a/n: A drabble that started in a particularly boring math class. I was no mathematician, thus I preferred to write lol. Rewrote the rough draft while listening to Aoi Teshima's Lullaby of Birdland from Sakamichi no Apollon OST, which I thought suits the atmosphere of this fic. I hope you'll like this, and if you like it, please do me a favor and review! :)
"Kagami."
A calloused hand tapped softly at the redhead's back, trying to wake him up from his slumber. "Kagami-kun, wake up," Kuroko said softly, trying to prevent his partner from suffering the teacher's wrath.
"Kagami!"
Kuroko's hand tapped at his partner's back with somewhat more vigor, blue eyes boring somewhat relentlessly on the taller male's back. He was about to make a powerful jab when…
"Kagami Taiga!"
The said male jerked awake in surprise. He blinked around blearily for a few seconds, only to find his very angry teacher glaring at him from in front of the class. His classmates were stifling giggles; this was the umpteenth time he'd fallen asleep during classes.
"Kagami, would you mind telling us what the answer to the question number five is?" the teacher sneered at the confused redhead.
Kagami blinked at his opened textbook, which was slightly smeared with drool. Grimacing slightly, his eyes darted around the pages; words swam meaninglessly in front of his eyes. They were right in the middle of mathematics, a subject in which he'd be lucky if he could get past 60 during tests. As far as he knew, he understood question number five as much as he understood Latin. Kagami was nearly slumped in defeat when a quiet voice came from behind him.
"The answer is B."
The redhead was stunned at first; he knew Kuroko had never been a talented mathematician, thus he doubted the aid at first. However, with the teacher starting to tap his foot impatiently on the floor, he had no choice. It would be better to answer and get it wrong than not answer at all and get laughed at.
"B. The answer's B," he said; his voice still rough from sleep. The class seemed to go silent after he answered. Much to the teacher's chagrin, he checked his textbook and replied,
"Yes. That is correct."
Kagami's eyes widened in surprise; he had never expected Kuroko's answer to be correct. He guessed that he'd been underestimating the pale boy a little; something he shouldn't have done, considering his own inexistent mathematic skill. However, knowing how Kuroko was, he still doubted that the boy was the type to pay attention in math class. The redhead rubbed the back of his head in slight annoyance and confusion as the class went on.
When the bell rang for recess, Kagami stood up from his seat with the other students. The tall male was about to look for his wallet when he accidentally saw Kuroko's opened textbook. The page was immaculately clean; no sign of answers or doodles etched on the paper at all. Kagami was about to continue searching for his wallet when he noticed that only question number five got several calculations around it, written in Kuroko's scratchy handwriting.
Realization dawned on him when a pale hand suddenly snapped the book closed. "Kagami-kun, please don't peek into my book without my permission," a bland voice snapped at him. The redhead found a pair of deadpanned sky blue eyes staring pointedly at him.
He grumbled and proceeded to look for his wallet; deciding to push his revelation to the back of his mind. Some food would definitely sweep the matter off his mind; he had always been easily distractible that way. Thinking too much had never been his style.
Thus, it was much to his annoyance when he couldn't find his wallet anywhere inside his bag. Cursing audibly, he finally remembered that he'd put the damn thing on the coffee table in his apartment last night after he went home from Maji Burger. He was about to continue grumbling when he suddenly found two 500 Yen coins on his desk, along with a piece of paper with Kuroko's writing on it.
"'Please return this to me tomorrow.'" Kagami read the note silently, slightly stunned at the shorter boy's initiative. When he was about to thank the said boy, he found that, as usual, Kuroko had escaped his vicinity without notice for the umpteenth time. A smile began forming on his lips, along with slight embarrassment.
It bothered him slightly that Kuroko had easily memorized his habits. How he'd usually get all grumbly and angry without adequate consumption (hell, he was still in his growth period after all). How he'd always sleep during math class after having a particularly rough basketball practice the previous day. It bothered him even more that he couldn't help but feel thankful for the smaller boy's odd attention.
He was grateful that the classroom had been emptied of other students. He wouldn't be able to handle it if anyone were to find him blushing and fidgeting like a middle school girl.
Kagami Taiga had never been one used to attention. Being one who'd grown up in the States, where everyone always minded their own business, he wasn't used to have someone fuss over him. He'd had girlfriends back during the days he spent there, and they'd rarely fussed about him too. As far as it went, he'd only had dates, several kisses, but nothing serious.
And then he got home to his native Japan, and suddenly things were completely different. He was by no means an observant person, but he was surprised when he noticed that the Japanese really do treat relationships the way he'd read in comic books. He'd seen girls who blushed when he'd only gone so far as stare at them. Girls who made simple bentos for their boyfriends. Girls who were happy if they managed to make a simple confession, even if they would get rejected. These things were out of question back in the States.
Kagami had never been much of a thinker, which was why he'd thought that his native Japanese ways were confusing, especially concerning love and relationships.
Then things got even more confusing for him when he met one Kuroko Tetsuya, who deliberately told him that he was the shorter boy's light. If there was something Kagami hated, it would be analogies, since he'd always had a hard time understanding them. He hated it when people say things in such a roundabout way.
At first, he thought the analogy was only Kuroko's way of distracting him from the pale boy's pitiful basketball skill. Perhaps it was one of the Japanese's ways to express their respect for somebody.
And then they went on matches, and Kagami began to understand what it felt like to have a shadow. The ball would fly straight to his hands at the most unexpected moments, ready to be thrown onto the awaiting ring. If he squinted, he could see Kuroko, darting around, following his every movement with a faint smile shadowing his lips. Kagami had never been truly in love, but he found his heart beating faster with what he could only perceive as love. With Kuroko, he felt save and protected; with him, he felt like he could reach for whatever score he wanted.
He went home from their first match against Kise with his heart pounding and his mind numb with confusion. Once the adrenaline was drained, he could only feel bewilderment and anger at himself. He had lied down on his bed in silence afterward; his eyes wide open, his heart pounding, and his mind confused. He decided to dismiss his newfound feelings, thinking that what happened in the basketball court, stayed in the court for good.
Then he'd went through his days with Kuroko sitting behind him during classes, walking with him to basketball practices, having lunch together, and suddenly his everyday life weren't so Kuroko-free any longer. Suddenly he found himself as the subject of one Kuroko Tetsuya's peculiar attention. What he thought would stay in the basketball court, suddenly started seeping into his everyday life. At first he was scared, but then things went downhill even more.
Suddenly Kuroko was lending him homeworks (it was a wreck, so to say, but still better than his own), teaching him Japanese Language (god knows how awful he was at that), and even sit with him for dinner at Maji Burger. He couldn't blame Kuroko for the Japanese Language tutoring sessions, since the coach had specifically instructed the boy to make sure that Kagami wouldn't get bad grades on the subject anymore, lest he wanted quadrupled training menu.
Nevertheless, he was angry with himself, and even more so at Kuroko.
"Stop making me fall deeper for you, you bastard," he thought as he stuffed the coins into his pocket, determined to buy the largest sandwich he could get in the cafeteria.
"You did that one question for me, didn't you?"
Kuroko lifted his eyes from the Japanese Language exercise they were working on. "What question?" he asked with his bland voice, despite the fact that his eyes betrayed a little gleam of curiosity.
"That question I had to answer during math," Kagami said, his eyes boring into the shorter boy. He knew a blush was threatening to tint his cheeks, but he tried holding it back with all his might. If anyone other than the two of them had been in the classroom, they would've thought that Kagami was constipated.
Kuroko stayed silent, not answering the taller male's question. They stayed silent for a few minutes; gently blowing breeze the only sound audible in the nearly empty classroom.
"I think you've had a misunderstanding, Kagami-kun," Kuroko finally said, his voice betraying nothing. Despite this, he kept his eyes glued to the textbook while he scribbled something. Kagami was about to retort when he noticed – or was it just his eyes playing tricks on him? – that Kuroko's face was a little bit pink.
His lips formed a sly grin. "Don't lie, darling. I've seen your textbook, you know," he drawled in English. He loved fooling around with Kuroko with his fluent English, especially when the shorter boy was in cryptic mode. Nevertheless, his heart started pounding at the revelation.
Kuroko narrowed his eyes, his cheeks only reddening even more. He muttered inaudibly and continued scribbling away in his textbook. "I thought we were supposed to study?" he grumbled, his deadpan attitude finally gave way to his embarrassment.
Kuroko lifted his eyes from his textbook only to find Kagami, who was a little bit pink himself. Neither of them said a thing, and they kept silent for a few minutes, with Kuroko doing his exercises and Kagami mostly copying them onto his own dirty, unkempt one.
After a long period of silence, Kuroko finally said, "Kagami-kun, I'd like to thank you."
Kagami was stunned for a few moments. "What for?"
"For being my light," the shorter boy said simply with a soft smile forming on his lips.
Kagami didn't know exactly what to say. As far as he knew, he was supposed to be the one thankful for having Kuroko as his shadow. For Heaven's sake, the boy did homework with him. Lend him money. Told him answers during classes. Had dinners with him. Gave him Japanese Language tutoring session after school. Hell, he even went so far as pledging to make him number one in Japan. He was by no means an observant person, but he knew dedication when he saw one.
"What?" Kagami croaked while his heart started pounding faster. Blood rushed through his system, and he anticipated Kuroko's answer with both fear and excitement.
Kuroko stayed silent for a few minutes, frustrating the redhead. "Did you know what happened between Aomine-kun and me when we were still in Teikou?" he asked, his voice tinted with sadness.
"There he goes again about that Aomine bastard," Kagami thought, grumbling inwardly. Jealousy was something quite new to him; he wasn't used to feeling inferior to others. Kagami wondered if Kuroko would say that he was thankful to get someone like Kagami to fill in Aomine's place.
"After we went separate ways, I was devastated," the shorter boy's voice grew even sadder, his sky blue eyes finally lifted to meet Kagami's reddish brown ones. "I thought I should never play basketball anymore, if I would only get left behind that way again."
"But then I meet you, Kagami-kun."
Kagami's eyes widen in surprise. He felt as if, for the first time, Kuroko was laying himself bare, in front of the redhead. No allusion, no random analogies. Just… himself.
"I admit that at first I saw you as a replacement of Aomine-kun. A stepping stone for me to reach my goal to defeat all my past teammates," Kuroko blushed slightly at his own statement. "But then life goes on and I found your presence to be too different from Aomine-kun, and I could no longer see you as a replacement."
"If I may describe him, Aomine-kun had always been one who works for himself. He's too dominant to care about others, and sadly, he doesn't really care whether or not his friends leave him. He wanted to grow stronger, but it was always for his own good," Kuroko continued. "But then there's you, Kagami-kun. You're strong, and yet you relentlessly strive to outdo yourself. You push yourself hard, but you don't do it for yourself. You do it for us here, your teammates. When I realized that, I knew you'd never leave me the way Aomine-kun did."
Kagami blushed at Kuroko's words; he'd never really thought of himself that way. He would like to deny Kuroko's flattery, but the shorter boy went on unfalteringly.
"Yes, there are times when your bullheadedness can make even me feel irritated. But despite that, just having you here, as a teammate, a friend, a classmate, and occasionally a pupil," Kuroko's lips quirked up in a smile, his eyes gleaming somewhat mischievously. "I don't think I could feel happier that Aomine-kun had left me, just so I can meet you."
"So thank you, Kagami-kun, for being my light."
Kagami blinked. The first time he heard Kuroko spoke such long sentences, and it was another roundabout, jumbled mess. He couldn't quite figure out yet what the shorter boy implied, but his mind pushed him onto the only perceivable conclusion: a confession.
And his heart started racing even faster, akin to a basketball being dribbled faster and faster before being thrown into the ring. Much to his own chagrin, again he found himself deeply, irrevocably, and foolishly in love with one Kuroko Tetsuya.
"Fuck Kuroko and the whole light-and-shadow analogy of his," Kagami sighed inwardly, fighting a blush that was threatening to engulf his face. His eyes flitted downwards, burning holes onto his textbook, unable to set on a certain pale haired boy. He found himself cursing inside for acting like a middle school girl all over again.
He was about to dismiss Kuroko's words by acting nonchalantly, and yet when his eyes lifted to meet Kuroko's, he was stunned beyond words. With the shorter boy's cheeks flushed soft, pale and sweet as sakura petals, he found that Kuroko almost seemed to glow. Silky powder blue hair fell softly on his forehead, swaying in the soft twilight breeze blowing through the open window. But it was his smile, gentle and thankful, bathed in the sun's last glimmer, that nearly blinded Kagami.
He could feel his cheeks heaten despite himself; his heart fluttered in his chest and his stomach tightened in warmth. "Who am I to deserve you, you little bastard?" he thought.
That's when he leaned in and planted a soft, chaste, kiss on Kuroko's forehead.
He knew he'd probably sound weird, what with his rough voice and impolite speech pattern, but right now, he could deal with his pride thrown out the window.
"You are my light," he whispered against those soft, silky bangs.