The night passed very quickly. They both enjoyed sitting in the restaurant Kagami had chosen. It took pretty long before they got what they wanted, but they actually didn't mind it. No, they just had more time to concentrate on each other.
During their time, the conversation slid from books and authors to their more private lives. Of course both of them did keep a lot of things still to themselves, not letting the other to know everything just yet. Both of them had things that they wouldn't tell anyone before they knew them completely and knew they wouldn't tell about those things to anyone else.
Kuroko wanted to keep something about his past as a secret. So did Kagami. Kuroko didn't want to tell about his family to the redhead, about his parents who he had lived with during the first 17 years and 5 months of his life. Kagami didn't want to tell about his family, about that little incident that had happened when he was just 22 years old when he was going outside, but then something happened. After that he wasn't the same guy he used to be. The plans for the rest of his life disappeared and he had to plan his whole future again, right from the start. He had to throw everything away and start it all over.
He couldn't plan his next 60 years and think that after them he would be dead and wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore. No, nowadays he would be alive even after 200 years and there wouldn't seem to be an end for his life. Well, of course, if he wanted to stop it all, he could starve himself to death. But he didn't want it enough. Once he had tried it, but the feeling caused by great hunger was so awful that he decided to cling on the life. He'd throw away his moral and live his life like a monster. He was one. And no one could change that fact.
They stared deep into each other's eyes in the gloomy light, both of them focusing on their meals. Kagami had ordered a hamburger – even if it was bought from an actual restaurant and looked way better and more expensive than one bought from McDonald's drive-thru, Kuroko couldn't help but laugh silently inside his mind. They were in a restaurant, and Taiga really had a hamburger! He was just like some 10 years old little boy. Well, sometimes he really seemed like one. And a bit more often than just sometimes.
Kuroko enjoyed the gentle taste of his pasta bolognese and a slice of white bread. It had been quite a long time since he had eaten something as good as that. Usually, he made through the day by eating noodles or frozen pizzas. The small amount of money he got from work went mostly to his house's rent and Nigou's food and other supplies. He always had some money hidden in his bedside table, just in case. The amount of money that was left wasn't very great. He couldn't eat much or expensive food. But that was okay for him. He had learned how to survive with a little of food and knew how to eat cheap. He always ran after the sales.
Maybe that's why he's still so small and slender. He had never been able to eat well.
Of course sometimes Hide called him over for a dinner or offered food, but it didn't happen often enough to make him gain even a bit weight around his bones.
He wouldn't have been able to eat well even that night if Kagami wouldn't have offered to pay his meal.
The time passed by way too fast. Before they even realized the evening had turned to night. They were forced to leave. Tetsuya had to go to work tomorrow, and he couldn't make it with just two hours of sleep. No, he needed more. He needed to get back home.
He secretly wished for Taiga to ask him to come at his place for the night so they could continue hanging out with each other until they'd fall asleep. And actually even after it.
But no. Kagami didn't think the same way, and the bluenette thought that it'd be maybe a bit too early to ask to come. They had known each for not so long. It'd be too rude.
The red car stopped in front of Kuroko's apartment thanked for the great night as he got out of the car.
"Hey, Kuroko. If you want to... you could come to check out my place someday," the redhead said just before the other would have closed the door. He stopped his hand, keeping the door open.
"That would be great," he said with a gentle smile. "Call me again someday."
"Good night, Kuroko. Sweet dreams."
"Good night, Kagami-kun"
A few days passed without Taiga coming for a drink to cafe Timeless. Kuroko waited him during his every shift, but he didn't come. Well, no one would have had money to drink an expensive drink every freaking day. It was understandable that the redhead decided to skip a few days.
He wasn't worried about him like the other was about him when he had taken a little vacation to spend time with Hide.
During the next Thursday Tetsuya's phone rang on the table next to his sofa as he was watching the news with Nigou sleeping on his laps. The young male pet his soft fur with his small palm gently, keeping the voice level of TV pretty low so he wouldn't wake up his little baby.
But the sharp sound of his ringtone did it for him. The dog raised his head quickly, turning the gaze of his light eyes to the sound, looking at the buzzing phone for a few seconds like it was dangerous, like it was about to attack and hurt his owner.
But when Tetsuya took it in his hand, answered the call and brought the speaker to his other ear, Nigou calmed down immediately. He closed his eyes and pushed his owner's hand gently with his head, begging for more petting. Kuroko didn't question his pet's request for even a while, fulfilled it by letting his fingers slide gently on his back.
"Kuroko Tetsuya" he answered the call with the same polite tone, saying his name, just like he always did.
"Ah, Kuroko" Kagami's familiar voice repeated his name on the other side. "I was just thinking... I have nothing to do today, so would you like to come over?" he asked. You could hear a slight shade of embarrassment in his voice.
The slender male tilted his head a bit, immediately letting a gentle smile cover his lips. Blue eyes were locked in the screen of his TV. He stared at the news that were going on, without concentrating on it anyhow. "When can I come?" he asked silently, giving at the same time an agreement on his question.
"I'm doing a little cleaning right now, but... What if I come to get you in ten minutes?" he asked. Kuroko nodded silently, remembering after it that Kagami actually couldn't see his signs.
"That's fine for me. I'll get ready before that"
Quick goodbyes and the call was over. It didn't last long but it meaned more.
Kuroko reached for the remote that was resting right next to him, pressing the red button to turn off the TV. He stood up slowly, forcing the dog of his to jump away. Nigou stood right next to his owner's legs, looking up with his big eyes like asking "What are you doing? Are you going somewhere? Are you leaving me?", like begging "Please, don't leave me. I don't like being alone. Stay with me."
He gave him a little smile and pet his head gently with his palm before he turned his back to Nigou, ignoring everything he tried to say with his eyes. He wanted to do something more than just sit on a couch with his dog. No, he could do it every night he wanted.
But he couldn't get to Kagami's place every night he wanted.
He walked to the kitchen, the dog following him, asking for his attention with silent whining. But Tetsuya just continued walking. He reached for Nigou's foodbag. The male poured some dry dogfood on a plate, even filled another with fresh water before putting them back down for him to eat.
"I know you can survive alone for a little while. In the worst case I won't come back for the night. But if I don't, I will come home as soon as I wake up" he explained to the dog, wanting to believe that he would actually understand every word of his. It would be too lonely and silent if he had no one to talk to, so he had started to speaking with his dog, sharing his every thought with him. Talking made him always feel a bit better, even if it was just to a dog. Well, at least it was better than just talking just by yourself, or to the walls. Nigou could read his emotions and knew when he needed comforting or when he wanted to have fun or play.
He was like a child that just wasn't able to talk or do some things by himself.
When he was completely focused on eating his food, he heard how the door slammed. Tetsuya left the house, left him alone.
The bluenette walked down the stairs with quick steps, reaching the grounf level in no time. He walked out of the building, walked next to the street, stood there waiting for the redhead to arrive.
Gray clouds covered the sky, and the whole world seemed to be painted in different shades of gray. But the shades of his mind reminded a rainbow. He was so excited to actually see Kagami's apartment.
In no time the red car drove from behind the corner and stopped right in front of him. Kuroko opened the door with a little smile on his lips. Kagami looked at him, smiling back, hands resting on a wheel. Tetsuya quickly climbed in, sat on the seat next to the redhead. He fastened the safety-belt around his body. It would keep him from flying through the glass if something were to happen.
They greeted each other quickly, asked how they were, and then the whole car was filled with silence. Even the radio was turned off. Taiga never listened to music when he was driving anymore. It always chased his thoughts away from the road. Because of that he almost drive over the bluenette who was sitting next to him right now. His life would have continued just the same way he had lived the past 200 years.
Kuroko stared out of the window next to him, staring at the buildings that they were rushing by with high speed. He couldn't concentrate enough on people's faces who were hanging outside. All of their faces seemed just completely blank to him.
The silence continued until Taiga stopped the car, when they had finally arrived to the location. He opened his belt quickly and rushed outside, just to be in time to open the door for the slender male. Kuroko smiled amused smile when he got out of. The doors were locked before they started to walk towards the high building, Kagami showing the way.
"...You're the first one in years who I am bringing to my home" he mentioned, smirking slightly. Yes, he has been spending the last 36 years all alone. For reasons he couldn't say the exact amount of years.
Tetsuya raised his eyebrows a bit in confusement. "Don't you have any friends? Or family?" he asked, immediately regretting his question. He had no rights to ask qustions like that.
But for his surprise, Kagami didn't seem to be hurt by his intimidating question. He shook his head slightly, still smiling.
"No. I haven't had friends in ages. I'm just not socially talented enough to get friends. My dad lives in USA and he barely has possibilities to have a little holiday from his work to see his son" he explained. "My mother died when I was a bit younger"the male continued. Saying a thing like that didn't seem to be hard for him. He had gotten over it very well.
Kuroko lowered his eyes to the stairs which they were climbing to get to the floor where Taiga's apartment was. "...I'm sorry" he apologized silently. Apologized for what had happened, apologized for being too curious.
"You have no reason to apologize," Taiga laughed silently. He pushed his keys to his door's lock, twisted his wrist, opnened it. "Welcome," he almost whispered, keeping the door opened to let the other one get in first.
Tetsuya walked in, eyes widening with every step he took. He had never been in anyone's house that was this beautiful. Kagami's apartment had just the living room and the kitchen which were combinated, the bathroom, and the bedroom. He also had a terrace. He didn't have many rooms, but the rooms he had were enormous. Just his living room and kitchen were almost the same size with Tetsuya's whole apartment.
Walls painted white, one wall made completely out of glass, beautiful paintings, three black sofas made for two, circled around a low table where you could store your delights when watching the movie from a large flat TV that was placed from a few metres away from the sofas. The white carpets resting on a light floor that looked like it has been made out of wood were pure white and felt soft under his feet.
All the machines in kitchen were the newest model. Surfaces were clean and beautiful. There was no signs of dirt anywhere. No dishes. No smudges. Taiga really didn't mind using money. How damn rich that guy was!?
Taiga followed the other male as he wondered aound the apartment confused. He had an amused smile on his lips. The way he was acting was cute. Had he never seen a house? What kind of place he lived in?
Bedroom was big and had a wide bed in one corner. It was spacious enough for two persons, maybe you could even fit third one there if you wanted. Wide window, great number of closets. The bathroom was white and clean, spacious, and had a big bathtub, too.
His apartment was the finest thing he had ever been in.
"Where do you work at?" Tetsuya asked pure confusement written all over his face. He couldn't understand. Kagami was always at cafe Timeless now. It seemed like he never had to spend time at work. How could he have that much money?
Taiga smirked as he leaned to the wall next to the door that led to the bathroom. "Nowhere" he gave a short answer. Kuroko couldn't say anything anymore. "My dad won once in the lottery. 60 miljards. He moved back to America and gave me some of his money. I don't have to get a job to live well" he explained.
Thank God that old man really won. If he had met Tetsuya just 20 years ago, they probably wouln't ever had to get knowing each other. They would have probably met in the street, where he used to live with his father.
It was rough time. Getting food was easy, as it is nowdays, too, but they got new clothes like two or three times during the year. They had no proper place to seep, and the cold winter nights weren't very enjoyable. During that time Taiga tried to starve himself to death but he didn't succeed.
Just a few weeks after that his father had one.
Just one week after that he had left the country and Kagami was all alone. He bought the apartment and started to spend more time with books. He finally had money to buy some and not just to read the ones in libraries.
Thank God he didn't meet Kuroko back then. Thank God he was just a little baby back then.
Tetsuya lowered his gaze to the floor, lips slightly parted. He was searching for words, thinking what he should say. But he couldn't get anything out of his mouth.
The redhead leaned slowly towards him, still smirking. "This isn't everything I wanted to show you. Come," he requested smiling, straightening his hand, opening his palm, asking with his eyes the other to grab it. Completely speechless, the slender male reached his hand towards the opened palm, wrapped his fingrs gently around it. Just a second after Taiga started to take long steps, leading him towards his little storage. For every step Kagami took, Tetsuya had to take two to keep up with him.
After a while they arrived to his storage. His own little library. Taiga opened the door, letting the other to see how the walls were full of shelves which were full of books. His smile widened when he saw how Kuroko got even more confused. His wide blue eyes looked like they were going to pop out at any second.
"You like that?" Taiga smirked, knowing the answer without even getting it.
That was good, because Kuroko couldn't say anything for minutes. He walked in, let his eyes examine the sides of the books. There were so many books he had wanted to read for a long time now. He was surprised that Taiga had been able to get those copies from somewhere when Tetsuya had been through every second-hand store and internet sites and he hadn't found them.
"You can touch them. They're not there for just looking" the redhead said, leaning to the door with his other hand. He followed with his red, amused eyes how the other picked one book in his hand, glancing through its pages and then put it back. He did it for another one, and another, and another...
"Where did you get these?" he was finally able to get some words out loud.
"From here and there. I don't remember anymore. I've owned these for so long" he answered the question of his. With a gentle smile on his lips, he walked to the sofa that was placed in the middle of the small space. He sat on its armrest, staring at the other, examining his facial expressions. "I know you'd love to come for a visit more often after seeing this, and I will not be disallowing that. You can come whenever you want and have time from your job. Except during the nights. I want to sleep my nights alone," he told, head tilted gently towards the other shoulder.
Kuroko raised his eyes from the pages of the book he was holding. Pure excitement had taken over his whole appearance. He was more than happy to hear those words, to get a permission to come over to Taiga's place, to get to read some books he had always wanted to get in his hands, but couldn't find them from the library or any bookshops. And these copies seemed to be very old, maybe they were the first editions. God, where was that guy able to find something like this?
Kagami had no need to hear any words to understand what Tetsuya wanted to answer. He just couldn't get anything out of his mouth. The redhead slowly stood back up, still looking at the younger one. "It's getting pretty late already. Would you like to have something to eat? You must be hungry," he asked. The Sun had started to go down. The warm rays of evening had turned the world of thousand shades of red and orange. It would soon be dark again.
He placed the book back on the shelf, just where he had taken it from before he turned his back to all of those books, and walked out after Taiga. They turned lights off and locked the door, left it all to wait for the next time.
The kitchen's table was covered with many plates, bowls, and glasses. Kagami had prepared a quick, but a delicious meal with many elements for both of them. There was pure white rice, some curry from the yesterday, chicken, miso soup, and vegetables. Kagami hadn't had put too much effort on the meal, but it was still really tasty. Tetsuya enjoyed every bite he took.
"Where have you learned to cook like this?" he finally asked, pure curiosity in his voice. He hadn't had met anyone who could make something this delicious, who hadn't graduated as a chef. Was Taiga really something like that? Had he studied this? He hadn't told him about that yet.
The redhead took a small sip of the ice tea in his glass before he placed it back on the table, focusing his gaze on the other's facial features. "My mother teached me when I was younger. But she wasn't able to do that for very long. Lately I've been cooking just by myself, trying out recipes I've found somewhere, sometimes trying out something all new that had just popped in my mind" he explained before he continued his meal, lowering his focus back on the food.
"Your mother?" Tetsuya tilted his head a bit. "Your mother has to be a great cook. Where does she live nowadays? Does she have a restaurant?" he wanted to know more, wanted more details and told it by asking more question.
The little smile on Taiga's lips disappeared immediately. He avoided looking back at the other. His whole body stopped for a few seconds while his mind went trough every last second he remembered of his mother's life. After four long seconds, he just sneered and filled his mouth with some spicy curry. "I don't want to talk about that" he skipped all of Kuroko's questions with a simple answer.
The bluenette understood immediately. His heart hit a single excessive beat before he also lowered his gaze. What was he thinking? Things like that weren't something that he had to know. He felt himself way too intrusive. "I'm sorry" he apologized immediately, focusing more on his food. He couldn't hear an answer. Deep silence took over space
Oh, God, he had made a great mistake. He had to try to make the conversation go somewhere else. He had to take Kagami's thoughts away from that.
"...I've had another awesome night with you, Kagami-kun," he mentioned silently. "I would like to spend more time with you. I'm so glad that I met you," he continued and raised his eyes from the surface of the table to the person who was sitting right in front of him. Taiga had done the same, their eyes met each other and neither of them was able to turn their face away anymore. Tetsuya could feel how his heartbeat got secretly more violent, more rapid. Saying something like that and immediately looking in the redhead eyes made him feel a bit uncomfortable, embarrassed.
But he couldn't stop there.
"I just want to ask if you wanted to come to my place someday. You could get to know how I live and... something like that" he continued, feeling how words slowly flew out of his mouth. Just a minute before he had known perfectly what he would say but now he had no idea how to continue.
His mind was as white as the sheets in his bed.
The bluenette closed his eyes for a second, lowering his face a bit. His lips were spread a bit, he was ready to continue physically, but not mentally. He couldn't get another word out of his mouth. That didn't happen often, so why did it had to happen now!? Kagami surely looked at him like he was an idiot. He surely looked at him feeling secretly amused under his cover.
"Yeah, I'd love it," a few words of an agreement were able to get Kuroko out of his thoughts and focused back on the other male in the room. "I'd be happy if I could. Just tell me when it's fine for you and I'll come," the redhead continued, just a slight smile on his lips. The younger one stared at him for a few seconds, still not able to say anything.
"...Okay," he said quickly. His frozen body felt suddenly really restless and he didn't know how to be there to feel comfortable. "I'll check out my shifts for the next week and I will text you about them," he continued, looking every other second at Taiga, and every other at the foods in front of him. He wanted to ask the other if he wanted to eat at his place then, if he was allergic to anything, if he didn't like something or if he had some favourite food, but he just couldn't find the right words for it.
Taiga smiled for a few seconds before he stood up. He already started to pick up the empty plates from the table and carried them to his dishwasher. "It's getting late already. Do you want me to drive you to your place?" he asked, cleaning up the mess he had made before. The evening had turned to a late night already, and he had no intention to ask the other if he wanted to walk back home. No, he would t let him to. Walking at that time along the dark streets of Tokyo wasn't a too safe thing to do.
If he wasn't willing to take a ride in his car, Taiga would call him a taxi. Or he would walk with him all the way.
"Could you?" Tetsuya asked, getting also up from the table. Kagami just nodded quickly. "Thanks. That'd be great."
When the kitchen was again clean and everything was on their places, they left the apartment. Kagami turned off the lights and locked up the doors before heading to his car. It didn't take long before they were already near to Kuroko's apartment.
The bluenette got out of the car, thanking for the food, for the night, for the ride, for everything before he shut the door. Red Toyota drove just some seconds after away, disappearing behind another corner. He stood there for a little while, looking at the direction where his friend had gone before actually heading to his apartment's door.
A great night had finally come to its end. But there would be more nights as great as this, and maybe they'd be even more great.
With a wide smile on his lips he collapsed on his bed.
He couldn't wait until the next time they'd meet.