心入れ
Residual drops dripped alternately, via faucet, then from his soaked tresses. The solemn chorus echoed in the locker room, reminding him that everyone else left for the night, long before. An invisible force upon his neck made it unbearable for him to glance upon the mirror-but he was just doing that to himself. The vapor upon the half-heartededly cleaned mirror wasn't enough to cloud himself from reality. As he brought himself face to face, the visage from the looking glass came with the friends.
Defeat. Pride. Jealousy. Envy. Insignificance. seemingly scrawled in thick, black ink, etched themselves upon his cheek, shoulders, abdomen, anywhere upon his skin devoid of libel. His covered left eye remained his only refuge, unaffected by the from plaguing sights.
The chain dangling from his collarbone, bumped occasionally into his chest. Each time releasing a painful reminder, stronger than the prior. "...How did he do it? During our time apart, how much farther did he surpass me?" His question received a dramatic slam from the locker room door, emphasizing a certain someone's presence. Himuro did not need to budge to know who invaded his sphere of solitude.
"What are you doing here? Haven't you already defeated me enough? I'm true to my word. To this day, our friendship ceases. This piece of metal right here, proves the end of any relation we had with each other. So if you would kindly get the hell out." Himuro gripped the ring with fervor, not sure if the cause was fear or anger.
Kagami, still in his jersey and shorts combo, paced briskly across the lockers and benches, unwavering from the threats thrown at him."Wait a sec, please. Hear me out...Tatsuya."
心入れ
He shouldn't have hesitated, walking past the Seirin player was supposed to be his plan. How could he have figured that the younger guy would utter his ultimate weakness. Giving the enemy the opening was one of the most unforgivable things any basketball player could do.
But this wasn't on court, no audience present to judge him from succumbing. The attention was of one, and of a person who he refused to give in to. Make it all disappear.
Constrained arms were the only way Kagami could prevent the umbra ridden comrade from inflicting anymore harm upon himself. Glancing below, he could tell that all those inflamed scratch marks across his arms were fresh and not the result of any irksome mosquitoes.
"Let go of me! I don't need to hear your-" Larger arms tightened their bind. It was not to show dominance, but for the #12 player to snap out of it. It was exactly times like this when the taller friend knew his rash words would be meaningless. Of all the people Kagami Taiga acknowledged, Himuro Tatsuya was the only one he treated with idiosyncratic regard to.
If tame went in accord with touch, then the Yousen fellow submitted reluctantly into the chest of his flaming foe. "Tatsuya." Not that name again... "It was you who taught me that that winning means everything. Friendship, respect. We even made a bet on these rings to prove how much it meant for us. And now that fate would have it that we finally verse each other once more, that I would see you in full force again, I realized something. Winning with my own strength always left me empty. I wanted something different, but that was all you ever taught me."
Knowing now that it was safe to let go, the ace placed a gentle hand on Himuro's shoulder. Through unspoken words, he signaled for his childhood friend to look at him properly. The bare-waisted teen found out backing up was another mistake. With solid tile leaving him no escape, the only route out was looking into those ignited flames burning upon his exposed self.
Gathering his arms into play again, he planted one on each side of Himuro's neck-firmly locking him in place. Leaning lower to level at the older teen's height, Kagami relocated his left hand, curling back the jet-black hair in front of the ignored ear. Narrowing the distance some more, the Seirin foe risked his boundaries by placing his lips within reach of the reddening earlobe. Feverish breath whispered with a hint of arousal into the dark cavern, "From here forth I stop looking to you as an older brother. Honestly...I never looked at you as one in the first place." Are you serious? "I never did."
心入れ
The slap was unseen, but resounded in the room as it revealed a scathing cerise mark on the Seirin ace's face; rivaling the bright fresco of his fiery hair. Not an iota of rage escaped from his face. The pain he harbored in his heart throbbed more than the numbness upon his cheek. Nothing could take his crimson-lit, unfazed eyes off the teen in front.
"Well thanks for thinking of me as nothing. Even when I gave you a hand and taught you to play, you couldn't even recognize me as your friend?" Had the flustered player had more strength, he would've gone for a blow, rather than react like a pansy. Seeing little time remained before the tiger would stir, the lithe teen started to walk away, aiming for the door.
One arm held tightly across his waist, another wrapped firmly across his chest. Himuro knew damn well that having lost freedom in his upper body once more, Fate wouldn't give him a break today. Yet rather than have the earlier breath wash over his shoulder once more, his neck met a tickling sensation. His childhood friend had laid that flaming, spiky haired head of his in the crook of his neck. Cool, moist tresses of the midnight intertwined itself into the burning bright locks, making it harder to pull away.
An unfamiliar touch on the back of the neck caused a shiver down the beauty mark bearer. An unexplainable warm feeling that should make him melt into the warmth, caused a surprised gasp at the chilling experience.
Successful in grasping his attention, the jersey clad teen spoke with reassurance, "Tatsu, hold on a minute. Yes, I did say I never saw you as a brother. Not once, and you want to know why? I always saw you more than that." All the shorter fellow did was shift his stance. But that was Kagami needed to know that he was listening.
"You were the only one who saw potential in me. You were the only one who made me find something I could have worth it. You became an encouragement to me, who honestly knew nothing about surviving in America! Walking away and doing your own thing would have been so much easier for you. But, instead, you decided to reach out and cultivate in me something I never knew I had. Tell me, how can you not fall in love with someone like that?" The 16-year old knew by now that raising his voice would not get the word across any clearer. Except, you cannot stop a love-sick boy when he is at his wits end.
Thank goodness Tatsuya had not faced him while hearing confession. How could he deny it? It was flat-out spelled, I-L-I-K-E-Y-O-U, all across the board. Kagami always knew how to push his buttons, but now he was left dumbstruck. Tatsuya couldn't stand straight anymore as those blazing eyes pierced his bareback, ebbing closer to reveal more within him. It was too much to handle. Balling his fists tightly, the older player whirled around with a gaped mouth struggling to form words, when his breath was cut short.
Kagami managed to pull him into a tight embrace. Tatsuya felt like he was suffocating; skin rubbing against a sweat-laiden jersey, longer legs enveloping the smaller, leaner pair. The heat of Kagami's very being was all around him, no way out. Yearning for more intimacy, the younger, usually more clumsy of the two, released his hands from the thin waist and entangled his calloused fingers into the tresses of obsidian. Foreheads pressed against each other, fitting itself into a finished piece. "It took me less than a moment without standing beside you to realize how much I love you. Each and every day I would hope to find you and wrap you in my arms, just like this."
Freeing one of his resistant hands, he glided across Tatsuya's collarbone and fingered the metal chain lightly. "You're right, you don't need this." A quick snap and the momento fell unceremoniously to the ground. "And I don't need this either." With a little bolster from his own hand, Kagami laid his fingertips over Tatsuya's. Once they melded as one body, the larger teen had the unwilling one touch his neck, where his own memory laid. Emboldening Tatsuya's hand to secure it, together they broke the chain and it too joined the first one.
Tatsuya, practically mute, managed to muster a few coherent sentences. "L-love? You don't mean-" But boys- ." The young dragon was interrupted again with finding both his fingertips; caressed lovingly by the raw lips of the culprit who made his knees unsteady.
"Yes we're guys, but I still love you." In a moment of weakness, the firebrand grazed his fingers down the roused teen's quivering and unconcealed body hip, stroking over the seductive groove of a hip bone—dangerously close to fruit of his loins.
"Taiga! What- what in the world are you doing?" Tatsuya's confusion finally formed into words. His eyes widening at the sight of the ravenous tiger's austere visage. The tiger removed the hand from the lean waist and gently brushed away the bangs covering the lithe dragon's left eye and kept his hand steady. He was determined to pierce into all of his admired love's glory, keeping the strands away from covering his milky cheek was just one of the many obstructions. "I want you to see all of me, and I want to see all of you."
"Is that really all you want?" A confident smirk was all the cue the tiger needed before pouncing, breathing heavily over his long awaited lover.
The tiger shadowed over the roseate tinted lips below his own, revealing his hidden fangs with pleasure. "Are you kidding? That's just the beginning."