Moonlit Shadow.

Three: The Moon Reflects No Light Without the Sun.

Before Kuroko noticed it, Ogiwara-kun had somehow weaseled his way in to his tranquil way of living and become the center of everything.

His morning started with a yawn, an atrocious bedhead, a toothbrush and a toothpaste, and then school. Kuroko wasn't a very sociable person, preferring to sit in his desk when recess time instead of joining the other kids playing tag or hide and seek and to listen silently than to speak loudly. Kuroko's life in school was like a floating cloud; moving so very slowly that nobody noticed anything.

But after Ogiwara-kun shouted at him for sucking at his favorite sport, things started to change. His school life was more like a river now. It flowed slowly but surely into something he really looked forward to; playing basketball with his friend.

Ogiwara-kun was a bit of an oddball. He was clumsy and somehow childish. Kuroko couldn't help but feel like he was obligated to take care of the raven-haired boy just because. He didn't get it. He didn't understand it. But he liked it nonetheless.

That was why when the boy said that he was moving, everything seemed to stopped.

The river stopped. Everything stopped. It didn't flow anymore, it couldn't flow anymore.

Not without Ogiwara-kun there.

When they spent their last days together, Kuroko was happy. He would grasp back whenever Ogiwara-kun held his hand, he would return the harmless kisses on the cheeks whenever Ogiwara-kun kissed him, he even called Ogiwara-kun with 'Shige-niichan', no matter how much it hurt to know that he wouldn't be able to play with him again...

On the night Ogiwara-kun came to sleep over at his house, three days before his move, Kuroko brought himself closer than ever to Ogiwara-kun, unwilling to let go. He noticed Ogiwara-kun's slight sobs as he held Kuroko close, muttering things like 'I don't want to leave', but he kept silent. He knew Ogiwara-kun wouldn't want him to worry.

So he didn't.

Living without Ogiwara-kun was a strange thing.

Even after two years, Kuroko still felt that way sometimes. Although that feeling considerably lessened from a year ago, before he befriended Aomine-kun. It was still strange.

He would still play basketball on his own in the court they first met. He would still lay down on the court feeling exhausted. He would still buy some Chu Chu popsicles that he used to share with Ogiwara-kun...

But doing it alone was really strange.

That was why he felt rather happy whenever Aomine-kun played with him in the fourth gym, or when they both laid down sweating and laughing, or when they took a short walk to the convenience store and buy some ice cream.

It wasn't the same, but it was enough.

Although sometimes, it made Kuroko wondered if the reason why he befriended Aomine-kun... was because the light reminded him of his sun.

The first time Daiki Aomine heard of Shigehiro Ogiwara would be on the day he skipped practice for the first time.

That time, he genuinely overslept on the school roof and have only woken up when practice was about to finish. So he wasted no time to get up and head for the school gates, knowing full well that Satsuki would be pestering Tetsu to no end. He smiled as Tetsu approached him (alone, surprisingly. It seemed that Satsuki was a bit held up by Akashi) with his usual deadpanned look. He bowed slightly to Aomine who then draped his hands over Tetsu's shoulder with a laugh.

They made their way to the convenience store together, speaking about stupid things that Aomine had encountered that day. Tetsu was as silent as ever, listening attentively to every word Aomine had to say.

That was until a phone call interrupted their time together.

"Hello?" Kuroko asked softly, emotionlessly to the phone. His caller seemed to be rambling, because Kuroko only stood silently, listening to what his caller had to say. He absently licked his ice cream every now and then. But then his expression turned softer, he sighed a very soft 'yes' to the phone before smiling.

Aomine was stunned. That was the first time he saw Tetsu smile, and really smiled. Ever since Akashi told him to hide his presence, Kuroko had become even more invisible and expressionless, never once did Aomine...

"I'm sorry," he apologized to the phone. "I just want to share my day with Ogiwara-kun... After all, you are my first friend." Aomine then drew closer to Tetsu, wanting to know more about his so-called first friend. But then he felt something when a seemingly light voice that must belong to someone airheaded easily spoke.

"You know what, Tetsu? From now on, we should share our days! It'd be an awesome idea, right?" Who was this guy? Why did he refer to Tetsu so casually? And why was it that Tetsu chuckled to himself like he was dealing with an utterly adorable kid? Why was he bothered?

"Of course it is, Ogiwara-kun."

That was the first and the last time Aomine ever heard of Ogiwara from Tetsu.

There wasn't anyone in Ritsumeikan Middle School Basketball Club who doubted the fact that Shigehiro Ogiwara was an oddball of their team. He was a great power forward, sure, but sometimes, the way he showed his affection to the people he liked was rather... well, odd.

But he'd looked so innocent and curious and he was like a hyperactive puppy, a mascot of their team. He once clung to their former captain, Imayoshi-senpai like no tomorrow because he was given his uniform. He once tried to kiss Mibuchi-senpai on his cheek because he gave him a pass. And the list of his oddities grew so long that nobody from Ritsumeikan even bothered with keeping that list anymore.

But nobody, nobody had seen Ogiwara this clingy to someone.

They had all, of course, heard of the infamous 'Kuroko'. After all, the raven-haired teen only mentioned about his friend in Teikou for like, thousand times a day. There was once a girl who tried to confess to Shige with a small talk of "the cherry blossom tree are growing beautifully again this year", but Shige grinned and replied with "yeah, it reminds me of Kuroko", crushing the girl's hope into oblivion.

And boy, Shige wasn't kidding when he said 'he was rather plain and forgettable'. Tetsuya Kuroko was nearly invisible. In fact, if Shige hadn't been hugging him from behind like he was some sort of a walking teddy bear, nobody would have noticed him.

The boys from Ritsumeikan could practically feel all the tension coming from the Teikou's part of the court. Today was another get-together practice for the All-Middle and all the schools who made it to the Championship League were invited. And that practically meant another day spent together for the childhood friends.

Ryouta Kise almost dropped his jaw when he saw his cute Kurokocchi walking hand in hand with a kid from another school, the same one who had seen them stalk- following Kurokocchi after he refused their invitation to eat in the convenience store. Kurokocchi didn't look embarrassed, flustered, or show anything like it was definitely not normal for two middle school boys to walk hand in hand with each other.

Sure, they separated properly during team practice, but after their hands stopped interlinking, Kurokocchi seemed to disappear into the court's flow easily, making it hard for Kise to actually speak to him.

But on breaks and lunch session, the raven-haired kid- Shigehiro Ogiwara would steal Kurokocchi away from the Teikou team and marched off somewhere.

Since Kise was such a good friend, he pestered the entire Generation of Miracles to find their phantom sixth man. After much persuading, only Aominecchi and Murasakibaracchi came with him since Midorimacchi and Akashicchi had things they needed to take care of as the captain and the vice captain.

So the trio went around the huge gym, and eventually found their phantom sitting just underneath the tree right in front of the back door.

All of them hid behind the back door, peeking through the glass window.

"Ogiwara-kun, please don't eat while you are talking." Kuroko chided gently as he put a tamagoyaki to his own mouth. Ogiwara then laughed before apologizing to Kuroko, who sighed exasperatedly. "Really, Tetsu, you shouldn't treat me like a kid! I'm older than you, you know?" Ogiwara said as he ruffled Kurokocchi's pale blue hair. Kurokocchi pouted before slapping his hand away. "Don't mess my hair, Ogiwara-kun."

Ogiwara grinned unapologetically before taking a tamagoyaki from Kurokocchi's bentou. "Oi, is that bentou... shared?" Aominecchi said incredulously. "Eeeeh? This is the first time I see Kuro-chin eating from a bentou. It's usually just a convenience store sandwich, right?" Murasakibaracchi said lazily as he munched on a pocky Akashicchi gave him earlier.

"But really, I could never comprehend how you are able to cook all of these, Ogiwara-kun." Kuroko said as he pointed over at the two-layered bentou that Ogiwara-kun had laid on top of the grass. The teen laughed. "Aw c'mon Tetsu! I'm a great cook! I learned from the master herself, after all." Ogiwara then took an octopus-shaped sausage from the bentou.

"How's Setsuna-san? Is she doing okay?"

"My mother is doing fine, Ogiwara-kun. She asked me if you want to come and spend the night some times when you are in Tokyo."

Kise gasped. Spending the night? In Kurokocchi's house? Nobody in Teikou had done that before! Not even Aominecchi or Momocchi! They were that close?

Ogiwara grinned as he bumped his forehead with Kurokocchi's. "I'd love to! I'll ask my Captain if I can do that!" Kurokocchi gave him a small smile in return, pleased that his friend was taking his offer.

Kise gulped as he sensed a looming aura that came from Aominecchi. It was like sparks of dark demonic aura was emanating from his entire body. The golden-haired boy was sure glad that he didn't take Akashicchi instead, scissors must have been flying everywhere if he did. "C-calm down, Aominecchi..." but he himself was trembling hard. He wanted to be there. He wanted to spend the night in Kurokocchi's house!

But then, Murasakibaracchi was the one who broke the silence by joining the pair nonchalantly.

"Bentou, can I have a taste?" He asked lazily. Ogiwara was clearly startled, but Kurokocchi only stared up blankly at the Center of their team before nodding simply. "Sure you can, right, Ogiwara-kun?" The raven-haired teen then looked at Kurokocchi before smiling widely to Murasakibaracchi. "Sure! Any friend of Tetsu is a friend of mine!" He smiled as he took an onigiri and shoved it to his mouth. Kurokocchi then did the same. It was the first time Kise saw their phantom eating more than just two clubs of convenience store sandwich.

"Then if any friend of Tetsu is a friend of yours," a rough voice joined them as he took a tamagoyaki from the two-layered bentou. Kise gasped. When did Aominecchi left his place earlier?!

"You don't mind if we spend the night in his house too, right?" Aominecchi said with a wide smile on his face. Kise then realized that if this goes on, he will be the only one left behind. So he joined them as well. "That's right, Kurokocchi! Can we? Can we?" He piped up excitedly.

"Well, my parents are overseas and my grandmother is in the middle of onsen trip with the neighbors... I guess we can lay futon in the living room." Everyone knew that Kuroko's house was a little small, but they all smiled anyways.

"Oi, Tetsu. You have a rice grain on your cheek." Aominecchi reminded the baby blue-haired teen, who muttered a soft 'ah?' as he noticed that his light was right. But then Ogiwara grinned and ate the grain from Kurokocchi's cheek. "There, all gone!"

All present members of the Generation of Miracles blanched in some form or another. Kise and Aomine in not such a subtle way, and Murasakibara with only narrowed eye. If this was how they behave around other people as well... could it be that they considered this normal...?

"He was mine from the start, you know?"

If that was true, then maybe Kise understood why Shigehiro Ogiwara said that last night.

In the next chapter, Akashi makes sure to tell Ogiwara that whatever he discovered belonged to him. And he doesn't like sharing.

Everyone! Please read a story titled I'M SO SORRY by TunaForDesert! It's a very cute OgiKuro fic and I can't help but squee at it!

And since AkaKuro is my first OTP in this fandom... I think AkaKuro shippers will have so much fun in the next chapter XD