DD: Hey guys! I've recently been watching Kuroko no Basuke and I thought of something and have been mulling over it for a few days. Eventually a friend convinced me to write this so it's dedicated to him. Just so everyone knows, I'm calling everyone by their first names, so Aomine Daiki will be Daiki unless he's being talked about by his team members. The same goes for the rest of them. I own nothing. Enjoy the story!

Yoshinori Susa looked around as practice came to a close. "Looks like Aomine never showed up."

Sakurai Ryou tensed.

"That bastard," Wakamatsu Kousuke growled, fists clenching. "He skipped again?"

Ryou looked down, his grip on the basketball in his hands tightening. "I'm sorry..."

"Eh?" Susa looked over at him. "Sakurai, why are you apologising now?"

"He's in my class," Ryou mumbled, refusing to look up from the basketball. "I could have stopped him... I should have stopped him..."

Kousuke dropped his head into his hand. "You don't need to apologise for being too weak to stop that jerk, Sakurai."

"I'm sorry," Ryou mumbled again, his shoulders hunching.

"Seirin was right; you really are an apologetic mushroom," Imayoshi Shouichi chuckled.

Ryou blinked back hot tears. Why do I always let them get to me? He threw the basketball into the air. It went into the basket, and would have been a three-pointer - had he been playing in a match at the time. I know they don't mean anything by it... It should just go over my head by this stage...

His arms fell to his sides and his hands balled into fists.

"Alright; it's seven. You guys can leave now." Their coach, Katsunori Harasawa, stood up. "Or stay. It's up to you, really. Just remember to lock up when you're done."

Ryou looked up at the clock as Harasawa left. Sasu yawned and stretched. "In that case, I'm out of here." He picked up his bag and moved towards the door, raising his hand in a two fingered wave over his shoulder. "See ya."

"Me too." Shouichi adjusted his glasses as he picked up his bag.

Kousuke frowned. "Come on, guys; I can't play by myself!"

"Sure you can." Shouichi smiled. "And besides, there's still the suicidal mushroom." He paused, smirking. "I'm sorry, I mean apologetic."

Ryou looked down. "I'm sorry..."

Shouichi's smirk grew. "Have fun, you two." He picked up his bag and left.

Kousuke sighed and looked over at Ryou. "One on one then?"

Ryou hesitated before shaking his head. "Sorry, Wakamatsu-san... I'm going to go home too..."

"Aw, seriously?" Kousuke groaned.

Ryou looked down. "I'm sorry..."

"Forget about it, Sakurai," Kousuke sighed. "If everyone else is leaving, I may as well go home too." He yawned and grabbed his bag. "You coming?"

Ryou shook his head. "I'm going to take a shower first."

"Right." Kousuke threw the key to the school gym at him. Ryou barely caught it. "Lock up when you're done, okay?"

Ryou nodded. "I'm sorry..."

"And stop apologising for everything," he called as he left.

Ryou stood there in silence for a moment before he began walking towards the locker room, his shoes squeaking on the wooden floor. I hate this...

He pushed open the door and dropped his bag on the nearest bench. Every day is the same...

He walked over to the sink and leaned against it, head bowed. And I'm too weak to do anything about it... He gripped the edges of the sink, his knuckles turning white. "Damn it..."

He raised his shaky gaze and looked in the mirror.

It was cracked; the school hadn't bothered to replace it when Kousuke accidentally broke it with a basketball that had been aimed at Aomine Daiki's head.

But it had some benefits.

Ryou's gaze ran up the mirror, searching for the one loose piece. He raised his hand and plucked it from the middle of the mirror.

It was small and shaped like a disfigured rectangle, and the edges were sharp. Ryou slipped the bracelets on his left arm off and placed them on the shelf above the sink.

His gaze strayed to the various cuts on his arm and he swallowed before raising his hand to add another to the collection. Just as the shard of mirror was about to pierce his skin, someone gripped his wrist, stopping him.

Ryou blinked in surprise and looked up. His hazel gaze met glacial grey eyes. "A-Aomine-san..."

"Didn't we talk about this?" Aomine Daiki's voice was blank as he pried the shard from Ryou's grasp.

Ryou looked down. "I'm sorry..."

"It's okay."

Ryou felt tears swell in his eyes. Daiki was the first person not to grow exasperated by his constant apologies. "I-I'm sorry..."

Daiki put the shard back in its rightful place before wrapping his arms around Ryou and pulling him against his chest. "It's okay, Ryou. I've got you."

Ryou looked up at him with watery eyes. "Y-You called me Ryou..."

Daiki chuckled. "I guess I did." He rested his chin on the top of Ryou's head. "Just don't tell the others."

Ryou nodded and buried his head in Daiki's chest, gripping his shirt in his fists. "I just... I-I hate this... I'm scared..."

"I know." Daiki kissed the top of his head. "It'll end soon Ryou."

"P-promise?" Ryou whispered.

"I promise." Daiki released Ryou and put his hands on his shoulders. "But next time tell me when you feel like this."

"But you never answer your phone... What if you're not around?"

"If you call me, I'll always answer your calls." Daiki smiled at him. "Just don't tell the others."

Ryou nodded. "I won't. Thanks, Aomine-san."

"Just call me Daiki, Ryou. We've been going out long enough for you to call me by my first name in private." Daiki pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

Ryou gently returned it. When they broke apart, Ryou rested his head against Daiki's shoulder. "Please don't tell the others... They already hate me enough..."

"They don't hate you, Ryou." Daiki sighed. "But I won't tell them."

"Thanks Daiki..."

"Don't worry about it." Daiki grinned. "Now how about we take that shower you told Wakamatsu you were going to have?"

Ryou blushed but then paused. "How do you know about that?"

"I was sleeping behind the curtain for most of practice." Daiki shrugged. "I woke up in time to hear your conversation."

Ryou hesitated before nodding. "Okay... I'm sorry..."

"Don't worry about it." Daiki took his hand and led him to the showers. "Come on, blossom."

Ryou followed him, blushing. Partly because he needed something to make him feel alive. Partly because Daiki didn't ignore his apologies.

He never did.

He could never ignore his blossom's apologies.

DD: Hope you guys enjoyed. It's a head cannon for me that Aomine calls Sakurai 'blossom' because his name is so close to Sakura, which is cherry blossom in Japanese. Please review and see you next time, Killer Queens!