Hi, everyone!
Right now you all are probably thinking "Wtf?! Aomine and Kuroo... together as a couple?" Yep. That is correct. As weird as it might be, I just love shipping together my favorites from different series.

I would also like to thank Death-Scimitar for agreeing to beta (proofread) this story for me and help me make it even better.
This is my second work I ever publish online so I hope you like it.

"Hey, you ok?"

Kuroo's green jersey rustled as he brushed away his tears with the back of his hand and looked up in the direction of the unknown to him voice. There, in a ring of light, was a tan boy with dark blue hair, wearing a basketball uniform with white and light blue colors.

"Cheer up. You gave it your all, right? Wasn't that fun?" the boy beamed a radiant smile at Kuroo. "As long as you love volleyball, I'm sure you'll win next time! Right?" The boy stretched out his hand towards Kuroo.

Kuroo stood mesmerised by the boy smiling at him He didn't know him and yet, there he was, trying to comfort him. It's so bright and gentle.Kuroo thought. I feel so much calmer all of a sudden. Why is my heart beating so fast? It's warm. This feeling... I wish I could stay like this forever.

A peaceful smile appeared on Kuroo's face. He took the offered to him hand and smiled happily.

"Yeah, I will!"

"Oi, Cap'n!" Yaku's voice called out to Kuroo from far away.

"Kuroo! Oi, Kuroo, temme! Wake up damn it!" Taketora's loud voice and rough shaking tore Kuroo from his dream.

Nekoma's captain felt his heavy from sleep eyelids drag upward, not wanting to wake up just yet. The image of the smiling tan boy fading away replaced by the bright sunlight that greeted Kuroo's burning eyes. With almost lightning speed, his forearm shot upwards and managed cover his eyes as small tears had already formed at their edges.

"Phaw, the sleeping beauty has finally been awoken from her slumber." A suppressed laugh came from somewhere behind Kuroo's seat.

"We are almost there." Kenma's monotonous voice announced to his still half asleep friend. Kuroo turned his head towards the window next to him. The forearm that was protecting his eyes, raised up, giving away to the bright sunlight once more. Kuroo fixated his gaze at his reflection on the window. It's been almost a year since the last time he had dreamed about that guy. They met a few years ago at this same summer tournament he was going to right now. The memory of which had left a deep sweet memory in Kuroo's heart. A memory that supported him in his darkest hours.

A small sigh left his lips. Every year his body will twitch with anticipation of their possible meeting and every year he would go back home disappointed and beaten. This year was most likely going to be the same as any other before that. He knew that and yet, he couldn't stop himself from feeling excited about it.

Kuroo's body stiffened at the thought. The pressure from the upcoming matches hitting his body once more.

"I wonder if we'll pull it off." he muttered to himself.

Suddenly the blue-haired boy's voice echoed in Kuroo's head. "As long as you love volleyball, I'm sure you'll win next time! Right?"

A smirk slowly appeared on Kuroo's lips. Determination and confidence written all over his face.

"Yeah, we will!"

"You said anything?" Kenma asked without taking his eyes from his hand-held console.

Energized by the words, Kuroo stood up from his seat and looked at his teammates and friends. They might not be that strong but they share deeper bond than any other team out there.

Kuroo grinned and stretch out his fist towards his team.

"We are like the blood in our veins. We must flow without stopping. Keep the oxygen moving and your mind working! We are here to win. Let's go and show them what we are made of!"

An eager and excited "yosh" echoed in the train. Everyone smiled and stretched out their fists towards Kuroo. Kenma sighed and completely ignored the satisfying grin on Kuroo's face. Those speeches of his were still as embarrassing as ever.

"Dai-chan! Hurry up!" Satsuki pushed Aomine who yawned, tears forming at the edges of his heavy eyelids. "Dai-chan!"

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Don't "yeah" me! What would you have done if I didn't come to pick you up?"

Aomine shrugged his shoulders as another yawn slipped through his lips.

"Probably get a good sleep."

Momoi puffed her cheeks as she kept on pushing the barely awake tan boy.

"Besides, I don't remember ever agreeing on participating in all of this crap."

"Oh, yeah? Then what about the deluxe limited edition magazine with Mako Horiuchi that we gave you for your cooperation? You agreed to do this if we gave it to you."

"Oi, that wasn't Mako-chan! It was Horikita Mai-chan! Why can't you guys remember this?! I like big tits damn it! How many times do I have to repeat myself till you finally remember?"

"Hai, hai! Whatever. There's almost no difference now, is there?"

"Yeah there is! Mai-chan's…"

Momoi let go of Aomine and started to briskly walk ahead of him. Aomine swiftly followed after her, eagerly trying to prove his point that there were explicit differences between the bodies of the two models.

"I got it, Dai-chan, there's no need to keep yelling like this."

"Then do it right next time, damn it!"

"Hey, did you hear that guy just now?" a passing boy whispered to his friend."How can he say such embarrassing things out loud?"

Aomine's ear twitched at the whisper and he turned his head in the direction it came from. His ice-cold blue eyes met the ones of the boy. The guy flinched, grabbed his friend's hand and ran away.

"Oi, Satsuki." Aomine murmured, suddenly bored. "I'm going home after all."

"Huh?!" Satsuki looked at him in shock as Aomine turned his back on her and started going home.

"You can't do that! What about the tournament?"

"I don't care. You guys can win this without me anyway. I'm going back to sleep."

"Wait, Dai-chan! I'm sure that Tetsu mentioned something about it. What if Seiren went on and signed up for it this year?"

"There's no way anyone would be interested in such small tournament."

"And what if you are wrong? We signed up for it so I'm sure some of them might have also done it. Let us at least go check the roster!"

Aomine sighted and stopped in his tracks. He turned around and looked at Satsuki with weary eyes.

"Fine, but if Seiren is not on the list, we are leaving and you'll buy me food."

"Ok!" Satsuki smiled and grabbed Aomine's hand, pulling him with all her might towards the location of the tournament.

"Seriously? Why do we have to face these guys in our first match?" Taketora grabbed his head with both of his hands in despair. "What are they doing here anyway? They shouldn't be interested in such a tournament, so why?"

On his right, Kuroo stood with hands in his pockets. His eyes were unusually serious and fixated at the name on the roster board written next to Nekoma's.

"I'm sure they are here just to boast about how good they are and that we are nothing but a waste of time," Nobuyuki stated with calm analytical voice.

"Vice Cap'n!" Taketora teared up and looked at Nobuyuki. "I'll be damned if I let them win again!"

"Calm down, Taketora. We are better than last year. I'm sure we have a chance to win against them."

"Course we'd win! We'll crush them like cockroaches!"

Kuroo closed his eyes, turned around and left without saying a word.

"Oi, Kuroo! Whe~"

"Leave him be, Taketora-san." Kenma's unexpected interruption staggered the hardboiled boy.

"Huh? What'd ya mean leave him? He hasn't said a word to us since he saw the roster!"

"He'll be fine. His desire to win against them is stronger than yours anyway so just give him some time."

"Aaa-ah" Kuroo let out a long sigh and laid down on the bench he sat on."What should I do? I can't believe our luck ran out before we even started. Everything is just like last time..." Kuroo took out his cell phone and stared at the phone strap with cute big-breasted girl that was hanging on it.

"I guess I'll rely on your strength once more." Kuroo smiled gently at the girl in his hand. The voice of the tan boy from his past echoed in Kuroo's head. "I know you can do it, Tetsu!"

"I wonder how he looks now?" Kuroo's face grew hot at the thought of seeing that genuine smile and sparkling blue eyes again.

"Yo, Tetsu! I didn't expect to find you here."

Surprised that someone called him by his nickname, Kuroo quickly lifted his head. The image of the young boy from his past standing right in front of him quickly faded away giving its way to a tall blue-haired tan boy with bored eyes, and black sports jacket, looking straight at him.

"Y-yo!" he put on his usual poker-face smile trying to hide his confusion. The guy that was standing in front of him had a lot of similarities with the boy from his past. Could it be that this was actually him and he, by some chance, remembered him?

Kuroo blushed as the thought crossed his mind. They've met only once and for a very short amount of time but the kindness and cheerfulness of that guy had helped him push forward at his darkest times. Could it be it was the same for him too?

Aomine looked at Kuroo with confusion.

"Huh? Wh-"

"Yo, Aomine-kun. Long time no see."

Before Kuroo could react, someone spoke from the space between him and the tan boy, making Kuroo jolt.

"Is this a friend of yours, Aomine-kun?"

A pair of light blue eyes turned around to meet Kuroo's. How long has this guy been there? I didn't see him at all!

"Don't make me laugh, Tetsu." Aomine snorted. "I've never seen this guy before."

Huh? Never seen this guy before? Kuroo felt like someone had suddenly poured cold water on him. Did I really just mistook the whole situation?

Actually, now that he looked at him more closely, the guy named Aomine did have the same features as the boy from Kuroo's past but their personality didn't match at all. Instead of the cheerful and full with kindness eyes, the ones staring at him right now are as dead and cold as ice.

"Ah, never mind. I mistook you for someone else." Kuroo laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Small misunderstanding, that's all. Well, I'll be taking my leave then."

As he stood up to go away, Aomine's voice suddenly stopped him.

"Oi, wait a second."

Surprised, Kuroo looked at the navy blue eyes that were intensively looking at his hand.

"Where did you get that?"

"Huh? You mean this?" He raised his hand which was still holding his phone. "I got it as a good luck charm from a friend."

"Give it to me."

"Huh?" Kuroo's face went completely blank looking at the serious Aomine standing in front of him.

"How much do you want for it?"

"I'm sorry but it's not for sale. Like I said - it's an important good luck charm from a very special friend so I can't just sell it."

Aomine's intense gaze stared at Kuroo's cat eyes. That blue-haired idiot might resemblance a grown up version of his friend but there's no way they were one and the same person. The guy currently standing before him was as cold as an ice and there was not even a small fragment of happiness in his eyes.

"Are you sure? I'll pay you a lot."

"I don't care. Find someone else."

Kuroo waved his hand and left the blue-haired boy behind him. He was certain that guy was not Aominecchi from his past. Thinking of his name always made Kuroo smile because it was rather unusual and cute name befitting a girl.

"Now, enough of this!" Kuroo shook his head of all thoughts about the tall blue-haired guy. "It's time to win this match!"

Aomine just stood there, watching as the guy with the wild black hair slowly disappeared from his view.

"What's the matter, Aomine-kun?"

"Volleyball, huh?"

"Aomine-kun, are you… actually interested in that guy."

"Huh?! Of course not!" He yelled at Kuroko who was watching at him intensively with his emotionless eyes. "It's just that…" he murmured.

"It's just that…"

"That was the debut, limited edition phone strap of Mai-chan that came out a few years ago," he whispered before a loud cry came from his lips and he clutched his head. "There're only 10 of those out there! Dammit!"

"Ah. Now that you mention it… Didn't you also have one of those back in Teiko. As I remember, you were extremely happy about it. I still can't believe you gave it away to someone."

"Don't remind me about it." Aomine sniveled. "I thought I'll be able to buy another one but by the time I went to get it, they were already sold out."

"Still, wasn't it good enough that you made someone else happy with it?"

"The hell with their happiness! I want my Mai-chan phone strap back!"

"It's not good to be so greedy, Aomine-kun."

"Like I care!"

"Kya~ Tetsu-kun!" Suddenly Momoi jumped at Kuroko, wrapping her hands around his neck.

"Momoi-san, I can't breath."

"Oi, Satsuki, you are killing him with those big balloons of yours."

"Huh? Balloons?" She loosened her grip on Kuroko and looked annoyed at Aomine. "As I recall you were eagerly yelling at me this morning that you love these type of "balloons" so don't call them that, ok?"

Aomine sighed and touched his forehead with the palm of his hand.

"You know, there's a difference between you and the other girls, Satsuki."

"Ah...Thank you, Dai-chan, but I'm afraid I have my eyes only for Tetsu."

She smiled happily and tightened her grip around Kuroko again.

"We all already know that… Wai- Why did you took that as a confession? I don't have such feelings towards you! Oi, Satsuki, are you even listening to me?"

"I'm so happy that you and Seiren decided to join the tournament! Now I don't have to buy food for Dai-chan."

"She isn't even listening to me…" Aomine murmured. "Oh, well… I guess I'll just run while she isn't watching. See ya later, Tetsu."

"Till later, Aomine-kun."

"We are like the blood in our veins. We must flow without stopping. Keep the oxygen moving and your mind working!"

"Osu!" the loud cry echoed on the volleyball court followed by some applause and cheers from the audience.

"Such cringeworthy lines." Aomine murmured under his breath as he looked at the volleyball court, his eyes fixated on the black haired guy he saw earlier. There was something familiar about him that just kept on bugging him. For some reason those cat-eyes and that Mai-chan phone strap couldn't leave his mind.

Aomine tried to remember the day when he gave away his strap. Unfortunately for him, all he could remember was a crying boy. He could neither remember why he gave the strap nor what that damn boy looked like. It was probably just a coincidence the guy who was now playing on the volleyball court had the same phone strap. And yet, why is he feeling so restless after he saw him?

"Did you hear?" A guy from the seat row in front of Aomine leaned towards the girl next to him. "Apparently Nekoma always loses against this team."

"I am not that surprised to be honest. They are the ones who win the regionals every year."

"I even heard that apparently Nekoma's captain had faced the opposing team's captain before in his Junior high school years but his team never managed to win."

"Seriously?" The girl looked towards Kuroo."I feel sorry for him."

"Yeah, me too. I'm surprised he still has the willpower to face them."

"If I were him, I would have given up a long time ago."

Aomine returned his attention back to Nekoma's captain. The guy was moving like a cat on the court. His calls, decisions and play were precise and well thought out. It looked like he had complete trust and faith in his teammates. Unlike their opponents who exceeded at individual skill, the wild haired boy's team had better teamwork. The scoreboard, however, was in complete disfavor of the cat-like guy's team. If Aomine knew a bit more about the sport, he was probably going to say that Nekoma was going to lose. Yet the smile on their captain's face, made the tan boy's heart race with excitement.

"Are you kidding me?" Aomine grinned and covered his face with his hand.

This whole scenario made him remember his first match against Seiren. The unwavering eyes of Kagami, the sheer confidence of Kuroko that he'll win, Seiren's teamwork playstyle against Touou's individual player playstyle. Everything was exactly the same.

"Yosha~! Nice block, Kuroo!" an energetic guy with black and blond hair hit the back of the guy in front of him.

"Nice one, Captain!"

"Don't let it go to your heads. We are still behind."

"Yes, Cap'n!"

A few minutes later the sound of a whistle interrupted the game and everyone went back to their coaches.

"I hope this time-out will help them to stop the momentum of the game."

Aomine looked to his right and saw an older guy whose blonde hair was pulled back by a thick black headband. He moved his eyes from the court to Aomine.

"Are you here to see the competition?"

"No, I don't play volleyball."

Aomine turned away from the guy and focused his attention back at Nekoma's captain. The blond followed Aomine's gaze and smiled.

"Ah, so you are just a friend of Kuroo, eh?"

Aomine stayed silent.

"Kuroo really helped one of my guys a few weeks ago. You know, even though you could say that our boys are Nekoma's rivals, they are just as much their friends." The blond guy smiled. "I really hope they win this match both for Nekoma and Kuroo's sake."

Suddenly someone from Nekoma said something to his teammates and pointed in Aomine's direction. Aomine's eyes locked with Kuroo's. The wild-haired boy flinched surprised as his eyes locked with Aomine's.

"Haha, it seems they've noticed me." The guy next to Aomine waved back smiling.

The surprise on Kuroo's face was quickly replaced by a satisfying and all-knowing smirk. His eyes locked at Aomine. For some reason, that agitated the tan boy and his brow twitched from frustration. Kuroo's grin widened, adding more to Aomine's annoyance. Why on earth would he look at him like that? Did he knew that Aomine would chase after him because of the phone strap? Why is he smiling like that? The heck is that guy even thinking?

Unable to resist the urge to just jump down and grab the volleyball player for his shirt, Aomine stood up, determined to leave.

"Oh, you are leaving already?" The blond looked surprised at Aomine. "The match is still in the first set."

"I don't care." Aomine glimpsed again at Kuroo who was talking about something with his teammates. As if sensing that Aomine was watching him, Kuroo's cat eyes swiftly turned smiling at Aomine, making him even more annoyed than before.

Aomine clucked his tongue and turned away. What on earth was wrong with him? It wasn't like him to be interested in anything else besides strong basketball opponents that he could play with. Yet there he was, watching a completely different sport, feeling annoyed and agitated from a guy who doesn't even know. None of this made any sense to him. And yet, no matter how much he tried, there was this one thing he couldn't deny - that wild-haired volleyball captain made Aomine's blood rush through his veins like a wildfire. To make it even worse, the smile on Kuroo's face made Aomine want to crush him even harder than he crushed Kagami.

Well, this is where we'll stop for today. I'm planning on adding the next chapter pretty soon. So meanwhile, I'm extremely curious to know what do you all think about this. Did you like it? What do you think of Aomine and Kuroo as a couple? Do you want more? etc.
Any constructive criticism is appreciated.

I'll leave you with a small hint for next chapter - Things are going to heat up!