The practise games between first and second years had never been so tight, and with only 4 seconds left to go and 1 point between them, the pressure was intense. Kagami dribbled the ball down the left side of the court, successfully dodging Hyuuga before jumping towards the hoop. Quick as a flash, Kiyoshi was blocking him, his huge hands looming over the ball and Kagami knew he had to make a decision, and fast.

Catching a flash of blue out the corner of his right eye, he passed backwards and watched as the ball bounced out of bounds just as the whistle blew. Kuroko didn't seem to register his surroundings. He was staring into space, not at Kagami or the ball and only came out of his trance when Riko marched up to him waving her hands in the air.
'Kuroko! What happened?!' She exclaimed, unable to believe that the sixth member of the generation of miracles had completely missed the ball. The rest of the team gathered round, eager to hear his explanation.
'I am sorry, Riko-san. I wasn't concentrating.'
'Damn right you weren't! What was so distracting that you couldn't even catch the ball?'
'I don't quite understand myself, I am sorry.' He said solemnly.
'So you should be, we just lost the game! ' Kagami butted in front of two second years to get to Kuroko.
'Oi, that's enough Kagami. At least he doesn't cost us hundreds of pounds in hoop replacements,'
Riko and Kagami started arguing over hoops whilst Kuroko snuck out and headed towards the changing room. Practise was over anyway, but he wanted to get out before the others so they didn't ask him any more questions.

After a quick shower and changing from him sweaty kit into his warm Seirin tracksuit, he made his way outside. Stopping at the vending machine for a drink, he didn't notice a shadow lurking in the trees.
'Oi,' a familiar voice called out gruffly.
Turning round quickly, the blue haired teen faced his light and met his eyes. They didn't seem to be as angry as before which was a good sign.
'Kagami, didn't you have a shower?'
'No, I figured you'd try and dash off. I'll get one at home.'
'So you wanted to meet me?'
'Idiot, we always walk home together. And I'm pretty sure I'd get lost at this time of night without you. I can't see the street signs.'
'It's really not that far Kagami-kun. Only 25 minutes walk or 10 minutes on the train.'
Kuroko stood up from collecting his drink and straightened his bag on his shoulder.
He followed Kagami out of the school gates and walked for a minute or two in silence. He became increasingly aware that Kagami was still a little bit angry with him for not paying attention in practice today and he felt like he should address the situation.
'I really am sorry about today. It was all my fault that we lost the game.'
Kagami, walking a few paces in front of the smaller teen, stopped and waited for him to catch up.
'I'm not that mad at you, Kuroko. You worry too much. I'm just wondering what had you distracted so much.' He paused for a second and scratched his head. 'Usually you concentrate so hard.'
Kuroko's eyebrows crinkled a little, as though thinking very hard about what to say next.
'I can't tell you yet as it is quite personal. I promise I won't let it distract me again,'
'Personal? Will you tell me someday?'
'Maybe.'
Then fell into silence once more, both deep in thought. Kagami thought of all the possibilities Kuroko's distraction could be, but he didn't get very far before he gave up. The guy was so secretive it could be anything!

Kuroko thought of how the hell he was going to tell Kagami that his distraction was him.

It had been nearly 6 months since Kuroko had first met his new light, but only recently had there been a change in how Kuroko felt towards him. It started out as hope. A new friend, partner and someone to fight against the generation of miracles. They had become close friends and often stayed over at each others houses when they had training early the next morning or when Kuroko attempted to tutor Kagami. They sat next to each other in class and worked effortlessly together on the basketball court.

But in the past week, Kuroko seemed highly perceptive of his light's actions. Every slight brush, every smile and ruffle of hair was magnified out of proportion and Kuroko was left questioning his feelings towards his best friend.

Kagami, despite his build and nature, was suprisingly gentle with Kuroko, apart from the occasional angry rant at him for missing a shot or something, and outside of the court rarely raised his voice with him.

One time, Kuroko had overworked a bit in training and had felt light headed. He had been lied down in the changing room for just 15 minutes before Kagami had come running in carrying a vanilla milkshake. He had then been lectured on taking care of his physical well-being by a guy who stuffed his face with burgers every day.

Then there had been that time when he had been helping Kagami with his maths homework and they had worked longer than expected. Kagami had insisted he stay the night and had let him sleep in his bed, whilst he took the sofa.

Kuroko had only admitted his feelings to himself less than a week ago and had been wondering about what to do ever since. If he told his feelings to Kagami, the redhead might run off or it would put a strain on their friendship, but it was eating him alive. Every time they spoke, or met, or touched, Kuroko's heart would begin to race and his mind would lose focus.

They arrived at the train station and got on a crowded train. They managed to somehow get seats before a crowd of passengers filled up the standing areas. Eventually the train started moving. They stopped off at the next station and a group of teenage boys, around seventeen or eighteen got into their carriage. Noisy and rude, they attracted lots of attention but most people tried to stay as far away from them as possible.

They pulled away from the station but the train hadn't gotten up to full speed yet when it started to slow down and came to a halt. An announcement sounded over the tannoy.
'We are sorry for any inconveniences, but this train will be unable to move for a few minutes while we sort out some technical difficulties. '

It had been more than a few minutes, and the passengers on the train were starting to get worried and annoyed. Some people were sighing loudly and exclaiming they needed to get home, whilst others were shouting in anger. Kagami and Kuroko both sat quietly, Kuroko had got out a book and Kagami had decided it was probably a good idea to revise for that physics test. Neither seemed to mind the delay much, though Kagami was beginning to feel a little hungry.

The group of older teenagers seemed to have migrated down to this end of the carriage and Kagami watched and his shadow held on to his bag more tightly whilst still not taking his eyes off his book. Kagami watched as the teenagers demanded a middle aged couple off their seats and two of them sat down. Kagami saw Kuroko's eyebrow twitch, a sign of his anger. Kuroko had a very strong sense of justice and would often stand up to boys like this.
'Kuroko, don't do anything, it's not worth it.'
'I wasn't going to. They are very argumentative already and they have been drinking. They would probably try and fight me and I'm not sure I could take all five down at once.'
Kagami chuckled. Kuroko probably couldn't even take down one, but he admired his confidence. Though the teen was strong for his build, he was quite small and Kagami knew how much his own muscles ached from training, let alone Kuroko's, who worked twice as hard usually. Apart from the mishap at the end, Kuroko had been putting in endless effort during the session and often Riko told him not to over exert himself, something she would never dream of saying to the others.

The three teenagers left standing were looking round for a seat, and met with Kagami's steely glare. Not daring to turf the 190cm giant out of his seat they quickly found a businessman and two schoolgirls.

After about half an hour the train started moving again and two stops on, Kagami and Kuroko reached their stop. As they exited the station they noticed the teenagers behind them.
'Kagami,' Kuroko whispered, 'they were looking at us on the train. I think they might be following us. '
Kagami gulped and looked round nervously. He didn't really want to get into a fight and he doubted Kuroko did either. They eventually reached the road where Kuroko split off from him, but he felt a tug at his sleeve.

'I don't feel comfortable walking on my own.' Kuroko looked scared almost. His eyes were wider than usual and he had a certain determination about him that told Kagami he was certainly not going to be left alone.
'Neither do I. Do you want go come to my place?'
Kuroko smiled, glad Kagami understood, even agreed with his desire not to be alone right now, and nodded his head in agreement.
They carried on the road. Kagami's flat was only 5 minutes away but it seemed to take forever. The redhead was walking a lot closer to Kuroko, who couldn't decide whether he was trying to protect him or if he was scared too.

The group of teenagers seemed to be edging closer and getting louder. One of them called out to them, trying to catch their attention. Kuroko wished be was inside, safe, sat in front of the TV, or doing his homework, or anything else...
He tried ignoring them but his heart was beating too fast.
'Oi, shitheads!' An empty cigarette packet flew past Kagami's left ear. They neared his apartment, the safety and reassurance of the 6-digit door pin between them and their followers was so close. Kagami's block of flats had about 40 apartments in it, so there was no way they would work out where he lived. And only Kagami had the key to his own flat. He kept repeating these consoling thoughts over and over in his head in order to calm himself and not panic.

Kuroko was almost jogging to keep up with Kagami's determined strides now. His bag was rubbing against his shoulder painfully so he adjusted it, just as a can whistled past his head. The teens were only a few metres away from them, now shouting insults and more rude phrases. One of them, a tall lanky guy with long hair seemed to be the ringleader, as the rest of the group seemed to circle him, whilst stumbling slightly, and the others kept shouting words of encouragement every time he called out some crude taunt. Just as they reached the door, another object flew towards them, this time a glass bottle one of them had finished, and hit Kuroko on the shoulder. He yelped in shock as Kagami furiously typed in the code, pushed Kuroko inside and slammed the door shut.
'Hey, you okay?' He asked, facing the blue haired teen who was gripping his shoulder. Kuroko nodded and started making his way upstairs to where Kagami's flat was. He was shaking slightly and looking rather pale. Kagami knew he most certainly was not okay.
Once Kagami had unlocked his door and they'd both gone in, Kuroko turned on the light switch and headed over to the kitchen.
'Kagami, can you make me a milkshake?' His voice trembling, he turned to face him.

'Sure,' Kagami placed a hand on his shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze.
Kuroko didn't say a word whilst Kagami put the milk, ice cream and vanilla essence in the blender. Usually they would chat over the day, complain about homework or joke about something funny that had happened in class, but neither could bring themselves to speak.

Two minutes later, Kuroko was slowly sipping on his milkshake, colour returning slightly to his cheeks. They sat on the sofa with Kagami eating a sandwich he had just made.
'You feeling better now?' He asked Kuroko, who was still being rather quiet.
'My shoulder still hurts a bit. They hit me with a bottle,'
'They what?! Holy... are you okay?' Kagami exclaimed, putting down his food for a moment in concern.
'Yeah, I think it might bruise, but it should be okay,'
Kuroko felt strong arm wrap round him as Kagami pulled him into a tight hug. Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, he rested his head on his light's shoulder, his stomach erupting in excited butterflies. He suddenly felt protected and almost forgot about what had happened that evening, Kagami's warmth radiating throughout him.
'I'm sorry Kuroko,' Kagami whispered, so close to his ear that he felt the warmth breath tickle him.
'What for?'
'For not protecting you better,'
'Idiot. It's not your job to look after me. And I'm fine, seriously.' Kuroko sighed and wrapped his arms round Kagami's broad, muscular back. 'Kagami, about what I wanted to say earlier, can I tell you now?'
Kagami suddenly remembered their conversation from after training and felt intrigued. He hated seeing Kuroko so troubled.
'Yeah,' he replied.
'I like you.' He paused for a moment as he felt Kagami's breathing stop in shock. 'I'm sorry,'
Realising what he had just said, Kagami squeezed him tightly. 'Kuroko...Kuroko, don't be sorry. I..I..Look, I don't know how I feel about you, this is all so sudden,' he pulled out of the hug and looked him straight in the eyes. 'Give me time to think about it, okay?'
He watched as Kuroko's eyes gained hope momentarily. 'Thank you. I just don't want to ruin our friendship, no matter what,'
'Kuroko...'
'Shh. You're not very good at expressing your emotions, you know. Unless it's about basketball.'
'So today, in training, you missed the ball because you were thinking about...me?' Kagami smirked, humour gleaming in his eyes as he watched the blue haired teen sat next to him pout with a half-serious guilt.
'Shut up!' Kuroko laughed and turned his head away. The redhead reached out for his cheek and gently turned his face back towards his own.
'You know...we could give... 'us' a try, if you wanted,' he said softly, half whispering as though he didn't quite believe he was suggesting the idea. The thought didn't repulse him, he cared a lot for his shadow and right now his emotions were all over the place.

His brain couldn't think of anything but the way Kuroko's deep, blue eyes were staring back into his own, almost pleading with him for this to be real, for it not to be some cruel joke. Kuroko could only manage a nod and a murmured 'yes' before Kagami was leaning in, one hand still on Kuroko's cheek, the other reached for his hand resting on the sofa. Their fingers entwined just as their lips met, hesitantly and unsure. Deepening the kiss, Kagami moved his head to the side slightly and felt Kuroko gasp against his lower lip. Kuroko leaned forward just as Kagami let his tongue enter and explore his shadow's mouth, tasting the sweet vanilla and feeling the overwhelming heat from inside.

Letting the power forward take control, Kuroko felt himself get pushed backwards on the sofa, until his head lay on the armrest. One hand still holding Kagami's, the other had made its way round his light's waist, rubbing the solid muscle in time with his breathing, which was becoming shorter and shorter.

Eventually, needing the air, he pulled away and smiled up at Kagami.
'Yeah, I like you too,' Kagami said breathlessly, their foreheads touching and Kuroko's smile reached his eyes this time, and Kagami felt overwhelmingly proud to have made him so happy.

They stayed like that for a long time, with Kagami being careful not to lean on the smaller teen, until they both fell asleep curled up in each others arms.