"Heya Kuroko, what's up? It's not like you to call in late." Ogiwara grinned to the phone as he excused himself from his team, who were having a consolation dinner party after their loss. It was one of many things he loved from Ritsumeikan club, they value solidarity and brotherhood more than the actual winning.

The phone was silent, so Ogiwara wondered if the reception was bad or something. He got out of the Maji Burgers and shook his phone, thinking that maybe the reception will get better if he did that.

"Hello, Kuroko? Ughhh is this thing broken?" He shook his phone again. But when he was about to hang up and try to recall his best friends, he could hear a sob.

"Kuroko? Hello?"

"Uuuuuu... O-Ogiwara..."

"Kuroko are you crying?!"

"I-I apologize..."

Panic rose to Ogiwara's head as he heard the soft, low crying from the other side of the line. What happened? Kuroko wasn't the type to cry at all. The only time Ogiwara had seen Kuroko cry from their time in childhood was when he was moving to Kyoto. Other than that? Zilch. Nada. What happened?!

"Kuroko! What's going on? What happened? D-don't cry!" Ogiwara was spluttering his words as his best friend sobbed to the phone. The power forward of Ritsumeikan then took a deep breath to calm himself. He could do this. After all, he was the one Kuroko turned to when he was crying like this. He would be the one to calm Kuroko down.

"Kuroko? Are you okay?" He sounded calmer than before, yep, that's good, maybe Kuroko will tell his story now that he's calmer.

"I-I apologize, Ogiwara-kun... but... I just don't know who else to turn to at this moment..."

"I realized that. The last train to Tokyo leaves in ten minutes... so if I were to go now, I'll have to spend the night at your house. Is that okay?" There was an incoherent mumble from the other side, but Ogiwara just knew that it was mumble of approval.

"Okay, Kuroko, where are you?"

"My school..."

"Just... just wait at the park we used to play together, okay? I'll go there as fast as I can, I promise." There was another mumble before the tealhead hung up on him, probably to compose himself. Now, Ogiwara was the one panicking. He instantly dialed his mother, tell her of Kuroko's crying (she was pretty surprised because Kuroko had pretty much struck her as the quiet one with no tears to spare), and gathered his things from the Maji Burgers.

He was rushing, and maybe he was forgetting something, but he needed to be with Kuroko. Right now.

Ogiwara was so sure that his legs were going to fall off the moment he ran into the park near Kuroko's house. He was going to lose his legs and never play basketball again because-

"O-Ogiwara-kun...? You really came?"

It only took Kuroko's nearly inaudible call and a small sob to heal his legs' soreness. The power forward of Ritsumeikan walked slowly to his best friend's side and sit next to him.

"Of course I really came, Kuroko," he said as he pulled Kuroko's shoulder a little hardly and shoved him to his chest. Kuroko placed his head on top of Ogiwara's shoulder before wiping off the tears on his face.

"You're my best friend, and you're crying, and I have money, and I can ride on the train. Of course I'm going to be here for you. Now, what's going on? Why did you cry?"

Both boys fell into a comfortable silence as Kuroko's sobs began to fade away under Ogiwara's soft murmurs of 'it's okay, it's all right, it's okay now' and caressing on his teal hair. Ogiwara had never seen Kuroko cry, but he always knew how to calm Kuroko whenever he was upset with something. Like at books and basketball match for example.

"Aomine-kun..." Ogiwara tensed. Okay, he pretty much knew everything about this Aomine guy. Everything from Kuroko's knowledge anyways. And he concluded that somehow, Aomine will definitely break Kuroko's heart. Not in a romantic kind of way (because he knew that Kuroko is head over heels in love with someone else), but... he just knew that Aomine will ruin their friendship.

But he gulped down his worries to listen to his friend's dreaded words. He could do this. It was even harder for Kuroko and he could not back down. "What happened with him?" Ogiwara asked, even though he was really dreading the answer that Kuroko would be forced to say.

"He said... he said that I wasn't needed by the team anymore. He said that... he's forgotten how to receive my passes..." Kuroko sounded steely cold, but Ogiwara could hear the horrible undertones of sadness within it. Stupid Aomine. How dare he hurt his best friend like this?!

"Kuroko, I'm really-"

"And there's also Akashi-kun..."

This time, Ogiwara flinched. 'Akashi-kun'. Akashi Seijuurou, the captain of Teikou Middle's basketball club, heir of the prestigious Akashi company, and Kuroko's biggest crush. Even when Kuroko himself didn't notice how much he was in love with Akashi, Ogiwara was, contrary to popular belief, smarter than the average bear. He could see and hear just how much Kuroko had fallen for the guy.

"What happened with Akashi?" He asked, treading carefully in case Kuroko didn't want to talk about it. But the tealhead apparently wanted to.

"He was..." Kuroko fell silent, as if he was searching for the right word for the person he had fell for. What? What happened? Ogiwara fidgeted a little. "Different." Kuroko finally decided on a word, although, judging from the trembling hands, the word different didn't even describe what he felt about his captain.

"Different how?" Ogiwara raised his voice a little, enough to tell Kuroko that he wanted answers, but not enough to scare him away.

"He... always eyes everything calm and calculating eyes. Sometimes, he'd even show a glimpse of kindness and amusement whenever he looked at us member of the Generation of Miracles..." Kuroko whispered so lowly that Ogiwara had to strain his ears to actually hear him, but the raven-haired teen didn't say anything, waiting for his friend to continue. "But today... today, he told me to give up on Aomine-kun. That we're already broken, unfixable, and he calls me Tetsuya."

"He sounds so ruthless and commanding. Akashi-kun had always had that authoritative tone whenever he spoke, but he never sounded cruel. I... I seriously believed that Akashi-kun was going to kill me."

Ogiwara released a breath that he didn't notice he was holding. Whoa. Kuroko was never the type to exaggerate things, that one was his forte, so if Kuroko said that... it actually meant what it meant...

What happened to Akashi then?

But that wasn't the important thing. The important thing now would be to calm Kuroko down. He couldn't stand watching Kuroko, the ever so calm Kuroko, cried like he was hurt and lost.

"It's okay, it's okay, Kuroko. I'm here..."

"Y-yes... it seems that... I just need a reminder of who I am. After Aomine-kun said that nobody needed my passes, or after Akashi-kun... I..." Ogiwara hugged his best friend, gently stroking his back in vertical motion. "It's alright now, Kuroko, it's okay... I'm here for you..." And then, came silence.

It took ten minutes to soothe Kuroko until the sobs were gone, and two more minutes for his best friend to fall asleep from exhaustion. Ogiwara sighed. Gosh, he was lucky that Kuroko was smaller than him. He used to give him piggyback like this whenever they both passed out on the courtyard when they were kids. Kuroko had weak stamina, after all. So Ogiwara was always the one who had to carry him back home.

It was okay though, it reminded him of nostalgic times. Of another happy time in his life. In all honesty, he was happiest whenever he was with Kuroko, after all.

As Ogiwara made his way to Kuroko's house, he was met with somebody else who stood in front of the adorable small house like he was expecting something.

Ogiwara almost took a step backwards. Red hair, not so much taller than Kuroko, neat Teikou uniform, and mismatched eyes?

"A-Akashi... Seijuurou?" Ogiwara's mouth ran for him. Damnit! He shouldn't have said anything and just leave!

The redhead then turned to face him with an expression he could only describe as mad. His eyes were wide and... ruthless.

A shiver ran down his spine. This is bad, this is bad, this is bad!

"Is that... is that Tetsuya behind you?" God, his voice sounds creepy. Not creepy in 'ghost movies' creepy. But just... malicious. Ogiwara's head was a mess now. He didn't know what to do. Should he run? Should he leave?!

"Who are you? Why are you with Tetsuya?!" Ogiwara was stunned in his place. Sweat began to form on his temples as the shorter boy began to get closer and closer to him. His heart was pounding so hard that he could almost hear it. "Give him to me." The captain of Teikou outstretched his hand with a rather calm expression on her face. "K-Kuroko's asleep!" Ogiwara spluttered, stepping back defensively.

"Give him to me." He repeated, eyes piercing directly at Ogiwara's own. "N-no! Kuroko said that you're different from the Akashi he fell... for..." Ogiwara would have clamped his mouth shut if it weren't for the fact that he had Kuroko on his back. Stupid! That wasn't his secret to tell! Kuroko made it clear that he had no intention to ever let anyone other than Ogiwara to know what he felt for Akashi!

"Tetsuya... fell for Akashi?" The redhead asked, no demanded an answer. Ogiwara gulped before nodding, still sweating nervously.

"F-for you... yeah..." He knew he was digging his grave deeper and deeper. This is bad. Bad. Bad!

The redhead in front of him fell into a bout of silence, making his heart pound even louder as he silently reached to his bag and pulled a scissor out of it. Ogiwara gulped. Oi, oi, they're just middle school students! Why is he pointing his scissor like that?!

"Tetsuya is mine! You hear me?! Mine!" Ogiwara was about to run away when Kuroko groaned, waking up from his sleep. "Kuroko!" Ogiwara didn't know if it was okay to sound relieved. What if Akashi point that scissors at Kuroko? That won't be good either! They should just run away from-

"Akashi-kun? What are you doing in front of my house?" Kuroko asked groggily as he rubbed his eyes, his hair was sticking out slightly. Really, it confused Ogiwara as to how Kuroko's hair managed to be like that when the tealhead wasn't even a rowdy sleeper. But they had more pressing matters here.

Akashi got rid of the scissors, much to Ogiwara's relief. But he walked closer to Kuroko with the very same mad look on his face. "I am here to ask you why did you run from me earlier, Tetsuya." The redhead leaned to Kuroko's face and kissed him square on his lips.

Ogiwara froze on his place. Normally, he would be happy that Kuroko was being kissed by the very guy who stole his heart, but not when Kuroko himself was flailing. "Stop it, Akashi-kun!" Kuroko shouted. It was the very first time in Ogiwara's life he'd heard his best friend shouting, and he found out that he'd rather never hear it again.

"Very well then, Tetsuya. I will return home now, since it's late. We'll continue this conversation tomorrow..." The redhead then let go of his best friend, threw him a vengeful glance before going away in the direction they came from.

Ogiwara's feet wobbled. He'd felt something like that before. And he never wanted to feel it again.

"Kuroko... are you asleep?"

The raven-haired teenager asked to the owner of the bed on top of him. Kuroko shook his head. "No, I'm not asleep, Ogiwara-kun. I'm..." The rest of his words died in silence. Ogiwara sighed before getting out of his futon and joined his best friend on the bed. It used to be so big, but now, it was nearly too small for them both.

Ogiwara rested his hands on his best friend's cheeks, their eyes meeting each other. The taller teen frowned at Kuroko's blank, yet saddened stare.

"Kuroko, everything's going to be alright, okay?"

"What if it's not?" Kuroko asked, his voice trembling slightly. "What if it's not going to be okay, Ogiwara-kun? What if-"

"Hey, heyheyhey," Ogiwara pulled his best friend into a hug, just like the hug he gave Kuroko when he convinced the tealhead that they'll still be friends even after he moved to Kyoto. "It's going to be alright, okay? You and Akashi, everyone in your team, even your friendship with Aomine too. You just need to believe in them, Kuroko. If you believe hard enough, they'll definitely return to you. And then after that, we'll meet in the All-Middle next year and fight to our best!" Ogiwara smiled to himself, trying to assure his most precious friend. His brother. He never wanted to see him cry. Not now. Not ever.

"Really? Do you really think so, Ogiwara-kun?" Kuroko asked, sounding just a little bit hopeful. Ogiwara grinned. "Of course I think so!"

Neither of them knew that in the next All-Middle, Akashi used his ankle break on Ogiwara, crushing the boy's foot as Aomine left Ritsumeikan Middle in the dust with the score 150-37. And while all of that happened, Kuroko could only stare at them from the bench he had warmed ever since the start of the tournament.

Neither of them knew that they will never face each other. Ever.

*cries* *cries* *cries* I love this ship so much *cries* *cries* *cries*