found cute and funny.

"You were awake?!" he exclaimed. Kuroko nodded. "So what, are you mocking me right now?"

"Of course not. I have to be by your side forever, don't I?" He retorted. Aomine gawked at him, puzzled. Kuroko smiled meagerly.

"I'm your shadow after all."

Aomine grinned broadly at him. "Right." He agreed as their knuckles touched.

Kuroko never thought that it would be their last fist bump. When they were up against an apparently powerful team, Aomine started playing seriously and thus crushed the entire team's moral. He surpassed their elite players. He was enjoying the thrill of it at first, but it soon became child's play to him. He confronted Kuroko, and told him that he was wrong; that there wouldn't be another player that could match his skill level. What broke Kuroko's already damaged heart more was when he denied his fist bump; the proof of their bond. Soon after Aomine no longer depended on Kuroko's passes and neither did the rest of the dominant miracles.

###

After the interhigh match, Aomine and the other Tōō players were in the locker room getting changed and ready to go. He sat there on the bench, and clutched his fists tightly in a fist as he heard a few of the non-regulars bad mouth Kuroko.

"Oi, did you see that weak player, with the jersey number 11?" a player asked.

"Yeah, that guy was a piece of shit through it all." The other said with a laugh. Sweat dripped down his cheek and his rage building. He seized the offender by the throat and slammed him against a locker.

"How the hell would you know? You didn't even play, so I don't wanna hear that bullshit!" he yelled.

"Calm down Aomine-kun!" Momoi scolded. He roughly let the other go and then rushed off outside. As he headed for the exit he saw Kagami bounded for the exit as well.

"Oi, Kagami." He hollered. Kagami turned around and glared at him.

"What the hell do you want Aomine?" he questioned.

"So where's Tetsu?" he inquired.

"We went our separate ways." Kagami replied. "Why do you wanna know?"

"Tetsu was my former shadow, like I said before. So don't worsen his skills with your poor basketball. Take good care of him dumbass."

"Bastard, coming all the way here just to insult me." Kagami cursed.

"That wasn't an insult, it was advice." Aomine corrected. Kagami raised a brow, puzzled, but went off anyways. There were many things that Aomine did wrong when he and Kuroko were still together, and advising Kagami like that did make him a hypocrite. It was far too late to fix the damages but if he was to get any closure, he knew that he just needed to do one thing.

###

Kuroko made it home and flung himself on the couch, disheartened by the team's loss. His cellphone started ringing and when he flipped it open he saw that he had a text message from Aomine. He quickly opened it.

Sorry

It was a sole word that rose up many questions, but Kuroko felt finally at ease. The ties between him and the miracles were indeed strained, but after encountering Kise, Midorima, and Aomine again, he saw that not everything was completely broken. It was just the start of a long process of picking up the pieces.