Days passed by and Kagami decided to return to the USA.
Everyone was at the airport, even Midorima, Murasakibara, Kise, Momoi and Aomine. Kagami, in a wheelchair, was about to board the plane accompanied by Alex, who came as soon as she heard about the incident thanks to Himuro.
Kagami was subdued but he was trying to look cheerful. Nobody bought the lie, but none of them said anything about it.
Kagami felt like shit. Until now, a small part of him wanted to believe that all of this was a nightmare, but now in the airport still in a wheelchair, he couldn't keep avoiding reality. This was his life now.
He hated going back to the USA, hated being separated from his teammates. Especially Kuroko, who had been his emotional pillar the whole time.
Like he could read his thoughts Tetsuya approached and gave him a hug full of sentiment, and said into his ear, "We can video call each other everyday - except weekends - any time time you feel like it." From the speakers an artificial voice called for the passengers of Kagami's flight, and Tetsuya in an impulsive move, kissed Kagami's forehead.
That made Kagami smile for real for the first time in weeks. He didn't know what gave him the impulse, but he hugged Tetsuya again and gave him a peck on his cheek. Tetsuya's face was so funny in that moment that Kagami laughed, which made Tetsuya smile.
Behind them, everyone was surprised by the exchange. Hyuga had stiffened but thankfully resisted the impulse to say something stupid, he was learning.
The announcement called again and Kagami waved to everyone one last time, before they were gone Alex grabed Tetsuya by his nape and gave him a peck on the mouth. Tetsuya's eyes widened but otherwise he keep his poker face in place. "Thank you," She said with a small and sad smile. Tetsuya gave her a similar smile in return and bowed his head in acknowledgement. With that they left, hearing Kagami yell at Alex for the 'kiss' in the distance.
When Tetsuya turned around he was greeted by glares of envy, amused smiles and a pout from Momoi.
"It's not fair! I want to kiss Tetsu-kun too!" She whined. That intensified the glares and smiles yet Tetsuya just gave them his usual poker face.
"Would you like to eat something?" He asked. Everyone agreed and they spend the next couple of hours eating and chatting.
Tetsuya couldn't sleep. In their outing they had obviously talked a lot about Kagami, and consequently, about Kirisaki Daiichi. Everyone was glad they were paying for what they did, even if it was for something else. His friends' voices echoed in his mind, he could still hear Aomine talking about how he knew since the start that they were a bunch of criminals, and how glad he was that they were receiving what they deserved, with everyone agreeing with him for once.
He couldn't describe the emotion that grew inside him while he listened his friends vent about Kirisaki Daiichi. He hadn't thought much about it, with all his focus on Kagami. But now that he was gone, Tetsuya had plenty of time to think about how he felt.
The feeling was pleasant, that was the first thing he noticed, something weird… He certainly didn't usually feel this emotion, was it happiness? No, he wasn't happy, he was still angry with them, hated them all a lot. But hate wasn't the emotion he was feeling now, it was something positive… They couldn't hurt anyone anymore, was he proud of what he did? No, he didn't do that himself, he just planned it. He just was so satisfied with his vengeance, they deserved that and more…
Then he realized, there was something he was supposed to feel, but he wasn't at all, he didn't feel guilty. That scared Tetsuya, what kind of person was he now? Even though they had hurt someone precious to him, he just put five teenagers in prison and he didn't feel even a bit guilty? Tetsuya ran his fingers through his hair. He would have gone for another walk if his experiences with night walks weren't so terrible. So in turn he decided he needed to talk to someone and he grabbed his cellphone, only to remember that all of this was a secret. He couldn't tell his friends about this.
With a sigh he lied down in his bed and looked at the ceiling. It was a pretty plain ceiling, nothing to look at and it suited him. He let his thoughts wander for a while before he started to scroll through the contact list on his cellphone, until he read the name of Izumi Arata. That was an option, people who were somewhat his friends, people he could talk about these kinds of things. He went to their chat group and sent a message explaining his struggle.
One minute later there was a response from Fukishima-san, saying he was too good and pure for this world. Since that wasn't helpful at all, he just send a disappointed but not surprised emoji. Takumi-san added he was too good to worry about something like that. Murakami said they'll be happy to corrupt him, Tetsuya didn't bother to answer that, then Izumi said that the fact he was worrying about it was proof enough to say he wasn't a bad person, yet, he added as an afterthought. Tetsuya could hear the playful voice in that single word. Deciding it was the best he will receive, he thanked them all and started an inane conversation that all of them were happy to follow. Later that night, he read the chat and ever so slowly, a feeling crept to his heart, too weak to know what it was, he just knew it was good and that it was towards that group.
Time passed by, and with it the Winter Cup arrived. Tetsuya kept training hard and his team could see his improvement. His stamina had increased a lot, he was faster, stronger and his aim had gotten better. They still felt the loss of Kagami, but Tetsuya chatted with him on video call at least three times a week and the entire team video called him once a week as well. Between their new players and Tetsuya's development, they still had hope.
The first match went well, Tetsuya's normal misdirection was enough for the victory. The second match against Rakuzan was really difficult. Tetsuya used all his new techniques and they nearly won the game, but it wasn't enough. The game ended 151-150, Rakuzan's victory.
That's how the Winter Cup ended for them.
Thanks to my amazing beta Darkwoods!
