Summary:

Most people think that vanilla milkshake is, without a doubt, the phantom's favorite drink - but our tiger knows better.

Warning:

A bit of fluff and some misunderstandings. Implications of indecent things.

Disclaimer:

Kuroko no Basuke and all its glory belong to the one and only Fujimaki Tadatoshi.

Let's Enjoy ^_^

Beta: myheartsegg

Favorite Drinks

Most people who knew Kuroko Tetsuya would answer that milkshake was his favourite drink without even a second of doubt. No wonder there, since the pale boy could almost always be seen drinking the white substance with utter bliss. But not Kagami Taiga. He, out of all people, would readily - and rather passionately - refute that statement.

The reason was obvious: he knew exactly what the phantom's favourite was.

Not like he could brag around and tell the world about it though. It would create too many unwanted problems, since it wasn't something you'd normally drink in broad daylight. And Kagami was the only one to know about this peculiar thing - aside from Kuroko's family of course.

It all began one night, when they stayed late after practice. Even after winning their first winter cup, Kuroko and Kagami could be seen practicing together more than any of their teammates. They often did extra personal practice together; to the extent that Riko needed to threaten them with her cooking if they didn't get enough rest. They were just too engrossed in their practice, though they weren't exercise junkies.

The amount of time they spent together was so intense that Kagami couldn't help but notice that sometimes, sometimes he would catch his shorter partner staring at him dreamingly - almost longingly. But each time he brought it up, Kuroko would chalk it up to him seeing things and easily divert him to another topic, much to the redhead's dismay. It was a lot later when his simple mind finally realized that he had been tricked by the bluenette, again.

But one day - on that fateful day when Kagami finally cornered his shadow with no way to run - the truth was forced out, and the bond between them could never have been stronger.

First: Suspicion

The game was intense. The opponent's level was nowhere near any team with Generation of Miracles in it, but this team had a weird style of play. Their motions and pace caused Seirin to play an uncomfortable game. Despite their lead in the first half, their regulars were currently running low on gas. They sprawled around in the team's locker room, drenched in sweat and more tired than usual.

"Oi, Kuroko, you okay?" asked Kagami worriedly to his silent partner that lay face down on a bench. The redhead squatted down beside the blue haired teen and eyed him with a deep frown.

"Yes, I'm fine," came the muffled answer from Kuroko.

Their coach watched her smallest player with concern. "No you're not! Stop pushing yourself, Kuroko-kun! We'll bench you in the next quarter," said Riko, her worry concealed in wrath.

"But coach, their play style is hard to keep up with without me on the court," the shadow stated bluntly.

Riko bit her lips. She couldn't retort to that since it was true, but she couldn't let her player suffer an unnecessary effort. It's not like they couldn't handle them without Kuroko, it would just be damn hard. "Kuro-"

Kagami cut in unexpectedly. "Give me some time, coach. I'll fix him before third quarter begins… Desu."

"What?!"

In a fraction of a second, Kuroko frowned slightly. "Kagami-kun, I'm fine."

"No you aren't," his partner objected right away.

"Kagami-kun…"

"Will you come willingly or will I need to haul you up?" Kagami asked nonchalantly as he stood up and prepared to leave. His face showed no hesitation whatsoever - only pure determination.

Kuroko sighed outwardly at this. He knew Kagami would really pick him up like a potato sack if he kept refusing. "Please don't, that would be unpleasant," he said in the end as he slowly brought his body up to sit.

"Then come on. We need to fix you if you insist on playing."

"I'm not broken, Kagami-kun."

Kagami shrugged him off. "Yeah, yeah… sure…" He turned around and extended his hand toward the blue haired phantom. "Coming?"

Kuroko let out a resigned sigh and took the hand before him. "Then, minna, please excuse us for a moment," the passing specialist said with a slight bow. The light-shadow duo casually left the locker room, paying no heed to the confused looks on their senpai's faces.

Not long after that, the rest of the Seirin team eyed the light-shadow duo as they returned to their locker room, minutes before they needed to go back on the court. There wasn't enough time to interrogate them, and true to his words, Kagami really came back with a much more energized Kuroko.

They also noticed that the hot-headed-idiot-redhead came back in a much more calm and collected manner, even though he was just an inch away from punching an annoying power forward from Hojo High before second quarter ended. As usual, it was left to Kuroko to successfully smack some sense to that thick skull of his. But the idiot redhead was still fuming even during their break. What could Kuroko have possibly done to calm the tiger this far….?

Riko's musing eventually had to end when they once more reached the court. There was a game she needed to pay attention to. But with Kuroko back in full force, and Kagami much less hot-headed than usual, Seirin advanced in glory with much less struggle than the first half.

What happened between the two at that time remained a mystery to Seirin though, since they always evaded their questions swiftly (less gracefully in Kagami's case) whenever anyone brought it up.

Second: Eavesdropper

It was just after another of Riko's training sessions from hell that Kuroko almost passed out at the end of. He had quite the pale skin tone for a boy, but currently, the blue haired teen looked much paler than usual. He quietly lay on a bench, moist towel covering his twin blue orbs, chest rising up and down rapidly in its attempt to pump some much needed oxygen into his system. A pair of sharp brown eyes watched him worriedly from the sideline.

"You okay, Kuroko-kun? Your stamina is worse than usual. Are you feeling sick?" Riko asked with obvious concern.

"No, I'll be fine in a few minutes coach," replied their passing specialist politely.

The teenage coach frowned deeply as Kuroko brushed her off. This kouhai of hers was really stubborn at the wrong time and place sometimes. Riko threatened Kuroko for his own benefit. "You can tell us if you're sick, you know? I'll be very angry if you don't take care of your health and keep practicing in a bad condition, got it?"

"Yes, coach, understood."

Riko could only let out a resigned sigh at her most stubborn kouhai. "How are you getting home like this?" she asked in worry. With Kuroko in the state he was in now, he wouldn't make it to the locker room alone without stumbling.

"I'll take him home," a gruff voice said from behind them out of the blue.

"Eh~?" Riko blinked owlishly at the both of them. As usual, Kuroko and kagami held some kind of secret conversation just by staring at each other.

"I'm fine, Kagami-kun," the blue haired boy stated curtly; instantly getting it rejected by his partner.

"No you aren't. Like it or not, I'm gonna haul you home," declared Kagami decisively. Without waiting for an answer, the redhead proceeded to the locker room to change, leaving behind a rather stunned brunette coach and a resigned pale bluenette.

Not long after Kuroko and Kagami arrived at Kagami's apartment, a raven haired teen with long bangs that covered his left eye appeared at the door step. The three of them, along with some other friends of theirs had an outing for tomorrow. But the older teen here seemed to have another plan in his agenda.

Himuro Tatsuya quietly got out a set of lockpicks and started to work on Kagami's front door. He had planned to give his little brother a small surprise by barging in and scaring the shit out of the redhead. Approximately 37 seconds after, the door successfully opened. Seeing the discarded shoes at the genkan, Himuro instantly concluded that Taiga was home, and apparently not alone, if those pair of much smaller shoes that had been neatly tucked away was any indication.

As he quietly sneaked into the apartment and reassessed his plan and modified it to fit the phantom into the picture, he heard a not-so-quiet voice from Kagami's bedroom. By the tone of it, it seemed like a quarrel, and Himuro couldn't help but sharpen his hearing and wait for potential blackmail material to spill over into their argument.

"You haven't done it for three days, idiot! How could I not worry about you?!" - That was Taiga for sure. Being a mother hen as usual it seemed; who would've thought, that behind that ferocious image of a tiger, lay a big, soft mother hen…

"But Kagami-kun is just as tired as well." - Monotone as ever, that was Kuroko for sure.

"I have plenty for you, god damn it! Just take it."

"I'll be alright, I used to get along just fine without it before I met you, Kagami-kun."

"No you're not. Look how pale you've become. Please, Kuroko, take it."

Wow, did he just hear Taiga beg without stuttering in embarrassment?

"But Kagami-kun…"

"Tetsuya," - they were on a first name basis? He was pretty sure they were still calling each other by their family names not even a minute ago. - "Now that you have me, you don't have to endure it. And stay healthy, idiot."

The eavesdropping teen arched his eyebrow. What did Taiga mean by that sentence…? Were they together…?

"I feel offended to be called as such by you of all people, Taiga-kun." Himuro stilled and fought to keep the laugh that almost escaped his mouth. Kuroko and his deadpanned verbal jabs always amused him every time he heard them. But again, did he just call Taiga Taiga-kun?

He thought Kuroko had almost never called anyone that intimately before; not even towards his old partner that had clearly known him longer than Taiga - at least not according to Atsushi.

"Then just take it, silly. You know I won't let you go before you're satisfied." Did Taiga just let it slide? Not even retort to that? And more importantly, the content of their dispute become much more suspicious in seconds.

"Taiga-kun will need a lot of stamina for our trip tomorrow."

"So do you, and I have plenty after all. Just do it, Tetsuya."

"I… I think it's better to let me rest for a bit." - Did Kuroko just stutter?

"What?! No way, do it. Now." Taiga sounded very persistent. He even put emphasis in his words by lowering his voice considerably.

"But in this state, I might lose control, Taiga-kun. I don't want to drain you." - Taiga? Drained? Okay, he knew he had quite a wild imagination, but… it couldn't be… right?

"I'll be fine, I have a lot. Besides, I could use a cool head for tomorrow's torturous trip."

"Tomorrow will be fun, Taiga-kun."

"Yeah, yeah… just do it, Tetsuya. Do it, now." The low and husky tone Taiga used made Himuro blush ferociously.

"Then, Taiga-kun, itadakimasu."

Yousen's shooting guard quietly sneaked out of there, trying his best to block the suspicious sounds from Kagami's bedroom out of his head.

"Damn it, Tetsuya… Ahh… You could suck harder you know…"

That was it, he'd heard enough. No matter how nosy he was at times concerning his little brother, Himuro knew when to pull back and be prudent. He tried his best to get out of the apartment as quick and as silently as possible and almost forgot to lock the door again in his hasty retreat.

The day after, Himuro, Kagami, Kuroko, Murasakibara, Aomine, Kise, and Momoi went out on a friendship outing. All along the trip, Himuro couldn't help but avoid looking at Kagami and Kuroko in the eyes, because every time he did, his face started to blush ferociously.

Third: Declaration

Kagami Taiga was in a bad mood, and Kuroko knew exactly why. It wasn't hard to guess, considering how the tiger-like teen's mood changed an almost one hundred and eighty degrees when two of Kuroko's old team mates showed up out of the blue - one after the other at their usual Maji Burger outing after practice.

Kuroko had long since accepted his fate at his middle school's team mates' sudden random appearances ever since Seirin beat them up at the Winter Cup. He was no longer surprised when Momoi or Kise gave him bear hugs out of blue, or when Midorima showed up on random days and gave him Aquarius' lucky item of the day, or when Murasakibara traveled from Akita just to have a snack and sweets shopping trip with him. The phantom sixth man was just glad he had his old friends back, but unfortunately, Kagami Taiga had a hard time accepting that fact. He wouldn't leave Kuroko alone with any of those weirdoes, no matter how much the redhead disliked them.

The pale bluenette suppressed his laugh and hid a small smile behind the cup of his vanilla milkshake. If he was in a better mood, Kagami would have noticed it immediately; even if any other couldn't, the redhead would surely be able to - their bond was just that strong. But since his mind was too preoccupied with a certain bubbly, annoying blond and a haughty ganguro bastard, Kagami was completely clueless as to how much his teal haired partner found this situation amusing.

Aomine had entered Maji Burger alone right after Kagami and Kuroko had got their respective orders: a huge pile of cheese burgers with a large cola and one vanilla milkshake.

The ganguro then invited himself to their table, much to the redhead's annoyance. The idiotic duo hadn't stop bickering ever since their eyes met, and Kuroko only watched them discretely with carefully concealed amusement.

Kagami's chagrin only got worse ten minutes after that, when a blur of yellow suddenly appeared and tackled the impassive passing specialist in a bone crushing bear hug. Both of Kuroko's old and current lights were cooperative for once, as they forcefully tore the copy cat apart from their shadow and delivered a double head chop to the whining blonde.

For a better future, Kuroko decided it was better to let his hot-headed partner spend some quality time with his old team mates. Since the Miraculous Rainbows apparently chose to keep showing up in his life, and Kuroko never planned to leave Kagami, their relationship was unavoidable. No matter how much they stated their dislike for each other, as long as Kuroko was in the equation, there wasn't much they could do.

Much to Kagami's dismay, Kuroko excused himself to go to the restroom. The look on Kagami's face when he realized that Kuroko was just about to leave him alone with Touo's and Kaijou's ace almost made Seirin's number eleven burst out in laughter; he would have too, if he wasn't Kuroko Tetsuya. But he is Kuroko Tetsuya, so he kept his face neutral and proceeded to the restroom. The growl from Kagami behind him told the pale bluenette that the redhead indeed realized his concealed amusement, even when the other two didn't, and that just added to the urge that almost made Kuroko's lips elevate in a smile.

Kuroko promised himself that he'd only spend a couple of minutes in the restroom. If he took much longer, he was afraid Maji Burger would ban the four of them from entering forever. The vanilla-milkshake-lover couldn't afford that, but what was displayed before him when he came back exceeded his predicted 'worst case scenario'.

What came to his consciousness first, was the scent; the smell of Kagami's blood that dripped down his cheek.

The view came in second; Kagami on his butt on the floor, face a combination of rage, terror, and confusion, with a slight cut on his cheek. Akashi was standing in his arrogant grace, red scissors in hand and dangerous glint in his eyes while a petrified Kise hugged a pale Aomine in their dread.

Kuroko had moved before his mind could even completely assessed the situation. In the blink of an eye he appeared beside his stunned partner and licked his dripping blood clean, completely ignoring the shocked looks on his old teammates' faces. He quickly scanned the cut and gave one more lick over the wound, stopping the bleeding and closing the lesion. Effectively pulling Kagami out of his stunned state, the redhead began blushing at Kuroko's bold action.

Twin blue orbs stared into crimson ones warmly as he found that the redhead would be fine. He had worried over nothing. But it soon changed into a cold and steely gaze as he faced his old captain.

"What were you planning to do, Akashi-kun?" Kuroko asked in a strangely deadly tone, causing an uncharacteristic chill to run down Akashi's spine and any other onlookers that were unlucky enough to witness the shadow's chilly wrath.

"Tetsuya, I…"

"Please don't hurt him, Akashi-kun."

"No, I…"

"I won't forgive anyone that hurts Taiga-kun."

"But I…"

"You'll need to face me first, Akashi-kun, because I can't live without him."

"What…"

"Please stay away from my tiger."

"Tetsuya…"

"Let's go home, Taiga-kun."

At the end of those statements, there was no difference between Kagami's face and the shade of his hair. It was burning hot. Kuroko's blunt words were exactly like a declaration of undying love in anyone's ear. He meekly let the shorter teen pull him up and out of Maji Burger, completely ignorant to the stunned spectators they left behind.

"Ku… Kuroko… cchi…?"

"Tetsu… he… he… called him... Taiga…?"

"Did Tetsuya just… threaten me…?"

No one ever brought up that incident after that, the shock delivered to their souls were just too much to handle. Their consciousnesses effectively buried that experience deep down in their minds. And their other friends and team mates could only wonder why Akashi would always unconsciously flinch and abruptly stop in the middle of his threats towards Kagami ever since.

Fourth: Accident

It was a Saturday morning and Midorima Shintaro had just received his periodical check up. It was a custom in his family that mostly consisted of health practitioners. Of course, nothing was wrong with him, since today Cancer was in first place in Oha asa's horoscope ranking anyway. And he already called Takao to bring their rickshaw and pick him up for a practice match at noon. Now he just needed to get a can of shiruko from a vending machine on the second floor and have some peace and quiet before his nosy team mate showed up.

On the way there, the green-headed shooter passed some nurses gossiping around. At first, he ignored them, but eventually, the contents of their talk caught his attention.

"Hey, have you heard?"

"Yes, he's so brave isn't he?"

"Eh? What happened?"

"No way… you haven't heard of it?"

"Geez stop teasing me and spill it, will you?"

"Sorry, sorry… You see, earlier this morning, a high school teenager was brought into the emergency room. Apparently, he got caught in a traffic incident. A truck went wild and almost hit a three-year-old girl and he bravely stormed in to save the girl."

"Oh my god… I hope he's fine."

"Oh… he'll be just fine. He's extremely fit for a high school student. I heard he was a basketball athlete."

"He is?"

"Yeah, I heard he was just on his way to practice or something at the time."

"And he survived? After got hit by a truck?"

"Not unscathed, but definitely better than expected. Apparently, he managed to jump out of the truck's way and was only slightly grazed. Even most of the eyewitnesses were pretty sure that he wouldn't make it in time."

"Eh?"

"Yeah, they only saw the teen jump in and shield the little girl. But afterwards, they found him a couple of meters from the truck."

"But still, even that should have…"

"Yeah, he had scratches and bruises all over from skidding on asphalt, mainly on his arm and his left side. He also got a cut on his head from the impact of his fall."

"And the girl?"

"Safe and sound, no scratches at all."

"Wow… Without him, she could have died, right?"

"Yeah… That's true…"

"Hey, you said he was a basketball player, right? From which school? Maybe I'll go watch one of his games after he's discharged from here."

"Seirin, if I'm not mistaken."

At the mention of Seirin, Midorima made for the gossiping nurse. Ever since he overheard that the patient was a high school basketball player, Shuutoku's shooting guard was already listening in more carefully. Not like he cared or was worried; he just didn't want any trouble in any case, that was all. But at the mention of Seirin, he couldn't help but frown, since he knew only one person that happened to be his old team mate that loved children and wouldn't have hesitated one bit to save one; even without considering his own well being first.

"Excuse me, sorry for intruding - but the person you mentioned, does he perhaps have a light blue hair color?" asked the tall bespectacled teen.

"Ah, no, although the one who was with him did indeed have light blue hair. That boy really creeped me out, appearing out of thin air like that," answered one of the nurses.

'So, it's not Kuroko, but that person is also here,' thought the green head inwardly. "Is that so, then…?"

"Ah… the injured one is his friend, a tall redhead. Are they your friends?" asked another nurse.

'Kagami…' The greenhead tsundere couldn't help but frown. "No, just some acquaintance. Do you know where they are right now? Not like I'm worried or anything. I just want to make sure."

The older nurse arched her eyebrow and watched him with concealed amusement. "Of course, boy, he is at room 3025. His injuries are not that bad, if nothing has happened to his head wound, he'll be discharged this evening." She answered with a smile.

"Thank you," Midorima responded curtly as he give a slight bow and made his way towards the main door.

On his way out, a familiar and annoying voice attacked his hearing.

"Shin-chan~" waved the hawk eye owner cheerfully.

"Takao," Midorima recognized instantly. It wasn't like there were any other idiots that called him that way anyway.

"Eh? Why are you going that way? The rickshaw is that way," asked Takao, since the greenhead opted to walk in the opposite direction of their usual parking spot.

"I need to go to a minimart," Midorima answered shortly without even sparing his friend a glance or slowing down his pace.

"Eh? Can't get your shiruko?"

"No."

"Eh~ Then what, Shin-chan?"

"Lucky item."

"Isn't that panda doll in your hand Cancer's lucky item for today? Shin-chan? Shin-chan… Wait for me…!" Takao had to run to catch up with Midorima, who walked so fast that he might as well have been running.

The Oha-Asa obsessed teen almost turned the minimart upside down – literally - until he emerged a winner not long after with three items in hand: his own lucky item, a panda doll, an alarm clock with a lion pattern, and a bat keychain.

Takao could only watch his odd friend with clear amusement in his eyes and huge curiosity behind them as Midorima once again walked at a ridiculously fast speed back to the hospital.

"Shin-chan~ Isn't that lucky item for Leo and Aquarius?" Yes, ever since he had befriended this tsundere, Takao always spared some time to listen to Oha-Asa's announcements if wasn't late.

Midorima seemed surprised somehow, as he stood still - stunned for a second before going back to speed-walking at full force.

Takao smiled mischievously at the greenheaded tsundere's back. Midorima was just so antisocial, that even with only their horoscopes to identify them, Takao could pretty much guess who those lucky items were for. But that also meant that they were there, in the hospital, and that was never a good indicator.

Not long after that, Midorima abruptly stopped in front of a door that stood slightly ajar. He was petrified. Highly curious as to what could make Midorima freeze like that, Takao rushed to the door and peeked inside. And what was displayed before his hawk eyes also make him stunned.

There, on the hospital bed, lay Kagami Taiga, covered in a lot of bandages; but maybe the most shocking, was how Kuroko sat at his bedside, slightly leaning in towards the redhead. Blue orbs stared intently into blazing red ones, while Kagami held his hand tight. The atmosphere between them was so thick, it almost made the two stunned, unintentional spectators suffocate.

"Oi, Kuroko, you okay?" asked the redhead as he brought a pale hand towards his lips and kissed it softly.

"I'm not the one laying on a hospital bed, Kagami-kun," Kuroko deadpanned.

"Yeah, right, but it's you that made me lie here instead of the morgue, right?" smirked Kagami playfully before it turned into a cringe as the pale bluenette above him squeezed one of his wound lightly. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"Never say that, Taiga-kun, you know I won't let you die," answered the smaller teen, voice uncharacteristically thick with emotion.

Realizing his shadow's pained expression (for people other than Kagami, it was a carefully blank face), Seirin's power forward couldn't help but feel guilty. "Sorry for making you worry Tetsuya."

"No, you just want to save the girl, I'm proud of you." said the usually expressionless teen with a wide, bright smile adoring his face.

The red tiger couldn't help but blush at his partner's blunt words and blinding smile. "Hey, hey, it's just me do things recklessly, okay? Nothing to be proud of. I wouldn't have made it if you hadn't pulled us aside."

"Like I said, I won't let you die, Taiga-kun."

"Yeah, yeah… eh? Te… Tetsuya… What the- Oi…!?"

Midorima's eyes were dangerously close to the brink of bulging out of their sockets; there before him, Kuroko Tetsuya, the most polite male his age he ever knew, was straddling a blushing Kagami suggestively - knees on both sides of Kagami's lithe body.

Kuroko's face was leaning dangerously close to Kagami's as his hand expertly undid the bandages on his light's head. Slender pale hands caressed the crimson locks and revealed a nasty cut at the side of Kagami's head. He further leaned towards his partner's head wound and started licking it after kissing it softly at first. All of that was done without even the slightest blush on his face.

Midorima Shintaro was at a loss for words, and for once, Takao Kazunari was not far behind him. They just stared, flabbergasted. The scene before them was just…

CRACK!

Unknown to him, Midorima somehow managed to break his glasses, startling everyone present. A few seconds ticked by as all of them stopped dead in their tracks, minds going haywire trying to find ways to deal with the present situation.

Being the most cool headed one, Kuroko greeted them as politely as usual, even as he was straddling Kagami. "Midorima-kun, Takao-kun, it's been awhile."

Takao couldn't help the mischievous grin that slowly adorned his impish face. "Yo~ Kuroko, Kagami, sorry for intruding~"

"W-what the… Midorima, Takao, what the hell do you doing here?!" Being the idiot he was, Kagami spluttered even as his blush grew.

Midorima snapped, "What the hell are you doing here? This is a hospital for god's sake, don't you two have any sort of self restraint?! Kuroko! You, out of all the people I know, are the least I would have expected to confront in such a situation."

"Kagami-kun is a tiger, that's why I'm licking him, Midorima-kun." Kuroko once again deadpanned.

"Wh… What's that supposed to mean?" spluttered the green headed shooting guard.

"You are smart but sometimes dumb, Midorima-kun. Aren't felines creatures known for their abilities to heal wounds by licking it?"

"Don't joke with me, Kuroko; that doesn't happen with humans, and Kagami is not a tiger."

"I still have no sense of humor, Midorima-kun," said the phantom sixth man with a serious expression. "And it worked," announced Kuroko as he averted his eyes towards the still blushing tiger.

"What? It can't be!" shouted Midorima in disbelief as he hurried to the bedside to take a better look. And true to Kuroko's words, the wound was indeed healing nicely.

"I think it won't even leave any scar, Kagami-kun." stated Kuroko calmly as he climbed down from his previously compromising position. "Now the doctor might allow us to go home before noon."

"Ah, that's good then; I'm getting hungry and this hospital food isn't possibly enough to fill me." said the redheaded glutton gladly.

"Kagami-kun sure is a tiger."

"Hey!"

All in all, Midorima could hardly believe this entire ordeal. Kuroko's affection towards Kagami, his healing wounds, it was all just… mind-boggling!

The bespectacled teen remembered being steered out of the room after someone pried the alarm clock and key chain out of his hand. He vaguely heard some sort of conversation around him before someone ushered him out of the hospital and up to their rickshaw. He barely even registered the practice match he had after that. His mind was in utter bewilderment - did all of those events really just happen…?

Fifth: Conversation

Two teens were walking home leisurely - two, if you looked closely, and yes, leisurely - as if they were not just about to kiss death itself a couple of hours ago.

"So, feline?" ask the taller one, eyeing his partner from the corner of his twin crimson orbs.

"It was no lie, Kagami-kun. I did indeed do it in an attempt to heal your wound. It would be troublesome if they forced you to stay the night."

"What? Feeling lonely without me?" smirked the redhead playfully.

"No, Kagami-kun, I would stay there as well. They wouldn't have been able to spot me if I didn't want them to anyway."

"Yeah, you and your ghostly act. I'm not that fond of ghosts, to be honest…"

"I'm not a ghost, Kagami-kun. You know exactly what I am."

The redhead chuckled slightly at that statement. "You might as well be a ghost with that unhealthy hobby of yours that still manages to surprise even me at times."

"A mere ghost wouldn't lick a tiger's wounds to heal him, Kagami-kun." teased the shorter teen with a slight glint of mischief in his eyes.

"Hey, that's not because I'm a feline, or a tiger, or whatever - which I'm not," spluttered Kagami as he started to blush and vehemently deny the other's statement. "It's because it's you who does that!" he exclaimed.

Out of the blue, Kuroko stopped in his tracks, eyes hidden by strands of blue locks. "Who else do you want to lick your wounds, Kagami-kun?"

"W…what?!"

"Or perhaps you prefer me to lick someone else's wounds?" asked Kuroko, flat tone and all, some sort of cold annoyance showing clearly in his eyes.

"Hell no! Like I would allow that! You are mine, as much as I am yours, Tetsuya." Kagami denied vehemently, blushing in full force once he realize what he had just said out loud. He cursed incoherently at how easy Kuroko riled him up before muttering slowly, "Besides, don't you think licking someone's wounds sounds gross?"

Kuroko blinked twice before answering in flat tone, "Then I'll stop doing that if Kagami-kun finds it gross."

"What? Come on… don't go sulking like that… I really am grateful for that, really…"

Kuroko continued to walk and ignored the panicking redhead behind him.

"I really mean it- I mean, you see... It saves us a lot of trouble from explaining that peculiar mark you leave on my neck after every time you bite me to the whole team, right? I mean, coach is already suspicious without it. I dread what's to come if she finds another thing to be suspicious of."

Kuroko heaved a sigh and turned to face the redhead behind him. "That's the real purpose for it, Kagami-kun; and to prevent you from dying on me."

"I won't, okay? I promise you I won't leave you alone."

"I know, Kagami-kun." Kuroko said with a tender, microscopic smile on his face.

Eyeing his partner for a moment, his next words came out unusually serene. "If you really do, then don't hold back, Kuroko."

His eyes widened a bit before he schooled his expression and avoided those twin crimson orbs that were always full of love for him. "I don't know what you are talking about, Kagami-kun."

"Bullshit! You know exactly what I mean Tetsuya," exclaimed Kagami. "You. Need. To drink. More," said the redhead vehemently with emphasis on each word coupled with a deep frown on his face.

"I drink enough, Kagami-kun."

"Not that poor substance you use as a replacement you call a vanilla milkshake, Tetsuya. Not now that you have me to supply for you."

"But, Kagami-kun…"

"No 'buts' Tetsuya, you know I can handle it even if you drink on a daily basis. You just drink too little for my comfort."

"…"

"Geez… Why the hell do you keep refusing to drink anyway? You know you need to, more so now that you already have me. You can only drink mine, right? And you keep insisting on drink only once every three days; no wonder your stamina is so poor!"

The teal haired teen hesitated for a moment before finally speaking in almost inaudible voice, "I don't want to be a burden to you, Kagami-kun."

Kagami let out an exasperated sigh at Kuroko's well known stubbornness. "Since when did I feel burdened of you, huh?"

Kuroko stubbornly stuck with his opinion. He was too used to being independent as his family were always busy. He also had an introverted personality and so, he changed his nature to become more presence-less for his comfort. And it all changed when he met Kagami, his partner. Kuroko knew he need to change, at least towards his destined partner, he knew Kagami would be happy if he relied on him more.

"If you keep making that face, don't blame me for devouring you tonight," teased Kagami, a feral smirk on his face. The motion startled Kuroko who was unconsciously pouting while he mused.

Blush evident on his pale cheeks, the phantom spoke. "We have a practice match tomorrow, Kagami-kun," reminded the bluenette.

"Then you can drink mine in the morning and you'll get your stamina while I get a cool head, how's that sound?"

"Sounds like a plan to me, Kagami-kun," answered the shorter teen with a smile.

A comfortable silence engulfed the two on their way to Kagami's apartment; that is, until Kagami decided to ask his initial question:

"So, since when was I a feline, huh?"

"Since you became my beloved tiger."

end of Favorite Drinks

A/n:

So, uh, was it too obvious? Or perhaps too obscure? I hope you all got what I meant at the end. Please tell me what you think about it or feel free to ask questions :)

Thank you egg-chan for fixing this story... and thank you for reading~