Author's Notes: Uhhmmm so this has been gestating for awhile and I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue because I liked the story as a one shot but I wrote it so... yeah...

This chapter is decidedly(like in my perspective cuz I'm still new to this whole lemon thing) more smutty so proceed with caution.

will be edited later

*remember that black panthers are just melanistic leopards or jaguars

Kuroko woke up first, the first light of dawn waking him from sleep. He gently lifted Aomine's arm draped over him to sit up on the futon and glanced around the room for something to cover himself with. Seeing none, Kuroko brought his knees under his chin and gazed down at the figure lying down beside him. Aomine had rolled onto his stomach and was snoring softly, the black leopard rising and falling with each breath. Just like its real life equivalent, the panther on his back looked completely black. Only under direct sunlight did its true beauty manifest. A dark gradient of blue-green, the outline and spots were the only ones inked black. The leopard leaped at an unseen predator among a field of chrysanthemums unfurling white, yellow, and red. He had started the left sleeve a while ago, a tangled mess of storm clouds and the rain goddess. Kuroko sighed. This was probably his last opportunity to look at Aomine's irezumi so closely. He had always admired the fierceness it portrayed so akin to its wearer. Beautiful. Wild. Untamable too, Kuroko came to realize.

He bent down to place a chaste kiss on Aomine's back, on the head of the leopard. Goodbye, he thought while leaving to gather his things. Kuroko saw his reflection in a hallway mirror and paused. The kiss marks had turned a dark purple. Eleven where each lotus flower was placed on his upper torso. They stood out against his pale skin. If only these marks could last forever, Kuroko thought ruefully as he left the onsen.

"Nice to see you again, Aomine-san. Right this way," said the apprentice. Aomine slipped off his shoes and followed the young man into one of the rooms of Yasukawa's old house. It was a large, traditional house, passed down through generations of irezumi artists dating to the Meiji era. "Yasukawa-sensei will be with you shortly." The apprentice bowed slightly before closing the sliding door.

Aomine unbuttoned his shirt and left it on one of the small tables of the sparsely furnished room. He wasn't particularly fond of irezumi sessions. He didn't know anyone masochistic enough to actually like having needles scraped along their skin for hours on end. But the end result was always something to admire. Yasukawa knew his craft, and knew it well. Per Akashi's suggestion, he had made Kuroko's irezumi in white ink. Aomine lay on the futon and waited. The old man wasn't one to be rushed, even for someone like Aomine Daiki.

He closed his eyes and saw himself and Kuroko coming to this house for the first time. They were so much younger and nervous besides. They hid it well though; no yakuza shows fear or pain to these sorts of things. Aomine went first, and Kuroko distracted him through it all. When they came again, it was Kuroko's turn. He fainted despite Aomine's efforts to keep his mind off the needle. Aomine chuckled at the memory.

"I will begin now," an old voice croaked. Aomine's eyes snapped open to see Yasukawa kneeling beside him, his tools all prepared.

Aomine swallowed. He didn't even notice the old man come in. "Y-yeah." He turned around and closed his eyes to go anywhere but here.

Aomine's tattoo really was something to look at. A black panther: claws unsheathed, fangs bared, leaping at an unseen prey in a field of chrysanthemums. Yasukawa once said it was one of his best works. Then again, he was fond of almost all his designs.

The session lasted almost four hours. Yasukawa finished coloring the bicep of Aomine's left sleeve. A red oni, emerging from a cloud of smoke and fire. "Thank you, sensei," Aomine said as the old man was putting his tools away. Yasukawa nodded in acknowledgment.

"That looks great, Aomine-san," the apprentice complimented as he pulled his shirt back on. "Kuroko-san's is amazing too. I'm so glad he got it finished." Yasukawa glanced at his apprentice.

Aomine paused. "What are you talking about?"

The apprentice blinked in surprise. "You haven't seen it yet? Kuroko-san finished the tiger on his left sleeve."

For a moment, Aomine's mind went blank. What tiger? Tetsu had an outline of a panther on his left arm, to match his own. "No…" Aomine said slowly. "I haven't."

"That's odd," the apprentice said as he led Aomine to the door. "I thought you and Kuroko-san were close. You always came together before."

Aomine said nothing as he slipped his shoes back on and left the house. It was a cold night, and his thin dress shirt did nothing to hide the chill. But there was something else on Aomine's mind that made his blood boil and the cold feel like nothing.

"Goodnight, Kagami-kun," Kuroko said in front of his apartment building.

"G'night," his partner replied, scratching his head. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Kuroko tilted his head. "I'm fine. I've done that many times before."

Kagami grimaced. "That guy went way farther than we expected. If I didn't come when I did, he would have drugged you and sold you to some shady trafficking business."

Kuroko shrugged. "This job is dangerous in and of itself. Things happen."

"Hey," Kagami grabbed Kuroko's arm before he could open the door. "Is it because I'm not good enough yet? Would that guy have let this happen?"

Kuroko looked up at Kagami and then cast his eyes down. "No. He wouldn't have." He was always bluntly honest.

"DAMNIT. I won't lose to any of those 'Generation of Miracles.' "

The edges of Kuroko's lips turned up ever so slightly. "I know."

"Hey," Kagami said again, this time pulling Kuroko into a hug and resting his chin on a nest of blue hair. "We're gonna beat them together."

Kuroko nodded into Kagami's chest. "Yes."

"Alright. See you later," Kagami said in English as Kuroko stepped into the apartment building.

Kuroko sighed as he hung his jacket. After today, all he wanted to do was take a hot bath and sleep until next week. He should have known to be more careful on this assignment. Their target had been associated with Kirisaki Daichi. That should have been the first sign. Tax evasion, job fraud, fake companies, it would've been fine if the man paid his dues like he was supposed to, but he cheated Seirin's organization too. He needed to be shut down.

Kuroko was about to peel off his shirt when he realized the lights in the living room were on.

"Yo, Tetsu." Aomine was lounging on the couch flipping through one of Kuroko's coffee table books.

"Aomine-kun," Kuroko said carefully. "What are you doing here?" How did you get in? he wanted to ask.

"I just decided to check up on my former partner," Aomine said. He twirled an elaborate lock-pick around his finger. "I swiped this off Midorima awhile back. And you really think I can't guess your passcode?"

Kuroko sighed, "Please leave. I would offer tea, but I'm exhausted, today was really tiring." He hadn't been prepared to see his former partner, his former light. If there was anything Kuroko needed to say, he wasn't going to say it now.

"Excuse me?" Aomine got off the couch and took a few strides to push Kuroko against the wall.

"It's the first time we see each other in two years and this is how you say hi?" He said looming closer.

Kuroko turned his head, "There's nothing to say."

"The hell there is!" Aomine grabbed the collar of Kuroko's shirt "You fucking left without a word, and then I find out you're in another group with a new partner? Was I that easy to replace?" Aomine raised his voice and made Kuroko flinch.

"You never looked for me, Aomine-kun." Kuroko placed his hand over Aomine's in an attempt to calm him down.

Aomine didn't deny that statement, but he was furious. He tore open Kuroko's shirt and yanked on the left sleeve to see if what that dumb apprentice said was true. The outline of the leopard was filled in, but it didn't have spots it was supposed to. Instead there were stripes. The leopard was a tiger. "Explain this," he demanded, gripping Kuroko's tighter. What surprised Aomine even more was that the tattoo was in color. It was a tiger with white stripes and colored red. He was speechless. It should have been his mark, his beast, his shadow. It should have been white.

"What the hell is this, Tetsu?" he repeated, shaking Kuroko's arm. That tattoo was supposed to match his - a white outline of a melanistic panther. Yet now it matched an idiot who was beneath him. Kuroko didn't say a word. He kept his gaze firmly on the floor. "Answer me," Aomine demanded.

"Kagami-kun is my partner now," Kuroko said in his quiet voice.

No. Aomine's mind screamed. It screamed that word over and over pounding into his head and fueling his rising anger. Aomine saw them again, the lotus flowers blooming over Kuroko's upper torso. Far from the one you love…

"Tetsu," Aomine took a shaky breath, "did you love me?" Do you love me? He really wanted to ask. Do you still love me?

Kuroko looked at him then. Aomine had an expression he'd never seen. Something like hurt, anxiety, and something like fear.

Aomine grazed his fingers over the lotus blossoms. "Do these flowers refer to me?" He finally asked the question that had been haunting him for years.

"It was a long time ago, Aomine-kun."

That broke him. Why. Why him of all people. His fists shook. He slammed his hand into the wall, right beside Kuroko's head. "I won't accept it, Tetsu. You're mine," he lowered his head and pressed his mouth against Kuroko's and jerked back when Kuroko pushed him away.

"Aomine-kun," Kuroko looked away. "Don't…" he said the word like a whisper.

"Why?" Aomine scowled. "You obviously want me right now," he shoved his hand into Kuroko's pants and squeezed, earning him a strangled groan. "No matter what you say, your body is saying the exact opposite." Aomine leaned into Kuroko's ear. "I can satisfy you better than that Kagami." Aomine bit down on Kuroko's neck and pulled him closer into him with his free hand.

"N-no!" Kuroko managed, his face tinting red. "Kagami-kun has nev- !" Kuroko gasped as Aomine slid a hand down and into his ass.

Aomine looked down on a Kuroko who was succumbing to his desire. He pulled at Kuroko's wrist and dragged him to the bedroom. After pushing him down, Aomine asked, "You're not going to fight me?"

Kuroko gazed up at him wordlessly. He replied by reaching up and bringing Aomine down for another kiss. That was all the incentive Aomine needed. They stripped while managing to keep their lips on each other between removing articles of clothing. Temporarily breaking contact, Aomine grabbed a bottle of lube from Kuroko's dresser and squeezed a good amount into his hand before biting down on Kuroko's collarbone and sliding in a finger. Kuroko moaned when Aomine started biting a trail of kiss marks down his abdomen and squirmed when Aomine slipped another finger in.

"W-wait-" Kuroko managed between gasps.

"Now way," Aomine said as he opened his mouth to take Kuroko in.

"I said wait!" the shadow said, moving a hand to push back Aomine's head. Kuroko saw the handsome face glare at him for being denied. "Let me… I want to do it."

Aomine raised an eyebrow, his cobalt eyes glinting in the dim light. "Alright. Turn your ass this way though."

Kuroko kissed the tip and stared appreciatively at how it'd grown. Parting his lips, he took in the head easy enough and used his tongue to lick around it while sucking softly. He arched his back distractedly when Aomine's fingers pushed into him. "Don't mess around." was the order.

Ignoring him, Kuroko opened his mouth wider to go down further before retracting slowly and running his tongue along its length. Aomine's breathing was getting faster, and Kuroko could tell he was getting impatient. This time he relaxed his throat to take him in as deep as he could and closed his mouth tightly to suck on Aomine's erection.

"Fuck, Tetsu," Aomine groaned, using his other hand to fist Kuroko's hair. He fought every temptation to just fuck the small mouth without thinking. Kuroko pulled back and proceeded to lick the base of the dick and bite lightly on the balls before deep-throating Aomine again, this time at a much faster pace.

Aomine let the sensations consume him. Kuroko's mouth was soft and warm and pleasured him better than any woman he ever fucked after Kuroko left him. Somewhere along the line, he'd slipped in another finger and was now using them to stretch the small hole. "Tetsu, that's enough already. Get up here."

Kuroko lifted his head, and Aomine lifted his chin so he could kiss the smaller man. The tanned ace pulled the slight frame of the shadow into position and quickly thrust in. Aomine used one hand to pump Kuroko's erection while bringing the other behind Kuroko's neck to bring him deeper into the kiss. "Aomine-kun," he gasped between kisses, wrapping his arms around the other's neck and grinding into his thrusts.

They came together and collapsed on the bed immediately afterwards. After his head had cleared over the passion-induced haze, Aomine looked up to see Kuroko rising from the bed and heading towards the shower. He smirked smugly when cum dripped down Kuroko's pale thighs. "Where're you going? Let's do another round," Aomine said languidly.

Kuroko's head was clear now too. "No. Aomine-kun, please leave. We can't- I shouldn't have-" It seemed he regretted what they had just done.

Aomine scowled. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Kagami-kun…"

Aomine leaped off the bed and pulled Kuroko's wrists to his face. "What about him? Are you going to tell me you're actually going out with that idiot? Are you fucking him? Because judging by the way you were just now, he's obviously doing a shit job."

Kuroko tugged his wrists away. "It's not what you think."

"Really?" He pushed Kuroko back down on the bed and placed his hand over a spot on Kuroko's ribs. "This bruise was from your job earlier right? The guy can't even get his shit together and protect you!"

"And you can?" Kuroko snapped back. He didn't want to bring back what happened in the past. When he saw Aomine in his apartment, he tried so desperately to push those memories down. And when they were in the heat of the moment, he almost forgot.

At this, Aomine didn't say anything. "Look, if this is about what happened with your friend-"

"It wasn't just that!" Kuroko said louder than he intended. He took a deep breath to bring his voice down. "Aomine-kun, this is the last time I'll ask. Please leave."

Aomine's face contorted in a grimace. "I'll show you, Tetsu. That new light of yours is no match for me. I will get you back." He threw on his clothes and left the apartment.

When the door clicked shut, Kuroko choked back a sob.

"Did you love me?"

"Do these flowers refer to me?"

Yes, from long ago until now. I've been far from you.

End of Chapter

I didn't post this on the last chapter for Kuroko's tattoo:

Irezumi symbolism of koi - determination and a strong desire to succeed and become "something more"; "In tattoo imagery, especially in combination with flowing water, it symbolizes much the same courage, control, and the ability to achieve goals with an understanding of life's trials"

anndd I'll add the meaning of Aomine's tattoos later (or you can google them)