Kiss 004


No matter how hard he tried, Kagami Taiga could not focus. If concentrating in class had been difficult before, it had now turned into a downright impossibility.

Listening to a teacher going on about whatever had never been his strong point, but at least he had been able to concentrate if he poured all of his energy into the subject at hand. When he attempted this now, all he got was blurry fragments of blue, which in a mysterious way prevented all other types of information from entering his brain.

It was an entirely new level of being distracted.

Glaring at the teen seated at the desk in front of him, Kagami grudgingly noticed that he had no difficulties whatsoever with focusing on him. Kuroko came off as annoyingly clueless, as he haphazardly flipped through his books, chin rested in the cup of his hand.

Not a problem in the world, huh?

Kagami scowled, spinning his pencil on his fingers absentmindedly. He was just thinking he ought to take some notes, when a puff of wind, coming from the open window in the back of the classroom, caught his papers. Reflexively, he slammed his hand down over them to stop them from flying off – bringing about a loud bang – which earned him a look of disapproval from the professor.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Kagami flattened the papers and picked up the pencil again. Why was it, he always got himself into trouble in class, while Kuroko, on the other hand, had a knack for staying out of it. He pensively regarded his teammate's small back, while letting the pen spin fast around his thumb. The wind momentarily caught some strands of light blue hair, exposing a pale neck above the school uniform collar. Crimson eyes strayed to the patch of unnaturally white skin. It looked really smooth, and frankly, quite delicious.

A small hand shot out in front of him. Without turning around, Kuroko dropped a small piece of paper on his desk. Kagami stared at it. No one else had taken notice. Kuroko's lack of presence was really useful in a classroom, after all.

Picking it up, he felt the urge to smile. Seriously, a note in class? What kind of shoujo manga set-up is th...

"Stop staring. It creeps me out."

...

"I'M NOT! You..."

The entire classroom had gone dead silent.

Unlike Kuroko, Kagami Taiga had quite a lot of presence. As he half-stood in his seat with the crumpled note in his clenched fist, and smoke practically seeping out of his ears – all eyes were inevitably turned to him. Kuroko placidly regarded him with his head cocked to the side, emitting an air of questioning innocence. Why, you little...

"As pleased as I am to notice you're not sleeping today, Kagami-kun," coughed the teacher, "I'd prefer it if you'd remain seated, and – if possible – silent."

A giggle broke out among the students, and Kagami mumbled an awkward excuse as he sat down again, boiling with irritation. He could have sworn he saw something awfully similar to mirth dance over Kuroko's features before he turned around in his chair.

Kagami spent the remaining thirty minutes of class silently fuming, until it made him tired and he dozed off with his head upon his books. He was on the verge of falling asleep when a well-known, toneless voice called him back to reality.

"Kagami-kun."

Sleepily lifting his head, he looked up at Kuroko. The boy stood motionless in front of his desk, with a pile of books in his hands. The redhead concluded the lesson must be over, as he glanced about the classroom and found it empty but for a few students still lingering at the door. It was already late afternoon, and the sun was setting outside the windows.

"Whaddaya want?" he growled while drowsily stretching his arms above his head.

Kuroko put down his pile of books on his desk, saying nothing.

"Hey, if you want something just –"

Kagami's words got stuck somewhere on the way.

Pale lips were suddenly unbearably close to his, and the wheel of time freaking stopped turning, again. Raising his notebook to hide their faces, Kuroko leaned in and gently kissed him on the lips. It lasted a second or two, but it was enough to send a jolt of electricity zigzag'ing through his body, before the smaller boy wordlessly pulled back.

Struggling to not enter stupidity-mode, Kagami stared into the blue nothingness that was Kuroko's gaze. His lips tingled strangely and his heart raced, and he had a horrible misgiving his inner turmoil was written all over his face. Which was certainly not the case with Kuroko Tetsuya.

Phantom players tell no tales.

"I don't get it," he muttered finally, averting his gaze. "You're pissing me off, Kuroko."

"Why?"

"That's my line! Why do you always –" Kagami angrily trailed off, unsure of how to express his confusion without sounding like a teenage girl in love.

Kuroko sighed. Not in a dejected way, more like... in a soft-borderline-to-amused-way.

"There's a note for Kagami-kun," he said, picking up his books. Before Kagami had the chance to ask what he was talking about, he had walked off.

Cursing under his breath, the power forward of Seirin started to collect his own scattered books and papers. Lately people seemed intent to confuse the hell out of him and it was beyond infuriating. He might be a simple person but things like these were damn difficult to brush aside...

As he lifted his notebook to stuff it into his bag, a small piece of folded paper fluttered across the desk. Kagami eyed it suspiciously. A note. He was totally aware that the best thing to do in this situation would be to just trash it. Totally aware.

He unfolded it slowly, almost gingerly.

On it, a graphite heart was drawn.