!Warning! If you don't ship KiKuro or dislike Shonen-Ai in general, please refrain from reading this fan fic! If you're lenient with them, then read on~

I really want to make a story with my favorite pairing KiKuro and so here it is!~

Disclaimer~ All notable characters are a copyright and belonged to Fujimaki Tadatoshi-san!

1-1:: Confessions {Stuck between denial and the truth before the epiphany}

He knew that something wasn't right with himself but knowing how personal it was, he kept it a secret, especially from the object of this confusing development.

At first, he'd thought it was a normal gesture to be thinking a lot about his former team mate as he had always respected and was awed by him on several occasions when they were in middle School and over in high School. He didn't think much of it then; he always had his former team mates in mind, now in a more mildly lenient manner as they've renewed their friendship but still shares the same rivalry with one another nevertheless.

It started in the recent weeks before; he had been thinking about his friend more often than usual, and maybe it started even before he realized, just that it wasn't prominent until then. The image of his friend manifested at random and sometimes a memory, whether it was from middle School, the previous year or when he met him recently, played within his mind and most of them caught him off guard, causing him to frequently burst in frustration and embarrassment.

Whenever his heart swell and flutter at the thought of his friend, it befuddled him to no end. The confusion leads to all sorts of questions to swirl and it distracted him from his everydays. He tried to let it slide in time but it didn't. He tried to ignore it but it kept coming back. He tried to busy himself but it kept bothering him.

He felt a tinge of envy when his friend hung out with his team mates and with his close partner in Basketball, his 'light'. The same could be felt with his friend's former light, his former team mate and one of his biggest rivals. But it felt more resentful whenever their former manager would literally threw herself at his friend and his jealousy seared a bit. He knows that she had a crush on him and was supportive of her since he was one of the first to know besides her childhood friend (maybe) so why'd he felt like he didn't want her to show affection like that?

If his friend paid attention to him or when he told him off, it made the teen idiotically happy. It stretched to even the smallest of their interactions filled him with joy. He needed to talk to someone but he feared what they might think about it. It pained him but he could never hate it.

He noticed, for some time, their former captain was observing him and their interactions now and then. Being observant that he is, he knew his former captain noticed something but chooses to keep silent. The prospect of him getting to that someday and was awfully terrifying.

When the teen finally realized he had an evident crush on his friend, he didn't deny them; it was more of a relief that he finds an answer. How could he after all those signs were undeniably the truth of his deep feelings..

...but despite knowing what it was…

…this warm, exciting and confusingly painful feeling bloomed without any signs of stopping.

He wanted to confess but his nerve and fear for their friendship being in danger prevented him from doing so (after all, it's much more important especially since it's been renewed after a year of their fall out) and the fact that they're both guys, not everyone is lenient about this affection.

He's always used to the show of affections from the opposite gender since he's quite popular with them, wanting to catch his attention, giving him gifts but now he was on the other side of things.

He felt pressured with his hesitation and even more so as on this very day, his Basketball club had a practice match with his friend's in their School.

He doesn't know what to expect but his heart's visibly fluttering at the prospect of seeing his friend again.

" Ah! Glad to have you with us. Come in, come in~ "

Seirin's coach was in high spirits today, going far as to open the doors to the gym herself and greeting the 'guest' with a bright and cheerful quirky smile. The captain, along with the rest of Seirin's Basketball club members on the other hand were nervous behind her but tried to think nothing of it as their baffled opponents entered the gym.

Knowing their coach, she was definitely thrilled that Kaijō's coach was the one who called for a practice match as opposed to a year ago and a few times this year when it was the opposite. She really wanted to give Kaijō the 'perfect hospitality' so she doubled Seirin's training regimen a week before their appointed practice match now that they were the host, and to remind them the term to 'never be careless'.

Kaijō's coach was trying to look indifferent but in truth he was grumbling to himself and a bit put off with the teenage coach's happy-go-lucky attitude. Kagami however was itching to play another passionate game with Kaijō and more ever, against Kise. When Kagami spotted the blonde haired teen among the members he immediately called out to him as he went over. Kise paused from his thoughts when he heard and saw Kagami coming over.

" Yo! Lookin' forward to the match later! "

" Kagami-cchi! Of course-su! We'll score more than you guys-su! "

" Heh, we'll see about that! "

Both teens smirked at each other before a monotone voice called out next to the power forward.

" Kise-kun. "

Kise subsequently jumped in surprise when he heard the light bluenette.

" K-k-kuroko-cchi!~ W-when..? "

" Haah...we still get that a lot from this guy. He just like to appear out of nowhere when you least expected. ", Kagami signs, understanding the effect it could have on Kuroko's unsuspecting victims of his lack of presence, it was a different story when he's in the game though.

" Y-yeah-su... ", Kise sweat dropped, trying to calm himself and he secretly knew that the surprise wasn't the only reason he needed to.

" Anyways, let's do our best Kise-kun. ", Kuroko continued while ignoring Kagami's remark.

" Y-yeah, Of course! "

As they went, Kise quietly signs to himself while tightly clutching his sports bag.

::-::

After a brief preparation, the practice match started in a decisive momentum as both teams gave no room for the other to gain a lead ahead. The aces of both opposing teams compete against each other on various one-on-ones within the court and neither back down.

Kise finds himself more expectant of Seirin's shadow and though it prevented the other team to score with the support of their invisible player, he still got a little distracted by watching Kuroko even more than necessary. Thus when he faced Kuroko head on as he noticed, by using Akashi's Emperor eye, that Kuroko was about to use his vanishing drive, he tried to steadily steer and prevent himself from blushing when the light bluenette watched him intently before he seemingly vanished.

There were similar close calls before the first half ended.

During the interval, the blonde's gaze often strayed onto the light bluenette. His small gestures and ministrations while he rests, listening to his coach and team mates; Kise felt his cheeks heating again for who knows how many times now, he couldn't help but feel content with observing Kuroko. Though he gave his all to win the game.

By the last quarter, Seirin was a basket away from over taking Kaijō. It is for certain that Kaijō had gotten stronger but Seirin's never too far behind. It was during the last few seconds that Seirin's light and shadow duo finalized the score with their signature Alley-Oop and Seirin won by a single digit difference.

Their team's triumphant screams were drowned by Kagami's more prominent roar. Both teams are strong, no doubt but Seirin was a notch, just an inch, higher - as concluded by Kaijō's coach, feeling annoyed, yet again, with Seirin's female student coach's vibrant smile.

::-::

" Good job guys! ", cried Seirin's trio as the regular members rest on the bench after the lineup.

" Ahh yeah~ Pass me the water bottle brats~ ", the captain ordered in an exhausted tone.

" Yes, captain! ", Furihata replied as he gathered the captain's bottle.

" Phew~ What a match! Kaijō's as strong as ever!.. ", Koganei commented after giving Mitobe his towel, " ..but! We won the practice match which means we're just as strong right Mitobe? "

The silent player nodded and Koganei nodded again in return.

" We won a lot of winnings today so let's collect them! "

" Izuki, shut up. "

" Hey Fukuda, did you tape everything? ", Koganei asked.

" Yes I did Koganei-senpai. ", the said teen held up the video camera he was holding with his right hand.

" Good job! We'll save these videos for Kiyoshi when he returned from abroad! "

" Ah! The memories are saved in those videos, let's watch our history together! I've got it!"

" Izuki, Take a hike! "

::-::

Kagami was wiping his face with his sports towel when Kise approached him. " Kagami-cchi, that was a great match-su! ", he said, " ..but watch out 'cause we'll definitely win next time-su! " The slightly taller teen smirked, taking up the challenge without a second thought, " Yeah! I accept your challenge! "

" Yes. We'll be looking forward to it. "

Both teens jerked at Kuroko's sudden appearance. He was holding and patting Nigou who wagged his tail from the gesture.

" K-kuroko! Geez! Can you give us a warning next time?! "

Kise chuckled awkwardly when Kagami irritably grabbed the light bluenette's head although he felt himself disapproving that friendly gesture; it was no surprise that his heart stings at the sight. They're classmates and even partners in Basketball, best friends but obvious opposites of one another. It was the same in Teikō with Aomine but things were different back then.

As the two bicker with each other, Kise subconsciously stared at the light bluenette with a rather gentle downcast gaze. He wondered again to himself, how much longer he could go without telling Kuroko his feelings. He valued the friendship they had but is it alright to just set his feelings aside and burden himself?

Can he...

...possibly handle if Kuroko...

...ends up with someone else?

The painful thought deeply stabbed him.

He...can't...

He knows that he can't...

It's selfish of him but he can't let Kuroko go. He tried several times before but he just couldn't.

The duo stopped their mild argument when Kuroko noticed Kise was staring at him. " Kise? What's wrong? ", Kagami tried to probe the teen but he didn't react.

From the shadow's experience with the hyper blonde, he never seen Kise had a gently sorrowful expression before. He's...always playfully smiling and smirking.

" Kise-kun? "

Kuroko locked his eyes with the blonde's - trying to discern what troubled him but the stares startled the shadow that he felt blood creeping up to his face.

" Hey man, are you alright? ", Kagami shook the blonde's shoulder which did the trick to snap him out. " E-eh? Wh-what is it Kagami-cchi? "

The said teen blinked twice before retracting his hand away, " What the heck? You've just froze there! "

" Huh? I..did? "

" Woof! Woof! ", barked Nigou from Kuroko's arms.

" Yeah, and you had your eyes glued on Kuroko the entire time too. "

" Eh? ", it took Kise a moment before finally digesting what Kagami had said. His face colored into a bright shade of red as he stuttered, " E-e-eehhh?! I-I w-was?! "

" What? You wanted another match as soon as possible? ", deducted the simple minded Kagami.

" Woof! "

The blonde sweat dropped but internally he was relieved that Kagami didn't noticed. All that's left was Kuroko. He didn't say nor reacted as much so Kise could take that he too didn't notice but...

" Hey Kise! Help out with the cleaning will you! ", yelled Nakamura from the benches.

" Ah! Yeah, I'm coming senpai!~ "

" Kagami! Kuroko! Are you two skipping out on the chores? Time to clean you brats! ", yelled Hyūga while holding a long sweeper mop.

" C-coming captain! ", Kagami jerked at the captain's clutch time mode, " Y-you heard him, we'll be seeing you guys out later. Come on Kuroko! "

After Kagami half jogged away, Kuroko turned towards Kise, " Well then... "

His heart tugged at him to reach out and he did but instead of stopping Kuroko by his shoulders as he intended to, he grabbed the light bluenette's head. Kuroko turned around to face him questioningly and the blonde's blushing face lights up even more as he tried to explain the abrupt action.

" S-s-sorry K-kuroko-cchi! K-kagami-cchi was doing it so I-I'd thought to give it a try too~ "

Kise hoped the shadow bought his excuse.

The shorter teen glared at the teen before he signs as he closes his eyes, " I would tell you both off some other time though I already told Kagami-kun about how I dislike it, but more importantly, are you alright? "

" E-eh? ", Kise lifts his hand and the light bluenette shifted his position to face him.

" You don't seemed like yourself some how... "

" Ahh N-no there's nothing wrong Kuroko-cchi~ "

" Is that so? "

Kise softly chuckled for a moment before he finally decides to drop the act. No doubt that he had to take this chance, even if it means risking everything.

He can't lie to himself anymore.

" Actually...There is something...I have to tell you Kuroko-cchi. Can you meet me behind the gym later? "

The shadow blinked before he simply replied, " ...Alright then. "

::-::

After packing up, Seirin sees their rivals off. Before leaving the School's premises, Kise told the coach that he'll be going back on his own. The blonde quickly rushed back to the gym, making sure to avoid any suspicion or let his presence be detected.

He waited at the back of Seirin's gym and sure enough awhile later, Kuroko came with a greeting along with Seirin's mascot puppy that was tucked in his arms. The look-alike was staring at him expectantly.

" Ahh, Hiya Nigou~ "

" Woof! Woof! "

" He really does look like you, Kuroko-cchi. "

" Mmm, we get that a lot. So what do you need to tell me Kise-kun? "

The blonde fell silent as he took a deep breath, feeling himself blush, " Y-you know Kuroko-cchi... "

The warm spring afternoon breeze softly blew against them. Unknown to the two teenagers, one of Seirin's seniors was listening in on them.

::-::

Izuki was given the task to wash the sweeper mop as a punishment due to his annoying puns by the captain's orders. He was pouting at it while taking the mop out back for the water tap. On his way there, he stopped when he heard Nigou barking and Kise's voice followed soon after.

" Eh? Nigou...and Kise? "

He thought that the blonde had already left with his team mates not too long ago. Curiously, he quickly and quietly placed the mop against the side of the gym before moving at the edge of the corner. He then heard Kuroko asking Kise what he wanted to ask the shadow, which the older teen assumed to be the reason for their discreet meeting.

" Kuroko? "

The blonde haired teen nervously ruffled the side of his head as he tried to gather his words.

The breeze enveloped the silence before Kise started to speak again.

::-::

" Kuroko-cchi... "

" Yes? "

" I..don't know h-how you would view me after this but I... "

Nigou tilts his head to the side, confused and oblivious about what's going on.

Kuroko blinked when Kise turned to face him.

The blonde's cheeks were now a deep shade of red.

...

" Kuroko-cchi, I really, really like you.. "

Gaahh! I finished it!

This here, I've started in the mid-afternoon until after midnight! Ahahaha XD

As you can tell, a majority of my fan fics rarely have romance as the main genre. I do add romance in them but it isn't the main focus but a side. I've just started up a romance fic after awhile so please excuse this first long chapter!

The next one will be up after a while~

Please Read and Review!~

HIJAMIYA, Out!