On the last day of Teiko Kuroko found himself lying on the roof of the school. He hadn't planned to go up there, but he couldn't bring himself to leave. It wasn't like his grades were going to suffer from missing the day that most of the classes just watched movies since they knew their students were going to be too busy thinking of summer or saying good bye to bother listening to anything the teachers had to say.
"Tetsu? What are you doing here?" Aomine asked when, around second period, he made his way up to the roof.
It was the first time they had spoken since Kuroko had quit the team. Kuroko blinked his eyes open to look over at his former partner.
"I wanted to understand what was so great about being up here that you'd skip class and practice to be sleep here. So far I don't get it. It's just hot, and I can't sleep with the sun coming directly at me like this." He replied, figuring that was a better explanation than 'I don't know, I just am.'
"You're one to talk about skipping practice. Aren't you the one that quit?" Kuroko noticed Aomine's hands had clenched into fist. "All that bullshit about how I'll find someone stronger than me, and how I shouldn't quit just because I'm too good, and then you go and quit the team. And you're going to some no name school too? Satsuki told me about it."
Kuroko sat up, but couldn't make himself look at Aomine. "And you're going to a school with a nationally strong basketball team. Momoi-san tried to convince me to apply there as well. Joining a school like that, it sounds like you're hoping to run into someone as strong as you."
Aomine let out a humorless laugh. "Yeah right. No one can beat me but me. I'm only still playing basketball because of you! And you went and quit! What the hell, Tetsu?" He pulled Kuroko to his feet –and then a few inches off of the ground- by the front of his shirt, balling up the material in his fist, and Kuroko wondered if they were going to have a real fight. He didn't like his odds there.
"I quit the Generation of Miracles. I quit you. I didn't quit basketball. Seirin has a basketball team." Kuroko told him, finally meeting Aomine's eyes.
A flash of hurt passed through Aomine's eyes when Kuroko said that he'd quit him, but it was quickly covered by anger. "What are you even hoping to get from that school, huh? There are better schools for basketball, and if you really hate all of us that much, there are still plenty of good teams at schools that none of us are going to." Aomine's voice rose steadily, and the fist holding onto his shirt was shaking.
"I don't hate any of you. You could even say that I love you, Aomine-kun. But right now . . . right now I hate basketball, and I hate what it's done to all of you, and I hate that it's made you so different and angry and miserable. I'm hoping to find a way to love basketball again. Because it hurts to hate something you love. And I'm hoping to beat you, and the others, because maybe then you won't have to hate basketball either. Maybe then I can see you smiling while playing basketball again." Kuroko said the last part with his own sad smile, blinking away the water forming in his eyes. He wasn't going to let himself cry in front of Aomine.
Aomine let go of his shirt, and Kuroko had to stumble a little to keep from falling onto the concrete. Aomine sneered down at him. "Youare planning to beat me? You can't even take on Kise, and he's the worst of us. You'll have to find yourself a pretty miraculous light for that, Tetsu. And apparently you aren't a huge fan of miracles, so good luck with that." He said bitterly.
"I'm not Midorima. I don't need your wishes of luck. I will beat you one day; luck won't be a factor in that. And I hope that it's enough to finally make you happy. Because I don't know what else will." Kuroko replied.
Aomine scoffed. "Whatever, Tetsu. I'm gonna go to class. Satsuki says they're playing a half decent movie next period. If you face the other way the sun won't be so bad." He told him, starting to walk towards the door that would open to a set of stairs leading down from the roof. It really should have been locked more often than it was.
Kuroko reached out and grabbed Aomine's wrist before he could walk away. When Aomine looked at him questioningly Kuroko leaned up on his tiptoes and pressed his lips to Aomine's. Aomine let him, and even kissed back for a moment. "Goodbye, Daiki. I'll see you on the court next year." He said quietly against Aomine's mouth before moving away.
Aomine looked away from Kuroko so that the shorter boy couldn't see the slight flush on his face. "You'd better at least be a challenge next time I see you. After all that talk about beating me, don't disappoint me too much." And then he pulled his wrist free and walked away.
It was only after the door closed that Kuroko let his tears fall, but he wiped them away quickly, reminding himself that there was still a chance to get his best friend back. All he had to do was find someone to be his new light and beat Aomine. He would do it. He had to.