Okay so this chapter was a lot shorter than I intended it to be, but that's because I figured this would be a good place to end before I update the next chapter. Somewhat of a cliffhanger you might say? If you end up wondering why I chose that particular song to play in the cafe when you read this chapter, it's because I had been listening to it at the time I wrote the first part and thought it fitted the depth of Kagami's feelings, even if he does not completely understand them himself. I had a question on whether the other characters of KuroBasu would appear in this story and to be honest, I don't completely know for sure if I will add them in just yet. If I do, it probably will be one or two people since I don't want to randomly make all of them appear. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

紫陽花の音声

Around the time for his lunch break, Kagami headed out to the local café to grab a quick coffee and some bread since he had forgotten to prepare his lunch earlier that morning. Usually he would go grab a more filling meal at a restaurant, but the café was the closest to the fire station and he didn't want to stray too far away from the workplace in case there were emergency calls. Besides, the winter season had settled in, welcoming the masses with its snow and cold weather, so getting some coffee wasn't such a bad idea. Kagami was unsure whether it was a good idea to run back to the fire station in the middle of the falling snow. Maybe he would stay inside and eat quickly; he didn't want the bread and coffee to lose its warmth after all. He took a seat near the window, where he could stare outside at the pure white snow covering parts of the streets and sidewalks. It was a beautiful sight, really. Snow, like rain, had the power to hypnotize, causing you to enter a dreamlike world that may drown you deeper into your sorrows or raise you up to the top of the mountain cliffs. Even so, there's a certain beauty in reveling in sadness; it's all the proof of being human. Kagami didn't particularly have a weather preference, but the summers in Japan often became too hot, on a completely different level compared to the summers in America, so he tended to prefer the days when the sky opened its way for rain or snow. It's not as if the sunny days weren't beautiful. They were, and Kagami remembered all too often that those were the perfect days to play basketball outside. It's rather ironic how he had a preference for water when his name contained the character for fire in it; it may have been due to the many years of being a firefighter where the liquid element proved to be a lifesaver. Kagami didn't realize he had finished his lunch meal for a few minutes. Although he may appear as an idiot to many of his friends and acquaintances, he actually does a lot of thinking in his spare a time. A bit too much thinking for that matter.

Yoshi, time to head back.

He was about to get up and throw away his utensils until he realized someone had stopped by and stood near his table, that person being Aomine's past girlfriend. Two months had passed since the incident where he found her and Aomine arguing with one another at Aomine's place. She had cut her hair so now it was as short as, say, Riko's hair back in high school. Kagami wondered if girls had the tendency to cut their hair in order to forget about the past.

"Hi…you're Daiki's friend aren't you?"

"Umm yeah."

"Can you tell me how he's doing?"

Kagami stayed silent for a few seconds, not sure how to respond, which prompted the girl to reassure him that she had no intention of contacting him again.

"I know he abhors me. I know what I did was wrong. I…am just curious to know if he is doing well. I guess I still worry about him though I know I have no right to."

"He's doing fine. You don't have to worry. He's a grown man after all."

"Oh…that's good then."

She paused for a few seconds.

"I wanted to apologize for accusing you of being a homosexual on our first meeting. It was incredibly rude of me to do so."

"Haha, it's fine. Aomine was rather harsh with his words.?"

"Yes, that's quite true. Though I was jealous of the way he looked at you."

"Jealous…of the way he looked at me?"

" Haha you're quite oblivious aren't you? He's never looked at me like that in the months that we had been together. Are you sure you two are just friends?"

Kagami was rather confused. How did Aomine look at him? He's never noticed anything that hinted past that of friendship in the times he's spent with Aomine so far and he's always been sure to avoid being too obvious of the times when Aomine would unconsciously touch that side of him, the side he had always prevented others from touching. Right around that time, the café started playing "Terrible Love" by Birdy.

It's a terrible love and I'm walking with spiders

It's a terrible love and I'm walking in

The song reverberated over and over in Kagami's head. He wasn't sure how many people in the café understood the lyrics; they were in English after all. Is the love so terrible because no matter how much injury it causes to the person, he or she still can't let go and succumbs to the feelings of love? Is that how Aomine's past girlfriend felt? And are his feelings love or merely those of friendship? Once again, he drowned himself in his thoughts. Forgetting his surroundings. Forgetting the girl had bid him farewell and left in a rush. Forgetting that he had to get back to the station soon.

Aomine…

Kagami was at a loss. And the snow continued to fall ceaselessly outside.

Your light is dim.

Kagami awoke to the cold air hanging in the living room. He had fallen asleep a couple hours ago after getting home early from work. With this, he had also forgotten that there was nothing left to eat but cup ramen noodles he bought in times for when he ran out of ingredients, but didn't have time to run to the supermarket. The idea of eating cup ramen noodles depressed him at the moment; he wanted to enjoy a full fletched meal though it was even more depressing to go eat at a restaurant alone. He decided to call Aomine and ask him to come along. It had been awhile since they hung out together and Kagami figured he would be the one to initiate something this time. However, Aomine never picked up his phone.

Hmm maybe busy with work.

Kagami decided to just go eat out alone. It didn't matter whether he looked lame eating an immense amount of food alone; he didn't feel like settling for cup ramen tonight. He decided to go to an Okonomiyaki place in the area. The walk wasn't too far and the balls they served there were delicious.

Upon entering the restaurant, the waiter directed Kagami to a seat near the back corner. He sat there for a few minutes until the waiter came and asked him for his order in which he chanted a long list of items on the menu, ranging from takoyaki to the various different kinds of sushi rolls. After the waiter left, he glanced around the restaurant and a familiar face caught his eye near the front of the restaurant, closest to the window.

Aomine?

He was about to call Aomine over until he noticed that Aomine had a small group of people accompanying him, two were girls and the other two were guys, not including Aomine himself. Kagami had never seen Aomine in the company of his other friends before; it was a rather rare sight. It also reminded him that he hasn't gone out to eat with his coworkers lately. Aomine was sitting next to a girl who seemed to hold an interest in him, though it may have been more obvious to Kagami and Aomine's group than himself. She tended to find opportunities to touch him, but Aomine didn't give much of a reaction each time. Around that time, Kagami's order had arrived. The waiter commented on how big of an appetite he must have, leaving Kagami a bit embarrassed. They made small, short conversation for a minute or so and the waiter left. Kagami glanced over at Aomine's table and was shocked to meet Aomine's eyes. He expected Aomine to wave hello, but instead, he received nothing of the sort and Aomine just looked away as if their eyes had never met. It was like that on their first meeting a few months ago.

What's up with him?

In around thirty minutes, Kagami was finished with his meal and called the waiter over to ask for a check. He spent a rather hefty amount tonight so he probably wouldn't be eating so extravagantly for a couple weeks. He sighed at the thought of emptying out his wallet for the sake of delicious food. In a sense, it was worth it, but at the same time, it was mainly due to his laziness to gather ingredients together and make a meal for himself. He stopped glancing at the front side of the restaurant after Aomine and he had made eye contact earlier so he didn't realize they had already left. Kagami walked outside and took in the fresh, cold air. Snow was falling down slowly and Kagami thought to himself that there isn't anything more beautiful than the view of snow falling down at nighttime. The silence resonated all around him as he treaded down the path to his apartment complex slowly; it would take around fifteen minutes before he reached home. As he neared an alley, he heard a familiar voice and glanced around until he spotted Aomine with the girl from earlier. Kagami took a step back just in case they might have seen him. The girl had her arms around Aomine's neck in an embrace. Aomine's hands slid around her lower back slowly and gently. Kagami didn't have to explain much more about what they were doing; the situation became obvious to him. Kagami felt a heavy weight on his throat, suddenly feeling it hard to breathe. Thinking back to what Aomine's past girlfriend had said to him, about the way Aomine looks at him, he realized it was probably her imagination. He didn't understand this heaviness that suddenly dawned on him but he knew he needed to get away from this place. He needed to keep walking. He needed to be able to breathe. And so he ran. And didn't stop until he reached home.

And the snow continued to fall ceaselessly, drowning out all the noise of the night.