Disclaimer and Warning: See chapter 1.

A/N: Wokay, I don't exactly know why I wrote this, seriously. This turns out a little differently from my idea. Anyway, I didn't expect that people would actually review at first, because this seems boring at fleeting glance, but then you readers always surprised me. I'm so glad that you still want to read it despite how common the theme was *grins* I'm very happy and grateful for the reviews, faves and alerts I got on this story!

Anyway, I actually wanted to update this yesterday, but I got distracted by a lot of things before I could. Luckily, today is my holiday, so I can post this quite early~*love* Now, please enjoy this second chapter!

Chapter 2: Kuroko Tetsuya, Aomine Daiki and Kiyoshi Teppei

"Sheesh, that Yamamoto… he didn't have to be so strict about the studying schedule," Kagami muttered grumpily as he snuck out of his house the next day.

Indeed, Kagami had gone through a long boring lecture about not wandering off alone without supervision since his injury could act up at times, and he should bring his damned crutch so he didn't burden his wounded leg too much. The old man was pretty noisy about his study as well since it was less than a week before Kagami had to take the exam to enter his new middle school.

But, like hell if Kagami would just take all of them and said yes like an obedient kid, alright. He was tired of getting monitored and being watched over like a fragile baby duck that couldn't take care of himself. He swore he would live alone in apartment when he entered high school.

Kagami walked through the same route as yesterday to go to the park. He didn't let his expectation get the better of him too much, though, when he came back to the street ball court where he met that mysterious guy.

Kagami knew it was a long shot that the sky-blue haired boy would be there again. Moreover, the street ball court wouldn't be vacant at this time of the day. Besides, it was still in the middle of summer vacation even though there was only less than a week left.

Still, Kagami went there anyway. It wasn't like he came only to see the bluenet, he just wanted to watch a basketball game, whoever played it.

As predicted, the court was currently being used. This time though, the players were apparently from a local middle school. Although, Kagami wouldn't know since they didn't wear any uniform. They looked younger than the bunch of high schoolers the day before.

One of the players in the court, the tallest one with dark brown hair seemed to notice his arrival as he picked up the ball that was thrown out of court. "Hey!" he waved at Kagami with a wide smile, to Kagami's surprise.

"Uh… hey?" Kagami wasn't sure why he sounded like asking, but he didn't know the stranger, so it was kind of weird that the brunet greeted him as if he was an old friend.

"Wanna join us playing basketball?" the brunet asked with a friendly grin, holding up the basketball in invitation to him, and suddenly Kagami was assaulted with a memory from the past, when Himuro asked him to join him playing basketball for the first time.

Kagami blinked out from his reverie and shook his head to bury the image back to where it belonged, at the back of his mind. Then he smiled slightly at the brunet in reaction to his call. "Thanks, but no. I only want to watch today," he said, rather apologetically because it wasn't entirely true.

If Kagami could, he would definitely play as well, but he had to fiercely remind himself that his injured leg would get worse and the threat of being totally crippled and unable to play basketball again for the rest of his life did its job to increase his patience.

"Ah, too bad, and you could totally be a great center with that height," the brunet said before he was called back by his others friends to hurry up and throw the ball in again. "Coming!" he turned around and waved at them, but turned to face Kagami once again and shouted "Enjoy the show then!" before he ran off back to the court.

"Ah," Kagami nodded tightly before he slowly strutted towards the bench and sat there, watching the others play. "Though… I'd rather be the power forward if I played," he mumbled quietly after that, getting absorbed in the friendly match as he imagined what he would do if he was one of the players instead.

"Hello."

Kagami almost jumped out of his seat while letting out an almost girlish shriek as he heard the monotone voice. He turned around only to be faced by the same light blue hair and pale blue eyes of a boy from the day before. "Y-you… you surprised me…!"

Kagami clutched at his chest, feeling his heart beating a little too fast and too hard to his liking. He could feel a bead of cold sweat breaking out of his cheek despite the hot weather.

"Pardon, I did not think you would be that surprised," the shorter boy uttered, not looking or sounding sorry at all. It was rather annoying, but Kagami found it troublesome to being mad at the boy for something trivia like that, especially in a hot day like that, so he just huffed.

"When did you get here anyway?" Kagami asked instead, curious because seriously, he didn't feel the boy's presence at all until he was addressed just then.

"I had been sitting here before you arrived," the bluenet replied and Kagami sputtered in shock.

"No way! I didn't see you there a minute before!"

"It is the usual occurrence. People often simply miss my presence," the boy replied in easy tone.

"That… that's kinda sad…" Kagami couldn't help feeling ridiculous for being overly sentiment to the boy he barely knew, but it was the truth. That was very peculiar.

"Not really. It is actually pretty handy when you like observing people. They will not get mad at you for staring at them if they do not detect your presence, right?" the boy seemed pretty amused as he turned to face Kagami with his blank expression. If anyone asked where Kagami got the bizarre idea about the boy's mood, he would say it was because of the boy's eyes.

Even though the bluenet was always straight-faced (as far as Kagami had seen), his aquamarine orbs were rich of emotion. Kagami could see the glint of mirth in the boy's eyes as he spoke about his hobby.

"That's… rather creepy," Kagami admitted, for the lack of his vocabulary to comment about the other boy's pastime in watching people. Was he a closet stalker? That was disturbing for so many reasons. Even more so when people couldn't watch him in return because of his thin presence.

The other boy blinked once in a brief silence before a tiny (micro) smile bloomed on his face and Kagami almost gasped as soon as he saw it, his heart unpredictably fluttered at the somewhat magical and gorgeous view the very small smile had evoked from the constant dull expression.

The sky-blue haired boy appeared as if he was blossoming like water lily. It was honestly stunning and beautiful and—huh?!

Kagami snapped. Wait! Wait, wait, wait a damn second!—his mind screeched in alert, reminding his rational sense about his suspicious extreme body reaction and overly active imagination to the smaller boy's barely discernible smile. It's just a freaking smile! A plain minuscule smile, damn it! Why is my heart suddenly racing?!

Seriously, Kagami was confused. He tried to compose himself as he shook his head and clutched at his chest some more. This was very wacky. Why did he feel this way to a stranger… alright, a boy whose name he didn't even know?

The other didn't seem to notice Kagami's unexpected predicament as he stated, "You said something pretty interesting," in regard of Kagami's remark about his 'creepy' hobby.

"I did?" Kagami was even more bemused, still mulling over his own odd response to Kuroko's unforeseen appeal, but now added with the boy's opinion about his own words. He thought it was quite standard to think that a stalking behavior was categorized as 'creepy'.

"Yes," the boy nodded slightly before he turned to face the court again. "Believe it or not, it is the other way around in reality."

"Huh?" Kagami was perplexed now because the boy said something that didn't make sense. "What do you mean—?"

"Oi, Tetsu!"

A calling voice interrupted Kagami's speech, distracting him as he turned around to face the owner of that voice. He squinted to see more clearly of someone running to their direction. In a closer inspection after the person arrived, Kagami could see a tall very tan boy, probably the same age as Kagami since their heights were roughly leveled.

"Aomine-kun," the boy beside Kagami spoke, which startled Kagami because he almost forgot that he was there.

Sheesh, it's indeed so easy to forget his presence! What a scary ability!—Kagami couldn't help pondering inwardly as those guys began to talk.

"You're so early, Tetsu. Aren't we supposed to meet at 4 p.m.? It's not even 2.30 yet," the tan boy asked, raising his eyebrows.

"You are early yourself, Aomine-kun," the pale boy, who was called Tetsu by the taller, Aomine, pointed out evenly.

"Ah, well… I just wanted to try to play with the other guys first before owning you since you're pretty easy," Aomine smirked.

Tetsu didn't change his expression, but Kagami imagined that the boy was slightly offended by the underestimating tone of his friend. "We will see that later," he said, probably challenging even though his voice was quite calm.

"Umm…" Kagami cleared his throat because he just became invisible there. It earned him the others' attention instantly.

Aomine blinked, "Who?" as he regarded him for the first time.

"Ah," Tetsu seemed noticing that they had been conversing without acknowledging Kagami. "Sorry, um… I have not asked for your name, have I?"

"Indeed. We haven't introduced ourselves at all, huh?" Kagami felt pretty silly that they have chatted about petty things before even knowing each other's name. "Kagami Taiga," he said then, offering his hand in a handshake.

Tetsu shook his hand with his smaller, slenderer and cooler, but surprisingly rather rough hand, a sign that he was a hard worker. "Kuroko Tetsuya," he countered before he pointed at the tan guy beside him. "This is Aomine Daiki, my partner."

Kagami paused slightly at the 'my partner' part. Although there was nothing particularly special in those words or in the bluenet's tone, he somehow detected an impression that the duo was important to each other. Best friends, maybe? Or something more…? Kagami wasn't exactly sure, but he didn't want to dwell too deeply on it.

"Nice to meet you," Kagami shook Aomine's hand as well, greeting him while looking directly at his sharp midnight colored eyes.

"So, who are you?" Aomine asked again pretty curiously, spinning the basketball he brought with him on his index finger after they were done shaking each others' hand.

"Uh…" Kagami wasn't sure of what to say as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Kagami Taiga?"

"No, I mean who are you?" to Tetsu—was left unsaid, but his suspicious gaze was clear enough for Kagami to decipher this time.

Ah… they are an item?—Kagami's mind supplied the idea immediately and he almost blushed at the rash notion. There was no evidence whatsoever about Kuroko and Aomine's relationship, but why did Kagami think like that the moment he saw the hint of competitiveness in Aomine's eyes and tone?

At any rate, what are we even competing for?—Kagami got an urge to bang his head because he felt very self-conscious about his own thought. It was very weird, indeed.

"We met here yesterday," Kuroko answered for Kagami. "When you ditched our supposedly independent practice," he added coolly, almost sarcastically and yet it didn't show in his tone at all, making Aomine wince and drop his ball.

"I'm really sorry, Tetsu. Forgive me already. I already treated you to your favorite vanilla shake at Maji after that, didn't I?" Now it was Aomine that scratched his neck, looking contrite. Kuroko didn't look angry, but he must have been annoyed because he huffed slightly.

"I watched him practice alone yesterday. He looked pretty much enjoying himself with the ball," Kagami supplied, just because he felt that they shouldn't be quarrelling over one broken promise.

"Heeh, that's good then," Aomine looked somehow relieved that Kuroko wasn't too upset after all.

Kuroko narrowed his gaze slightly at Kagami, and Kagami had to look away because he didn't want to see the accusing stare of him siding with Aomine even though he didn't mean it.

"You are forgiven, Aomine-kun," Kuroko said slowly after awhile, and added at the end. "Just because I love basketball so much that I didn't realize the time flying when I played."

"Alright," Aomine grinned, looking content with Kuroko's half-hearted forgiveness. "Hey, since we're here already, let's play now!" He was enthusiastic as he suggested that.

"The court is still being used," Kuroko pointed at the court where the other boys were still at it.

"Ah… huh?" Aomine raised one of his eyebrows slightly, seeming to recognize one of the players. "Well, well, look at that. Isn't that Kiyoshi Teppei from Shōei?" he drawled with a lazy smirk now.

Shōei?—Kagami's mind immediately picked up. That was the middle school which he would enter in autumn.

The sound of ball bouncing out of the court and hitting the iron net made the three turned to face the source. There was the tall brunet that greeted Kagami earlier standing, looking at them after picking up the ball again and he seemed to identify Aomine immediately.

"Ah, isn't it Aomine from Teikou?" the brunet waved at them with a smile on his face.

"Uwaah, he looked so friendly as always," Aomine greeted the guy back with a nod despite his reluctant expression.

"Your friend as well?" Kagami asked Kuroko who shook his head silently.

"We crushed his middle school team in national tournament semi final this summer," Aomine said almost sardonically.

"Oh… eh?! You were in national tournament?!" Kagami had just realized that and he gaped, very surprised.

"You didn't know? Didn't you play basketball?" Aomine stared at Kagami incredulously.

"Uh… I do, but I just moved to Japan some time ago, so…" Kagami was still rather speechless. They must have been very good if they were in national tournament.

"Moved to Japan… Kagami-kun came from abroad?" Kuroko looked upward at him, actually looking mildly astonished.

"Ah… um," Kagami nodded cautiously.

"Seriously?! From where?!" now Aomine looked very intrigued.

"Los Angeles, America," Kagami answered.

"Whoah! So cool! Then you've seen the real NBA?! You met the players?!"

This what Kagami hated most, being questioned if he had seen the real NBA players at all or the real NBA match or something similar with a basketball fanatic. Not everyone could acquire the super expensive ticket to watch onsite after all. Besides, Kagami had never gone outside LA as long as he lived there. There was no way he could have seen the real NBA match even though he really wanted to. It was kind of the biggest regret he had, damn it!

"I saw an NBA match from TV like everyone else that couldn't be there on time because the tickets are super costly and no, I haven't met any of them," Kagami grumbled at the reminder of his trampled dream.

"Whaaat? What a waste!" Aomine exclaimed, looking very disappointed.

"Tell me about it," Kagami sulked slightly.

"But, if Kagami-kun played basketball in America before, you must be very good at it," Kuroko said, for some reason looking rather hopeful. Kagami didn't know what it was and he didn't have time to ponder about it because Aomine's hand was on his shoulder now.

"Tetsu is right!" and the tan boy looked peculiarly ecstatic. "Hey, why don't we do a one-on-one match right now? Let's see how good you are!"

Crap!—Kagami was sweating slightly. It wasn't like he wanted to say no, but with his leg condition, he doubted he could even shoot normally, much less answering the excited challenge for one-on-one from Aomine.

"Kagami-kun?" Apparently, Kuroko noticed his hesitation, but Kagami was saved from saying anything as another call from the brunet, Kiyoshi, distracted them.

"Hey guys! Why don't you play against us this time? Three on three?" Kiyoshi kept smiling nicely and innocently and Aomine was visibly cornered.

"I'm never good dealing with that kind of guy," the tan boy sighed.

"But, despite their defeat at that time, Kiyoshi-san was the only one who didn't give up until the end," somehow, Kuroko looked very serene as he spoke.

Aomine gave the unsuspecting taller brunet a rueful smile. "I don't dislike him at all, Tetsu," he said slowly after that raising his hand at Kiyoshi. "We'll be there to crush you again!" he smirked.

"Ah, don't just agreeing without my consent," Kagami complained. He didn't even know that guy, but seriously, in basketball game they didn't even need to know each others' names to play it.

"What is it? American returnee gets cold feet in answering a challenge?" Aomine turned to face Kagami with a mocking sneer.

Kagami was offended. "Let's see how far you can keep speaking like that," he hissed in the heat of the moment and immediately regretted it when he accepted the ball from Aomine.

Shit!

Now there was no turning back. But his leg…!

"Ooh? You finally want to join us?" Kiyoshi smiled at Kagami as he, Aomine and Kuroko entered the court.

Kagami sweated some more. "How about your game?" he shifted his gaze to the other boys.

"We're gonna take a break," they said while whispering and glancing warily at Aomine's direction. Kagami raised his eyebrows at this, wondering. That was a weird. Aomine just stretched coolly, pretty much ignoring them as Kiyoshi spoke again to Kagami, distracting him.

"So, it's two on two?"

"Eh?" Kagami was still holding the ball, not knowing what to do or to say because the situation spiraled out of his control. Damn his stupid temper.

"Two on one," Aomine's answered for him, his gaze turning predatory. "You won't be able to stop me even with two people," he said conceitedly.

"Haah?" Kagami was pissed off now.

What's with this guy? How come he can underestimate people so blatantly like that?

"Ahaha, you're so confident as always, Aomine," Kiyoshi didn't seem to feel snubbed with the way he laugh.

"Do your best, Kiyoshi-san, Kagami-kun," Kuroko cheered flatly from the court-side.

"Tetsu! Why are you cheering for them?!" Aomine protested.

"That is obvious, right? I want them to defeat you," Kuroko said impassively, but Kagami picked something in his voice, something grave and serious.

"Ha, in your dream!" Aomine bent in a stance. "Come here!"

Kagami was still holding the ball in silence. He knew he couldn't back down now, but taking a risk to damage his leg permanently was out of question as well, so he passed the ball to Kiyoshi to Aomine's look of surprise.

"Oi!" Aomine growled at him.

"I don't have any reason to challenge you," Kagami said, "but you have, don't you?" he turned around to Kiyoshi who blinked once in perplexity before it seemed to dawn on him and he smiled again.

"Yes," Kiyoshi dribbled the ball. "Let's have fun~," then Kiyoshi charged Aomine.

"Che," Aomine glared at Kagami before he rushed to stop Kiyoshi.

Kagami sighed before he walked out of the court.

"Why did you back out?" Kuroko asked as he sat down beside the smaller boy.

"I don't think I can fight him at this moment," Kagami answered slowly. "I'll only disappoint him."

Kuroko looked upward at him with slightly widened eyes. "How…?" he seemed very surprised.

Kagami chuckled. "That guy… he's similar to me, somehow," Kagami scratched his cheek sheepishly. "Despite his overbearing attitude, I just thought that maybe… maybe he needs a rival that can fight him equally."

Kuroko seemed amazed as Kagami turned away not wanting to feel strange again in front of Kuroko's big, deep curious aquamarine orbs. He focused on the game between Aomine and Kiyoshi instead.

Kagami was astonished and fascinated as he saw Aomine's movements. He wasn't just talking and boasting. He was incredible. It was almost pitiful that the game was kind of one-sided, but Kiyoshi didn't seem to yield down at all despite the losing battle.

Kiyoshi was able to steal some scores at least, but unlike Aomine who struck without mercy like a hound hunting its prey, Kiyoshi played more for the fun side. It was amazing, those guys. Kagami itched to play as well watching the game.

At the end of it, Kiyoshi's score was doubled by Aomine. "That was a fun game," Kiyoshi said, offering his handshake while panting.

"I can never understand why you can still smile like that after that crushing defeat," Aomine frowned as he spun the ball again on his index finger, breathing rather quickly himself.

"Eeh, but it's fun," Kiyoshi's smile widened a fraction. "That summer championship was the last official game I participated in, and I don't know when I'll have a rematch with the Generation of Miracle team, so… thanks for playing with me today, Aomine," he said sincerely then and Aomine looked somewhat embarrassed.

Generation of… Miracle?

The tan teen muttered something under his breath and kept silent as Kiyoshi gave up shaking his hand and turned around to leave.

"It would be better if this was with Murasakibara, right?"

Murasakibara?

Kiyoshi's step faltered a bit, but he just turned around and grinned. "I'll save that for high school revenge!" and then he ran out of the court.

Kagami noticed Kiyoshi's eyes when he ran past him and Kuroko. It was faint, but there were tears in them.

Kagami knew that there was something much more in their hushed conversation earlier, judging from the tense silence, but he didn't dare to ask what it was. He wasn't fond of feeling like intruding after all. Moreover, before he could consider more about some names that were mentioned earlier, an orange ball flied to his direction.

"Kagami-kun!"

Kuroko's alerting voice was heard and Kagami raised his hand in time to catch the ball before it connected to the side of his face. Kagami turned around in growing irritation to face the smirk on Aomine's face. "Your turn," he said superciliously.

Kagami stood slowly.

"Kagami-kun?" Kuroko called, still toneless but there was a hint of concern in his eyes.

"I can't play with you right now," Kagami said while looking straightly at Aomine's eyes.

"Haah?" Aomine made a face at him. "What are you talking about? Are you scared of losing or something?" he scoffed, but this time Kagami didn't take the bait.

"I guess I'll just have to show you," Kagami felt slightly unwilling, but it was better than hiding it and disappointing his potential rival. He kept the ball between his right arm and his waist while his left hand slowly lifted the long baggy pant on his left leg.

Aomine actually gasped and Kuroko widened his eyes again at the view of white bandages covering his left legs from over his mid thigh until bellow the mid of his calf. "I'm in recovery, that's why I can't play basketball at this moment. It's the only reason I'm in Japan as well, to make me stay away from basketball for the time being until it heals completely."

Kagami tried to explain with stony voice, but the look of horror on Aomine's face and the shock on Kuroko's almost made him falter. He huffed and let his pant fall down again, concealing the proof of his wounds. "It's a rain-check, Aomine. I'll own you after I can come back to court," he threw the ball at Aomine who caught it in a start, breaking out of his disbelieving trance.

"You—!"

"Kagami-kun…"

Kagami turned to face Kuroko who looked at his crimson eyes deeply. "I will enter Shōei next autumn. See you guys at the match in winter," he gave the two boys a peace sign and a big grin afterwards, completely confident that he would be healed completely by that time and he would be able to fulfill this promise.

End of Chapter 2

Tbc...

A/N: What is this? #shot. Yes, it leans more into friendship now, instead of romance, but it will come eventually. After all, Kagami hasn't yet watched Kuroko in action despite the already tingling feeling in his heart when he saw Kuroko smiles *grins* It will be like a cupid arrow when he sees later *loool* Anyway, need feedback as always. Because readers feedbacks are my source of inspiration!