Chp 9

Summary: Kuroko, Kagami, and Aomine discussed what their future should be, if they do have a future together.


Outside of Kagami's Apartment


Kuroko fidgeted in place in front of Kagami's door, partly from the cold, but mostly from his nerves. Aomine lead him back here with such unshakeable conviction that Kuroko almost believed him when he said that Kagami had missed him. He wanted to believe him, but every inch of his body seemed to be as frozen as the weather outside.

Kuroko's indecisiveness has created this chasm between them, and his cowardice made him abandoned the ones he loved the most, just so he could soothe his own feelings. He couldn't believe himself for being so stupid. At the same time, all he wanted to do is to run up and kiss Kagami, but also to run away and never see the man again.

So they both stayed there, right out side of Kagami's door, waiting for something they both know wouldn't come by itself. "This is ridiculous." Aomine muttered a thousand lewd things under his breath and reached out to grab the door handle.

"No Aomine-kun it's locked-" Kuroko blinked as the don't door swing open easily. Behind it was Kagami sitting on the foyer with his head on his knees, desperately waiting for them. Kuroko's first instinct was to split and run back to the station, but Aomine had already grabbed his hand and threw him into the House.

"We're home." Aomine said, the traditional Japanese greeting sounding odd with his curt tone. Kagami looked genuinely surprised seeing them both in his foyer, pink cheeks, shoulders all covered in white, and snowflakes glittering on the tip of their eyelashes. They looked gorgeous, and cold, but they looked liked they stepped out of some picturesque editorial.

Kagami stood up and walked over to Kuroko, a million things ready to spill out of his mouth, but all that he could utter was some indiscernible babble. Kuroko looked down, unable to meet his eyes.

Aomine, as brash as he always had been, dropped his heavy coat and stomped away, making clear of his displeasure at the two's pace. "If it's so hard for you two to exchange some simple greetings then Imma take a shower and use the baths first." He said, making himself right at home. Left alone, the two stood quietly, still unsure of what to say. Kuroko looked up, ready to say something, but this time Kagami was the one who turned away.

"I had some stuff set up for a hotpot." He mumbled, walking over to the table filled to the brim with meat and produce. "It's just some vegetable and meat, and I didn't buy any fishcake since I hate-" Kuroko hugged him from behind, his cold hands desperately searching for some purchase as he reels from the emotions inside of him.

"I don't wanna be friends." Kuroko mumbled into Kagami's warm back, knuckle turning white as he grasped Kagami's body for purchase.

The redhead sighed and turned around, half expecting Kuroko teary eyed again. Much to his surprise, Kuroko's clear blue eyes looked at him with a kind of silent determination so intense it made him shivered. Kagami held up Kuroko's chin in his large hand, losing at the thought of how beautiful the boy was.

"You hear me Kagami-kun? I don't want to be friends." Kuroko said again adamantly, trying to brush away Kagami's idle hand.

"I hear ya." Kagami muttered quietly. He looked into Kuroko's eyes. "I don't want to be friends either."

Kuroko repeated those words slowly in his head, savoring each words and making sure that he understands them perfectly. Tentatively, he fell into Kagami's arm, savoring the warmth that man provided. He titled his head and looked up expectantly. Kagami closed his eyes and obliged.

He expected their first kiss as a couple to be special, a searing mess of passionate emotions and tangled tongues that would lead them into the bedroom. This kiss wasn't the fantasy that he conjured up in his mind to relieve his aching body, it was a gentle kiss, both full of restraint and filled with abandon, a painful relief from months of control over an unknown they both too scared to face on alone.

They were never alone, even when they're together they will always have a certain someone, for better or for worse, beside them, leading impatiently towards something new. Like this kiss.

When they pulled back, Kagami leaned in and rested his head on Kuroko's. "Aomine…" He sighed, not in displeasure. "Aomine isn't your friend either… is he?"

Kuroko titled his head at Kagami's coy words. The man usually lacks subtlety. Kuroko goes up to his toes and nuzzled his face close to Kagami's. "He's mine, just like you are mine." He said defiantly, knocking their heads together with an audible thunk. Kuroko yelped in pain and rubbed the sore spot on his forehead, drawing a chuckle from Kagami.

"That's what you get for trying to act cool." A voice called from behind them. Aomine took long strides and draw close to them, licking his thumb and pushing the sore spot of Kuroko's head, a common remedy that children give each other to fix all sorts of injuries.

"I thought you took a bath." Kuroko pulled away and try to escape the evil thumb, by burying deeper into Kagami's hug.

"Got bored waiting for the tub to filled. Took a shower instead. Any food?" Aomine glanced up to Kagami.

"Uh… yeah! We can start eating." Kagami disentangled himself from Kuroko and began bustling around the kitchen. In mere seconds, the table was filled with vegetables and slices of meat, with a pot of boiling stock in the middle of the table on a portable burner. They all took their seats as Kagami began to fill their bowls with rice and sauces.

"…What?" Kagami raised an eyebrow, completely aware of the intense stares that Aomine has been sending along his ways. It's not hostile… it's just unnerving to be watched so intensely like that. He always been the one watching, not being watched.

"Nothing." Aomine leaned away and turned his eyes to Kuroko, giving him a knowing look, mouthing the word 'wife', and jerking his head towards Kagami. Kuroko stole a look and blushed, nodding furiously while trying to stifle his laughter.

"What?!" Kagami shouted, now worried that the two are sharing a secret joke behind his back. Yet another thing they shared that he's excluded from.

"Oh it's nothing." Kuroko giggled, graciously holding out his hand to accept the bowl of hot soup and meat from Kagami. The redhead frowned. With the two bowls of morsel help up in the air as hostage, he demanded again.

"Tell me or I won't let either of you eat any meat." He said, his intense eyebrows furrowing even deeper into his forehead. Aomine rolled his eyes and stood up, plucking the tiny bowls from Kagami's hand.

"It's nothing. Don't think about it too much. Cook us some more meat, you.*"

Kagami open his mouth and closed it again as he slid back down to his seat, unsure weather Aomine was trying to be cute or picking up a fight.

"Come sit down, you*." Kuroko pulled on Kagami's sleeve.

"You guys are so mean." Kagami sulked, picking a piece of meat and chewing it despondently. Kuroko just laughed at the sullen expression decorating Kagami's face. Aomine pulled a big piece of meat from his bowl and offered it in front of Kagami's face.

Aomine stifled a laugh.

"Bakagami."


*Note: In Japanese, there's a number of way to say 'you.'; Kimi, and Anata, being the more polite way to say so. What Aomine and Kuroko was doing was referring to Kagami as 'Omae', which is a significantly ruder version of the word 'You', but it is also used by husbands to call their wives.


After dinner they quietly put away all the dishes and stayed that way for a while, quiet. Timid. The bustle and cheer from the dinner suddenly dampened by looming expectations in from of them.

The bedroom.

Of course they could pass time and pretend things are normal, but after a winter full of pretense and restrains, none of them felt like putting on that false front of being 'just friends' anymore. They're lovers, all three of them, and the thought scared them shitless.

Kagami felt like a prepubescent brat who froze when left alone with a girl. Aomine felt like he was walking on thin ice, and one wrong move could destroy this peaceful accord they have negotiated with each other. Kuroko is on the brink of falling into his old habits again, of trying to placate each other by giving them mediocre version of the relationship that they wanted. Not anymore.

He took both of their hands and gave them each a look, before walking away to Kagami's bedroom. Aomine almost blushed. He haven't seen that look in a while. That sultry demanding look that Kuroko gives when he wanted it bad. He followed the boy, resting his hand on the doorway to wait for Kagami.

Under Aomine's expectant gaze, Kagami finally seemed to get the idea and blushed furiously. Before he could make up any objections, he found himself already following them, sitting down on the bed to face the object of his desire. Aomine loocked the door behind them and turned off all the lights except for one, the one that's shining down on Kuroko like a spotlight as he took of his shirt and pants.

"Wait wait wait…. This is too weird." Kagami protested, but his mind was preoccupied by the pair of pink lips that's pushing against his own with a desperate persistence. He relented, letting himself down in the sensation only to be buoyed up to the surface Aomine's intense gaze.

Kagami pulled away, unsure how he felt about being watched like that. Kuroko didn't seemed to mind, being watched seemed to only spur him even more. He loved the fact that Kuroko has a bit of a voyeur in him, but those stares? God, another minute of Aomine's gaze and Kagami felt like he would do something he would regret tomorrow.

He looked up to face those eyes head on, surprised that Aomine's eyes are still stuck on him even with Kuroko climbing all over him."Why aren't you… angry? You gave me so much shit for even looking at him funny but now you-" Kagami was cut off by another kiss. Kuroko was insatiable.

Aomine raised his eyebrow. "I don't mind." He said lightly, taking off his shirt and laying down on his sides, watching them, stroking Kuroko's hair, as if he's urging the boy to deepen his kisses.

"You're nuts." Kagami moaned through Kuroko's lips, sliding down from the headboard and onto the pillows, suddenly feeling very faint, from kisses, from the glimpses of hard bodies and suggestive touches.

Aomine and Kuroko shared a look and grinned. Kuroko climbed over Kagami's chest and nuzzled his hair. "Would you mind if…" Aomine trailed.

"Mind what?" Kagami asked back, still confused.

"Would you mind if he were to kiss me?" Aomine asked, still looking at him with that sultry gaze of his.

Kuroko turned to him, his clear blue eyes no longer holding his usual calm restraint. His lips were open, his breath heavy, and his snowy white skin flushed with a tinge of pink.

"You can say no." Kuroko said earnestly. There, in that room, there was no judgment, only an over abundance of acceptance and love.

Kagami nodded. "Go ahead." Kagami nodded. Aomine smiled, sat back, and let Kuroko devoured his mouth, his eyes trained on the redhead, watching him, making sure that Kagami knows that he was now sharing their intimate kiss.

"Fuck…" Kagami muttered. He should be mad. He should be jealous. He should be itching to punch that smug smile off Aomine's face, but all he could think of was how amazing they both looked together.

Aomine pushed himself up and leaned closer to him. His skin was warm, unbearably so. His breath ragged, and on his lips played a mischievous little smile. "Would you mind if…" Aomine asked, his breath passing over Kagami's skin, sending jolts of electricity down his groin. He didn't need to finish that question. Kagami held his hand up and brought the man closer, only thinking of how amazing it would feel to kiss those lips.


The Next Morning


The two men stared at each other, one foot still firmly planted on dreamland. It usually isn't a big deal to have someone else sleeping in his bed, Aomine often slept over during the winter break. What's strange to Kagami was the fact that they're completely naked there, and the absence of a certain blue eyed boy.

"Last night was…"Kagami started.

"Yep."

"I mean we were-"

"Yep."

"Wow."

Silence.

"I never done that before."

"I could tell."

"… You little shit."

"Just saying."

"If you don't like it then you should't have-"

"I liked it." Aomine muttered. "A lot."

Kagami blushed and got out of the bed in a hurry. He still couldn't get used to this new Aomine, the one who aren't intent on proving Kagami wrong every single minute. Kagami busied himself to finding Kuroko, taking the sheets with him to cover his naked lower half.

He found Kuroko sleeping on the couch soundly, completely oblivious to the world around him, looking very cold with a thin sheet of blanket over him. He must've moved out after yesterday. His King size bed was not enough to contain all three tall basketball players. Kagami frowned and stroked Kuroko's head to gently wake him up. Maybe he should invest in some futons so they can all sleep together sex. That thought made him happier than when he won the winter cup.

Aomine walked out and yawned, grumbling about being hungry and cold at the same time. Kagami threw a crumpled paper at his direction and shushed him, completely enamored by Kuroko's sleeping face.

Aomine joined him, propping his elbows along the back of the sofa to watch Kuroko sleeping soundly, warmth spreading through his chest as he watched Kagami looked over a sleeping Kuroko with a gentleness that he never witnessed before.

"I love him so much." Kagami breathed just above a whisper, words spilling out as the feeling filled him to the brim of his being. Aomine chuckled and patted Kagami's head, smiling happily. He'll do anything to keep everything like this, to keep Kuroko happy and make up for lost time. To share him with someone as passionate as Kagami was a relief. Now he can give Kuroko the relationship that he deserved, one filled with love and attention that he failed to give before. He'll be there, with the two of them. He was the one who bought them all together, and he'll try his damnest to keep them together, no matter what it'll take.

'I'll do better this time ' He said to himself quietly, all the while stroking Kagami's hair until the big lug of a redhead leaned closer to him for a morning kiss.


Next Chapter: Epilogue and final chapter. Beyond relationship. Beyond love. Kagami, Kuroko, and Aomine tries to be a family even into adulthood.