Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basket and its characters belong to Fujimaki Tadatoshi. I only own my story and my cat

His senses had sharpened all of sudden: he was in danger.

Midorima stood by the kitchen door, paralyzed by terror, while his head was in a total mess. He didn't know what to do, but he wouldn't move a muscle for sure. Any mistake, in moments like that, could cost his life. With one hand firmly holding the door jamb, he turned to his companion, but only slightly, so that he could keep an eye on the enemy.

"Takao…"

"Hmm? Is something wrong, Shinchan?"

"…there's a cat on the table."

The cat is on the table.

"Huh? Oh, right" Takao answered, without looking away from the tv since he was about to record his maximum score at his favorite play-station game and didn't intent to lose this chance. Midorima knew he wasn't really paying attention to him.

He turned again towards the black furred animal, which was stretching itself on the table; those glossy eyes lingered on Midorima for a few seconds –during which the ace didn't even dare to breath- then the cat returned to lick his body, peacefully.

"Takao, there's a cat on the table" Midorima insisted. "Why is there a cat on the table? "

"It's a cat, Shinchan. Cats do climb on the tables" Takao noted.

Midorima felt an anger vein pop out on his forehead: right, he should have know it was all Takao's fault. Again.

"Takao" His voice trembled and sounded so menacing that a cold shiver ran down Takao's back , telling him that Midorima was angry with him, almost furious. With a loud sigh, Takao paused the game and got up from the sofa.

"I found him in the streets, he was alone and hungry so I took it with me… I like cats, you know" he explained, bored. "Nee, Shinchan, what's the matter now?" He pouted.

"That is the problem. Do something about it." Midorima hissed pointing at the table.

"Why? He doesn't do any harm…" Takao replied, confused.

He doesn't do any harm except for attempting at my life, you mean, Midorima thought while trying to regain some composure by fixing his glasses on his nose.

Takao glanced at him, then at the cat, then shrugged. "Okay, if it's really important you, I'll make him get off of there…" he said then he kneed and stretched put his hand, miming butterfly kisses with his lips to call the cat. Midorima looked at him, bewildered.

"W-what are you doing?" he exclaimed, hoping that his voice would sound neuter. He mentally cursed the cats species plus Takao, who was now staring at him in a curious way.

"Say, Shinchan… are you afraid of cats by chance?" he wondered with a slight smile that Midorima didn't like one bit. Damn it. It was not expected that that idiot would figure our his weak point, since nobody -a part from the Kiseki guys- knew about it…

His facial expression, however, was more than an eloquent answer for Takao, who burst into laughter. "Really?! But they are so cute! And you… being scared of cats… with that face! I can't, it's too hilarious!" he almost shouted, while holding his stomach and crying from laughing.

"You damn—" Midorima didn't manage to insult him properly since he noticed that the cat had gotten off the table and was walking slowly towards them. Midorima shuddered and istinctively backed up against the sofa, trying to get as further as possible from the cat.

Takao glanced at him and chuckled, then he took the cat into his harms and hugged it tightly.

"Aww, Shinchan, so cute!" he told him while the cat answered with a loud, vibrant purring.

Midorima was startled.

"…did you just call that thing with my name?" he muttered, bewildered and irritated.

"It's not that thing. It sounds quite offensive, you know" Takao replied and shrugged.

"But perhaps you're right, I gave him this name without thinking about it twice, but it's confusing… Right… Now when I call out Shinchan the both of you will come to me…"

"No. Way. You're not permitted to touch me aver again." Midorima hissed, staring disgusted at the way Takao was hugging that stupid cat to his chest.

"Aww Shinchan, you meanie" Takao muttered, disappointed. He stretched out his hands, so that the cat was closer to Midorima, who jumped on the spot since he was already pressed against the sofa and couldn't back up anymore.

"Look at him. Isn't it adorable? Can't you really get on with him?"

"NO WAY!" Midorima shouted firmly. He managed to wriggled out of that situation and hurried out of the room; he avoided the danger by a hair and wouldn't risk again. He grabbed his bag and reached the door. "I'm going to train, you can stay here with that thing if you want" He snorted and left.

"Wai—What?! Shinchan, wait for meee!" Takao protested, left the cat on the table again and grabbed his bag before getting out of the house running.

xxx

Despite the awful beginning, that day Midorima was in a fine form: his zodiac wasn't one of the luckiest of the day, but that didn't mean having to start to worry. Prepared to begin a new series of perfect shots, he took the ball into his hands and threw it towards the basket –the melodious sound of the ball entering the basketball net immediately made him feel better. He was about to make another excellent shot when a metallic noise and a loud thump, which were followed by Miyagi's curses, echoed into the gym.

"MIDORIMA!" The blonde howled infuriated, he walked towards him dragging a little his left foot and agitating his arms in a disarticulated way, as though he was prepared to give him a beating.

"You were the one who brought this stupid toy, weren't you?!" He pointed at the little metal airplane into Ootsubo's hands.

Midorima nodded. "Yes. It's today's lucky object. I hope you didn't ruin it, you'd better learn to watch where you're putting your feet." He said, totally indifferent.

"I SWEAR I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Miyagi replied, sounding slightly hysteric.

Takao hurried to separate them, he interposed between their bodies and put his hands on the senior's chest, pushing him back. "C'mon, senpai, after all you didn't get any harm! You shouldn't turn to violence for so little!" he told him with a nervous smile.

Midorima huffed, shrugged and was about to shoot again when he heard it.

A meow.

That ominous sound echoed into the gym and made him freeze on the spot.

"Shinchan! Whoa, did you follow us?!" Takao exclaimed running towards the black cat which had suddenly appeared on the gym entrance, where it meowed and walked back and forth to seek attentions. Midorima stared at the cat in terror and quickly moved further, while on the contrary the other team members followed Takao in approaching the animal.

"How cute, is that you pet, Takao?" Kimura asked while caressing the cat's head with a finger. Takao nodded and then explained them how he found and named it. Miyagi made a disgusted noise and commented: "Bleah, you could have given him a better name. This little fellow here is ten hundreds time cuter than that guy will ever be…"

Takao chuckled -although he kinda disagreed with that statement- and looked at the cat, only to find out that it had wandered and gotten closer to Midorima without the ace noticing. It seemed like Shinchan –the cat- really loved Shinchan –the boy- even though it was not reciprocal. Takao really hoped that the ace wasn't going to freak out.

"Uhm… Shinchan…" he called softly. Midorima glared at him, but then he felt the cat's fur brush against his ankle and a shiver ran down his spine. He slowly looked down as he knew that his nerves were going to break. He moved away abruptly, scaring the cat which ran away.

"He went away. You must have scared him!" Kimura commented.

"You're a fucking monster, what harm did that poor animal to you? You're so nasty!" Miyagi growled. Midorima didn't reply but snorted and returned to his shot session.

xxx

The rest of the training went smoothly, but at the end it started raining. Takao looked outside with an anxious look on his face. "I wonder if Shinchan managed to find the way back home… He's going to wrench in this torrential rain" he muttered and sighed, as he scratched the back of his head.

"Don't worry, he was wild after all!" Kimura tried to reassure him. Takao nodded, but Midorima noticed he wasn't too convinced. He turned away, irritated by the fact that Takao was worrying so much about that stupid cat… Not that he cared or would ever admit it out loud, but seeing Takao so depressed for so little annoyed him.

Soon everyone left the gym, even Takao, and Midorima remained behind to complete his last session of training, his shots entered the basket perfectly, one after another, yet he wasn't satisfied at all: Takao's sad expression continued to appear in his mind, distracting him from his training. At last, tired and irritated, he interrupted the training, put back the basketballs and changed quickly. When he left the gym, the rain was falling harder than before.

The streets were greyish, desert and so quiet that only the sound of the falling rain filled up the silence. Midorima silently watched as it hit his umbrella, slide down and then fell like a waterfall on his shoes; he walked as fast as he could, but after a while he had to stop under a portico because the humidity had blurred the lens of his spectacles. He grumped against the bad weather and used his shirt to clean the lens. He only wanted to return home safely, but right when he was about to leave the portico he heard a very familiar meowing.

Midorima let his eyes wander on the street for a few minutes, then shook his head and forced himself to move, telling himself that he didn't have time to worry about that stupid cat –there was already Takao occupying useless space in his brains, without him wanting it…

Just the thought of Takao, who was probably worrying about the cat and him, made him stop in his tracks. Midorima glanced rapidly at his wristwatch -it was late and soon the sky would have become darker, the air colder and more humid, and the cat would be left all alone…

No. He couldn't believe that he was seriously considering the idea of going back to search for the cat… but then, that was exactly what he was doing. And, of course, it was all Takao's fault. He cursed mentally against him –if he hadn't brought that cat home in the first place, this would never have happened at all.

Midorima turned back to the place from which he heard the meowing and looked around himself; after a while, he spotted the black furred cat, rolled into a ball inside of an abandoned rusty tube. His green eyes glowed when he saw Midorima and his mouth opened to meow, showing teeth.

Midorima wondered if the cat was accusing him, but decided to toss away that terribly disquieting thought. "Hey, you. Come here right now, I don't have time to lose…" he ordered, menacing, then he interrupted himself. If the cat had come out, what would he do? He didn't like cats at all. How could he take it home? He needed to find a solution…

A thunderclap in the distance startled them both: the cat backed up more into the tube while Midorima took a decision. "Alright, listen…" He sighed.

"You and me don't get on so well, since I don't like you and I don't trust you…"

God, he couldn't believe he was seriously speaking with a cat. He concentrated on the warm home to which they had to come back and involuntarily a weak smile appeared on his lips: Takao was waiting for them.

"But… but it looks like that we have something in common, apart from the name… we both love that guy. C'mon, let's go back to him."

Midorima kneeled and stretched out his hand, trembling slightly while imitating the gestures that Takao used to call the animal; he had to collect all his courage to not run away when the cart started moving some steps towards him.

"C'mon… here" he whispered, encouraging the cat, who got closer and closer until its wet nose touched his fingers and started to push his hand. Midorima held his breath and didn't dare to move a single muscle when the cat squeezed in between his legs and lovingly brushed against his ankles, purring. Midorima was surprised by how soft could be his fur, even thought it was wet and frozen stuff, and without noticing the ace slowly got used to the cat's presence until his fear totally –or almost- disappeared.

"Let's go home, you stupid cat" he muttered, out of breath. He made sure that the cat wouldn't let out his claws before letting him jump into his lap, then stood up and leave with him.

xxx

When they reached the house it was very late, but the rain had ceased to fall. Midorima opened the door with his keys and let the cat slip onto the ground before getting in.

"Oh, shut up for a while" he ordered to the animal that started to meow. He hung up his coat and left the wet umbrella outside, and he was about to take off his shoes when he noticed Takao.

The guy was leaned against the kitchen's door and was staring intently at him –the orange hair band in his bed hair, the weary look on his face and the plaid into which he was wrapped was all signals that he had probably fallen asleep on the sofa while he was watching the tv.

"Shinchan? You're so late…" He paused as he noticed the black cat licking himself on the kitchen's carpet. "He's back" he whispered, visibly relieved.

Takao looked back at Midorima when he heard him sneeze. "Did you catch a cold? Didn't you have the umbrella?" He asked, surprised.

"I'm fine thanks" Midorima cut him short and felt rather annoyed when he saw the smile appearing on Takao's face. "What?" he exclaimed, coldly.

Takao shook his head and hugged him. "Shinchan, your coat is covered in black fur" he grinned. Midorima blushed. "Bullshit" he muttered, embarrassed.

Takao laughed and looked up, putting his hands on the other's face. "I love you so much, Shinchan" he said and kissed him on the lips before Midorima could protest or beat him up. When they pulled away, Takao chuckled again.

"Let's go watching the tv. Perhaps we can watch Oha_Asa's evening version…" he suggested.

"Yes, but if you don't make that stupid grin disappear from you face, I'm gonna hit you."

They sat on the sofa, wrapped in the plaid, and after a few minutes the cat jumped on them, nuzzling against Midorim's left hip and purring fondly. Takao frowned at them.

"I'm his master, but he seems to prefer you" he commented, pouting, then he gazed at the other's face. "Oooh… Shinchan, are you smiling?"

Midorima blushed and turned away. "Absolutely not."

Takao rolled his eyes sarcastically and he was hit on the head by his ace, while the cat yawned sheepishly.

Good evening :)

The idea for this fic comes from Midorima's fear of cats, as stated by Fujimaki-sensei himself. In my mind, Takao is the type to like cats and animals in general, so... here it is XD The cat is kinda of a mix bewteen Takao and Midorima -he has black hair like Takao, but has green eyes like Midorima- and being Takao's pet of course he was given the name of Shinchan. Also, the cat ends up growing more attached to Midorima than to Takao XD

I hope you enjoyed it :)

Kisses

nisha