I'm really excite about this story.

Man's Best Friend
Chapter 1

Kuroko Tetsuya was glaring at the back of his ex-best friend's head as he dragged him around the streets like luggage. What part of 'no' several times over, including texts, did the man not understand? Was he retarded? Stupid? Did they not speak the same language? They've been friends since elementary so that couldn't be the case. Still though, looking back Kise Ryota always had a way of making Kuroko do things... by abusing his strength and height and dragging the smaller, weaker man around. Kuroko needed new friends, better yet, he needed a new best friend.

"Will you stop sulking Kurokocchi? We're almost there." Kise pouted.

"I need a new best friend." Kuroko said out loud.

Kise gasped and started sulking, "Why would you say such a thing? All I'm asking you is to go with me to get a pet! What's so bad about that?"

"Everything." Kuroko answered.

"Come on Kurokocchi, please?"

Kuroko sighed, glaring at Kise's chibi face. "You are already dragging me there, aren't you?"

"AW! I LOVE YOU KUROKOCCHI!" Kise cheered hugging Kuroko and rubbing their cheeks together.

Kuroko jabbed Kise in the ribs, making him tumble over and lay against the ground.

"You're so mean." Kise whimpered.

"How long until the pet shop?"

Kise recovered quickly and stood back up, "straight over there, across the street."

Kuroko looked over there at the cute little pet shop located on the side of the street and nodded, heading over there. Kise started whining as he tried to catch up with him, tears rolling down his eyes as he ran after. A brush of cool air greeted them as they walked into the shop and they were instantly greeted by a kind pet lover and the sounds of all sorts of animal cries.

"Hello and welcome to Hyuga's Pet Store! My name is Riko, store manager and co-owner. Are you looking for a pet to take home today sir or some supplies?" Riko asked, a small smile on her face as she greeted them.

"He is, I'm here for support." Kuroko answered.

"Oh, I didn't notice you. Sorry, welcome." Riko gasped, blinking from surprise.

"No worries, no one ever sees this guy." Kise chuckled wrapping his arm around his shoulder.

"Get off." Kuroko said, jabbing him in the ribs again.

Kise started shivering, "I'd let to get a pet please."

"Well this is the perfect place, we have loads of selections from half-bloods, oops I mean hybrids, our store is new to getting those, to purebloods. Which were you looking to adopt?"

"Either one, as long as it's cute... and adorable... and cuddly, oh, oh! And cool!" Kise started sparkling.

"Hehehe, you look like an indecisive person. I think it might just be better to show you all our animals."

"That would be wisest." Kuroko nodded in agreement as Kise started jumping up and down, following after Riko.

"I'm looking for something rare! Something nobody else has and don't worry, I have the money to pay for it! Nothing is the limit, so if you have this secret dungeon where you keep the exotic creatures then I'd love to see it!" Kise started cheering.

"Exotic creatures? Well um, we have exotic birds here-"

"Nah, birds aren't my style. I wouldn't look cool with a pet bird." Kise said turning up his nose.

"Um, well for dogs we have Dalmatians, Great Danes, Golden Retrievers-"

"Cool, but plain."

"Kise, stop interrupting the kind lady." Kuroko said.

"Oh, sorry, sorry. I'm just super excited about all of this. This is my first time having a pet." Kise chuckled rubbing the back of his head.

"Not at all, well. Hmm, I just recently got a pair of exotic cats from a friend at another pet shop. Let me warn you, she said they were a handful and I'm starting to-"

"Really?! Let me see! Let me see!" Kise said jumping up and down.

Riko started giggling, "follow me then."

Kuroko sighed and rolled his neck around, looking around the shop. It looked just like how he imagined a pet shop would look, pet toys, pet food, pets in cages in the back. Kuroko walked over and looked at all the small hybrid pets, several puppies staring up with him with bright different eye colors, their tails wagging, all of them greeting Kuroko with hellos.

Kuroko smiled lightly at them and continued walking past the cages, looking at all the dogs then the cats and the birds. It's not that he didn't like pets, Kuroko loved animals, but Kuroko just didn't have time to take care of a pet with all his new classes now that he entered college. Between work, school, and basketball practice, his pet would be lonely... Kuroko felt lonely. He stared at the small dog hybrid staring at him and smiled, holding out his hand.

"Hello." The girl giggled, licking his finger.

Kuroko smiled, "hello pretty girl."

"KUROKOCCHI! GET OVER HERE!"

Kuroko looked over at Kise who was bouncing around, waving his hands like crazy. He sighed and patted the girl on the head before walking over to his friend. Said friend was smiling widely, pointing at the cage that was blocked off from human contact. Inside was a black panther and... a tiger half-breed, both of them children trapped there. The panther was yawning as he played with some string as the tiger slept curled up in a ball.

"What do you think of the panther? Super cute right? Riko tells me he's only five, I think I'm going to choose him and name him Daikicchi."

"I must warn you, er- Daikicchi is a panther. Though he looks cute now, he can grow up to be a dangerous creature if not taken care of." Riko warned.

"He's so cute though, don't worry Rikocchi. I'll definitely take care and love and pamper and spoil Daikicchi so much." Kise started smiling, pressing his face against the glass.

Riko giggled and stared over at Kuroko. "Did he just call me Rikocchi?"

"It's his nickname for people. He may seem like an idiot, trust him when he says that panther is going to be spoiled rotten though."

"Perfect, because Aomine loves attention."

Kise pulled away, looking over, "Aomine? So he already has a name?"

"Yeah, but it's not uncommon for hybrids to have a full name. Usually they take their owner's last names, but in this case we could name his Daikicchi Aomine."

"Perfect! That sounds so adorable, my little Daikicchi Aomine."

Kuroko saw sparkles around Kise as he started tapping against the glass, Aomine looking up from his yarn while the tiger's ears twitched.

"Would you like to meet him?"

"Could I?!"

Riko nodded, "sure, come on. Your friend can come too." She said walking to the back room.

Kise was bouncing in his steps while Kuroko walked over normally, Riko opening the door for them.

"Hello Aomine, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. His name is Kise, right?" Riko asked turning back.

Kise smiled and nodded, walking forward. "Kise Ryoka, nice to meet you Aominecchi."

Aomine stared up the older gentlemen and blinked, "He's pretty."

"Aw, thank you. I think you're pretty cute yourself." Kise said walking over to pet Aomine's head.

Aomine shivered and started purring, his tail twitching lightly. Kise chuckled as he rubbed the panther's hair, pinching his curly ears lightly. Aomine meowed and pulled back his ears in distaste.

"Sorry, sorry." Kise smiled.

Aomine glared lightly, but got over it with a shrugged and started playing with his ball of yarn again.

"He seems to like you, like I said though Kise panthers are dangerous especially if they don't like their master. So Aomine, would you like to go home with Kise?"

Kuroko looked around the room. There was a reason these two animals were separated from the others and he started seeing them on the scratched up walls and toys ripped apart. His eyes paused at the tiger whose tail started wiggling, ears twitching lightly.

"What do you say Aominecchi? I promise to feed you fish, chicken, steak, whatever panthers love to eat every day."

"Really?" Aomine looked up, his mouth drooling.

Kise nodded and hummed, "promise."

Aomine pounced on him and Kise fell on the ground. He started lauging as Aomine licked his cheeks, his tail wiggling around like crazy.

"I like you, I think I'll like living with you. Okay." Aomine said.

"Great, I'd like to call you Daikicchi."

"Whatever, as long as I get meat." Aomine shrugged.

"I'm getting the feeling that Kise is going to be treated more like the pet than the master in this relationship." Riko chuckled slowly, looking at Kuroko.

She noticed his eyes on Kagami and blinked, walking over.

"Kuroko?" She asked, touching his shoulder.

Kuroko blinked and looked over at her, "is there something wrong with him?"

"Kagami? No, he's always like that. All he does is sleeps and eats, I hoped placing him with Aomine would make him feel less lonely you know? But all the two of them do is get into fights and well," Riko sighed, "at least he was actually doing something before, but now that Aomine's leaving I'm wondering if he'll be okay. Kagami's actually a sweet pet, no one takes the time to learn that though. He's been returned here four times already, before at his previous shop ten."

So that's why Kuroko was so drawn to him, because he saw a fellow loner. Kagami seemed to curl up into a tighter ball as they started talking, maybe trying to block out all the noise so he could sleep.

"I think we're ready Rikocchi, come along Daikicchi! I can't wait until you see your new home, I'll buy you whatever you want here so you can feel at perfectly at home."

"Cool!" Aomine said wiggling his tail as he held Kise's hand while they walked out the room.

"Alright, Kuroko? Are you coming?" Riko asked.

Kuroko blinked softly, "could I stay here for a little while longer?"

"I don't think that's a good, though he looks small he's really dangerous and-"

"Please?" Kuroko asked turning to Riko.

Riko gulped, "um, just make sure you lock the door when you leave and um, scream if he attacks you." She said following Kise out the door.

Kuroko nodded and walked over to Kagami, standing a good six feet away from him. He squatted down and started wondering what he was about to do or say.

"Hi, I'm Kuroko Tetsuya."

He was met with silence. God, what was he doing right now?

"I'm a 19 years old, a freshman in college. I love playing basketball, though I'm studying to be a teacher. I work at a convenience store near my school, I don't make a lot of money but it's all I have right now. I live alone in a decent one room apartment, don't have much of a life, don't have much friends, pretty much a loner. If you came to live with me you'd pretty much be alone most of the time, I survive on cup a noodles near the end of the month each month. I wouldn't be able to pamper you like Kise could, hell I don't think I can afford you now. But anyway, I don't why I'm saying this. It's just when I saw you... I saw myself and..." Kuroko stopped talking.

The sleeping tiger uncurled himself and yawned, leaning up. He turned around, his tail curling around himself, opening his dark red eyes to stare at the voice that had just rudely awoken him. His sharp red tiger eyes looked him up and down, staring, then he yawned again.

"Okay."

Kuroko blinked. Kagami stood up wobbly on his two feet, but he stood up just fine after a while and started walking over to the door. He didn't dare leave without Kuroko or else risk getting wet by Riko and stood near the door.

"Are you coming new master or what?"

Kuroko turned around and cleared his voice, standing up. "Kuroko's fine, or even Tetsuya." He said following after.

Kagami shrugged, "masters are all the same. It'll be nice being outside for a while before coming back."

Kuroko frowned, but held onto Kagami's hand as he reached for it to follow him out. Kise was laughing loudly, petting Aomine who loved the attention while Riko was ringing up all their items, a small smile on her face.

"Kuroko? Did you lock u- what's he doing out of his cage?" Riko asked, her face paling.

She started to reach for her water bottle and Kagami flinched, hiding behind Kuroko with his ears down.

"It's alright Riko, I'm adopting him." Kuroko said, a little amused seeing this.

"Really Kurokocchi?! That's so cute, and here you were saying you didn't want to come. It if wasn't for me you wouldn't have met your future pet! This is perfect, now we could have play dates and everything!" Kise cheered.

"Please don't agree to that." Kagami asked lowly.

"Agreed." Kuroko mumbled before walking up to the counter where they were.

"Are you sure Kuroko? Kagami, he's a bit of a handful and I'm not sure someone like you would be able to handle him." Riko asked warily.

"You won't be a handful, will you?" Kuroko asked turning around.

Kagami looked up at him, "I won't."

"There you go." Kuroko said back.

"And you're going to believe him just like that?!" Riko asked then waved her hand, shaking her head lightly. "Alright, alright, I'll be with you in just one minute."

Kuroko nodded and started looking around the store, dragging Kagami to the toy section.

"Go ahead and pick something."

Kagami stared, "aren't you broke?"

"You're going to be bored at home, go ahead and pick something."

Kagami blinked and stared at the toys, grabbing a mouse squeaky toy. He squeezed it and smiled lightly at the sound, he could be amused with his for a while. He held it up and Kuroko nodded, picking up a ball of yarn on the way back to the counter. Kise was holding several bags, fawning over Aomine, while Riko was giggling to herself.

"I'm ready for you." She said.

"Oh Kurokocchi, do you want me to spot you some money? I was going to treat you to a meal for making you come with me, I wouldn't mind doing this instead." Kise said turning his attention away from his new pet.

"No Kise, it's alright."

"Are you sure? I know you're tight on money-"

"I said it's fine Kise. We'll also be getting these too Riko." Kuroko said placing the yarn ball on the counter.

Kagami stared at Kuroko amusingly as he placed the mouse toy on the counter as well. Wasn't this guy broke? Why wasn't he letting his friend pay for him? It didn't make any sense to him.

"We don't give refunds if you plan to return him." Riko warned.

"I don't." Kuroko said, pulling out his wallet.

He had guts, Riko had to give him that which is why she didn't charge him for the toys and even threw in some kitty treats. After telling him the price for just Kagami, Kuroko paled lightly as he handed her his credit card. He'd have to start working overtime for a few nights, maybe for a month just to make sure he could pay the apartment bills. What the hell was so expensive about a tiger? After handing him the card back and the receipt, she went to write out the paperwork.

"Kuroko Tetsuya, would you like to give Kagami a special name or?"

Kuroko looked down, "do you want another name?"

Kagami shrugged, "I'm your pet. Isn't that what masters usually do?"

Kuroko wasn't a very creative person, he gave Kagami one look and noticed he was a tiger.

"Taiga."

Kagami snorted lightly.

"Taiga Kagami. You'll be happy to know that he's had all his shots, very healthy, no fleas, and he's seven years old if that makes a difference. Don't be surprised though when he starts growing, larger feline cats like tigers, cheetahs, and panthers are fuller grown when they're nine. Kagami's overdue for a sudden growth spurt, pretty soon he'll be a teenager."

Kuroko nodded and pulled out his phone, "would you mind if I got your contacts? Just in case anything happens or if I have any questions?"

"Sure." Riko nodded grabbing his phone.

She handed him the phone back and a certificate proving ownership of Kagami Taiga and bowed lightly.

"Good luck you four." She waved as they left.

"Thank you for all your help." Kuroko bowed back while Kise waved flamboyantly.

"So Kurokocchi? Still up for lunch?!"

Kuroko looked down Kagami and saw his ears pull back in distaste as the sunlight hit him. It must have been a while since he's last been outside, it sounded like he said that.

"I think we'll head home actually. Rain check."

"Oh, alright. Good idea, I don't think I'll be able to hold all this all day. I'll see you at class tomorrow."

"Yeah, bye Kise. Aomine." Kuroko said waving as he left.

"Bye Kurokochii! Let's go Daikicchi, after we drop this off we can go to the store and stock up on meat!"

Kuroko was quiet on his walk home, Kagami didn't mind it that much. He just looked around at the world, eyes wide at the vibrant new things in his view now. Kuroko took him to a small apartment complex, helping him up the stairs and leading him to the last apartment door against the wall. He pulled out his key and unlocked the door, holding it open.

"Welcome home."

Kagami walked in slowly, staring all around. He wasn't lying about being poor, the apartment was really small. The living room, if you could call it that with a beat up sofa, a small bookcase, and a retro looking television, was connecting to the kitchen where a small amounts of dishes were.

"The bathroom is connected to my room, for now you can sleep on the couch until I can buy you a bed. Sorry." Kuroko said placing his bags on the counter.

Kagami walked around the living room and then in Kuroko's room, it not being much of an improvement. He didn't even have a bed, but a futon. He was living this poor and yet he bought him?

"Why didn't you let your friend buy me?" Kagami asked out loud.

Kuroko walked into the room and took off his sweater, hanging it up.

"Because you're my pet, if he bought you then you'd be his."

"That's stupid." Kagami said looking at him.

"It's just the way I think. I'll get started on dinner now, it'll be ready shortly."

Kagami watched him leave then looked around the room again. He could be living the life like Aomine right now if Kuroko's friend picked him instead. Kagami had this small feeling inside of him telling him that he'd be okay here though. He quickly crushed it as he walked back into the living room. Humans were all the same. They only loved the idea of having him, but not the real him once they knew him.

"Does that TV even work?" Kagami asked.

"Yeah, you have to work with the antennas though. Is there anything you don't like?"

"No." Kagami answered walking up to the television.

"So curry is alright for dinner?"

Kagami hummed and turned the TV on, staring at the small screen as he turned the dial. Kuroko wasn't regretting the decision as he started up on dinner, he was already feeling it. Having someone here with him. Having a friend. Kuroko looked up and watched Kagami as he laid down on the couch, yawning as he watched TV. A small smile appeared on his face, which he shook off as he went to the stove. Half an hour later Kuroko walked into the living room with two plates, setting them down on the small coffee table.

"Ready?" Kagami hopping off the couch.

"Yeah, here." Kuroko said pushing the bigger plate with the larger portion to him.

He stood back up and got two seat cushions from the closet, passing one to Kagami before sitting down on one himself. Kagami started drooling and he licked his lips, without second hesitation picking up his spoon and scarfing everything down.

"There's seconds." Kuroko told him.

"Give me a minute." Kagami said picking up the plate.

True to his word, a minute later after Kuroko had a single bite Kagami pushed his plate towards him and demanded more.

"Riko didn't feed you enough at the shop?" Kuroko teased getting up.

"No, she did, but mostly dry food. My previous masters never really fed me human food, they think because of the ears and tail that I'm just like a pureblood cat."

"I'm sorry if you prefer that, I'm afraid I can't afford name brand food for you."

"No, I hate that stuff. Us half breeds are more human than animal, no one seems to care what we think though. They see the ears, yell cute, and treat us just like the full fledge animals."

"I'm relieved you feel that way, here you are." Kuroko said setting another plate in front of him.

"I haven't had human food in ages, so much better than cat food." Kagami said.

Kuroko ate his food slowly, asking Kagmai short questions every now and then. Both of them weren't much of talkers though and once dinner was over, after washing dishes Kuroko went to hit the hay.

"Here's some blankets, I don't have a heater but it doesn't get too cold in here. Tomorrow I'll be leaving early in the morning, I'll make food for you though for breakfast and lunch. Hmm, I should be home around dinner. That's about it, stay up as long a you like. Just don't make too much noise."

Kagami nodded and waved him off, staring back at the TV. Kuroko walked into his room and got ready for the night, slowly closing his eyes as he got into bed. He could hear Kagami's laughs in the other room. For the first time since he got this apartment he wasn't going to sleep with absolutely silence.

He still didn't regret his decision.