During the practice match, Kuroko was a hundred percent certain that Takao was not giving his all. Picking up the ball that rolled out of the court, being really careful, he turned his head a little towards Shuutoku's side to peek at Takao who was being scolded at by all of his teammates.

What was he doing? He was sure Takao would not let any ball reach him since he could see him better than the others could. Wasn't he looking forward to this day because of the practice match they were going to have against each other? And there he was, being smacked by one of his senpai, Miyaji-san, was it? They seemed pretty mad at him. That was for sure of course, he was not taking this seriously after all.

He let out a sigh before he stood up, ball firmly gripped in between his hands. He walked back to Kagami's side and handed him the ball. "Oh, thanks," Kagami said and looked back at where he was looking at, which was obviously at their opponent.

"Do you know what happened to him?" He asked, boredom could be seen on his face, maybe it was not a match he had expected. And by 'him', Kagami meant Takao. Kuroko continued looking straight ahead at the Shuutoku members and shrugged. "I don't know," then paused as he looked up at Kagami. "What makes you think that I would know?"

Feeling his stare on him, Kagami turned to meet his gaze and scratched his cheeks a little with his finger, looking thoughtful. "I'm not sure… I just had a feeling you might know," Kuroko should be a little cautious around Kagami, he had sharp senses about this lately. But he was right, Kuroko did know what was wrong. No, he was not sure if it was right and he did not want to shower too much love or praises on himself by himself but if anything were to be the reason why Takao suddenly acted like that, it would be Kuroko.

He did not know why he thought that would be it though it felt like Takao was purposely trying to lengthen the time of the practice match longer than expected. He shook his head lightly to bring himself back to reality, shaking off the thoughts that would make him float on clouds of happiness. This was just his thoughts, his imaginations, not all of it might be true.

If it were though, Kuroko would be on cloud nine. He had spent so much time thinking whether Takao would forget about him, abandon him and he was afraid of that. He tried to convey his feelings to him continuously through his pictures he sent but he was not sure if it reached him. I doubt, he thought, certain of it. How could pictures of his dog and friends help convey feelings?

They would occasionally be on the phone at times and Kuroko really tried. He wanted to tell Takao about this throbbing feeling that had been born in his heart because of him. And surprisingly, he wanted to be pampered by Takao, allowing him to be selfish once in a while since he had always been holding back. Why did he thought that keeping it as a secret would be a great idea from the start?

It was okay at first, doing everything secretively. However, after sticking with such conditions for a long period of time did not go really well. They could not even go on a proper date, go into each other's houses, without being cautious of people. That also meant that he or Takao could not go to Shuutoku or Seirin to walk home together. It would be weird to see them so close when they never really interacted.

The side of his lips curved, forming into a smile as Kuroko thought about the time when they were briefed by the coaches. All the insecurities, anxiety were immediately wiped out after Takao told him those words. Thinking back to what had happened, it made Kuroko's heart flutter a little bit because it was the first time he heard him say that after a month or so, Kuroko could not remember. It had been way too long.

It felt like Takao transferred his love through the warmth of his palm and into Kuroko. It warmed Kuroko up all over.

"Oi, what's wrong?"

Confused at what had happened, he looked back at Kagami. "What do you mean?"

"You were sighing so I thought something might have happened,"

Feeling his eyes widen for an instant, he asked, "Did I?"

"Yeah, you sounded happy though,"

He was. Feeling a smile creeping up his face, he allowed it to as he relaxed.

"I am,"

The practice match really lasted longer than expected since Shuutoku kept requesting for a rematch and still eventually lost to Seirin. Hyuuga went over to Ootsubo and shook hands with him, thanking him for the intense matches they had once the last match ended. Midorima looking really dissatisfied and got mad when Kagami bragged about it to him.

But that was not what Kuroko was interested in. He was more interested in Takao who was laughing at Midorima's reaction until tears started forming at the corner of his eyes, wiping them off as it did. Midorima finally reached his limit and raised his arm to hit Takao in the head, making him whimper as he rubbed his head in pain.

When Midorima's fist landed on Takao's head, it made Kuroko flinch as if he was the one getting hit. Kuroko continued sipping on his drink quietly before getting up to leave his space.


It was a success.

What was? Lengthening the game, of course. Takao knew it would end up that way if he screwed up a little. Did all of this worth the scolding? Yes. All he had to do was to just let his focus slip and instead place them on the cutest thing alive on court.

"Takao!"

"What is it?" Still rubbing the bump left by Midorima on his head, he turned to the owner of the voice, it was Miyaji-san.

"We're all going to the cafeteria now, having Riko-san make dinner for us," He said, a disgusting smile stuck on his face, obviously excited to eat a meal cooked by a girl for the first time. "And you!" He pointed at Takao with his index finger. "Have to stay here and reflect on today's practice matches!"

"Huh?!" Takao stood up in shock. "But-"

"No buts!" Miyaji said, hands placed on Takao's shoulders, he pushed him down on his seat. "Don't you dare step out of this room!" Then everyone flooded out of the room. Midorima stopped his feet for a moment to look back at Takao but quickly walked out.

Sighing, Takao buried his face in his hands. Here he thought that he had nothing to regret about no matter how hard he tried to but he did not have to even give an effort to feel the regret planting in him right now. Unable to hold in the frustration, he sighed again, ruffling his raven coloured hair with his finger.

Not only did he not get to try Riko-san's cooking, he could not even see Kuroko now. He leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. "Ah… Just what have I done…?" Shin-chan even said that I was ranked first in OhaAsa but what is with this luck? Just when he was about to let out another sigh, he heard the door of the locker room click open.

Humming, he lowered his head to look at the person standing in the doorway. "What brings you here all of a sudden?" he asked, cheered up and feeling lucky already. "Tecchan?

Kuroko stood there for a moment and then closed the door behind him slowly to not create any unnecessary sound. "Takao-kun," He had a tray of a plate of curry rice in hand and a cup of water in hand. Was it for him?

"Tecchan," calling his name softly, wanting to hear Kuroko say his name again and he did.

"Takao-kun," walking towards Takao, he put down the tray beside Takao and buried Takao's face into his chest, hugging him. Takao returned the gesture, circling his arms around his waist, he never knew Kuroko would be the one on the initiative but this was going to happen either way anyway.

"I've missed you," whispered Kuroko as he increased the strength of arms to hug him tightly. "… A lot," It stabbed Takao in the chest, hard when Kuroko sounded like he was about to cry. Ah, just when he finally got to hear it from his mouth, he did not know if he should be happy or sad.

"… Yeah, me too," breathing in a deep breath before he replied. Kuroko's scent, his warmth, everything about him calmed Takao down. It did not seem to matter even if he did not get to eat anymore now that he was here with him, alone. "I've missed you so much I thought I was going to break," nuzzling into his white T-shirt, he swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "It hurts," he continued, his voice hoarse.

Kuroko said nothing for a while but hugged him closer, wanting no air or space to be in between them. "I'm sorry," he said, finally. "If only I didn't come up with this condition last time, we wouldn't have to go through all this,"

"We could always tell them now,"

"But…"

Takao knew Kuroko regretted it but he also knew at the same time that Kuroko did not want the others to know. Maybe it was because he was conscious of what the other guys might feel about their relationship. The possibility of the others creating a distance from them was fairly high and he did not want Kuroko to experience that.

"I know," Takao said, not wanting Kuroko to say more, repeating "I know," again to assure him. "Which is why I always wished that I was studying at Seirin's,"

Standing up a little straighter, removing his head from Takao's (but still very close to his face), Kuroko cocked his head to the side in a questioning manner. "Is Shuutoku no good?"

Takao tilted his head up to look at his Tecchan, grinning at him. "Don't get me wrong, I've never regretted coming over to Shuutoku. I mean, it's a great school with a great basketball team," he hummed a little, thinking of what else to add. "And if I were to not have come to Shuutoku then I wouldn't have met Shin-chan and the others, right? I just wished I was in Seirin, that's all,"

"Why?"

"So I can do this," he said before planting a kiss lightly on Kuroko's lips with ease since it was just a few inches away from his when he hung his head to look at Takao. "Every day," whispering the last words.

Obviously shocked, he moved his face away from Takao's, covering his mouth with the back of hands, blushing at his actions.

"See? That was what I meant!" chuckling softly at his cute reaction, Takao said.

"That was unfair," Kuroko pouted, cheeks puffed in dissatisfaction.

"What was?" Takao stopped laughing to smirk at him. "All is fair," he said as he pulled Kuroko closer.

To his surprise, Kuroko clamped his face in between his hands and felt his lips on Takao's. It was only a quick peck on the lips but then Kuroko quickly placed a chaste kiss on Takao's cheeks. "There," Kuroko said, feeling proud of his actions. "We're even now,"

Takao was stunned. He could not do anything but sit there and stare back at his Tecchan with widened silvery blue eyes, the colour red dyeing his face. "… Takao-kun?"

He tugged Kuroko down lightly as he opened up his mouth, ready to return more to Kuroko. "One more time,"


A/N : Yes, two chapters in a week. I'm already feeling accomplished. Why two chapters in a week? Because first, I thought I should make up for the slow updates. Secondly, the reviews you guys showered me motivated me to do so. I can't even begin thanking you enough. Thank you. Please do enjoy the chapters! I'm really having fun typing these! XD *read the reviews* YES, TAKAKURO IS LOVE AND LIFE. SO GLAD PEOPLE AGREE. TAKAKURO! And if you're still wondering if the others would find out, I'll leave that to your imaginations at the moment if you'll allow me to continue writing this painful relationship they share! If you see any mistakes in here, please excuse it! Thank you for reading! Reviews MUCH appreciated! Thank you! Have a nice day! Sparkles!