Aomine really hated mornings. Hated how bright it was, hated how cheery everyone seemed to be, he just despised it. Especially when it was ass-o'clock in the morning and he was demanded to meet in the main control room for some stupid meeting to talk about a topic that was supposedly important but had no relevance to him whatsoever.

Sometimes he really regretted enlisting in the jaeger program.

He debated just crawling back in bed, but as quickly as the idea came to him it disappeared. The Marshall would have his head on a silver platter if he disobeyed. So he just sucked it up and dressed quickly, checking the clock mounted on the wall continuously so he was reassured he wasn't late. His eyes drifted unconsciously towards the empty bed on the other side of the room and he shook his head turning away, slipping on his boots before leaving his quarters.

Walking through the halls he ignored the stares and whispers that seemed to follow him everywhere. He quit trying to stop them the minute he realized he never really could put an end to the constant reminder of who he was. So he continued on with his day like the people didn't even exist.

Walking through the main hall Aomine found himself accompanied by a familiar bluenette like himself, but with hair colored like blue cotton candy and skin almost as white as snow. He jumped at the sight of him when he realized he was there, though no one could blame him, it was Kuroko and he was practically invisible.

The smaller man looked at him with his regularly blank face. "Good morning Aomine-kun." Though Aomine didn't bother to reply with a literal greeting, opting just for a nod of a simple nod of acknowledgement. He hummed. "Kuroko." They walked in silence for awhile, until the smaller man broke it. "Has anyone told you what is to be discussed in this meeting today?"

"No." Aomine answered with a small tch forming on his jaw. His face turned sour. Pulled into another useless meeting was enough to put him into a bad mood. "Why am I even pulled into these things? I'm not a pilot." The last word was like acid in his mouth.

Kuroko simply ignored his question and continued with what he said prior. "The Marshall has picked some candidates to be transferred to this shatterdome and he desires to inform us about each of them briefly before the final decision of which he chooses to be actually brought here."

The darker man's eyebrows furrowed creating creases on the skin. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and rolled his eyes as they ascended the stairs leading to the control room. Kuroko opened the door stepping inside, and before Aomine followed he muttered flatly under his breath. "That still has nothing to do with me." And he walked in, letting the door shut behind him.

Within two hours into the meeting Midormia pinched the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb, holding back an annoyed huff from escaping. They had been at this for two hours now. Constant scrolling through hundreds of names, stat numbers, reports, and photographs of possible applicants to be brought to the Tokyo shatterdome. But not a single one of them has caught the attention or interest of the Marshall. One of the cadet applicants would look like a practically perfect candidate but the Marshall would find a way to knock em' down to the definite no's pile. Midormia was starting to struggle to hold back a string of cuss words from leaving his lips and his hands from pulling at his hair in frustration.

"None of these cadets look compatible with each other or any of our own. They may have enlisted in the jaeger program, but that alone doesn't deem them worthy to step into a jaeger." Marshall Akashi Seijuro said staring at the screen on the wall with an impassive expression.

Midormia kept his mouth shut though and moved his hand across the screen to show yet another file dropping it when it popped up. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed quietly when the Marshall didn't say anything. He moved his hand to show a different one though he stopped when the Marshall raised his own hand to pause his actions. Midormia almost breathed a sigh of relief, and squinted his eyes to scan the file before him.

"Kagami Taiga." Akashi spoke with eyes flickering over the words on the screen.

Takao practically ooed from where he was occupying the seat next to Midormia. An eyebrow raised and a look of interest marked his face. He'd been spinning in his chair and staring at the ceiling in boredom previously. Honestly he thought these type of meetings were rather bland and boring. He'd rather be getting back to work in the lab. Though the soldier on the screen proved to be very interesting.

Kagami Taiga looked to be dangerous from the photograph chosen to be put in his file. His angled face was scrunched into a deathly glare, crimson eyes narrowed in slits, oddly split eyebrows furrowed and his mouth was pursed in a thin line. He had dark red hair with black tips that laid messily on his head, and a body with greatly defined muscle. If he were to be approved by Akashi, lord knows Satsuki and Riko would have a field day with this one.

The Marshall had his arms crossed over his chest while he stood silently. "His combat skill numbers are out of the ordinary, so much that he overpowers anyone he has a match with. Seems rather familiar."

All eyes drifted towards the dark skinned male with navy hair who sat towards the back with feet propped up on the table and arms crossed behind his head with his eyes closed as he snored lightly in his sleep nonchalant to those around him. They looked towards the screen again not soon after.

"The comments left by other higher ups state that he's tried to drift with people close to his level, but it never works. Since there hasn't been anyone actually equal to his standards he ends up overpowering the other during a drift proving to be difficult for the other to withstand such pressure. He's also proven to be quite violent at times. Gotten into fights with four other jaeger pilots in the same shatterdome; he refuses to give an answer as to why-"

"Bring him here."

Midormia realed back as if he had been slapped. He opened his mouth to retort but by the incredibly stern look from the Marshall he backed down submissively, forced to bite down on his tongue. He nodded. "Yes Sir."

…

Kagami slapped a hand over the obnoxiously loud alarm with a grunt. He shifted so he was laying on his stomach and stretched his arms over his head, sighing blissfully when his aching muscles briefly tensed before relaxing. He looked up at the calendar stuck to the wall above his bed and cussed under his breath because today was the day he'd be flying to Japan's shatterdome, and he had yet to pack anything.

Rolling over and swinging his legs over the side of the mattress he rubbed his face in a weak attempt to wake himself up. The previous night he'd stayed up because one of the cadets thought he'd take him up in the kwoon room. And though the kid lost over and over again he never gave up insisting that they have a rematch. Kagami rolled his eyes at the thought muttering a "damn brat" under his breath as he did so.

He flinched when his feet hit the cold floor and walked towards his closet. He'd have to skip breakfast if he wanted to pack everything by the time he was due to depart. Kagami's stomach grumbled in protest to the idea but he forced himself to stay put and grabbed his clothes in his arms, placing them on the table near by to be folded.

When his clothes were all fitted in two separate large duffle bags he took a look around the room debating on what was important enough to leave with him. He grabbed a few knit-knacks off the shelves, some books and when he moved to grab his favorite pair of headphones from his dresser he froze when his eyes locked on a familiar silver chain looped through a black ring.

It hung over a small framed picture that stood upright of two boys and a woman smiling widely at the camera with their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders, pure happiness sparkled in their eyes in such a way it didn't even seem like a picture; but a look into the past. One that made Kagami's chest ache with a sense of pain that he was all too familiar with.

His hand wavered over the two items. After a few long moments of debate and painful memories overriding his vision he placed the frame carefully faced down in between sets of clothing and slung the chain around his neck. He gripped the ring in his hand for a second, closing his eyes and turning his head upwards towards the ceiling breathing ragged.

A knock at the steel door shocked him out his daze and he dropped the ring to let it rest against his collarbone. Kagami swung the door open to see a fidgety long haired brunette looking at him with an awkward smile on her face. "Time to go." She said with a soft voice.

Kagami nodded and slung one of his bags over his shoulder while the other was carried in his free hand. He cut the light off to the room and stepped outside, letting it shut behind him. He glanced at it for a second before nodding once more and turning towards the woman. He swallowed.

"Lead the way."

…

Landing in Japan one extremely long plane flight after left Kagami impressively grumpy due to hunger and annoyed because of the stiff back he got from sitting down so long. He stood up from his seat on the jet and grunted at the sound of a pop coming from his back. He grabbed his belongings and proceeded to make his way out the side of the aircraft and down the stairs to the ground.

The jet had stopped on the deck just outside the massive double doors of the shatterdome, and they were wide open. Kagami hummed in thought as he glanced around. People scurried along with their tasks at hand and barely spared him a glance. Everything was in an all-hands-on-deck type of operation. Everyone was working and no one slacked off.

"Kagami-kun."

The redhead yelped as he jumped back in surprise at the sudden presence of a shorter man in front of him. He was small and scrawny by all means compared to himself and Kagami towered over him like a jaeger to a human. The man had light blue hair and pale skin. His face was completely void of emotion and it unnerved Kagami.

"The hell are you? A ghost?" Kagami muttered rubbing the bridge of his nose exasperatedly. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that." The man only tilted his head to the side ever so slightly. He reminded Kagami of a dog. Kagami didn't like dogs. "I was here the whole time." Kagami's face turned sour. Smartass.

"I've been instructed to show you to your quarters." He bowed. "I am Kuroko Tetsuya."