The restaurant Kise's chosen is roomy, accommodating, which is probably for the best if Takao starts throwing food onto Midorima's head again. It's nice enough that Akashi probably won't complain, and private enough that he manages to get an entire private dining room for them-of course, namedropping doesn't hurt, when he's a movie star and an NBA player from the league's best team is coming to dinner.

He doesn't bother trying to arrange them, besides getting himself onto Aomine's right side, and watches as Midorima and Takao sit down opposite, Kagami and a slightly-less-sleepy Kuroko take one side, and Akashi sits alone at the other like it's his throne. Before he can speak, the door opens and Murasakibara lumbers in with Himuro in tow. "They shouldn't call it all you can eat if they're just going to run out of food. I could've eaten more."

"Ah, Himuro-kun," Kuroko greets, blinking sleepily. "You look well."

The look Himuro tosses him is just shy of sour, and the motion of sitting down all reeks of I don't want to be here. "As do you."

"Surprised your coach let you out, with the game tonight and everything," Aomine snidely greets, an arm casually slung about Kise's shoulders. "Have the Lakers just given up? Oh, wait, never mind, you just don't have to worry about it. Second reserve now, right? Make sure to keep that bench warm for Kagami."

And now, Himuro's glare is positively icy.

Kagami grabs a piece of bread from the table and chucks it at Aomine's face. "Quit talking shit about the Lakers, they've had a rough couple of seasons." He looks at Kuroko, wondering, Now? But no, best to wait until he's not on edge from Himuro being here, looking exactly the same, and the cold chain aches around his neck.

"Sit down," Murasakibara says, tugging Himuro down into his seat, squishing himself between Himuro and Akashi. "Muro-chin's gonna eat with us," he announces to no one in particular. "What's the food here, anyway?"

"Sushi!" Kise says, thrilled with his own brilliance. "I thought that might be a nice taste of home, eh?"

"I doubt it's any good," Midorima sniffs.

"Shin-chan, don't judge it until we've had it," Takao chides.

"I'll stop talking shit about the Lakers when they can fucking play," Aomine laughs, contently chewing on the bread that he caught. "Hey, did you catch up with that scout earlier?"

Kuroko levels a look at Kagami-just go ahead and tell them, of course you're allowed to be excited-as Akashi flags down a waiter. "This is my bottle of wine and don't expect me to share," is his immediate warning to the rest of the table.

Kagami takes a deep breath. "That's….yeah, guys, I have an announcement. Well, we have an announcement." Ignoring the strangely dirty look Midorima gives him, he says, "The Lakers want me. So if they offer me a position….yeah, Kuroko and I are moving here."

Murasakibara turns away from staring at Akashi to look at Himuro. "Muro-chin gets to play with your old friend again," he says, poking Himuro in the cheek. "Yeah, good."

Himuro twitches a bit, his smile less than genuine. "Fantastic. So he just picked you up and out of the blue, Taiga? Isn't that typical."

"Kagami-kun, when we move to America, please don't let the rudeness of this country permeate you like that," Kuroko mildly puts in, taking a slow sip from his water.

Murasakibara frowns. "Muro-chin," he says firmly, letting a huge hand rest on Himuro's head, "you can't be mean and tiny, I don't like it. You can be only one so you have to get taller or be nicer."

Midorima suddenly has a very hard time suffocating a laugh behind his hand.

Himuro lets out a sound that suspiciously resembles a growl. Akashi promptly downs back a glass of wine.

"Ahh, that's really great, Kagami-kun!" Takao cheerfully congratulates, though his smile twitches just a bit. "Wish you had waited like… five minutes, but whatever! That's still really awesome."

"Mm. Congratulations," Midorima says somewhat stiffly.

Kagami frowns. "Why waited five minutes? Were you guys gonna give us the apartment or something?"

"Don't be absurd."

"Aka-chin, gimme a sip."

"You won't like it, Atsushi. It is hardly the quality they claim it to be." The glass is passed over anyway.

"Oh, no, you definitely don't get the apartment, we like it too much. We just had another important announcement and you kinda stole the spotlight," Takao says, pouting.

"Ah. We have one more we can get out of the way," Kuroko says. "We're going to be grandparents."

"… Tetsu, you just get weirder," Aomine observes. "All the fucking time."

"You didn't need to tell them that," Kagami growls, flicking Kuroko in the side of the head. "Takao, what do you have?"

"I think we should wait until people stop being titillated by the news of your ex-patriacy," Midorima decides.

"Aka-chin, this wine is bad."

"It's going to get me very drunk," Akashi agrees, taking the glass back.

"Why shouldn't I tell them about our grandchildren? They might want one, too," Kuroko protests, looking up at Kagami. "Unless you want to keep all of them. We can do that."

"Shin-chan, tonight, they're your friends, not mine," Takao grumbles.

"Why should they be my friends?" Midorima asks, affronted. "They're never my friends."

Visions of a house full of giant dogs barking and biting makes Kagami go pale. "Can you knock it off and just be normal for a minute?" he growls, shoving Kuroko. "I was making a serious announcement, quit talking about the damn dog."

"Aka-chin, I think Muro-chin needs some wine."

"Don't talk about your son like that, Kagami-kun."

"I'm not sharing my wine," Akashi flatly returns, and hauls the bottle closer to himself.

"You're all awful, see if I pay for dinner tonight," Takao sulkily interrupts.

"Everyone shut up!" Kise yells, slamming a hand down on the table for effect, and ooh, that's nice, the way they all go silent. "Now," he says, and wow, he's always wanted to yell at a room full of people and have them go quiet, "I heard Takao has an announcement?"

"You're not allowed to be mean and tiny either," Murasakibara mutters, eyes staring to narrow. "No one is."

Akashi ignores him for once, and takes a very large sip.

"Thank you, Kise-kun," Takao huffs, heaving a sigh as he unwinds from his sulky little curl. "Right! So all of you-" Yes, even Akashi, he's been informed that Akashi has to come. "-are invited to something really special: Shin-chan and I's wedding!"

Oooh. Kuroko understands the irritation now. "Ah-congratulations, you two. See, Kagami-kun, it's very good we're moving out, we wouldn't want to disturb their married life."

"They're the ones who always disturb us!" Kagami argues, folding his arms. "But yeah, congratulations. When's the happy day?" Dammit, now I'm not going to be original when I do that either. Oh, well.

"I don't know," Midorima says, a little annoyed at the question. "The day after tomorrow, I suppose. Kagami, you will be my best man for the sake of your English skills."

"Gee. Thanks."

Murasakibara tilts his head. "Ah. That's kinda cute. Who's the bride?"

"I look better in a dress by far," Takao says with a completely straight face. "Hey, Kuroko-kun, you're my pick for best man-don't worry, I don't need you to speak English."

"God, he must have the patience of a saint," Aomine groans underneath his breath to Kise. "Or is it about the paycheck, you think?"

"Nah, he's money too," Kise murmurs. "My personal theory is that Takao is actually much stranger than all of us and he hides it better. Also apparently Midorimacchi is a giant perverted slut when they're alone, I've seen pictures."

"… Things I didn't wanna know, Ryou. Gross."

"Anyway, definitely no excuses, you all have to come and once we have the booking finalized on the place, I'll let you know! That means no running off even if you have an appointment with the Lakers, Kagami-kun," Takao sternly chides.

"Kagami-kun is going to talk to him tomorrow, so it shouldn't conflict," Kuroko reassures him. "Midorima-kun, are you going to carry him bridal style? That's very romantic, I didn't know that was a facet of your personality."

Midorima sighs, pushing his glasses up on his nose, and asks Takao, "Are you sure we can't un-invite all of them?"

Murasakibara reaches behind Akashi with one long arm, plucking the wine bottle from his hand. "It's good to share, Aka-chin," he says, then more firmly, "and to say congratulations."

Akashi's grab for the wine bottle misses entirely. "Why would I want to congratulate him?" His voice is already slurring together. "After all I've done for you, Shintarou-you pick that… that clumsy idiot as your best man?! And never mind who you're marrying, you didn't even think to run that by me first?"

"Um," Takao attempts.

Akashi sort of flops backward into his chair. "I didn't mean that," he suddenly says, though his voice sounds even more out of it than before. "Just-none of you know what it's like. Even Atsushi-you have your painfully short shooting guard friend to spend time with-"

"… We can uninvite him," Takao mutters underneath his breath to Midorima.

"And Ryouta, too-you've gotten over yourself, that's good, that's very good. I don't mean it when I tell you you're a slut, I'm just uncomfortable with your blatant displays of sexuality-"

"So this is what happens when Akashi-kun is very drunk," Kuroko observes, somewhat awed.

Midorima stands from the table, walking past a confused and affronted Kise, to tug at Akashi's arm. "Come on," he says opening the door. "We're going to talk."

Murasakibara leans over to Himuro's ear and confides, "Mom's mad."

Himuro stares after the pair of them, eyebrows raised. "Seems like Mom has every right to be."

"Can we all make a pact to never let him drink again?" Aomine bluntly tosses out over the table before turning to Kise. "Don't make that face, you know he's just an asshat."

"Right! Food, let's get some food-it's my treat, so don't hold back!" Ah, it's hard being cheerful when one's fiancé is dragging out a very drunk and kind of half-sobbing weirdo that he has weird history with.

"Nothing to talk about." Oh, and now Akashi sounds like a petulant husband on his way out the door. Takao contemplates getting drunk himself.

Midorima hauls him more than he'd usually feel comfortable with, tugging him out to an alcove. His eyes narrow behind his glasses, and he asks quietly, "Who is it?"

Akashi sways before attempting to gracefully arrange himself to lean against a wall. "I," he announces, trying for irritable, settling for sulky, "don't know what you are referring to, Shintarou."

Midorima folds his arms, blocking them off from view of passing waiters. "I am referring to the fact that you've been completely unlike yourself this entire trip, and only when you see a couple. Who is it you're missing back in Japan?" He frowns. "Someone you're not supposed to be with. Your family, or hers?"

The question is met with a glower. "Your assumptions annoy me as much as it annoys me that you are taller than me. Shrink. You and Tetsuya-no, especially Tetsuya."

"Akashi," Midorima says quietly, "you are making a fool of yourself. No one else is going to mind that, but you are going to lose the respect of every person in that room if you don't pull yourself together."

That seems to hit a nerve even through all of the alcohol. "… We aren't discussing this. You hardly seem interested in keeping me informed about your romantic liaisons."

"That's because every time I've tried to tell you something in my life you've scolded me for telling you something you already know!"

"Well," is the decidedly sulky response to follow, "I didn't know about this part."

"Because you're distracted." Midorima's head starts to hurt. "This isn't like you. None of it is. Even Kise's noticed."

Akashi strangles back a thoroughly annoyed sound. "That does pose a problem," he crossly agrees, "because Ryouta has the cognizance of a bag of rocks."

"So don't insult my intelligence." Midorima scowls, rubbing at his temples. "Don't tell me I haven't noticed what's obvious. Who are you missing so desperately?"

"I am hardly desperate." He needs more alcohol. Maybe he's desperate for that. Akashi irritably folds his arms. "You are not, in any way, shape, or form, allowed to convey this to your… fiancé. I know how you two talk."

Midorima refrains from commenting on that. "I've kept your secrets before. Don't insult me further."

"Watch your mouth, Shintarou." Akashi crossly glances to the side. "You probably don't remember them. It's Mibuchi." He clears his throat. "Mibuchi Reo."

Midorima's brow furrows, and he tilts his head. "Wasn't he on Rakuzan with you? God, it's some sort of epidemic with us, isn't it? Perhaps there's some correlation with basketball ability."

"Shooting guard," is the muttered allowance. "Don't be ridiculous, there's no epidemic. Atsushi is…" All right, perhaps that wasn't the best example.

Midorima nods slowly, thinking. "Is it your family, or his? Or simply the…" He leaves that open. Akashi will understand.

"Don't be ridiculous." He sounds like a broken record. "None of them know. Nor will they, ever. My family has long-arranged a suitable wife. According to all traditions, we're to be wed within the month."

Ah. That makes a bit more sense. Midorima nods slowly, taking a small step back. "I understand." He darts a look back at the still-closed door of the dining room, and admits, "Takao thinks I broke mine off. I've just been postponing it for three years."

Akashi inclines his head. "Your career is not tied to your family," he observes. "How much of your accelerated pace through school was for his injury, and how much of it was because of that fact?"

Midorima swallows. Akashi has always seen far more than he'd been comfortable with. "I'm finished now. I have a salary starting soon, I can break it off in truth so I won't need to rely on their money anymore. Does it matter why I did it?"

"Not to me." Akashi sighs, tilting his head back to lightly bang it against the wall. "All of that, and you still decide to marry him in America. You do have some gall."

"Not really," Midorima says, a bit of bitterness in his tone. "It isn't as if I'll be phoning my family and letting them know. And it isn't binding back home. Hardly bravery."

"You could tell him you still have a fiancé," Akashi suggests, eyebrows raised. "In this context, he might get a kick out of it. He seems the type."

"Now, that would be bravery." Midorima takes off his glasses, pulling out a cloth and wiping them gently. "Is he at least content with what you have? Or does he even know how you feel?"

"I have been excessively annoyed about having to wake up at ungodly hours in order to call him when he gets off from work. I do believe that constitutes as 'knowing how I feel', if I am not mistaken. And I am never wrong, so." Akashi frowns. "I feel as though we should both be drunker for this conversation."

"Probably," Midorima agrees wearily. "Let me tell Takao where I've gone and we can go sit at the bar. Do you speak enough English to order whiskey?"

"The duration of this trip has, indeed, taught me a great deal about ordering alcohol."

"Wait for me at the bar." Midorima pops back in for long enough to apologize, to swear it's important and that nothing's wrong, and to mollify Takao by actually giving him a kiss in public before joining Akashi, face flaming red. "Good, you ordered two." He knocks back his glass and is pleased to find that the crook of his finger is, in fact, a universal symbol for "one more." "How long, you two?"

"… There was a brief … 'thing', in high school." Akashi, still pleasantly fuzzy from the wine, nurses his own drink much more slowly. "But it was just two years ago that we met up again. I have been quite busy with my family's work, after all."

Midorima nods, already signaling for his third. "Of course." He tilts his head slightly, looking at Akashi's profile. "Did you resist it, at first? I hear many men do. We can talk openly here, no one can understand us, you know."

"Refrain from telling me what I already know, Shintarou." Akashi takes it back. He isn't drunk enough. He downs his drink in record time and quickly gets another. "I find Reo's presence to be somewhat therapeutic," he eventually, begrudgingly says. "There wasn't much to resist with that in mind."

Midorima doesn't mention Teiko, where he'd been the one dubiously "chosen" to play shogi with Akashi every day because Akashi had found his presence soothing. He rolls his glass between his hands, looking down at the small pool of liquid. "Will you keep seeing him after your marriage?"

Akashi levels a stare upon him. "Would you stop seeing Kazunari if you actually went through with your marriage?"

Midorima nods in acknowledgement, ordering another and downing it immediately. "At least you travel for work. It shouldn't be too difficult to make time."

"No, but the girl is terribly clingy and it would be much more convenient to toss her off a cliff with rocks tied to her ankles." Akashi downs back his drink. "Worst still, she is as vapid as any lovechild between Ryouta and Daiki would be."

"A truly terrifying thought." Midorima's brow furrows. "Find her a man. Or buy her a nice house in the country somewhere. I doubt anyone expects children, they rarely do these days."

"Oh, but my family does. The importance of carrying on the family name is paramount, apparently. If I need an accomplice in a crime that involves cliffs, I will be calling you, just be aware."

"Mm, that goes without saying." Midorima can't help but think, now of all times, of sweet lovely Owada Masumi, and the ring he's supposed to put on her finger in less than a year. "I wish mine could be awful. She seems very nice. And I've been as uninteresting as possible, she hasn't budged. On our last date all I did was recite the bones in the hand, then left before appetizers. She still thanked me for a lovely evening."

"The girl has been inbred in order to become docile, no doubt. I hate docility when there isn't a brain behind it," Akashi mutters, shuddering at the reminder of Nakamura Minako and how even her voice sets his nerves on edge. "Once, I sat and played an entire shogi game by myself for one of our dates. She didn't seem to mind."

Midorima snorts, tossing back another drink. "Once I was so adamant I couldn't leave the hospital that she came and watched me drink cafeteria coffee for an hour while I did homework. She wore a full kimono the whole time."

"One thing I've never understood: you work a hospital, and yet you haven't simply tranquilized her until she won't wake up yet."

"If she were as obnoxious as yours apparently is," Midorima says dryly, "I probably would have. Or if I'd been entirely lucid the last two years, I'm certain you've heard stories."

"Many," Akashi deadpans. "And you were certainly interesting last night. Maybe I should enlist you to just kill me and get it done with. She calls me Seijuurou-san. As often as possible, with absolutely no brain activity in her gaze."

Midorima grimaces. "That's better than Midorima-sama, don't you think? The entire time? I think she lives her entire life in a tea ceremony."

"I would prefer -sama. It's far more befitting, and is at least entertaining."

"You're welcome to her. But don't give me yours, she'll be dead in a day."

"I don't want her. I don't want either of them." Akashi drowns himself in another drink. "Reo finds her charming. God, I don't know how he tolerates women in general."

Midorima's stare tracks slowly up to Akashi's face. "I don't...hmm. I don't remember anything about him, what's he, what's he got to him?"

"Tall… not as tall as you," Akashi offers comparatively, propping his chin up in one hand. "Long eyelashes. Long, dark hair. I'm annoyed that you don't remember him, he used to enjoy making your pet get foul after foul in all the games we played against one another. Of course, Reo doesn't play anymore-he works in finance now."

Midorima frowns, trying to remember. "That's right. I think if Takao had been less furious at you, he'd have hated that man quite a lot."

"Clearly, double dates are out of the question, then," Akashi dryly retorts.

Midorima shrugs. "I have no idea, he has criteria I don't understand. I wasn't entirely sure we were friends with Kuroko and Kagami, and they've lived in our apartment for two years now."

Akashi stares, and gets them both another drink. "I never quite understood that myself. I was of the mind that you and Tetsuya didn't get along. Also, when did he get taller than me? That is very annoying."

"Mm, a few years past. He blames it on Kagami's cooking, but I haven't grown an inch since they moved in." He sniffs, feeling the curious way his teeth have gone numb. "At least they're moving out now that I'll actually be home more than one night in a hundred."

"Maybe I will cut his legs off. Problem solved."

"That would keep my advisors too busy reconstructing his legs to pass me. Please refrain."

"After you are properly employed, then." Another drink half-way inhaled, and Akashi begrudgingly says, "Congratulations on your marriage. The one you actually want, of course."

Midorima leans in to speak confidentially, and winds up slumping. Just a bit. "The only reason I picked Kagami over you as my best man," he explains, feeling suddenly guilty, "is because I need his English skills to help me buy a ring."

"If you can even call his skills 'skills'," Akashi mutters, rolling his eyes. "Please recall I have many international clients, Shintarou. Though probably, you will have better results with him in ring-buying. I don't particularly care for your husband-to-be, but to each his own."

"I don't want his opinions," Midorima says, incredulous at the idea. "I want his English, that's it. I already know what I want." His face darkens slightly. "And for the record I don't like your pet's style of basketball."

"Well, it is very convenient that he no longer bothers with the sport, then," Akashi drawls. "I have to admit, I never did understand your preferences. Didn't you used to say you liked someone older than you? And yet…"

"Obfuscation," Midorima admits. "Terribly clever, he's the youngest one on the team. That, doubtless, is why you and everyone else never suspected."

"Don't be foolish, I knew very well what the two of you were doing in your spare time. He might have flirted with everyone, but he pulled you around in a rickshaw."

"I doubt you knew all of what we were doing." Ah, Midorima feels pleasantly warm. And has for a while, really. His feet kick slowly back and forth on his stool. "There's a lot."

"… Pray tell." Akashi laces his fingers together loosely, his chin resting upon them. "You should inform me of any lost details, Shintarou."

Midorima laughs, shaking his head slowly and sort of enjoying the way the world swims. "You have to tell me what you know first. Otherwise you'll yell at me for saying things you already know."

"What if I give you a pass, tonight only, because you're getting married?" Akashi retorts, his eyebrows arching high. "But I will give you at least one bone-I know how much you like him in women's clothing. A pity it doesn't suit you quite as well."

Ah, Midorima needs one more drink for that, no matter how everything is already quite….special. He leans in, the whiskey burning down his throat, and confides, "He seemed to think it did on his birthday last year. He thought it suited me quite well."

"… Certain things would," Akashi allows, his eyes lidding. "I can think of a few things that would flatter you-stockings," he suddenly says, taking a slow sip of his own drink. "Yes. Definitely."

Ah, he shouldn't. He really shouldn't. But Takao had admitted to showing Kise his phone, so really, it's no different….

Midorima pulls out his phone, tapping sloppily though the photos until he reaches that night. "Judge for yourself."

Akashi leans over to look-and then plucks the phone from Midorima's hand in short order, far more deft at grabbing and flipping through photos than he should be, what with how fuzzy his head is. "Good," he murmurs, his gaze briefly flickering back to Midorima. "Very good. You obviously enjoy it when someone else is in control of you, Shintarou."

Ah. No. Bad. Midorima shifts on his barstool, which does precisely nothing to make his cock listen to him. "Him," he says quietly, face flushed from more than just the alcohol, and he rakes a hand back through his hair. "Yeah."

"Just with him?" Akashi lowly asks, pausing when he lands on a particularly lewd shot of Midorima, flushed and mussed and messy after the fact. "Or have you never had a chance with someone that really knows what they are doing?"

Midorima swallows hard. "I-"

"Aka-chin, it's time to go."

Two huge hands close around Akashi's waist, lifting him off the stool and setting him on the ground as Murasakibara glares at both of them. "Aka-chin, not very many people like you and Mido-chin does, so you're coming home with me and not sleeping with him."

"Atsushi-" It comes out as a very undignified growl, and Akashi turns to glare up-up at Murasakibara. "I couldn't care less how many people like me. I don't need people to like me, I need people to follow orders. Shintarou and I were having a perfectly pleasant conversation-"

"You were definitely about to fuck," Himuro drawls from the doorway, looking less bored this time, at least, though still more than ready to get the hell out. "Have some class."

Midorima shoots him a withering glare. "Given what you tried to pull on Kagami back then, I'm surprised you have the gall to pretend those words mean anything in your mouth."

"Aka-chin is coming home with me," Murasakibara says firmly. "Or I'll carry you."

"Says the man getting married the day after tomorrow," Himuro deadpans. "Is this your version of a bachelor's party?"

"… There's no need for you to carry me, Atsushi," Akashi stiffly replies, and he hands Midorima's phone back over with an irritated twitch. "It was good to spend time with you this evening, Shintarou."

Midorima stuffs his phone hastily back into his pocket. "Yeah. I'll see you soon, I'm sure." Then he hurries back to the dining room, and Takao, and fastens to him as firmly as his drunk arms will allow.

"Ah-I've acquired a growth!" It apparently was a very good idea to send Murasakibara in the search of where Midorima and Akashi had run off to, judging by how Midorima sort of reeks of booze and moves like he's drunk, to boot. At least he seems mostly okay, and Takao firmly uses that as a method to not be annoyed (nope, that's not happening tonight, he's not going to get pissy about Akashi and how Shin-chan always deals with him even on nights after they've announced their wedding). "You should eat," Takao advises, dangling a piece of sushi in front of Midorima's face. "I ordered your favorites, it's actually pretty good."

"I want Takao to feed me sushi." Midorima nuzzles, butting his head firmly against Takao's shoulder before taking a proper seat, and even then he closes his eyes and opens his mouth. He had not been about to do anything with Akashi-getting hard from his words isn't the same thing as sleeping with him, they hadn't even touched, but he still feels a bit like tying himself up at Takao's feet for a while in punishment.

"Yeah, yeah, because you're being cute." Is this what a really drunk Shin-chan is like? It's been so long, it's easy to forget. Whatever, Takao isn't about to complain, and promptly stuffs a piece of sushi into Midorima's mouth as he wriggles his other arm free and slings it around the other man's waist. "See? Pretty good."

Midorima chews, swallows, and laughs helplessly, clinging to Takao's shoulders as his hands flex in the fabric of Takao's shirt. "It's awful," he manages, almost falling over. "What's in that? God, give me another one."

"Don't be dumb, it's good! You're just drunk," Takao insists with a laugh, shoving Midorima back into his chair and shoving another piece of sushi at him. "Reeeally drunk-how do you even get this drunk?"

"I have no idea how many whiskey," Midorima confides, swallowing the sushi with an audible gulp. "Yeah, that's bad, there's something weird in it. One more. Sit on my lap."

Kagami raises an eyebrow at Kuroko. "Yeah, we should go."

"Ahh, Shin-chan is being really dumb-" Said even as Takao climbs into Midorima's lap, of course. "Eat it out of my fingers if you want it so badly."

"Yep, we're going," Aomine quips in agreement, grabbing Kise by the arm. "Getting the hell out right now."

"A wise choice," Kuroko agrees with a nod.

The house is enormous.

Kuroko scarcely steps inside more than a few feet before he has to stop and stare-particularly, upward. Did anywhere in Japan have ceilings that high? Certainly, Midorima and Takao's apartment comes closer than most, but this is above and beyond and he nearly tips over backwards as he peers at it all.

Well. Even if finding a job has been nigh impossible in the weeks prior to their move, at least he will have somewhere nice to sit around and… catch up on his reading…

"… Kagami-kun, this is a lot of space." Kuroko's head tilts to the other side. "What are we going to put in all of it? We really don't have that much stuff…"

Kagami drops the last box, stretching up with a grunt. "We'll buy more stuff to put in it. That's what Americans do." He ruffles Kuroko's hair, then pulls out an envelope. "By the way, I got my first paycheck today. Check it out."

"It echoes in here," Kuroko absently notes before taking the envelope and peeling it open. He blinks slowly. "… That's a lot of zeros." He blinks up at Kagami next. "Is this a regular thing?"

Kagami laughs, leaning down to brush a kiss to one cheekbone. "Every two weeks. Unless I do really good in a game, then I get a bonus from the sponsors. Think we can live on that?"

Kuroko immediately, sort of dazedly nods. "Mm. Definitely. And Kagami-kun will always do really well in games."

"Of course I will! I don't need to be bribed to do well at basketball!"

"That's the point. You don't even have to try." Kuroko glances furtively around-it feels as though there should be people around, what with how much space there is-before stretching up on tiptoe to gently brush his lips to the corner of Kagami's mouth. "Kagami-kun picked a very good house. I'm fairly certain no one in Japan has ceilings this high."

"What do you care how high the ceilings are?" Kagami asks, grinning as he kisses Kuroko back. "It's not like you ever bang your head. By the way, I know I said we'd rent it to see if we like it, but I bought it." He drops a key into Kuroko's hand. "It's ours now."

"Because I can't touch the ceiling even if I'm on your shoulders," Kuroko says as if that makes perfect sense to be fascinated about. More fascinating, though, is that key and the idea that this is their house, and he turns it over in his hand, his head tilting. "… We can have as any dogs as we want."

"That's not what you should be thinking about!" Kagami snarls, though he looks around automatically for Nigou, checking to see that he's managed the little steps okay and is managing to use the newspaper okay for the first couple days. "I already told you I don't want any more dogs."

"But you said we could have grandchildren. Nigou worked very hard back home with his lady friend, we should at least appreciate that once she has her puppies."

"You saw how hard it is to get even one animal through customs," Kagami argues, regretting most of his life choices. "One, okay, fine, we can have one, as long as it stays downstairs. The bitch's owner said she could find homes for the rest."

"I'm going to help her oversee the process to make sure they have proper homes, so I'm sure that will happen," Kuroko very seriously says. "It will be nice having a puppy, you know. At least I'll have something to do, keeping it preoccupied and not chewing on our new furniture…"

Kagami grins, tugging Kuroko down to the new couch they'd had delivered just this morning. "Are you gonna be okay?" he asks gently. "I mean, until you figure out a job to get? I know it's got to be driving you nuts."

Kuroko's head tilts. It's really quite a bit easier when he doesn't think about it, but saying that sounds … selfish? Ungrateful? Hm. "I'll be fine. I can catch up on my reading, at least. I can't say I've had the time to do that in forever."

"And you'll take English classes," Kagami reminds him, "so you can pass all the tests and stuff, right? You'll pick it up so fast when you're here, seriously. You'll be teaching again in no time, I promise."

"Mm… there are a lot of requirements to be a teacher here, though. Pointless ones, honestly." Kuroko sighs tiredly. "And I've never been the best at conversational English to begin with. Maybe it's because I never talked very much in class."

Kagami frowns. "Well, whatever you want to do here, you'll figure it out." It sucks, to think that his dream might be so boring and upsetting for the love of his life, but they'll find a way around it, he's sure. "There are some really great restaurants in this neighborhood, if you want?"

"Food is good. Ah, but-leaving Nigou alone like this already in a new place…" Kuroko trails off, blinking as the doorbell suddenly rings. The dog, of course, doesn't move from the rug he's flopped himself out onto. "Did the movers forget something?"

Kagami frowns, counting the boxes. "I don't think so. Want me to get it? Or do you want to try practicing your English?"

It would be in poor form not to try, Kuroko supposes. He nods, steeling himself, and climbs to his feet to open the door.

"Tetsu-kuuuuun, you're as cute as always!"

That isn't English-nor is it one of their movers, something that becomes very plainly obvious when he has a pair of … ah, yes, those are definitely Momoi's breasts in his face. Kuroko is certain he could recognize them anywhere at this stage of his life. "Momoi-san," he manages when he's thoroughly squeezed by her. "What are you…" How did you find this address already and why?

Before Momoi can answer, a tiny face, round and pert and lovely, circled by golden ringlets, hovers into view. A little girl, in a neat sailor suit and hovering about six feet in the air with two big hands around her waist, blinks at him.

From behind her, a man's voice pretending at a falsetto says, "Hello, Mr. Kuroko!"

Kuroko blinks rapidly as he gently dislodges Momoi, no matter how she still attempts to nuzzle her way into his neck. "… Kise-kun," he slowly attempts, "what are you-"

"He has a proposition for you!" Momoi sweetly interrupts. "Isn't that right, Ki-chan? Put the poor child down, she isn't a doll."

Kise sets the little girl down, scowling at Momoi. "Momoicchi is really rude, but yeah, I want to talk to you, Kurokocchi! Can we come in?"

The little girl blinks up at Kuroko, still silent.

"… Mm. You can come in." Kuroko hesitates, then kneels down, attempting in very careful English, "What is your name?"

"Ahh, her English isn't very good, though at least it's better than her Japanese…" Momoi muses, flouncing inside with her sleek ponytail blazing behind her. "Maybe if her father had properly been involved in her life from the beginning, that would be a different story. Ah! Tai-chan, hello! You have a beautiful home!"

"Tai-chan?" Kagami asks, frowning. "Kuroko, did I say she could call me that?"

Leaving Kagami to Momoi's "charms," Kise picks the girl up again, urging her to hold out her hand. "This is Suzanne. Isn't she-"

"Suzette."

The little voice is quiet, and as clear as a bell, and firm.

Kise blinks. "Really?"

She nods. "Oui. Je m'appelle Suzette." She reaches out, closing small fingers over Kuroko's hand.

"Ki-chan, you're the absolute worst," Momoi moans, burying her face into her hands. "It would have been better for her to have stayed with Dai-chan than you, I swear to god-"

English is one thing. French is another, and Kuroko is very certain he knows no French. Ah, well. Children, at least, rarely mind. He smiles all the same, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "It's nice to meet you, Suzette," he continues carefully in English, and he moves, plucking her from Kise's arms in one easy motion before pointing to himself. "My name is Tetsuya."

"Look at that, Ki-chan. Just look at that," Momoi furiously tosses back to the blond. "This is why you're the worst!"

"I didn't ask for your opinion," Kise says, a glare in his eyes as he obviously tries to keep his voice non-threatening, sounding instead like candy-coated murder. "This is all your fault in the first place!"

"Tessuya," Suzette tries, scrunching up her face in a frown, then beams. "'Allo."

"My fault?! You're the one that was just going to pretend you didn't have anything to do with that!" Momoi gestures in Suzette's general direction.

"Tetsuya," Kuroko gently, absently corrects with a smile, hoisting her up a bit more comfortably into his arms, his head tilting at the sight of Momoi and Kise's bickering. "Excuse me," he attempts to interrupt, switching back to Japanese, "what, exactly, is this about?"

Kise steps forward, beaming anxiously at Kuroko. "You like her, right? Isn't she just sooooo cute? I mean, have you ever seen a cuter kid than this?"

"… Kise-kun," Kuroko begins again, his tone less amused this time, "what is this about?"

Momoi folds her arms over her chest. "Yes, Ki-chan. Do tell them what this is about."

"What it's about is Momoicchi thinking I'm not good enough for Aominecchi and trying to break us up," Kise half-growls, half-whines, turning pleading eyes to Kuroko. "She went through my phone and called everyone in it looking for evidence that I'm a terrible person! What a horrible woman!"

"Oh my god, Ki-chan, you are a terrible person! You're a horrible influence on Dai-chan, do you know that?! And I found out about her and when I told you to go and deal with it I didn't mean for you to bring her back to Dai-chan's house-"

Kuroko drifts away, Suzette still in his arms. "Do you like dogs?" he asks, and kneels down next to Nigou, setting her down as well. "His name is Nigou."

The little girl's eyes go wide, crystal blue and sparkling as she looks up at the dog. "J'aime des chiens!" she says softly, offering her hand out to be sniffed. "Monsieur, est-ce votre chien? C'est un chien mignon, vraiment!"

Kuroko considers asking Kise if he speaks any French at all, but that's highly unlikely and it seems rude to ask an idiot when he has a perfectly intelligent little girl to learn from instead. Hmm. And by process of elimination-"Chien?" he carefully attempts, pointing to Nigou.

Momoi settles for smacking the back of Kise's head. "He's going to be able to speak more French in the next five minutes than you ever have in your life! Maybe you'll at least be able to learn the word for condom next time!"

The little girl looks up at Momoi, and says clearly, "Presérvatif," before turning back to Kuroko. "Chien," she says, pointing at the dog, then points at Kuroko. "Tess...Tetsuya?" Then she points at herself. "Suzette. Oui?"

"Shut up, Momoi, they're bonding! If you ruin this, I swear to god I'm going to dump her onto you and leave the country for good!"

Kuroko ignores them, and smiles at Suzette with a nod instead. "Oui," he echoes, and ah, that's an annoying word to say. Oh well. "Suzette… is very smart," he adds in English, reaching out to gently ruffle her hair. "I-" A point to himself. "Like-" A little heart is formed with his hands, and then he points to her before gently tapping her nose with a smile. "You."

"Me ruin this? There's no way I could ruin this! You were going to ruin everything, and I'm not letting you do that, not when Dai-chan is finally so happy and everything is perfect-"

Kuroko ignores them for one more minute before scooping Suzette up once more, walking over to Kagami, and setting her into his lap without hesitation. "Taiga," he introduces, pointing to the redhead, and then promptly turns around to stare at Kise. "Why did you bring me your illegitimate daughter?"

Kise looks at Momoi, then Kuroko. Then, he grabs Momoi, hauling her outside, and shuts the door with her on the other side. "Okay, now we can talk." He sighs, bracing his hands on his hips, and admits, "I didn't know about her. And whatever that brat Momoi said, I always use condoms, just...sometimes something happens, I guess, I don't know! But Momoi was looking for dirt on me because she's crazy, and this girl I know in France told her that we had a kid but it was no big deal, she'd never even told me about it, and the next thing I freaking know, she went to France to get her and dumped her on me! So…."

He gives Kuroko a weak smile. "I thought since you didn't have a job yet, maybe you'd like one? I'm so busy, I have five movies to shoot this year, and I don't want her to be lonely all the time."

"Let me iiiiiiin!" is Momoi's wail from outside, and for once, Kuroko ignores her for his own sanity.

"Kise-kun… really is an idiot sometimes," Kuroko settles upon with a long sigh. It's probably not worth it to argue about how it isn't in any part okay that he didn't know he had a daughter or that condoms can break, but whatever. "I don't have a job yet," he hesitantly replies, "but what exactly are you asking me to do? We just moved in, and you know I'm not even licensed to teach in America… plus you really should have some involvement in her life, you are her father."

"I do want to be in her life!" Kise looks over at the little girl, sighing. "Kurokocchi, I'm not much of a father, I only found out about her a couple days ago, and now her mom is thrilled to not be a mom anymore and that's really not fair to the poor thing, you know? I just-I'm really busy, and I speak okay English, but probably not good enough to know how to hire someone to take care of her? Or to know that she's being taken care of right, and I'm worried she wouldn't be able to tell me right if something was really wrong."

He sighs again, raking a hand back through his hair. "If you don't want to do it, I'll hire a nanny somehow. I just thought it might be perfect, because you love kids and you're probably kind of bored here in America."

For not the first time, Kuroko finds himself realizing that Kise really is good at manipulating people-even when he's not actively trying to. He frowns, glancing away and back to Kagami. "We do have a lot of extra space," he sort of helplessly points out. "And she's so little…" Leaving her in Kise's care seems more cruel than anything.

Kise lurches forward, grabbing Kuroko's hand. "I'm not trying to get rid of her or anything, I swear," he says earnestly, looking into Kuroko's face. "I can't talk to her, and she'd be miserable with me while I'm traveling around and working long hours on the set. And you have so much space, and-I mean, I'll pay you, too, I don't care about the money, I just…"

He swallows, looking over at the little girl, being held aloft in Kagami's huge arms. "I want her to be happy."

"… Kise-kun doesn't play fair," is the eventual, resigned reply. Not that it takes much when it comes to things like this, which is undoubtedly why Kise is here and asking him. Kuroko sighs, shutting his eyes briefly. "It seems like something that would work out well for everyone involved," he quietly says. "All right."

Kise launches himself forward, grabbing Kuroko around the neck in a huge hug. "Ah, god, Kurokocchi, I could kiss you! This is the most perfect thing-I have all of her stuff in the car, and a French-English and French-Japanese dictionary, but I can never look anything up fast enough, and-do you not need to talk it over with Kagami first?" he asks suddenly, casting a glance at where Kagami is now tossing kernels of popcorn into the air for Suzette to catch in her mouth.

"Kise-kun, please don't kiss me." Kuroko taps out for mercy on Kise's back. "Kagami-kun will be very happy that I am now employed. Also, I've decided that I am very expensive, which he will also like. I am sure Momoi-san can help draw up some sort of paperwork regarding that, her English is very good."

"I worked it out in the car," Kise says eagerly. "I thought that a good babysitter makes like twenty American dollars an hour, right? So, I thought I'd pay you twice that, so you'll do a really good job!" He pulls out a piece of paper, with numbers scrawled in uneven script. "So I'd be paying you like $350,000 a year, does that work?"

"… Mm." Kuroko briefly attempts the math of his previous salary in Japan. Well then. "That's fine, I think. Ah, Kagami-kun, just to make sure," he calls over his shoulder, "is $350,000 a year good? American dollars are still a little…"

"That's about the salary of ten kindergarten teachers," Kagami says with a shrug. "I guess if Kise doesn't think you're worth any more than that…"

"Kagamicchi is trying to bankrupt me by playing on my affection for you!" Kise wails.

"I'm going to be raising your child," Kuroko solemnly replies. "That should be of utmost importance."

Kise lets out a low groan. "It is, you know it is, but I know how much Daikicchi makes and I know your boyfriend isn't hurting for-ah, screw it, how about $500,000? Any more than that and my accountant will step on me with high heels until they touch the floor through my body, though. She said so."

Kuroko almost wants to see that. "All right. Deal. In the meantime, you should at least learn some French, so you can better converse with her when you have the chance to visit."

"I will! I promise, I'll work really hard, I have some of those teaching programs on my mp3 player already!" Kise pulls out the player in question, brandishing it. "See? I downloaded them last night."

He looks over at Suzette, now perched precariously on Nigou's back grabbing fistfuls of fur, then down at the floor. "You're the only person I'd trust in the world like this," he admits. "Except my parents, and I can't burden them."

Kuroko sighs, and sort of wearily half-bows. Kise really is harmless, even if he grates on Kuroko's nerves at times. "You can count on me, Kise-kun. If it makes you feel any better, I do think your heart is in the right place. The children of actors never do quite turn out right if they're dragged through that life, so it's best that her upbringing be a peaceful one. I will take very good care of her."

Kise relaxes marginally, his shoulders slumping. "Thank you," he says, voice honest and a little bit shaken. "It's….kind of been a wild couple days, you know? I wasn't expecting….any of this. And I'm in the middle of a shoot, I put the whole thing on hold when Momoi called me, but if I'm not back tonight they're going to fire me and put tape on some British kid's eyes so he can play Japanese."

One hand lifts, sets down onto Kise's head, and gently pats. "Kise-kun. It's okay. You know, I'm sure Momoi-san didn't mean any harm by this-she's just looking out for Aomine-kun, that's her job. Either way, you should kiss Suzette good bye, and get back to work."

Kissing Suzette goodbye is an easy process, as she seems far more interested in climbing slowly up Kagami's leg. "I don't know how to explain to her that she lives here now," Kise says hesitantly, "but I guess she'll figure it out? I mean, I don't want her to think I sold her or anything." He shrugs. "Whatever, I'm sure she'll be happy with you. Take a billion pictures of my cute girl so I can put them all over my dressing room, will you?"

"Kise-kun acts in too many strange movies. She isn't going to think you sold her." Nevertheless, Kuroko thinks for a minute before simply plucking Suzette up into his arms. "Wave bye-bye to Papa," he patiently says, offering Kise a wave of his own.

Suzette may not speak much English, but those words she knows. "Bye bye, Papa," she says solemnly, curling her other arm around Kuroko's neck. Then she turns back to Kuroko, obviously not entirely sure who he's supposed to be, and content to accept that fate.

"Well," Kuroko slowly says, looking back to Kagami. "I have a job."

"I can see that." Kagami looks at the little girl, trying to decide whether he's supposed to be upset about this. "At least this one's not bitey. Are you really okay with signing on to be a nanny? I mean, you went to college and stuff."

"Mm. I don't mind." Kuroko sets her down gently onto Nigou's back. "At least I'll have something to do, and she's a very sweet girl. Also, I want to make sure she turns out as much unlike Kise-kun as possible."

Kagami reaches over, ruffling the girl's golden curls, and trying not to look thoroughly charmed when she butts her head against his hand. "Well, it doesn't have to be permanent. If you get sick of it we'll tell Kise to find himself another babysitter, and you can...hey, she looks hungry, how do you say hungry in French?"

"I have no idea," Kuroko admits, though it's an easy task of poking Nigou in the direction of the kitchen with Suzette riding on his back. "Hmmm. I think Kagami-kun likes this idea even more than he wants to let on."

"I do not! It's really rude of Kise to dump this on us," Kagami says defensively. "I'm not even that good with kids." Nonetheless, he gets behind the counter, looking up at the pantry and furrowing his brow. "Do we have anything kids like?"

Suzette, sliding off Nigou's back, wraps both small hands around an orange, tries to open it with her small fingers, and looks up at Kuroko. "Monsieur, s'il vous plait?"

"Kagami-kun is very good with children. Just look how Nigou turned out." Kuroko bends down to scoop her up, sets her into a chair, and starts peeling the orange for her, handing her the slices one by one. "I don't approve of Kise-kun in this situation entirely, but… at least he is trying to do the right thing. He can recognize that he wouldn't be a good father to her right now."

"I think a monkey could recognize that." Kagami looks at the little girl, then back at the cupboard. "Hmm, I have an idea." He starts taking food out of the cupboard, setting it on the counter, then turns to Suzette. "Suzette? When you like a food," he says, a big smile on his face as he rubs his stomach, "put it over here. If you hate a food," he says, making a face and pantomining throwing up to her general giggles, "put it over here."

Industriously, Suzette begins picking up items, moving them left and right, hesitating over a few like miso and bagged rice before shrugging and leaving them in the middle.

"See? Kagami-kun is very good with children. Especially when they aren't bitey," Kuroko says, then pauses, frowning a little bit in thought as he peels the last of the orange and hands her that piece. "Ah… introducing us by our given names was probably silly. We'll have to use them a lot more now for consistency, or she'll get confused."

Kagami shrugs. "That's going to be weirder for you than for me, I'm pretty much used to it. That's what we do, here. All my teammates call me Taiga anyway. Well, they call me Tiger, but that's pretty much the same as when I was a kid."

"You still call me Kuroko all the time," is the defensive retort, though Kuroko finds himself too busy trying not to laugh over Kagami's teammates calling him Tiger. "Americans are so strange… ah, it's going to be hard to take classes if I am watching her all the time. You'll just have to teach us. And she can teach us French."

"We're gonna be one of those families, huh?" Kagami asks with a grin. Well, there's really nothing to be done about it, is there? He looks down, picks up a piece of orange, and says clearly, "Orange."

"Orange."

"Orange."

Kagami blinks. "Wow, that was good."

She shakes her head, blonde curls bouncing. "Monsieur Taiga, en français, l'orange est l'orange. Orange."

"And in Japanese," Kagami says slowly in English, pointing to Kuroko, "Oranji."

That makes her blink, head tilting in confusion.

"Right, we'll work on that."

"… Mm. Kagami-kun just called us a family," Kuroko softly points out, smiling a little as he bends down to press a kiss to the top of Suzette's head. "You like her a lot."

"At least she isn't a dog." Kagami turns a little bit red, and starts packing up the food, sorting it by things Suzette likes and things she doesn't. "How do you ask if she wets the bed or not? Or if she's allergic to anything? Or if she has any medical history things we-dammit, Kise can't just not tell us this stuff!"

"Monsieur Tigre est en colère."

"Kise-kun probably doesn't know either," Kuroko mildly points out, still smiling. "It's fine. Ah… Taiga is noisy," he solemnly tells Suzette in English, pointing to Kagami. "A noisy American."

Suzette nods so seriously that it's obvious she knows these words. "Est-il un touriste?"

"What? I'm not a tourist! Kuroko-uh, Tetsuya, stop feeding her nonsense. This is America," he says in careful English, trying to keep his accent out of it as much as possible. "Taiga is American now. Tetsuya is American. Suzette is American."

Suzette eats another slice of orange.

"I don't know, I think it was very accurate, considering how excessive Kaga…um, Taiga… is at times," he says to Kagami, trying very hard not to stumble over his name and blush about it, too. "Ah, but not a tourist," Kuroko gently corrects her. "Taiga is just American. Very American. I am Japanese… like Papa."

Suzette shrugs. "D'accord."

"I don't think she gets it. Oi, you have to be a little American now," Kagami reminds Kuroko. "You're going to be a citizen and everything, once we get….you know."

"If she didn't get it, she'd say so." Kuroko blinks back at Kagami, his head tilting. "I'll be a little bit American. We'll go to all of your basketball games and we can taunt Kise-kun by taking lots of pictures of her posing with basketball superstar Kagami Taiga."

"Taiga Kagami," Kagami corrects him. "I know it's weird, but you'll get used to it. Hey, know what? We should go out to a buffet. That way we can see her pick all the food she likes, so we can go shopping." Also, he's starving.

"English is so annoying," Kuroko crossly says, but he nods all the same. "All right, that sounds good. She can see the black hole inside of you early on, it's for the best. Suzette," he begins, moving to help her out of the chair. "Dinner?"

The girl blinks. "C'est quoi?"

"She doesn't get it. Just bring her, everyone likes buffets. And it has nothing to do with being a black hole, don't give her weird ideas!"

"It isn't weird if it's true." Kuroko shrugs and just picks her up. If nothing else, he will be far from bored in the near future.

Kagami isn't a father.

He'd been pretty sure of that, anyway, until Suzette had gone off to her first day of kindergarten. He'd watched her go, waving goodbye as her curls bounced and her lunchbox had swung back and forth in her hand, until she'd disappeared into Mrs. Fletcher's hand-painted classroom, the door closing behind her.

Then he'd swallowed around the lump in his throat, gotten into his car, and tried to decide what to do with himself for the rest of the day.

So, he can't really be blamed for rescheduling his meeting with his publicist, making sure he has the rest of the day free to redecorate Suzette's room in her new favorite colors. He's also pretty sure he can't be blamed for surprising Kuroko when he'd returned from all his errands, and demanding they pick up Suzette together and go to the park after school.

He stops feeling stupid when she runs up to him as soon as the bell rings, launching herself at his torso and calling him "Papa." Kuroko is still Tetsuya, but he doesn't seem to mind that.

"I used to go to this park all the time when I was a kid," Kagami explains, parking the car and unbuckling Suzette's car seat that she swears she doesn't need anymore. "It's been re-done, now everything's plastic and bright colors and no rounded corners, it used to be all metal and wood. Oi, Tetsu, did you bring the basketball?"

"Said as if you don't have four of them in the car truck," Kuroko answers as he fishes one out, giving it a spin on one fingertip. It's hard to remember a time Kagami seemed so honestly and entirely happy, which is enough to constantly bring a smile to his own face. Not that they weren't happy together in Japan, just-this is a different level. "You should teach Suzette how to dunk, she looks like a natural."

"I want to be number eleven like Papa," Suzette announces, then squeals when Kagami picks her up onto his shoulders. "Tetsuya, I want the ball!"

Kagami beams, slapping the ball out of Kuroko's hands and dribbling it as he walks. "You're getting very good at 'I want,' Suzette," he praises, giving her ankle a tug before handing her the ball. It's much better than the previous 'Give me' she'd espoused. "Don't forget your 'please' and 'thank you,' either."

"Papa doesn't say please and thank you. Papa takes the ball from Tetsuya."

"That's because Papa is a rude American," Kuroko sniffs. "If he had any courtesy, he would ask very nicely for me to pass it to him like I used to."

"I want to see Tetsuya pass," Suzette says, suddenly excited. "Papa, I want down."

Kagami sets her down onto her feet, tossing the ball back over his shoulder to Kuroko without looking. "This is the warm-up," he promises, "and then Papa will teach you how to dunk like an NBA player."

"Papa thinks he's very cool," Kuroko says with a laugh. "Which, hmm… Taiga-kun, can you even still catch one of these? I think you're terribly out of practice." Which is about the only warning he offers before dribbling it once, and immediately sending an ignite pass kai in Kagami's direction.

Kagami snatches the ball from the air, dribbles once to get to the free throw line, and launches himself into the air, showing off as hard as he can, because damn, if he doesn't want to impress Suzette, who does he? It doesn't take too much effort now that he's training hard with some of the world's best players every day, and he does make an effort not to break the park's rusty hoop with the coolest dunk this park has ever seen.

At least, it would have been, if the park's hoops were up to regulation standard height.

Kagami's face is bright red when he overshoots the hoop by several feet, managing to toss the ball over his shoulder in what he hopes is a cool-looking move anyway. It bounces a little off the rim, but goes in nonetheless, dropping down to the ground as he does.

Suzette turns to look up at Kuroko. "Papa doesn't shoot like that in games. Is that supposed to happen?"

Kuroko makes a valiant effort not to start choking on air and laughing himself to the pavement. "Maybe he's more out of practice than I thought," he fairly wheezes, having to turn away and clamp a hand over his mouth lest he just die right then and there. "Please keep being so cool, NBA Superstar Taiga Kagami."

A basketball comes shooting at Kuroko's face-not an ignite pass, but almost as fast. "I'm going to dunk you next time," Kagami growls, and picks Suzette back up onto his shoulder. "Tetsuya is going to sit in time out. You're going to learn to dunk."

"I want the ball!"

"Yeah, yeah, here's the ball, honey. Okay, just like last time, ready to jump?"

"Please don't dunk her instead," Kuroko manages to squeak out from where he all but collapses on the ground. "I wouldn't put it past you, with your current level of ability."

"The problem isn't with me! The problem is with the stupid tiny hoop!"

"It's not nice to call someone stupid, Papa."

"The hoop isn't a person!"

"A challenger has appeared," Kuroko manages with a very, very straight face (somehow). "The only one that can beat you isn't you, but instead a stupid tiny hoop."

"Don't compare me to that-" Kagami switches to Japanese. "Don't compare me to that idiot asshole!"

Suzette scowls. "Papa's cheating. Tetsuya, is he saying bad words?"

"Awful words. Your Papa is the worst."

Suzette nods solemnly. "I want the ball."

Kagami passes gently, then flops down by the side of the court. "You want to be in the WNBA someday?" he teases, as Suzette attempts something like a layup ending in an underhand two-hand toss that doesn't reach the bottom of the backboard.

"No. I'm going to be a basketball princess."

"Ah," Kuroko says, nodding in full understanding as he retrieves the ball and gently bounces it back to Suzette. "Like Midorima-kun. You'll meet him some day. He'll want to know what your zodiac sign is; for some reason, that is important to princesses."

Suzette beams as Kagami chokes and tries not to die on the ground. "I'm the Tiger like Papa. Papa got me the gold card with the tiger on it and everything, and I always circle the tiger on the menu at the Chinese place."

"Mm, to that, Princess Midorima-kun would say something like… 'unmei nanodayo.' That means something like… destiny, or fate. Right, Taiga-kun?" It seems as though Kagami is having trouble breathing. Kuroko is pleased. He's less pleased when he ends up with the ball again, takes a shot, and watches it bounce off the rim. Ah, well. "He will want to know your Western sign, though. I'm an Aquarius, Papa is a Leo."

Suzette blinks. "What am I?"

"You're an Aries," Kagami wheezes, "but it doesn't matter, Tetsuya's being really Japanese today. You don't want to take advice about being a basketball princess from someone like that."

"I don't know, I think Midorima-kun took his position very seriously. It must have had some merit, nanodayo."

Kagami thinks he's going to tear something in his stomach. "You," he gasps, rolling over onto his stomach as he cackles, "are the worst. The worst. God, I should call him and say you said that."

"Boys can't be princesses," Suzette declares, then looks up at Kuroko. "Unless maybe they ask nicely."

"Please do, and make sure he is on speaker phone when you tell him so Takao-kun can hear clearly." Kuroko smiles down at Suzette. "Boys can be princesses, though Midorima-kun never asked nicely. Girls can be dashing princes, too… though I think you would make a much prettier princess, especially if it's in basketball."

"That's all right, then," Suzette decides.

Then, the ball hits the ground as tinkling music comes from nearby, and Suzette's eyes go wide. "Can I ice cream want ice cream please please please ice cream Papa please!"

Kagami rolls his eyes, reaching for his wallet. "Fine, fine, you can have a dollar for ice cream, just don't get it all over your-"

She grabs the money from his hand, pelting off to parts unknown at least as fast as Aomine has ever moved. Kagami curses, tugging on Kuroko's arm. "Come on, we can't let her get snatched."

"Maybe she really is going to have a career in basketball," Kuroko wheezes as they dart after her. "I mean, considering her sperm donor, I guess it isn't entirely surprising that she's really athletic-"

On a nice day like this, it isn't surprising that there's a veritable crowd of children around the ice cream truck. Suzette's hair makes her stand out, at least (really, who is that blonde naturally?), and Kuroko heaves a long sigh, bracing against a nearby tree as he catches his breath.

Actually, she isn't the only one that really stands out. If Kuroko wasn't entirely certain of his own lucidity, he would have been sure he was caught in a time loop, and was seeing an itty bitty miniature of Kagami, greedily grabbing at his own procured ice cream. Kuroko's head tilts almost entirely sideways and he blinks-a few times, just to make sure he isn't seeing things. "… Do you have relatives in the area?" Other than your father, obviously.

"Huh? I mean, just-you know," Kagami says, suddenly uncomfortable with the line of questioning.

A child tugs on his arm as he's trying to keep watch on Suzette. "Father," he hears in perfect Japanese, "I want another one. No, three more."

Kagami looks down at the boy.

The boy looks up at him.

The boy screams. "You're not my father!"

Kagami holds his hands up in the air, startled as everyone turns to look at him. "I never said I was! You came up to me!"

Briefly, Kuroko wonders why they can't ever have an entirely normal day.

It's highly unlikely that coincidence allows for a child to look almost identical to Kagami, and speak Japanese, and-ahh, it's so obvious that Kuroko nearly winces visibly. He keeps one eye on Suzette, the other scanning the crowds, though that's all sort of moot when he suddenly has someone nearly as tall as Kagami in his field of vision and… ah. Yes. They look very similar, too, even if this not-Kagami is much older.

"Hayato," is the firm snap in bitty-Kagami-look-alike's direction, "come here."

It takes everything in Kuroko's power not to say something, especially when the man doesn't even spare a glance in Kagami's direction. Actually-never mind, he can't quite bite his tongue. "Excuse me," he politely, albeit irritably begins, "but it seems a little rude to not greet your son after so-"

And that's a back turned to his face. Lovely.

Kagami swallows hard. He tries to tell himself not to go after his father, his stepmother in the distance, his little brother that he's never even met. It's over, he tries to tell himself, and he gives Kuroko a bitter little smile.

Then, Suzette tugs on his hand. "Who's that, Papa?"

Kagami's heart tightens, and he gives Kuroko a shrug. "Unmei, nanodayo?" he asks with a half-grin, and turns to grab the retreating man by the arm. "Dad. Wait a second, please."

"More like complete jerk, nanodayo," Kuroko mutters underneath his breath once Kagami is out of hearing range, forcing himself to turn his attention to Suzette.

Kagami's hand is shoved from his arm in short order, and the older man turns to his wife immediately after. "Take Hayato to the car," he says before sparing one glance back to Kagami. "Of all the places to speak to me, here and now isn't it, especially around my son."

Kagami grits his teeth. "I didn't come looking for you," he growls, trying to keep his voice low. "I was here with my family, same as you. I-I just thought maybe we could talk." God, he's an idiot. After everything his father had said, even now looking at the man's face makes him feel like a child. "Dad, I'm still your son."

"I believe I made it clear what I thought of that years ago." He snorts. "There's absolutely nothing to discuss and you know that-perhaps too well, if you are out and about with your 'family' as well."

Kagami can hear the quotation marks. "It's so easy for you?" he asks quietly, trying to keep the anger from rising up and consuming him whole. "To just pretend you never even had me? Did you ever give a shit about me at all?"

"If I didn't give a shit," is the low, flat response, "I wouldn't have been upset in the first place. I heard you were playing for the Lakers now," he stiffly adds. "That is the kind of son I could be proud of, and yet you still insist on being some sort of delinquent at the same time."

"I'm not a delinquent," Kagami snarls. "I pay taxes. I have a house. I take my little girl to kindergarten. I'm a goddamn superstar player for your favorite team in the NBA. I'm a good person, Dad!" His voice cracks, and he looks away, jamming his hands into the pockets of his shorts. "I didn't even know you had another kid. I didn't know I had a brother."

"Well," his father coldly retorts, "now you do." He sucks in a slow, calming breath and tries to say without malice, "If you want to visit with your child, I might think of discussing it with my wife. I had every intention of letting you know about your brother before you told me about your other involvements."

"Other involvements," Kagami echoes quietly. "That's my family you're talking about." But this is more progress than he's made in years of unanswered phone calls and letters, and he's never really expected much. Slowly, he nods. "I'd like that. To meet him, and to see Jenny. I-I'm not asking to move back in or have family dinners, or anything. I just…." He swallows hard, trying not to think about sitting by his father's side while he'd done paperwork, or going to work with him, or going to the park, or those rare family dinners when he'd put down the computer and carved the roast for everyone. "I miss you."

Then you should have thought about that before making the choices you did is the look plainly on his father's face. "I'll speak to her, then. You still have my number, obviously. Have a good afternoon, Taiga."

"Yeah. You too." Kagami stands still, watching his father walk away. He's not quite ready, he thinks, to turn around and see Kuroko and Suzette.

Of course, being a father means he can't really make that choice. A firm tug of a small hand on his makes him look down. Suzette solemnly hands him an ice cream bar. "Tetsuya said this is good for your black hole."

"Maybe forcefully dunking a basketball into a stupid tiny hoop until it breaks would help, too," Kuroko quietly suggests from a pace behind. "Everything all right, Taiga-kun?" You can say yes and I won't believe it and I'll fix it later if I can't right now.

Kagami smiles. Not because he's happy, or because he thinks Kuroko will believe it, but because of Suzette. He wraps an arm around Kuroko, tugging him close. "Yeah, sure. But it's up to Suzette what we do next, she's the basketball princess that got through a whole day of kindergarten today."

Suzette sucks on her ice cream, thinking. "Can we eat Tetsuya's food tonight? With the wriggly fishies?"

"We can eat anything you want," Kuroko tells her before stretching up, planting a kiss to Kagami's lips, and then promptly smooshing his cheeks together. "Look, now Papa is a fish, too."

"Papa," Suzette says solemnly, "is a very cute fish."

Kagami's cheeks turn pink, and he grabs Kuroko in a crushing hug. Then he grabs Suzette, placing her on his hip, and gives Kuroko another kiss. "Yeah," he says quietly, turning to look at Kuroko. "I'm fine. It's fine." Maybe it is.

"But we should eat the gross kind that makes Papa talk about how American food is better," Suzette says calmly. "Because it's funny."

"Let's not make Papa suffer through too bad of a dinner tonight," Kuroko mildly chides. "Remember, we have to feed his black hole or it will eventually destroy the earth."

"But we're not supposed to go back to the buffet place anymore, Tetsuya!"

"If you two keep it up we're going to eat at home!"

"I would cook a buffet for Papa, but that seems like it would be suffering, too."

"Please don't, that tortures me too."

"At least she's picking up your terrible manners," Kagami mutters, opening the car door and fastening Suzette into her car seat. "Saying rude things in a nice voice is still rude, Suzette. Even if Tetsuya does it and it's funny."

"I don't know what Taiga-kun is talking about. I have absolutely no sense of humor."

Kagami shoots him a dirty look, closing Suzette into the backseat before grabbing him, pulling him close and hooking his chin over Kuroko's head for a minute. "Just give me a second," he mumbles, arms wrapping tight around the slight warmth of him.

"If we didn't have Suzette in the car, I would say take as long as you need," Kuroko murmurs, tilting his head up just a bit to press a kiss to the hollow of Kagami's throat as he lets himself be squished. "What did he say, anyway? Or would you rather wait to tell me at home?"

"Same old stuff, but more polite because we were in public," Kagami says, feeling suddenly very tired. "I guess I have a brother now. He says he'll think about letting me meet him."

"I see." Kuroko gently tugs Kagami down, pressing another, soft kiss to his temple. The worst thing is feeling utterly useless, and in this, Kuroko is certain he is. "I'm really sorry, Taiga-kun."

"I'm….I'm sorry for him." Kagami's smile is weak. "I mean, I'm sorry for me, but he's missing out on getting to know you and Suzette."

"Mmm, well. I'm fairly unpleasant, but I am very much in agreement regarding Suzette."

Kagami opens the door, sliding into the driver's seat. "Sorry to make you wait, let's go eat."

"It's okay. Tetsuya's batteries were low again?"

Kagami shakes his head. "Mine were low this time."

"Even superstar basketball players have to recharge once in awhile," Kuroko tells her with a smile. "Princesses, too. Don't forget that."

"We should all recharge together at home," Suzette decides. "I mean-I want to recharge together. Papa can be on the bottom and Tetsuya in the middle and me on the top."

"Ahh, I want to be a sandwich…" Kuroko sighs in agreement, leaning back in his seat.

"Stop talking about sandwiches, you're making me hungry."

"Papa's always hungry."

"I'm driving to the restaurant."

"Papa's always driving to the restaurant."

"Oi, Suzette, quit it!"

"Can you say that in Japanese, Suzette? Papa wa itsumo-" Maybe he shouldn't torment Kagami too much, but if it keeps his mind off of things…

Kagami scowls, and retorts, "Suzette, how about instead, Tetsuya est mai, ah, dammit, I mean, darn, mai-"

"Méchant," Suzette says, and giggles. "Papa's good at that!"

"Taiga-kun is a rude American after all. I'm an angel."

"Tetsuya," Suzette lectures, "is an American too."

"No, honey, he's Japanese," Kagami explains, not for the first time. "He just lives in America. I'm the only American citizen, that's like an official American."

"How come?"

"Because you have to live here for a really long time."

"How come?"

"Because Americans have a lot of rules," Kuroko answers matter-of-factly. "In Japan, it's even more difficult."

Suzette frowns. "I want to be American if Papa is American. Please?"

Kagami frowns. "Sorry, honey. Your father is Japanese."

"Hmm? Kise is the reason I can't be American like Papa?"

Shit, that sounds like tears. "I'll talk to him or something," Kagami says hastily. "Hey, we're almost at the restaurant, start thinking about all the good food you want to eat."

Kuroko twists around in his seat, offering her an easy smile. "Papa is also Japanese, you know. You can be both Japanese and American if we say so. I'm just very Japanese, you've probably heard Papa tell me that all the time."

Slowly, Suzette nods. "I guess. Can I still be French too? Like my Mama?"

"Mmhm. That's why it's good for you to teach us how to speak French, so we can be French with you."

The clench around Kagami's heart eases, as he pulls in and looks over at Kuroko, then back at Suzette. He's the one missing out, he thinks firmly. "We'll all be Japanese and American and French. That way it's a real family."

"Okay!"

"… But in different proportions, because I am very Japanese and Papa is excessively American."

"You're just going to confuse her," Kagami mutters, unbuckling Suzette and taking her tiny hand as she skips into the restaurant. "You use way too big words for a five year old."

"Mm, I don't know about that. She has a very large vocabulary for a little girl." Kuroko blinks up at him innocently. "Perhaps it is Taiga-kun who needs me to use smaller words."

"Perhaps it is Tetsuya who needs to walk home after dinner," Kagami growls, reaching over and giving Kuroko a firm pinch.

"I probably could use the exercise. Or I can figure out something else later," Kuroko idly muses, reaching back to return the pinch squarely on Kagami's ass.

Kagami doesn't squeak.

That's definitely not a squeak.

Absolutely not.

"Papa squeaked."

"I did not!"

"Maybe it was just the wind."

Later, Kuroko wonders if they could have asked for an easier child.

The answer is 'probably not', especially when Suzette promptly passes out in the back seat after dinner, and stays that way even when Kagami carries her inside and tucks her into bed. Kuroko can count on one hand, too, the number of times Suzette has ever woken up (he was far from being an easy child like that, when he was her age).

"… You're certain you're all right?" he quietly presses when Kagami slips from her room, and Kuroko peers up at him. "If nothing else, you should recharge more."

Kagami gives him a wry smile, and wraps an arm around him, leaning into Kuroko's slight form in the middle of the hallway. "It was just my dad being a dick," he mutters. "He hasn't given me any reason in four years to think it would be different. I just…" He shrugs, wordless. "Didn't expect to see him."

Kuroko's arms wind firmly about Kagami's back, and he gives him a solid squeeze that sort of lifts himself up onto his tiptoes in the process of it. "I almost wanted to punch him-no, I definitely wanted to punch him," Kuroko idly corrects. "If he had said anything really awful, I would have."

Kagami grins a little at the mental image that conjures up. "I would definitely have paid to see that. I just…" He shrugs again. "It's hard to explain, I guess. I get that he's old-school, but he's the one who brought me to America in the first place, you know? If he wanted me to be a good Japanese boy, he should have left me in Tokyo."

"Ah, yes. Because Taiga-kun is a truly dreadful person and not good at all." The roll of Kuroko's eyes is nearly audible. He hopes Kagami's father hears it from across the city. "Maybe you don't act very Japanese at times, but I don't think that has any bearing on liking men. I think that would have been the same whether you grew up in Tokyo or America."

"But if I were in Japan," Kagami points out, "I'd probably just have kept it quiet. You know, done the Japanese thing and gotten married and spent two nights a week in Ni-chome. When I first told him, that's what pissed him off. He couldn't understand why I had to say it out loud and make a thing out of it. Like who I fall in love with isn't important."

"Mm." Kuroko's eyes lid, and he butts his face lightly into the side of Kagami's neck. "I'm glad that you made a thing about it. I like being important."

Kagami looks down, and says hesitantly, "I wasn't sure if you'd want me to. You're….kind of really Japanese that way too. I know you're not comfortable with making a thing out of it, that's why I didn't tell you before I talked to him."

"… I probably wouldn't have wanted you to say anything," Kuroko admits on a sigh. "Sometimes I wish you hadn't, for your sake, but then I think we probably wouldn't have ended up here. Taiga-kun is a lot more brave than me in that sort of thing. Though-the way your father looked at me today, like I was some sort of vile temptress…" He stares up at Kagami. "Look how vile I am. Just look."

"Very vile," Kagami agrees seriously. He cups Kuroko's face in his hands, leaning down to give him a slow, measured kiss. "And very tempting."

"Mostly vile, I think," Kuroko hums, stretching up on tiptoe to kiss Kagami back properly, giving his lower lip a slow nibble. "You should do something about that."

Kagami's hands drop down, cupping Kuroko's ass and lifting him several inches off the ground to kiss properly. "Mm, some kind of punishment, do you think?" he asks, already letting the meeting with his father fade from his mind. This is worth any amount of being disowned.

"Yes, I should definitely be punished," Kuroko cheerfully agrees, slinging his arms about Kagami's shoulders with a little shiver creeping up his spine. It isn't as if Kagami ever lost any of that muscle tone over the years (being a fireman is work enough), but really training again as an athlete does wonders. "I'm the worst, do something about it."

Kagami manages to keep from making too much noise before they get to their room. Then he kisses Kuroko with abandon, hungry, needing, hands gentle and strong as he holds him up, mouth pressed hard against his. "Do something?" he murmurs, eyes lidding at the idea. "You have something in mind?"

Kagami isn't really fair on most days, but this… Kuroko groans into his mouth, squirming in his grasp as a leg winds tighter about Kagami's waist. "You should probably punish me until I can't get up tomorrow," he breathes, dragging his nails down the back of Kagami's neck and shoulders. "And leave lots of little bruises to look at later so I remember what I've done."

Kagami takes a long stride and shoves Kuroko up against the nearest wall, holding him there with the weight of his body, letting his hand come up to his hair, caressing, tangling, touching. He moves to bite Kuroko's neck, sucking hard at the mark, and murmurs, "You get to tell Suzette you got blue chicken pox again."

"My favorite," Kuroko manages on a shaky breath, his hands curling and clawing their way against Kagami's back as he lets his head fall back, eagerly welcoming the drag of Kagami's teeth, and the way he sucks on the skin until it aches. "Ahh… I'm so glad you're a basketball superstar that practices all the time, you feel really good."

"Are you saying I didn't always feel good?" Kagami asks, raising an eyebrow before setting his mouth to the curve of Kuroko's neck. He gets a thigh in between Kuroko's, pressing up hard, feeling just how slight Kuroko is by comparison. Even if he's grown a few inches since their meeting, he's still a small guy, and Kagami doesn't even feel the weight of him. He nibbles a little, murmuring against Kuroko's skin, "How do you want me?" It's always better to ask, with Kuroko.

"You've always felt good-it's just even more distracting now, especially because you're so happy about everything," Kuroko manages as his breath hitches and his voice breaks a little at the end, his teeth briefly sinking into his lower lip to keep back what was probably a mewl as his back arches to better press himself against the slide of Kagami's thigh. "… I meant it when I said I didn't want to move tomorrow," he admits, a flush spreading high over his cheeks. "Taiga-kun should just have his way with me. Thoroughly."

Somehow, Kagami's fairly sure that he'll still get the blame for this in the morning. Kuroko has a penchant for asking to be thoroughly ravished and complaining about it the next day.

Not that it's ever stopped Kagami before.

He sets Kuroko down just for long enough to yank his pants down, then tosses him bodily over the side of the bed. It's a high bed for a reason, namely that it holds Kuroko up at a pretty perfect height for moments like these. Kagami's hands squeeze, spreading Kuroko's cheeks, rubbing a thumb over that pretty hole before he reaches for lube. "Want me in here?" he asks, already slicking up his fingers, sliding them slowly down himself. They don't really fuck that often, usually preferring to rub off together, take turns sucking, or a dozen other things that don't leave Kuroko walking bowlegged and ginger for the next couple days.

Kuroko manages an eager, mindless nod, his face hot as he buries it into the sheets, his hands clenching tightly into fabric. "Really want it," he whispers, squirming back with a ragged sigh. His cock aches as it slides against the bed, and just that much friction is enough to make his breath even harder to catch. "Taiga-kun is always so gentle-you really, really shouldn't be."

"God, Tetsu-"

Kagami's voice comes out in a groan, and he presses two fingers at that hole, leaning forward to set his mouth to Kuroko's neck again. He slides them in deep, feeling the sudden slick tight heat, twisting and spreading his fingers to try and somehow make it easier. Kuroko is just so small. "God," he breathes again, "I'm gonna fuck you so hard."

Belatedly, Kuroko clamps a hand over his own mouth, muffling the broken whine that escapes when he already feels spreads so wide, already so full when it's just Kagami's fingers sliding deep inside of him. His thighs bunch and twitch as he wriggles to try and splay them wider, as if that will help (it never does), and he huffs out a hot, ragged breath into his own hand as he ruts backward. "Please-"

"Stop it," Kagami chides, fetching a sharp slap to Kuroko's rear. "You're gonna hurt yourself, how many times do I have to warn you?" He's not sure if he's ever been this hard, and he has to take himself in hand for a second just to ease that intense, crushing pressure of it. He slides a third finger in, though it doesn't go easy, and Kagami grimaces. "Let me work on you like this for a minute."

Kuroko definitely squeaks when he's slapped, his face red as he shoves it down into the bed and a long, aching shudder twitches through him. "Does that count as 'working'?" he breathily manages, arching up nearly onto his toes when he shivers again, and tries to behave and not act quite as desperate as he feels. It's easier said than done, even when he's still too tight and his mind narrowly focused on the idea of Kagami fucking him hard isn't making him any less excited. "N… not my fault even your fingers are big and that it feels really-really good."

Kagami curses, using one hand to squeeze his cock at the base, twisting and spreading his fingers, trying to stretch Kuroko's hole out a little before shoving in. "You promised you'd practice more before we did this again," he grunts, "so I wouldn't feel so guilty. Stop making those fucking noises, I'm gonna lose it."

"You're the one that-ahh-smacked me, I can't help it, and I don't like doing this without you-" Kuroko fairly whines, though he makes a valiant effort by biting into his lower lip to muffle his voice when he's spread so wide. He slumps into the bed, shivering hard. "D… don't feel guilty, just fuck me-"

Well, shit, Kagami's only human. He pulls his fingers out, wiping them off on the sheets as he takes himself in hand, guiding the head to rub against Kuroko's ass, catching against his hole. And then everything becomes moot, because he'll die if he's not inside Kuroko in the next few seconds. He grabs his hips, positioning right, and shoves in hard, pinning Kuroko against the bed with one rough shove of his cock deep inside. His vision whites out, and stays grayed out at the edges as he rocks, holding in as deep as he can in hard, pounding thrusts. "Tetsu-fuck, Tetsu-"

Kuroko is glad for how his mind clicks off.

It makes it a lot easier just to take every inch of Kagami's cock that's shoved inside of him, a lot easier just to bite into the sheets and muffle his whines and groans there as his back arches and everything trembles and shivers and aches when Kuroko's stuffed so full that it sends twinging little sparks up all the way down to his toes. Maybe that's the reason they don't do this very often-he just melts, lending himself to the yank of Kagami's hands and the shove of his hips, broken, needy noises caught up in his throat.

It's not like Kagami means to fuck Kuroko so hard all he can do is cry and whimper. It's just that when he's inside like this, there's nothing he can do, nothing he can think, nothing but how good it feels to be buried inside that perfect tight heat, squeezing him like a vice, so tight his cock aches, and that only makes him shove in harder. He's not usually much of a biter, but it's what Kuroko wants, and the raw primal need behind it is something that speaks to Kagami right now.

"T… Taiga-" Kuroko squirms when Kagami's teeth set to his flesh, his breath hiccuping in his chest when every bite seems to go straight to his cock. He somehow has the mind to reach down, scrabbling for one of Kagami's hands, and drags it upward to his mouth, muffling the next, breathy whine that escapes into it instead of his own.

Kuroko is actually trying to kill him.

Kagami closes his hand, pressing it hard over Kuroko's mouth, and his cock throbs at just the idea of it. He drags Kuroko back onto his cock, feeling every exhalation and muffled whine against his palm. "I like that you can't keep quiet," he grunts. It's probably mean of him to deliberately avoid touching Kuroko's cock, but the idea of him coming from just having Kagami's cock inside him is too arousing to ignore. "I'm sorry, I know it's too much but I can't stop, shit-"

Kuroko would tell him that it's fine, it's good, just keep fucking me, but all he can manage is to groan into Kagami's hand instead, his eyes rolling back when he's pulled back onto his cock again and again. It is too much, and the idea of that makes him grind his own cock harder down into the bed, no matter how weak and boneless Kagami makes him feel when he's fucking him like this.

He feels used and melty and so very, very overwhelmed when he comes, his broken, breathless whimper lost into Kagami's hand when he spills before Kuroko can even reach one of his own hands down to touch himself. He sags, a shivering, sweating mess, his vision sort of glazing around the edges with every lingering twitch that pulses through him. Good, really good.

Kagami really isn't sure when he loses himself. It might be when Kuroko comes, clenching down on his cock so tight Kagami curses incoherently. It might be when he collapses, sagging bonelessly down to the bed, pliant in Kagami's arms with the kind of love and trust and arousal that means so much more than any words could.

Kagami chokes off a cry, burying his face in Kuroko's hair, trying not to wake Suzette when he comes hard, flooding Kuroko with a few last, ragged snaps of his hips. Then he slumps over, trying not to slide to the floor. "Uh."

"Mmnn." Kuroko blindly reaches back, grabbing for whatever part of Kagami that he can sort of half-heartedly get his hand on. "Taiga-kun is really good at punishments," is the hazy, still-muffled sigh into Kagami's hand, sounding very, very pleased.

Kagami moves his hand, then slides slowly to the side, rolling onto the bed and tugging Kuroko up by his damp, rumpled shirt. "You're gonna be mad at me tomorrow. You're really unfair." Not that that stops him from pulling Kuroko up for a slow, deep kiss.

Kuroko hums against Kagami's mouth, gently nipping as he wriggles up against him, no matter how boneless he feels. "But I'm not mad right now. You've really made me a mess and I like it."

"If you keep your legs closed it won't be so messy," Kagami says vaguely, nuzzling against Kuroko as he wraps an arm around his waist. "And I'm lying in your wet spot, so there's your revenge."

"Taiga-kun deserves it after slapping me. You're the worst."

"You're the one who told me to punish you!"

"Yes. Maybe you should have done it more, I can't decide."

"You obviously didn't learn your lesson," Kagami growls. "You just want to piss me off so I'll stop being a gentleman."

Kuroko nods shamelessly. "I already told you I'm a vile temptress. That deserves many punishments over the span of a week at least."

Kagami bites his ear gently. "As long as you promise to punish me back sometimes. I always feel bad for hurting you even a little, you can make me feel better about it."

"I'm going to make you go to practice one day covered in bite marks. You've been warned."

Kagami flushes hot, knowing Kuroko will make good on that. "Do you have any idea how much the guys tease me when you do that?"

"Mm. That's why it's punishment." Kuroko snuggles close, curling himself into a ball against Kagami's chest. "Everyone needs to know that Taiga-kun is mine."

Somehow, Kagami can't even be mad. "If they don't, send them to me. I'll tell them who I belong to."

"Good." Kuroko tips his head up, setting his teeth gently into the curve of Kagami's shoulder. "And I'll tell them who I belong to, too."