Chapter 10: Lost Puppies

...

I let the cold rain run over my face. I lost… I actually lost. To Kuroko… I breathe in shakily. What went wrong? Didn't I tie my shoes well? Was my lucky item not big enough? What went wrong?

When I wanted to wallow myself further in my depressing thoughts, my cellphone started to ring.

"Yes?"

"Midorin!" Momoi's high pitched, girly voice went through the speakers. "It's been sooooooo long! How did it go?! Did you win? Did you lose –" I ended the call before she could speak further. I immediately received another call from my previous manager. "Momoi, what do you –"

"Midorima." Another voice than Momoi's called my name, it had been a long time I heard it.

...

~At a restaurant~

...

Takao and I walked into a restaurant to grab a bite. A pair of golden, red and blue eyes looked at me surprised. "What the!" Takao yelled but before he could end his question I grabbed his collar and pulled him out the restaurant. Just that very moment it started to storm harder and I was forced to enter the place again. Somehow Takao managed to set me at a table together with Kuroko, Kise and Kagami. Not a word was spoken in the next passing minutes.

"Why don't we order something?" Kuroko asked after some time. We did as he said, Kagami made a ridiculous order but Kuroko assured us it was normal. We ate in silence. Kuroko frowned when he took a bite. "It doesn't taste as good as Kagami's food."

That comment shocked both me and Kise. "K-Kuroko, a-are you two living together?!" the blonde player asked surprised. I noticed Kagami's ears turned pink.

"O-of course not! We happen to live in the same apartment building, that's all!" the red giant answered. I shove my glasses up, though it were the two people who had beat me so painfully at my game, this was mostly amusing. "Why are you getting flustered, Kagami?" I asked.

The red haired boy's blush deepened. "I-I'm not!" he groaned, not in the least intimidating me.

"Kagami-kun." Kuroko's clear voice interrupted us. "You are."

"I'm not!" he spat, he turned as red as his hair and stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom."

We watched how he left and heard a soft chuckle. Surprised both Kise and I looked at the bluenette.

He was slightly smiling and watched the redhead leave. "It's fun to tease him."

Again, Kise and I were surprised. Hypnotized I watched those curled cherry pink lips. The blue haired basketball player reached out to take another piece of his order but quickly pulled his hand back as he had burned it at the hot plate. "Ouch." He whined. Kise grabbed his wrist and examined it.

"It doesn't look too bad." He muttered.

"You think so?" Kuroko asked and tilted her head in the opposite way Kise tilted his. They almost looked like they were about to kiss. I cleared my throat and Kise looked up, in the process he noticed how close they were and quickly backed away, turning bright red.

"S-sorry, Kurokocchi." He apologized.

"For what?" our ex-member asked confused.

Kise placed the back of his hand before his mouth, his blush started to fade away. "N-nothing."

I frowned, what had been amusing with Kagami, was annoying with Kise. Why is he acting as a girl in love? Kuroko instead, looked like a girl… not a girl in love but… a girl. And that quite disturbed my mind. "I'm going to the bathroom too." Kise said and stood up. So we were left alone.

"Are you all right?" I asked him.

"Yes, I am. Thank you for worrying." He answered.

"No problem." I muttered. I took another bite of my plate. "Kuroko." I called him.

The boy looked up. "Yes?"

"Somehow… you're different than usual." I said, the thought had been on my mind for the whole time. For a moment, I think I saw panic flash trough the light blue eyes but it was so fast gone that I doubted it had actually been there.

"A lot of years have passed, Midorima-kun, everyone changes."

"If you say so."

Kise and Kagami joined us again and the rest of the evening was spent in peace. When I left them behind I gave Kagami a warning about Aomine.

...

Kagami's POV

...

~Outside the restaurant~

...

The members of Seirin High basketball club were standing in front of the restaurant, waiting for the last member to come out. Kise and Midorima had already left and now we were ready to leave until Hyuuga-senpai something noticed. "Where's Kuroko-kun?" he asked, looking behind him.

All the heads turned to the back of the group where the boy usual was, although no one usual noticed, but now there was no one standing there. There was a short moment of panic before Kuroko finally showed up again. With a dog in his arms. I froze to the spot.

My eyes couldn't leave the furry little pup with pale blue eyes that weirdly resembled Kuroko's. The puppy yawned and bared his teeth, before I knew it, I found myself hiding, spying on the little monster that was being cuddled by my team members.

The coach noted my absence. "Where's Kagami-kun?"

It wasn't fairly difficult to find a giant teen hiding behind an object smaller than him while radiating an aura of hatred and disgust which was directed to Kuroko's new pup. The bluenette looked from the dog to me and back.

"Could it be…" his voice trailed off. "Kagami-kun, are you afraid of dogs?"

My cheeks heated slightly and I hesitantly left my hiding place. "Of course not!" I barked violently to hide my discomfort while I stared menacingly at the little husky. The stupid pup just barked happily in response. Hyuuga-senpai and Riko-senpai snickered.

Kuroko cocked his head. He approached me and I had to control the growing urge to back away while he brought the pup closer to my face. When the white-black thing barked playfully, I fled to my hiding place. I scowled angrily at both Kuroko and the dog.

Kuroko chuckled – no, he giggled.

"That's cute." The bastard said and I felt my face go as red as my hair. My whole body grew hot with embarrassment. Muttering something unintelligent and insulting, I averted my eyes, not able to look Kuroko in the eyes.

Damn dog… Damn Kuroko…

I forgot to announce I was going to Switzerland on a holiday so sorry for updating so late! Really sorry! Please don't kill me because I promise next chapter will come sooner! Promise! Hope you enjoyed the chapter ^^