this is a drabble series/one-shot(?). i like drabbles a lot, they all seem more... human. i don't know why. i mean the thing about love (you will see later), i really do. it's something someone has taught me, and after a few years applying it to my every day life, thinking about it when asked in a relationship, i realized that it's the truth. someone-sensei, i'm very grateful.
champ de tournesols means field of sunflowers, tournesol means sunflower and champ means field. it's simple — really. (for the s at tournesols, it's because when the subject designates multiple objects/persons, you add an s at the end of the word... not always, of course.)
8800km is the distance between los angeles and tokyo, just so you know (actually, it's around 8833, but... yeah)
14centimeters is a reference to the doujin 13centimeters by Gusari. (an awesome doujinka) it's midotaka, which is awesome since i love this ship too.
does aquaworld exist in real? i honestly have no idea. at first i wanted to name it aqualand, but i think that exists in irl. man, i should go out some time around, see how the world has evolved since i've began living in my cave.

Kagami Taiga x Kuroko Tetsuya

champ de tournesols
14 centimeters
(8800km)

1.
It all began when Tetsuya's teacher announced, chin high and voice breaking through all the whispers, that some of them had been selected to a newly invented program. Apparently, Teikou had a sister school in America, where some students had taken japanese as a second language. They had given the opportunity of killing two birds with one stone using pen pal, creating bonds between the selected students and improving their performance.

The letters were supposed to help both sides, as the japanese students wrote in english, and the american students wrote in japanese.

Tetsuya had, at first, thought that he wouldn't be part of it, because even if his father was trying hard to make him understand english, he still did mistakes and couldn't read old literature (thy, thee and everything else). However, he soon found out that he was, in fact, above his classmates' level. (And, if he had looked a little further into his 99/100 test, he would have seen that it wasn't him, but the teacher who had made a mistake.)

So, that was because of his american father that he found himself selected for the program.

2.
The first letters were awkward, but Tetsuya soon found himself growing used to it, even going so far as to enjoy it. Before, he had only pursued his studies because of his father's willing lessons. (It was a desperate need of attention, of someone calling him when he got lost in his own thoughts and remorse, and of a simple glance once in a while.)

Learning english became his hobby, and often, he was seen on multinational forums where he wasn't transparent.

Languages had always fascinated him. When he had been younger, and as invisible as he was now, he had seen foreigners question his parents, and had thought 'If I spoke their languages, I could help them and they would see me.' It was silly, but it had stuck. His formerly pure and innocent reason had changed into 'I want to be able to converse with anyone so I can help them.' (Which was admittedly equally as pure and innocent, not that Tetsuya realized.)

So, Kagami Taiga was a real blessing.

3.
As Tetsuya learned more and more about his hot-headed, suspected-to-be-a-fallen-angel pen pal, he progressively felt the want to see him and touch him. (Not in any sexual way, mind you.)

Finally, it grew to the point where Tetsuya asked — I will go to Los Angeles this summer, at a relative's. Do you think we could meet? — and received — sure, should we exchange numbers?

Mr and Mrs Kuroko didn't question their son when he appeared smiling at dinner.

4.
Tetsuya shifted on his feet, taking in the surroundings. He had checked three times that he was at the right place, and yet, no trace of a tall red-hair with an orange ball. He sighed and took out his phone, frowning when he noticed it was already thirty minutes past the meeting time, and checked that he hadn't made any mistakes, like mistaking the time or the date.

No, there wasn't any mistake. Tetsuya sighed and leaned against the wall behind him. Well, it wouldn't hurt to wait a little.

(Taiga was panicking.

He had been too hung up on his match and had forgotten to check the time. He just hoped that Tetsuya would still be here when he arrived.)

"Ah, excuse me," Tetsuya called as he saw a tall red-hair run, panting, with a basketball ball in his hands. "Could you possibly be Kagami-kun?" he asked, not even bothering to say sorry when the teen screamed in fright. (For his defense, it was the tenth person he asked, and he had enough of those screams.)

Taiga huffed and looked down. "Yeah. So you're..."

Tetsuya cut him off, even if he didn't like doing that, he thought it was cool. (Tetsuya liked cool things.) "Kuroko Tetsuya. It's nice to meet you, Kagami-kun." He didn't bow, even as he was itching for it. Instead, he shook Taiga's hand.

"H-huh, yeah. It's nice to meet you." The shock finally cleared from his face. "You have an accent," he stated, starting to walk forward, where he knew there would be a basketball court. He and Tetsuya had agreed on that, they would play basketball.

Tetsuya followed. "Ah, really?" he asked sarcastically. "I didn't realize."

Taiga shook his hand, a nervous look passing over his face. (He had read from Tetsuya's letters that he had strong passes that could travel through the whole gym in mere seconds. He wasn't going to test those arms.) "I-I mean, it's not weird or anything. I-In fact it's cu—"

(...cute?)

The bluenette looked up when his friend stopped, clearly not understanding what the other was going to say. "Kagami-kun? Are you alright? Your face is red."

(Damn it, the boy was radiating innocence. What could he possibly do against that?)

5.
"I am Kuroko Tetsuya, it is nice to meet you Himuro-san." Tetsuya almost bowed, but restrained himself at the last second.

"Ah, nice to meet you Kuroko-kun. Taiga has talked about you a lot."

Tetsuya looked up, already liking the taller teenager. "Really?"

Tatsuya nodded and led him to the living room under Taiga's incredulous stare. "Yes, would you like to hear about it?"

6.
"What is this?" Tetsuya asked as he gestured toward a stand on his left.

Taiga shivered and took his friend's hand in hope of getting the two of them away from the creepy stand. It looked like a divination stand, only much more worse. "Nothing, don't look at those kinds of things, they could be dangerous." The smaller teen nodded, looking like a little kid in the way he did so.

Taiga led the two of them inside a shop, guessing that Tetsuya would like to give his friends from Japan, or even his parents, some souvenir. They brushed through the alleys, Tetsuya looking at everything with curious eyes, while Taiga cursed himself for ever taking the other's hand. (Tetsuya felt warm against his skin.)

The bluenette took a terrestrial globe in his hands, looking at it with interest, before putting it down again, shaking his head.

When Taiga was sure the other wasn't looking, he took the globe again, successfully hiding it in his large hands.

7.
"It feels good," said Tetsuya on their second year. He had come again, wishing to see his friend as much as he could, "to be with you." He smiled at Taiga, his cheeks coloring a nice pink. He didn't try to hide it.

Taiga blushed, but didn't release his hold on Tetsuya as he continued to hug him. "Yeah," he breathed, resting his chin on Tetsuya's head, "it does feel good, doesn't it?" He closed his eyes in pure bliss. Tetsuya followed his example.

"Kagami-kun," Tetsuya whispered after some minutes of pleasant silence. Taiga hummed in response. "I think I may be in love with you." The two didn't move from their position. "Do you think it would work between us?" he asked, blinking up at the other male.

"I don't know," Taiga admitted. "I think it would. Do you want to try?" Inwardly, he's panicking at his own words, but somehow, Tetsuya's presence calms him. Maybe that's the truth, maybe they will be able to love each other for the rest of their lives. Maybe. They're still young.

Tetsuya nods against his chest.

8.
"So the two of you are finally together?" Tatsuya asked even as he knew the answer. The couple nodded nonetheless; they are happy to announce it. "Great, we all were waiting for it." Taiga blushed and looked away while Tetsuya simply blinked in question.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, glancing up when he realized that Taiga was blushing.

"You probably didn't notice," Tatsuya smiles at his brother, "but we had all realized that the two of you had something going on. Even when you didn't realize it yourself." The ball on his finger rotated. "It was harder to see on Tetsuya, because he's almost always apathetic, but Taiga was like an open book." He grinned at Taiga's face. "So, are we playing or not?"

9.
"Where do you want to go?" Taiga asked, looking back once in a while to verify that Tetsuya was still at his side. "We can go to the cinema, or a restaurant, or a café. It's as you like." The only reason he didn't choose himself was because he was worried it would displease Tetsuya but said teen wouldn't say it aloud; the bluenette was too polite for his own good. "Oh, there's also an aquarium nearby."

Tetsuya looked around. There wasn't many people, but most of them were couples. To be honest, it made Tetsuya a little self-conscious. "You really thought about this, didn't you Kagami-kun?" he asked, smiling when Taiga flushed and grumbled. "I thought you would immediately propose a basketball match, but I guess I was wrong." Taiga almost admitted having thought about it, but didn't get the chance to speak up as Tetsuya continued. "I've never been to an aquarium. Is it fine by you if we go there?"

"O-of course," Taiga stammered. He led his boyfriend (he blushed at the thought) to the aquarium. It was called Aquaworld. ("Very original," Tetsuya commented when he saw the name shining above the entry. Taiga laughed nervously.)

It was the first time Tetsuya saw a shark.

And also their first kiss.

10.
Taiga breathed in deeply. "Kuroko," he called. His boyfriend looked up from his book. "Don't you think we should..." He blushed. "Err, you know... Call each other by our names?" He looked away from Tetsuya's eyes; as beautiful as they were, he was too embarrassed right now. He scratched his head, trying to distract himself from the burning of his cheeks.

He felt (heard?) Tetsuya smile. "Have you really been stressed out by that all day long?" he asked teasingly. "You don't have to worry about that." A pause. "Taiga." The red-haired teen snapped his head to his boyfriend, who was smiling reassuringly at him. "You know, it's not good if we hide things from each other. You're really shy about romantic things, aren't you?"

Taiga grumbled, Tetsuya's call of his name still echoing in his head. "Yeah," he grumbled. Tetsuya turned back to his book. Taiga watched him, taking in his features. "Tetsuya," he tested. Said teen looked up from his book.

"Yes, what is it Taiga?" he asked, a slight smile on his face.

Taiga smiled as well, leaning forward. "I love you," he said, just as he captured Tetsuya's lips.

11.
"Hmm," Taiga hummed. "There should be a café nearby." He led Tetsuya away from the sea, tugging him by the hand when the other lingered behind. "Tetsuya...?" he asked when the other kept staring at the sea's horizon. "Is there something wrong?"

Tetsuya inhaled deeply. "It's the first time I see it." He noticed Taiga's confused look, and added, "It's the first time I see the sea. My mother's afraid of water, so usually we just go to the countryside." After a few minutes of sea-gazing, he pulled at Taiga's hand, smiling at him. "So, are we going?" Taiga nodded and they went to search for a café.

Soon, they installed themselves in a nice café, Taiga ordering an orange juice while Tetsuya asked for a café latte. (He would have ordered a vanilla milkshake, but he only liked Maji's milkshake... and maybe Taiga's too.) At first, they didn't talk, just enjoyed the calm.

"Taiga," Tetsuya called after some time, "don't you think that we should tell our parents one day? How about I present you to mine and you do the same?" He stirred his coffee, taking small sips as Taiga thought about Tetsuya's words.

Finally, he shrugged. "Yeah, we should." He looked at the sea. "I don't know when mine will be available. And I guess I will see yours when I'll be going to Japan... or if they come to America of course."

"Well, my father comes from the States, so maybe we'll come later on." Taiga glanced up.

"He's american?" Tetsuya nodded and blinked in confusion when Taiga continued to stare at him. "So that's where your occidental traits come from..." Taiga muttered, laughing at his own stupidity; he should have know that one of his parents was an occidental. "My parents are both japanese, but my father was fascinated by America, so he moved here with my mother as soon as he could. I was already born by that time."

"Really? My mother was fascinated with Japan," Tetsuya admitted. They both laughed at the coincidence. "So I guess we should organize something ourselves."

"Yeah."

12.
"I will be going soon," announced Tetsuya one day. Taiga choked.

When he finally stopped coughing, he asked, "what? Don't announce that all of a sudden," he muttered. He looked at Tetsuya dead in the eyes. "Even if you do, I'll wait for you," he said, inwardly blushing like a school girl/boy in love at that. "Will you do the same?"

"Taiga," Tetsuya whispered, holding his boyfriend's shirt. "Yes, of course I will... But... When will I see you again?" he asked breathlessly, staring up at the other, with teary eyes.

Taiga sighed and grasped his hands softly. "I will move to Japan next year. Just wait for me until then, Tetsu." He gave a gentle squeeze and, desperately trying to ignore Tetsuya's shining eyes, kissed his forehead. "I love you, okay? Keep that in mind."

His lover nodded. "I love you too, Taiga."

13.
Tetsuya grasped the handle of his suitcase, looking one last time behind him, before walking inside the plane. He installed himself nicely, ignored the others passengers (you couldn't blame him, he was in a fool mood) and tried to fall asleep. He tried to forget that he was leaving his loved one behind.

When Tetsuya woke up again (well, for the second time), he was back to Japan. He got off the plane, feeling like he had left a large part of himself back in America.

Surprisingly, there was someone waiting for him. It wasn't his parents, and in fact, it wasn't one person. His friends were there; Seijuuro, Atsushi (still eating), Daiki, Shintarou (with a weird plush of a tanuki), Ryouta and Satsuki. Tetsuya greeted them quietly, taking more than one by surprise if the startled gasps where anything to go by.

"Ah, Tetsuya," said Seijuuro, smiling darkly for absolutely no reason. Tetsuya twitched, he felt like he was cheating on Taiga by letting someone else call him by his first name... "You're finally here." Tetsuya nodded even though it wasn't a question. Don't defy the emperor.

"I didn't expect you to come here," he said. Ryouta, Daiki, Satsuki and Shintarou flinched; Tetsuya didn't know why. "Were you waiting for someone?" he asked, trying to not get false hope. Maybe they weren't there for him...

"Are you an idiot?" Daiki grumbled, having recovered from the strange spasm he had just undergo. "We were waiting for you," he said, blushing when Tetsuya didn't stop looking at him. "W-what is it?"

"O-oh," even Tetsuya seemed surprised at his own behavior. "S-sorry, you just reminded me of someo—" He didn't finish, as the tears he had tried to keep from falling were finally released. Taiga... he thought as he hid his eyes from view and wiped his tears. "S-sorry," he stuttered, his voice breaking at the end. He hated being exposed like that, but he couldn't compose himself.

"W-woah, are you alright Kurokocchi?" Ryouta cried as he took hold of Tetsuya's wrist. "Did someone hurt you? O-or—" Ryouta continued to blabbered as Tetsuya continued to cry.

A dark aura made him look behind the blonde. Seijuuro was laughing maniacally, his scissors making an ominous sound as they snipped, scaring the passer-by to death. "Who is it, Tetsuya?" he asked. Tetsuya shivered in fear, shaking his head in answer. He loved Taiga and he wanted him to live.

"Here, for Kuro-chin," Atsushi said as he handed him a sweet. Tetsuya was tempted to refuse, but suddenly remembered Tatsuya telling him about chocolate making people happy. "I don't like seeing Kuro-chin crying," Atsushi admitted as he ruffled the bluenette's hair. Tetsuya let him do it, for once taking comfort in the gesture.

"Hmph... This is the lucky item for Aquarius." Shintarou let a small tissue drop on Tetsuya's hand (that was finally released from Ryouta's hold as Seijuuro had threatened to cut his fingers if he didn't do it). When he noticed Tetsuya watching him, he flushed and looked away, pushing his glasses up. "N-not that I took especially for you. I just had a spare one on me." Tetsuya nodded his thank.

"Tetsu-kun, who made you cry?" Satsuki asked, pushing the others out of her way to grasp his hand. They definitely had something with his hand today, he didn't know what , but they did. "Is it someone bad? I'll beat him up if you want!" she cried, checking if Tetsuya had any apparent injury.

"A-ah, no—" Tetsuya tried to say, but was muffled by Satsuki's breasts as she hugged the life out of him.

"Oh my poor Tetsu-kun!" she cried, unknowingly choking the one she loved. Daiki got her off Tetsuya when his face became red in need of hair.

"Oi, Satsuki, don't kill him," he said as the pink-haired girl pouted at him. "Tetsu," he called, "what happened?" Even when his face was calm, inside, he was panicking at the idea of his best friend being hurt.

"Ah..." Tetsuya's eyes dropped. "I just... There's someone in America that I just..." His mouth formed words, but no sound came out.

Finally, Seijuuro sighed. "Let's take it outside. This place is too crowded," he said, and everyone followed him when he led them outside. (If any noticed how they were all around Tetsuya, as if trying to protect him from something, they didn't say anything.)

14.
Dear Kagami-kun,

Once again, me and my friends are in the same class. I am very happy about that, because it means I can stop thinking about you for some time. (Please do not take this in a bad way, it is just that I want to see you again. But I understand that I have to wait.) I hope you are in a good class and enjoy yourself.

At first, I was worried a relation like our wouldn't last, but we still have letters and phones.

The gift you gave me is currently on my desk, right next to me. When I look at it, it feels like the distance that separate us is of 14 centimeters only.

It reassures me.
I hope I can see you again soon.

Sincerely,
Kuroko Tetsuya.

(On the table of one Kuroko Tetsuya, laid one terrestrial globe, of only fourteen centimeters.)

is this a one-shot? who the fuck knows ahahah, i certainly don't.
gah, romance makes my eyes burn. i feel like a virgin while writing it (i'm always blushing or stuttering... yesitalkoutloudtomyselfdoyouhaveaproblemwiththat?)
maybe you'll think that taiga and tetsuya are too mature for their age, but i think that they're too immature in the real show... maybe. also, i like the idea of them mature-ing together.
i added the idea of tetsu's mother afraid of water to say: 'look even if tetsu & taiga are awesome and they are the principal characters in this fanfic, the other character have a life and they have problems, look tetsu's mother is an example.' i don't think it was that obvious but hey, whatever.
the eleventh one is a little useless i guess... not really. what i wanted to show was that a couple's life isn't only made of sweet kisses, corny jokes and mindless sex. i know that most people who aren't single know about it, but i also know that there are some people like me who haven't been with someone yet.

word count: 3,155