(Takes place before Kise joins the team, when Haizaki's still around, Nijimura's still captain, and Kuroko's still quite new to the team)

There was an odd sound on the bus. Murasakibara noticed it first.

"Does anyone else hear a kitty?" he asked.

"What ridiculousness are you going on about now?" asked Midorima.

"Just listen," insisted Murasakibara.

The regulars all went silent and sure enough they heard it. A low, soft, purring sound. Just like a cat.

Nijimura sighed resignedly and stood. He looked specifically at the second years. "Did one of you smuggle a cat onto the bus?"

"Hey, don't look at me," said Aomine. "I'm not an animal fan."

"Why would any of us do something so stupid?" Haizaki asked.

"Could one have gotten on the bus by itself?" Murasakibara wondered.

"Cat's don't just up and wander onto buses," Nijimura said irritatedly.

"I don't think any of us would do something so troublesome as to smuggle a cat to a game, then back again, Captain," pointed out Akashi.

"Well where is that noise coming from?" demanded Nijimura.

"You have any ideas, Tetsu?" asked Aomine. "Tetsu? Oh no, did we leave him behind again?"

"No," Akashi said quickly. "I made sure he was on the bus before it departed."

"Then where . . . oh. Hey, I think we found our cat," laughed Aomine as he made a discovery.

Nijimura scowled. "Kuroko, if you've smuggled a cat in –"

"He didn't," Aomine said quickly. "Just look."

The others gathered stood and looked over, and found Kuroko curled up on his seat, against the window, fast asleep. He was holding a novel, hugging it really, against his chest in sleep. And instead of snoring, he was purring, like a cat.

(Insert anime effect of hearts being stabbed by arrows here, because of sheer kawaii overload)

Midorima pushed his glasses back up further and abruptly turned to look away. "How troublesome."

"How's that troublesome?" Aomine demanded. "He's not bothering anything."

"That noise is annoying. Someone shut him up," said Haizaki, who returned to his seat and slouched down in it.

Then Murasakibara reached for Kuroko's head.

"Don't –" Akashi started, believing, with good reason, that Mursakibara intended to lift Kuroko by his head, like he'd done every previous time Kuroko had done something to annoy him. But Akashi stopped when he saw that was not the case this time. Murasakibara put his hand gently down on Kuroko's head. And pet him. Like he really was a cat.

The purring sound Kuroko was making in his sleep grew slightly louder, and he unconsciously leaned his head into Murasakibara's touch.

"He's cute," Murasakibara said in a nearly breathless, adoring voice. "Like a kitty."

It was an adorable sight. No one could deny that. Nijimura shook his head as he turned away, muttering something about how kids from their generation were all weird. Aomine moved to the seat in front of Kuroko's, and sat in it the wrong way, turned around so that his arms were resting on the back of the seat, so he could keep watching. Akashi took the seat behind Kuroko's and mirrored Aomine's pose, leaning over the back of Kuroko's seat and likewise resting his arms on top of it. Midorima returned to his own nearby seat and tried to pretend like he wasn't watching.

"Let's keep him, Aka-chin," said Murasakibara. It wasn't the first time he'd said anything less than derogatory about Kuroko, but it was close to it. But Akashi decided to take that as a sign that Murasakibara was coming to accept Kuroko's style of playing, which was good.

"I intend to," Akashi said. "I'm the one who found him after all."

"Technically, I found him," Aomine said, reaching down to pet Kuroko's head as well. "And finders keepers."

"He's not a pet, you know," said Midorima.

"Try not to be jealous about your lack of claim on him," Akashi said to Midorima with a straight face, causing Midorima to scowl.

"Who would be jealous of that?" shouted Midorima before anyone could shush him.

Suddenly the purring noise stopped.

"Hmn?" Kuroko's eyes fluttered open, and he blinked up sleepily at his three teammates who were staring down at him. Tears glittered at the corners of his eyes, which he wiped away with a loose fist. "Is something going on?"

Aomine had rapidly withdrawn his hand when it became clear Kuroko was waking up. Murasakibara had not, and continued to pet him, heedless of the fact that Kuroko was now awake.

"No, nothing's wrong, Tetsu," Aomine reassured him.

"Go on back to sleep," Akashi encouraged soothingly.

And Kuroko, still half asleep, obeyed. He hadn't even had enough consciousness to wonder why they were all staring at him, or why Murasakibara, who'd rarely ever had a kind word for him, was gently petting his head.

"You three are unbelievable," Midorima commented.

"You're just a tsundere," returned Aomine.

"Ne, Aka-chin. Can we get him a cute little collar?" asked Murasakibara.

Akashi considered, then reached down to pat Kuroko's head as well, as the small boy began purring in his sleep again. "Yes. But only if it has a bell on it."

Omake

(a few months later)

"Huh? Does anyone else hear something?" Kise asked, looking around quizzically.

"Something?" Akashi asked.

"I don't hear anything," Aomine insisted.

"I swear, I hear a noise like a cat purring."

"Kise-chin must be hearing things," decided Murasakibara, switching seats so that he was in the one where Kise had seen Kuroko sit down in before the bus started moving.

"Kurokocchi, you hear it too, right?" Kise demanded, seeking out his favorite ally.

"Kuro-chin is sleeping," Murasakibara said, shielding Kuroko from Kise's view with his own large body. "Leave him be."

"He worked hard today. Let him rest," Akashi agreed.

"Don't wake him up just for your stupid reasons," said Aomine.

Kise frowned. "Maybe it is just in my head . . ."

"It must be," Murasakibara said, and turned his back to Kise so that he was facing the window Kuroko was leaned up against.

Midorima just rolled his eyes.

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