Chapter 4

It seemed Kagami took the second kiss on the street court as permission to ask for more when he wanted them, and it was a little surprising how ravenous he could be, once the floodgates had been allowed to open a fraction. Kuroko had noticed a pattern, however, as a few days passed in tentative experimentation. It quickly became obvious that Kagami was the most eager when he was riled up, whether after playing or running or some sort of physical effort. In fact he'd never prompted for anything just out of the blue, it was always when he was panting and sweating and feeling invigorated. And while he was fervent and confident when he did snatch up Kuroko's lips on occasion, he was also awkward and sometimes even plain stupid about it, especially bringing it up. Which wasn't that surprising; Kagami was an infernal meathead about many things, and his apparent cluelessness about subtlety and tact caused Kuroko to wonder if it was possible that he was the first person Kagami had taken an interest in this way. That would be both flattering and...confusing, because it brought questions like 'Why me?' and 'Why now?' to Kuroko's mind. He didn't think Kagami was entirely innocent; he seemed to know what he was doing thus far, and knew how to take control and keep it...besides, he'd spent a lot of time around Alex, who seemed to have a casual kissing and stripping fetish; a deadly combination... but Kuroko did wonder if Kagami's intimate knowledge - at least firsthand experience - began and ended with kissing.

One thing was certain, and that was that Kagami definitely didn't seem comfortable making the arrangement - whatever it was or ended up being - public. In these few days, the only one who knew anything at all was Riko, and all she was aware of was that Kagami had spontaneously smooched Kuroko one time, and it hadn't affected their gameplay or anything, so in her mind, the matter must have been discarded as unimportant. And maybe it was. After all, the only thing that was out of the ordinary was sometimes after practice or a workout, Kagami would pin him against the lockers once they were alone and kiss the breath out of him for several minutes, before leaving school as if nothing unusual had happened. They still routinely ate dinner at Maji Burger, they still walked each other home, chatting idly; nothing else had changed. As far as he was concerned, they were still only friends and teammates who just...made out from time to time. And from what he was picking up, he didn't think Kagami wanted any more than that….he didn't think he knew how to want any more than that.

He supposed that was fine, and enough of a novelty and turn of events in itself, but there was something about the abruptness with which Kagami broke away once he'd gotten his fix, leaving Kuroko to slump against the bench or the lockers to catch his breath and soft-pedal the mounting excitement; something about the way he was only willing to initiate those stolen moments when he was bubbling over with adrenaline spurring him on; something that left Kuroko just a little...unsatisfied.

He didn't say so to Kagami of course, in fact they spoke about such things very little now that the matter of confirmed - if fluctuating- mutual attraction had been settled, more or less. The way Kagami went about it, he seemed to be under the impression that he was being unreasonable or greedy taking as much as he did, and withdrew as quickly as possible, subjecting Kuroko to as little of the experience as he could. Being the boneheaded, stubborn child he could sometimes transform into, it probably never occurred to him that Kuroko might actually enjoy it as much as he did, and might enjoy if it was taken further. He supposed it would be best to give it some time; time for both of them to adjust and figure out what they each wanted. It had only been a couple of days, after all, there was no need to rush.

.

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"Hey...Kuroko...? Wake up."

Kuroko blinked open his eyes, peeling his cheek from the hard surface of the desk it had been resting against. Uncomprehendingly, mind still foggy with half-sleep, he met the dark red and concerned gaze of the speaker, who'd leaned his arm against the back of his own chair to look at him.

"You've been falling asleep in class a lot," Kagami informed him, as if he didn't already know this from jolting awake at the sound of the bell ringing or the professor's ranting in his ear. Dozing off during class was pretty normal after a grueling game or particularly strenuous practice, but neither of those things held current relevance. And yet, the midday naps. Given his way, at least he knew he preferred to rejoin the world of the living to Kagami's gentle prompting than the teacher's indignant squawking.

"...I haven't been sleeping very well lately," he admitted, muzzily rubbing his eyes with one wrist.

"Well it seems like you have been," Kagami answered nonchalantly, "Just not at night?"

"Not really."

Kagami was silent a few seconds, looking calculating, and then he shrugged with one shoulder, "Any particular reason? Something bothering you?"

"I don't think so," Kuroko muttered, pressing a hand to his hair to try to flatten it; it appeared his infamous bedhead showed up somewhat even when he hadn't necessarily been in bed. He swore he caught a glimpse of a conniving grin sneaking across Kagami's face as he watched this.

"Maybe I should tell the coach to give you a break," he offered wickedly, knowing how this suggestion would be greeted.

"No!" Kuroko snapped immediately, only realizing how fervent - and therefore loud - the protest was when several heads turned around to look at him, and the professor paused in his lecture before going on, as though pretending there had been no interruption.

"I'm fine," Kuroko continued levelly, not amused by the laughter dancing in those familiar crimson eyes, "Keep your damn nose out of my business."

"Always interesting when you get fiery," Kagami said lazily, crossing his arms on the back of his chair so he could better lean against it and scrutinize his "shadow", "Relax, I'll leave Riko out of it. But you'd better not pass out on the court or she'll kick both of our asses."

"Kagami Taiga, face front." the professor commanded crisply, from the front of the room. Reluctantly, with an edge of irritation, Kagami obeyed, shooting one last glance at him before turning around.

Picking up his pencil, and trying to remember what he was supposed to be writing down, Kuroko stared at the blank sheet of notebook paper, looking balefully back up at him. It wasn't long before another sheet of paper dropped on top of it, this one noticeably more crumpled up, into a ball in fact, and - glancing up - he assumed that Kagami had tossed it over his shoulder at him; even off the court, he had impeccable aim. Smoothing out the wrinkles, he made out a short, sloppy note in his teammate's handwriting.

'Same time, same place today?'

He didn't need to explain further what he meant, but Kuroko couldn't help but roll his eyes to himself in exasperation. Granted, Kagami hadn't shown he was interested in romantic gestures or anything, but he could try to be more eloquent...or at least say what he wanted.

Scrawling an answering 'Yes, you idiot.' he whipped the balled up note at the back of Kagami's head, so he had to bend over and turn around to retrieve it off the floor. He supposed one good thing about Kagami was that he was predictable, and easy to please.

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Kagami had learned many things over the course of his time at Seirin High - or...alright, maybe not that many things; he might have learned more if he paid more attention in class - and one of those things was that when Momoi and Aomine showed up out of the blue without invitation, in the middle of practice, it usually meant trouble….or spying. Laying eyes on his rival automatically made his hackles prickle and his fists clench, but his attention was briefly diverted by Momoi immediately pouncing on Kuroko, tripping him, knocking the ball out of his hands and squeezing his face right against her large breasts in a crushing hug.

"Tetsu-kuuun~!" she squealed happily, "I haven't seen you in forever!"

Weirdly appalled rather than jealous of Kuroko - like he'd been known to be before, along with everyone else with the exception of Riko - Kagami opened his mouth to say something in objection - to demand Momoi keep her hands off, or something to that extent - but merely closed it again, now shaking with anger directed at both of the present Touou students.

"Momoi-chan," Kuroko stated tonelessly, his voice slightly muffled, "I can't breathe, please let go."

Momoi immediately did as he asked, and sprang to her feet, though she remained hovering in close proximity, clinging to Kuroko's arm once he'd stood back up as well. Thankfully, once the shock had worn off, it seemed like Kagami wasn't the only one who was wary.

"What are you doing here?" Hyuuga was the first to ask, straightening his glasses on the bridge of his nose as he sized up Aomine completely non-subtly.

Aomine gave a careless smirk, "What, old friends can't drop in to pay a visit now and then?"

"Not," Riko interjected, "When those 'old friends' are from rivaling teams. What interest do you have in Seirin's practice?"

"No interest," Aomine said dully, "But boredom tends to strike, and here just happens to be the closest school with a worthy adversary for me to play against. I thought I might score some action."

"What about her?" Riko challenged, squinting suspiciously at Momoi, as if she'd pull a knife out of her indelible cleavage.

"She insisted to come with me so she could latch onto Tetsu or something," Aomine shrugged, gazing at the woman in question hanging all over Kuroko, as if daring Riko to contradict this claim.

Discontented, Riko snorted and crossed her arms over her comparatively-inferior chest, "Fine. I suppose I can't kick you out. But go sit on the sidelines at least, until practice is over; you're being disruptive."

Aomine seemed neither approving nor disapproving of this order, and moved over without further ado to pluck Momoi off of Kuroko, dragging her over to the side of the gym and plopping her down to sit, sliding down the wall to recline beside her.

"But -" Kagami burst out finally, glaring first at his rival, then at Riko, "We can't let them just -!"

"They're not doing any harm by sitting there," Hyuuga pointed out calmly, "And you and Aomine can settle your differences when we're finished with practice. I suggest you save your breath."

Deciding he didn't have much choice but to grin and bear it, Kagami grit his teeth and set to work making sure he ran faster, jumped higher, and did anything that would show the watching Aomine that he could more than stand up to him when it came to that.

When at last the whistle was blown and the team headed to the locker room, Kagami hung back, shooting a venomous glance in his rival's direction while he waited for Kuroko to catch his breath and follow the others. His "shadow" seemed a little shaky, likely from lack of sleep, and when he did trail in the direction of the lockers, his stride seemed a little uneven...as if he was favoring one leg just enough to be noticeable. How long has he been limping? Did he hurt himself during practice? Did Momoi knock him down too hard? He was probably sore from pushing himself so hard; Kagami could relate to that, though he wasn't about to show it in front of Aomine.

He hesitated to say anything, when he joined his teammate in the locker room, and had changed out of his uniform and was throwing his shirt on over his head before he could think of anything anyway.

"Are you alright?" he asked, glancing at him and injecting blaséness into his voice.

Kuroko had sat down and was rubbing the back of his left ankle gingerly, wincing a little, "Fine," he sighed, "Just a scrape that... might have been a little worse than I thought."

"Is it bleeding?"

"No, I don't think so. Don't worry."

Kagami blinked, and then scoffed lightly. "Who said I was worried?"

Kuroko gave one of his smiles that could hardly be called that and made a gesture with one hand, "Just your entire face. Are you going to go one-on-one against Aomine-kun?"

The change of subject erased the indignant look from Kagami's face, and any further concern, "I plan to; that bastard's had it coming since the Winter Cup...no, since before then."

Kuroko chuckled dryly, in what was more of a slight shaking motion of his shoulders than an amused sound, "Make sure you really give it to him, he won't walk away happy otherwise."

Kagami imitated the laugh, albeit more audibly and maliciously, "Believe me, I will. But first…."

He leaned in close and pressed his mouth to Kuroko's insistently, seizing him by the back of the neck and bearing down on him, bracing one hand against the bench for balance. He felt Kuroko lean up and add his own pressure, moving his lips against Kagami's and shifting to change the angle; eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks, a soft sigh of contentment from his "shadow"...

"Tetsu's a good kisser, isn't he?" a smooth voice broke in mockingly, popping the moment like a soap bubble.

Kagami jumped - he was sure he'd checked beforehand to make sure no one was here - and Kuroko had tensed as well, jarring them together awkwardly as they both struggled to break apart. Standing, arms akimbo, beside one row of lockers was the looming, dark form of Aomine; his sudden, undetected appearance rivaling Kuroko's in effectiveness. For a moment, Kagami imagined Kuroko might have accidentally bitten his tongue off, as he couldn't seem to convince it to produce words of any kind.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" He finally managed, almost cringing at how brainless that sounded to his own ears.

Aomine smirked sinfully, slipping his thumbs in his pockets and advancing a few steps, "He also gives one hell of a blowjob, you know."

Kuroko seemed to have found his tongue as well, and sat up straighter, "Lay off, Daiki." It was the first time Kagami had heard him drop the honorific when he spoke to Aomine, let alone call him by his first name. These facts and the icy tone of his eyes were the only indication that he was pissed off; he sounded calm and collected, as always.

What… Do…they have a history or something…? More than what I was already aware of? Shock at the intrusion of his rival gave way to ire, and his fingers balled into fists again, Great, yet another thing he's beaten me to…and bested me at.

Aomine's grin only widened, "It's been awhile since I've seen you so flushed, Tetsu, but don't you think you're setting your standard a little low?"

"Like you really have room to talk," Kuroko countered coolly. Kagami didn't know why he was surprised he didn't hear defense on his behalf, and he tried not to show it, "It's ancient history...what happened between you and me. Just drop it."

It's rare that his words are so cutting...he doesn't usually take the bait from Aomine. Weren't they friends?

Aomine's cobalt gaze passed disinterestedly over Kagami, "It seems I'm to be eternally baffled by what he sees in you. Now are you going to play against me or what?"

"Play?" Kagami growled, standing up slowly, "No...I'm going to crush you into the floor."

TBC