A/N: Thank you for all of your reviews! Reazthie, Killua17, deLovelyBones, Puncakegoddess, chibidumpling1198, Akatsuki1210, Awesome Guest, Guest, Churroko, HikarixYamixYaoi, and Rika Tone! :D
A/N 2: Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. I was with my family for Memorial Day weekend and once I got back I had a hard time writing it for some reason. I knew what I wanted to happen but just couldn't describe it well so had to re-write it. =( Hopefully I don't have another brain freeze for the next one..Sorry once again and hope you like it! :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or Magi.
Chapter 10
Shutoku Academy
Kagami groaned as he awakened from his sleep. In his half-awake state he only realized the lack of body heat after a few moments. Looking around he saw that his bed partner was nowhere in sight. But, rather than panicking he just frowned slightly. He should be used to this after all the past couple of weeks had been similar to this. Kuroko would have to get up early in order to not be late for his class. They didn't see each other much in the mornings or afternoons, but he was glad for their nights together, despite his earlier hesitance.
Getting up and looking out the window he saw that it was still pretty early, so Kuroko must've left recently.
Even after two weeks of him going to classes, Kagami was still amazed by how hard-working the usually quiet boy was. During their travels together after they met, it always seemed like Kuroko was satisfied by how things were. And he had to admit he kind of liked having someone look up to him as much as the bluenette did. But, now that Kuroko felt the need to get stronger it made Kagami wonder if the boy thought differently about him.
If Kuroko got stronger, then he wouldn't need the red-head to protect him anymore, which was the reason Kagami had even accepted the boys company in the first place. And with the possibility of him regaining his memories and forgetting about him, he worried that Kuroko would leave him someday. Just like...
'No, don't think about that.' He reprimanded himself.
He sometimes wished that he could forget about stuff just as Kuroko had. Just thinking about his past affected him...
'Guess I should get going.' Kagami grabbed his sword and headed for the door.
With the free time he had the red-head decided to improve his skills. He was embarrassed to show Kuroko his weak side that day in the dungeon. And since Kuroko was trying to better himself, he felt he should as well.
He left the room and went into the hallway, almost bumping into someone as he did so. Since both of them were equally surprised, he assumed that the glasses wearing bandit came out of his room at the same time.
He hadn't seen much of the man, since he's been cooped up inside of that room for hours a day because Riko wasn't around to force the man to step out of the room for more than just food and facilities. With Kiyoshi healing and getting healthier, Riko, Mitobe and Koganei had gone back to Seirin to check up on things for a few days.
"You're going again?" The man asked.
"Yeah." Kagami confirmed.
"You know, training by yourself isn't going to help..." Hyuuga said. "Why don't you ask Izuki? He should be waking up soon."
Kagami knew that the black-haired man was pretty good with a sword. He noticed it during the fight that took place the day he and Kuroko met the Seirin bunch, but he really prefered to train by himself. He used to enjoy sparring with other people, but over the years he'd learned to do it alone out of necessity. So, he wasn't comfortable with accepting the offer.
"It's fine. I'll be back later." Kagami said.
Hyuuga nodded and moved out of the way so the red-head could walk past him.
Kagami went down the stairs and out of the academy doors to a secluded area he had found a few days ago. There were no students and no trees, so there was no possibility of setting fire to the area around him if he did finally get his Metal Vessel to work.
He was starting to doubt that it could ever happen since he hadn't been able to produce even a spark of fire in all the time he's been training. However, he wouldn't give up since he was determined to improve himself and be the King Kuroko said he could be.
'Alright.' Ignoring the self-doubt, Kagami began practicing.
He was getting nowhere after thirty minutes when someone vocalized their presence.
"What are you doing?"
Kagami stopped in his movement of swinging his sword and whipped around to see who had interrupted his training. When he did he saw the familiar green hair that belonged to the Shutoku headmaster.
He was surprised to see him however because the man had practically been locked inside of the library after he settled Kuroko into his classes.
"Training." He mumbled.
"I'm trying to get this weapon to work..." Kagami said. He's been trying to do what Kise had with his lightning, but no matter how hard he tried not even a flicker of fire would come out. He was starting to think that the old-looking Djinn had lied to him or something...
'Ah, the Metal Vessel.' Midorima observed. During all the problems that have been happening, he had totally forgotten about the main issue at hand. The fact that the new people here were indeed starting a new Kingdom. Seeing the weapon and the circular symbol embedded onto the blade, made him realize that this person had indeed cleared the collapsed dungeon and was a King candidate.
"You'll just end up exhausting yourself that way..." The green-haired man could see that the red-head wasn't concentrating enough.
"I can do it." Kagami said, resuming his training. Kagami wanted, and needed to do this on his own. Not only that, but he didn't want to accept help from the man since he felt he was already indebted to him for everything he did since they came here.
Midorima highly doubted that since he's been here for a while and saw no improvement, but he nodded anyway. He leaned against the wall and watched since this could be a good time to access this new 'King'.
After a few minutes he had to admit that he did have some skills, but that alone wouldn't help him if he wanted to use the powers of the weapon...He was about to offer help when the red-head spoke, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence.
"So, can you tell me more about this 'Aomine'?" He wanted to ask Kise about him, but they had been interrupted by Midorima's and Takao's entrance that day.
Midorima normally would've just ignored him. But since the red-head was already involved in this whole thing, he decided to relent.
"Takao and I met Kuroko and Aomine before we joined the academy. Just as you both did, Aomine said Kuroko chose him to be King and they stopped by Shutoku."
"They both then created the Kingdom of Touou after a year."
"So, Kuroko really..." He trailed off.
"Yes, Kuroko really was Aomine's Magi."
He had clinged to the hope that maybe these people were mistaken, maybe his Kuroko was totally different from the one they knew... This only raised the question he had before, if Aomine really had that kind of relation with Kuroko then why wasn't he doing anything about it?
"What about his personality..?" He couldn't imagine what kind of person the man was that he'd leave the bluenette without searching for him.
"He found excitement at challenging others and was pretty reckless at first." Kagami could see the resemblance between them.
"But eventually he became untrusting of people after someone betrayed him and lost interest. Kuroko was the only thing that really kept him from completely shirking his duties." Midorima said, remembering the tanned mans lack of drive months after he and Kuroko formed Touou.
Kagami understood how badly betrayal could effect someone. He hadn't trusted anyone other than himself for many years, and preferred to go places solo. It had been an endless loop of doing jobs and other tasks to get his mind off of things. Until he met Kuroko... He didn't know what it was about the bluenette, but he just...made him feel better about himself. It was as if Kuroko was the one who saved him that day at the marketplace and not the other way around.
"Other than that you'll have to either wait for Kuroko to remember or go to Touou to ask him yourself." Midorima said.
If Kuroko ever got his memories back then he wanted to know that the bluenette wouldn't leave him...
"Do you think I can...be a better King than him?" Kagami asked.
Midorima regarded Kagami for a moment. As much as he wanted to trust Kuroko's decision, he couldn't help but notice the gap of strength between the navy-haired man and the red-head. But, Aomine had many years of practicing ahead of Kagami, so it was understandable.
"At your current level...no."
Kagami sighed. It was disheartening to know that the person Kuroko chose in the past was better than him, but he would keep trying and get better!
'If only I could get this sword to work...' He thought, glaring at the blade.
Midorima noticed the red-haired teens irritation and sighed. He'd help him this once...
"You won't be able to bring out the Djinn's power that way..." Kagami grunted but didn't exactly dismiss the his words, so he continued.
"You can't just swing it around and hope results will come." Midorima reprimanded. "You need to focus and listen to the weapon."
"Listen to the weapon..?" That sounded ridiculous... How could he listen to a unanimated object. But, the man had taught Kise how to use his own weapon, so he supposed that he knew what he was talking about. Still...
"A Djinn will only react if he finds you worthy. Just swinging it around and getting overworked will not help. Just relax and think about what you want to do."
'Ah..him...' He remembered the old Djinn they met in the dungeon. It did make sense... The man seemed to have a human personality so it would probably be better to stop doubting it.
Closing his eyes and breathing, Kagami gradually pushed all the frustration from himself and thought about what Midorima said to. He would use this to help Kuroko to save him from anything, just as he had that day they met. When he reopened them he caught the briefest flicker coming from the sword and grinned.
It wasn't much, only a small spark, but it was more than he'd been able to do for many days.
"Huh...thanks." Kagami said grudgingly. Who could blame him though? The man had practically ignored them the entire stay!
"It's nothing." Midorima said.
'Maybe he isn't so bad after all...'
"You obviously lack the intelligence to solve the problem on your own, so you needed the help."
'Then again, maybe not...'
Miyaji looked out at his students who were stretching and preparing to do their daily work outs. As he predicted the class of twelve had dwindled to less than half because they dropped out rather than completing the training.
However, even though most had failed, never had this many students stayed for the initial stage of class. He had expected much more of them to fail especially the youngest of the group.
But just as Midorima had told him, the boy was extremely persistent, and that persistence seemed to wipe off on many of the others who were still here had continued on, not wanting to be outdone by a weak-looking person.
Those attitudes were the ones that made the blonde decide that today was the day he would tell them about the decision he made the other night. From the improved performances and unbending wills of the remaining, he knew they were fit to move on.
"Alright you all, stop running and line up." Miyaji ordered. The students quickly complied without any complaints, eager to put a stop to their daily training even if it would only be long enough for an announcement.
Once everyone was standing in front of him, he sent them a leveled and thoughtful look before nodding to himself. Satisfied by the way they moved right away at his command, he announced his verdict.
"You've all done a decent job the past two weeks, and I've decided that you're all ready to learn magic without it putting too much strain on your bodies. Starting tomorrow you shall all learn how to control your magoi."
There was a moment of complete silence as they all processed what they were being told. Even the loud Tsugawa didn't know what to say at the unexpected announcement.
"D-Does that mean we're done with the physical training?" One of the students asked.
Miyagi sighed at the evident relief in the students voice. "Yes..."
There was an evident lightening of the atmosphere as all the students attitudes changed from confused to excited. They were finally done with all this torture!
"Meet in the classroom everyday from now on. We have a lot to do if you all are going to be able to pass the exam." The blonde said.
When he gave them a look that they had learned was for their dismissal, all five of them exited the room.
"Isn't this great, Kuroko? No more running or working out!" Tsugawa shouted in relief. Sure he didn't mind the occasional run, but with the many laps and activities their teacher made them do was more than he wished to do.
"Yes, Tsugawa-kun." Kuroko said, smiling. Not only did this mean that there would be no more painfully hard exercise for him, but it also meant he might be able to spend more time with Kagami, who he had only seen for a few minutes a day for the past few weeks.
"Want to go get lunch?" Tsugawa asked. They usually trained until nighttime and by then it'd be time for dinner and then curfew, so this was a chance to finally get an early meal!
Kuroko didn't know what to say. One one hand he wanted to join the teen for some food, but on the other he wanted to see his red-haired friend...
"Oh right, you probably want to go to Eyebrows, huh?" Tsugawa knew how clingy the two were.
"Please Tsugawa-kun, Kagami-kun doesn't like to be called that." Kuroko said, frowning slightly. The bluenette noticed the glare his friend put on his face whenever Tsugawa would call him that. So it was obvious Kagami didn't like it, but Tsugawa kept doing it anyway.
"No way! It's too fun!" The shaved-haired teen grinned at the pout on the bluenette's face and ruffled his hair. "Alright, I'm going to the dining hall to get some lunch. See ya later, Kuroko!"
Kuroko nodded at his friend and watched as he walked down the hall. When he disappeared from sight, the bluenette went the other way and up the stairs that led to the section of the school that he and his friends were staying at.
Once he reached the room he entered and walked inside. Kuroko smiled when his eyes landed on the occupied bed in the room. Kiyoshi had definitely gotten better since Nakatani had given him that colored liquid. Not only had his complexion darkened, but his breathing had evened out and the man no longer looked to be in pain as well.
Taking his attention from the brown-haired man he looked around the room. He saw Hyuuga, and Izuki, but no Kagami.
"Is Kagami-kun still out?" He asked sadly.
The others in the room, who hadn't noticed the boy was there jumped at the voice. When they saw the blue hair they instantly relaxed. Even though they were assured that no one else could enter besides their group and the teachers, they still didn't feel completely safe in this new and unfamiliar place even after two weeks.
"Hey, Kuroko." Hyuuga greeted.
"You're out early!" Izuki noticed. They had barely seen the bluenette for days and for him to be here before nightfall was strange.
"Miyaji-san said we're done training and we can start practicing magic now." Kuroko said, giving the cat-faced man a smile.
"Is Kagami-kun in our room?" The bluenette asked hopefully. He had no idea where Kagami went during the day, so he hoped his friend was there.
"Sorry, Kuroko. Kagami's still gone." Hyuuga stated.
"Ah..." The boy frowned. He hoped to see Kagami and tell him all the good news...
Izuki patted the boy's hair and gave him a reassuring look.
"Did your friend get out of class early too?" Izuki asked. The shaved-haired teen had on occasion brought the bluenette back to his rooms when he was too worn out to walk and they had met him a few times.
"Yes, Tsugawa-kun went to get lunch." Kuroko said.
"Why don't you go with Tsugawa and if I see Kagami I'll tell him where you are." Izuki suggested, trying to cheer the boy up.
Kuroko debated it. He wanted to tell Kagami-kun of what happened today, but he had to admit that he was a little hungry...
"Okay." He said, getting up from the bed. He was almost to the door when he heard Hyuuga talk to him.
"You're sure that you remember where the dining hall is?" Hyuuga asked. They didn't need another repeat of what happened the first day they were here...
"Yes, thank you for your concern, Hyuuga-san." Kuroko replied. After going to and from classes by himself, he had laid out a mental map of the place.
Kuroko bowed to them all and went to the dining hall. When he opened the doors, he was assaulted by the loud chatter of many students. It was unusual him since during dinner not many would be here at night. He really didn't like to be in big crowds without Kagami...
"Hey! Kuroko, over here!" Tsugawa called from the end of the table. He had gotten a little used to the boy's lack of presence since he was always looking for him on their runs to make sure he was doing okay.
The bluenette turned to the direction of the voice and saw not only Tsugawa there, but also Tanimura and Papa, who he had not seen a lot of since they too were busy with their own classes. Without further delay Kuroko went through the crowd of students and sat down once he reached the table his friends were at.
There were two empty seats at the table, one beside Papa and the other beside Tanimura. He didn't know which one to sit at...
"You can sit here, Kuroko-kun." Tanimura said, motioning to the empty space beside him.
The bluenette, glad that he didn't need to choose, sat in the offered space and got a couple of fruits from the bowl on the table.
"I thought you were going to meet Eyebrows." Tsugawa said.
"Kagami-kun is still out, so I came to eat." Kuroko said.
"What's your relationship anyway?" The two were practically glued together whenever they had the chance.
"You two seemed pretty close when we saw you the day you got lost." Tanimura commented before ginning mischievously. "Are you...boyfriends?"
"What's a 'boyfriend'?" The bluenette asked.
"W-Well. It's...uh... someone you like, and spend time with, I guess." Tsugawa explained awkwardly. He wasn't good with this relationship talk...
Kuroko thought about it. He definitely liked spending time with Kagami and he was a boy and a friend.
"Don't be stupid, Tsugawa. I was just teasing." Tanimura said. "I'm sure they are just good friends. It's not like they're sleeping together or anything. Right, Kuroko?"
"Oh, yes."
"See I told yo-." The blonde was interrupted by the blue-haired boys voice as he continued his sentence.
"Kagami-kun and I sleep together." Kuroko replied, smiling. He really enjoyed sleeping with Kagami, but lately with classes he had to leave the comfort of his red-haired friend early in the morning.
"You and Eyebrows sleep together!?" Tsugawa could believe that Kagami would do something like that, but Kuroko seemed far too innocent for such actions!
"Yes, every night." He didn't see what was wrong with that.
'Every...night..?' They never knew how bold the bluenette was. Announcing something like that so shamelessly. There had to be a reason! Had the red-head tricked the poor bluenette?
"Did he take...advantage of you, Kuroko?" Tanimura whispered. When he saw the blue-haired boy tilt his head in confusion he elaborated. "Did he make you do it?"
"No, I started it." He responded. First Kise had asked that question and now Tanimura..? What was so wrong with him being in the same bed with his friend?
'Okay...' It was strange that the boy had been the one to start all of it, but it seemed as if the two liked each other...
"So, just how did you meet Kagami, Kuroko?" Tsugawa asked. He couldn't help but wonder how they met. The two were total opposites. While Kuroko was quiet and polite, Kagami was loud and short-tempered, something he definitely enjoyed using to his advantage when annoying the red-head. And also the fact that Kagami had no magical powers also left him to question the nature of their meeting.
The others, glad for a change of pace from the awkward conversation, nodded.
"Yeah, we haven't really talked about that." Tanimura said, interested to know as well.
"Kagami-kun and I met one day in town."
"That's all..?" Tsugawa asked. He thought the red-head and bluenette's encounter would've been something more than just deciding to travel together on a whim.
"Well...Kagami-kun saved me from some people." Kuroko said.
"What'd they try to do to you?" Tsugawa asked.
"This man gave me something that made me unable to move and then said something about offers and slaves." Kuroko still had no idea what the men had meant by that, but he took Kagami's word on not trusting or accepting things from strangers.
"You accepted something from someone you didn't know..?" Papa asked increduously. Was this kid serious? First Tsugawa told him that the bluenette had no idea about elemental magics and now they learn he was also naive enough to accept things from strangers?
"Yes." Kuroko said bluntly. "He said it was sweet and I had an apple before it...so he gave it to me."
Hearing about the events that led to their meeting, it was no wonder that red-head was so overprotective of the bluenette... Leaving such an oblivious and trusting person alone like Kuroko would lead to some bad things...
"Haha, it's a good thing that you met him." Tanimura said. If someone with lesser kindness had found the bluenette, then he was sure that the boy would most definitely be sold into slavery.
Kuroko nodded in understanding. They did have a point. With the world being such an exceptionally large place it was very lucky for him to have met his red-haired friend that day. Kuroko couldn't even imagine how differently things would have been if they hadn't met and stayed together.
"What about you?" Kuroko asked. They seemed to get along well together and from the way they interracted he wondered if they had also had similar meetings.
"Well, Papa and I both come from Shinkyo, so we knew each other before coming here. We only met Tsugawa after coming to the academy since he's from Seiho." Tanimura explained.
"But, how'd you meet?" Kuroko wondered how someone from Sixth Kodor could've met the two. He noticed how separate the different classes were and how much limited free time there was, so he wondered just how they met in such a short time.
"Tsugawa was in Fifth Kodor last month and failed the exam this time, so he went back to Sixth instead of advancing to Fourth like Papa and I." Tanimura with a smirk.
"Ahh! Don't tell Kuroko that, Tanimura!" Tsugawa said. He had managed to avoid talking about that for the whole two weeks of training and here Tanimura ruined it! It was one thing to be placed in Sixth Kodor from the start like Kuroko had been, but to be dropped down into it from a higher one was just plain embarrassing.
"E-Excuse me." An apprehensive sounding voice said from behind Kuroko and his friends.
They all turned around to see a nervous looking brown-haired teen who was standing there and shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably.
"Do you mind if I sit with you? All the other seats are taken..." They looked around and saw that indeed every table had people sitting in it. Well, all except the table where the terrible two twins were occupying, and they couldn't blame the new comer for preferring them over those two.
"Hey, you're that Third Kodor guy." Tanimura noticed. It was pretty hard not to since the events that took place during the entrance exam. Not only had he been the only one to go the Third class, but he had also been attacked that day. Things like that were pretty memorable...
"Y-Yes." The brown-haired teen confirmed.
Kuroko's eyes widened in recognition. This was the person who got hurt by those blue flames. He had seen what damage those flames could do, and was glad that the person hadn't been hurt as bad as the people in his vision.
"Sure you can sit here." Tanimura said.
"Th-Thank you." The brown-haired teen said gratefully, taking a seat at one of the empty ones.
Unfortunately such seat was the one Kuroko was occupying, not noticing the boy was there the teen started to sit there but stopped when he heard a soft 'ow'. Looking down he saw the that there was indeed someone sitting there already and he immediately stood straight up and panicked.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"It's not your fault. I should have said something before." Kuroko reassured. He knew it wasn't the others fault and Kagami had almost done the same thing the first few days after they met, so he was sort of used to it happening.
Sakurai stared at the blue-haired boy in shock usually anyone would get angered if someone rudely sat on them. And why hadn't he noticed him before..?
"You should really let yourself be known, Kuroko..." Tsugawa said.
"Ah, I'll try harder Tsugawa-kun." The bluenette promised.
Glad that he had been forgiven he went to sit in the available seat, checking it once to be sure there weren't anymore invisible people there...
"So, what's your name?" They hadn't really paid attention when Takao called the brown-haired teen's name when he got placed into a high Kodor.
"Oh, I-I'm S-Sakurai Ryo."
"Nice to meet you Sakurai!" Tsugawa grinned. "I'm Tsugawa Tomoki." He pointed to the blonde. "This is Tanimura Yusuke." He turned his attention to the dark-skinned teen. "Papa Mbaye Siki." Then lastly to the blue-haired boy. "And Kuroko Tetsuya."
Kuroko smiled and waved at the teen, who looked back at him with a concentrated look. He had been too startled to notice the boys appearance before, but now that he got a good look at him he felt like he's seen this boy somewhere before... but he couldn't quite place it... Deciding he was probably mistaken, Sakurai dismissed the thought and returned the smile and wave with a small one of his own.
"This is your first year here right?"
"Y-Yes it is." Sakurai replied with a nod.
Everyone was impressed. To get to Third Kodor on the first try was almost impossible! And for such a timid and fragile looking person to be able to do that was even more so.
"What you did that day was amazing!" Tsugawa shouted in amazement.
"N-Not really." Sakurai insisted. "I just did what everyone else did..."
"It wasn't that good.." Papa said, looking away boredly. Seriously making a fuss over something like this.
Tanimura rolled his eyes at his attitude and addressed the newcomer.
"You must've had prior training right?" Sakurai nodded.
"Cool! You had to of had a great teacher! Where are you from?" Tsugawa spoke in a fast manner. Sakurai couldn't possibly hear everything he said so he hesitantly spoke.
"U-Uh... I'm sorry, what did you say?" He reluctantly asked as if someone would hit him for it. Tsugawa raised a brow and repeated the question.
"We were asking you where you came from. Unless you're a resident here?" Shutoku wasn't just a school. Outside of the academy gates was a whole community of magicians who were placed in housing depending on their ranks and skills. It truly was a place where you get benefits from being able to use magic, unlike many other places in the past where people would get scorned and looked down upon for having such abilities.
"Oh, no I'm not from here. I'm from Touou..." Sakurai informed.
"What?! THE Touou?" Tsugawa asked loudly before grunting in pain when Tanimura elbowed the obnoxious teen to get him to quiet down.
"I heard that place was pretty strict..." Tanimura mumbled. There were many rumours about how the King would slay the insignificant people of the Kingdom on mere whim.
"I don't know what happened since I only joined Touou a few months ago. But Aomine-san hasn't done anything remotely like that while I've been there..."
'Aomine-san...' The name made Kuroko think back to when Midorima had explained his vision to him. How the teen he has seen in his visions was called that name. He had the urge to ask Sakurai what he knew about him, but after that vision the other day and from Kagami's worry he wasn't sure he wanted to know... How could someone he's never met make him feel both eager to meet him and at the same time fearful..?
"Ah, I see... What part are you from?" Tanimura asked. Touou had four sectors to their knowledge. The Palace where the King and his guard lived. The city, where the richest of them stayed. The farming lands, where citizens who could support themselves were allowed to live comfortable lives. And the Outskirts, where people were barely looked out for and usually fended for themselves. Every Kingdom had such a place, but Touou's dealings with them were different from the others.
"I live in the palace..." They hadn't expected such a weak-looking person to be there even if he had strong powers.
"You're royalty?" Papa asked, interested in the change of conversation.
"N-No, I'm a new guard there. I got recruited a month ago by Imayoshi-san. He said that Aomine-san needed another powerful magician since his other one disappeared. And then Momoi-san sent me here to improve my skills."
"I heard they closed their gates to outsiders a few months ago." Papa provided.
"Yes, I'm not sure why though. Whenever I ask no one tells me..." Sakurai said with a frown. He knew it must be a good reason, but he was curious as to why Aomine felt the need to close everything off.
"Hm, that's weir-." Papa was interrupted.
"Hey, if it isn't Mr. KnowItAll." Someone said.
Kuroko saw that it was the two 'twins' from the exam. Looking at them made him remember the powers they used against Sakurai... He still wasn't over the things he saw that day... The screams and looks of pain on the people's faces and the cold and angry look on that tanned teens face when it happened.
'Great...' Just what they needed. Perhaps they shouldn't have let someone who was already the twins main focus sit with them...
"Oh, you've got friends huh?" The one on the right asked, smirking at the other three at the table.
"I'm surprised you're all brave enough to befriend this guy after what we did to him." The other twin said, with a glare.
Kuroko was confused. Was it wrong for Sakurai to have friends..?
"Come on. Show us just how good you are."
"I-I'm sorry, but I can't." Sakurai stuttered, feeling pressured but not enough to see any reason to do as they asked.
"Huh? You can't..?"
"Fighting isn't a-allowed in school..." He tried to reason with them, but they resumed.
"I think he's afraid Akio."
"Of course he is. If he was really as good as he was in the exam then he'd accept. Perhaps he cheated then, Aito."
Sakurai looked down at his lap, trying to ignore the taunts being sent his way. He didn't know why these two had tried to attack him... All he had done at the exam was do as he was told and preformed a spell. Kuroko noticed this and spoke up.
"Please, don't talk badly of Sakurai-kun. He's very nice." Kuroko said, frowning.
They both looked at the origin of the voice and saw the blue-haired boy for the first time. Surprised by the appearance, they momentarily stopped their taunting.
"Kagami-kun said it's bad to bully people." The bluenette said. The first day he met Kagami all he knew was that he felt an urge to save that woman from those two men on the street. Later Kagami had told him what they were doing and it was similar to what they were doing to Sakurai. He simply didn't think it was right to be mean to people.
"Heh?" They shared a look. Was this kid for real..?
"And Sakurai-kun doesn't seem to be the type of person to cheat."
Others in the lunch room had turned to look at the scene after the arguing had stopped. With all the attention of them they couldn't just let the matter drop.
"Is that so..?" One twin grinned mockingly down at the boy and went closer to him. "And what are you going to do about it shrimp?"
Tsugawa was about to defend his friend, not wanting a repeat of the other day, but it seemed Tanimura beat him to it.
"I suggest you stop causing a commotion." Tanimura said.
"Oh yeah, why should we?" The twin on the right asked, narrowing his eyes as if challenging the blonde to give them a good enough reason to as he told.
"Well, it's really up to you. But, unless you want to be expelled from this academy, I suggest you let him go." Tanimura said with a smile. "After the stunt you both pulled the day of the entrance exam both of you must have gotten in some serious trouble. You don't another strike against you over something like this, do you?"
The teen glared at the blonde, but otherwise didn't budge. They definitely would get into more trouble if they caused another disturbance. But, this boy had dared to speak up against them! He went to continue dealing with him when a voice spoke.
"Kamata." The two identical teens shifted their gazes to the direction of the voice. When they did they saw a very displeased green-haired headmaster standing there. "Is there a problem here?"
"Hello, headmaster." They all greeted, Kuroko decided to do the same since they were, but it felt weird to call the green-haired man that when he was used to addressing him as 'Midorima-san'.
"No, we were just chatting with our new friend here." He said, slinging a shoulder around Kuroko's shoulder.
"Is that true, Kuroko..?"
The bluenette tilted his head to the side at the change of a situation. The two of them really hadn't done anything other than 'chat' with them, but it had been very mean things... And now they were smiling and acting friendly..? Maybe this person was sorry for what he did and was trying to be friendly? If that was so, then he couldn't possibly get them into trouble.
"Yes, we were chatting." The twins both looked genuinely surprised by the answer, but didn't complain about it. While Sakurai left it to the boys kindness. After all he had almost sat on him and the boy hadn't been angry at all, so it made sense he would do this as well.
Midorima was still suspicious but deciding to drop it.
"Well, that's good but you two must go. Nakatani has work for you." The green-haired man said. The two twins were assigned with assisting the potions expert as punishment for their actions that day.
With a nod the two left, sending a glare at the five teens at the table before slamming the door shut.
When they were gone, the tense atmosphere dissolved and they breathed a sigh of relief that they didn't have to deal with them anymore. Sure, they couldn't have used magic, but those twins were bad news and they didn't want anything to do with them.
"Why did you let them pick on you?" Tsugawa questioned. "You got into Third Kodor, so you could definitely take them on!"
"W-Well, it's not good to hurt people, if I did then I'd be just like them..." Sakuraid said softly.
The bluenette stared at the brown-haired teen and couldn't help but feel they had something in common. He also didn't like the prospect of hurting others.
"Th-Thank you for trying to help me Kuroko-kun." Sakurai said in gratitude.
"You don't have to thank me Sakurai-kun. We're friends, right?"
Sakurai froze. No one had wanted to be his friend yet in the whole two weeks he started here. And for someone as forgiving and kind as the blue-haired boy to want to be his friend... He felt happy for the first time since coming here.
"Y-Yes." The brown-haired teen smiled at the bluenette, who smiled back.
"Thank you as well headmaster." Midorima nodded.
"Just try to stay away from them, Sakurai." The green-haired man said. "Anyway, let's go Kuroko, Kagami's looking for you."
The others were surprised that the bluenette knew the headmaster well enough for the man to address him personally.
"See you in class tomorrow, Kuroko." Tsugawa said with a grin. They were finally going to be able to learn some real stuff!
"Yes, Tsugawa-kun." Kuroko said, before bidding farewell to the others at the table. "Goodbye Tanimura-kun, Papa-kun, Sakurai-kun."
They all said their separate goodbyes and Kuroko got up from his seat to follow the man who was almost out of the large doors that belonged to the dining hall. Picking up his pace the, bluenette walked beside the man.
"Is Kagami-kun okay?" Kuroko asked. Izuki and Hyuuga knew where he went, so if his friend was back then Izuki must have told him where he went.
"He tried to look for you in the arena but you were not there. I was going to assist him since it would be a bother if you got lost, when I had to attend to the problem with the Kamata's. It was mere chance that you were at the same place Sakurai was."
Kuroko accepted the reasoning for how the man found him, but it still left the question of how he knew the twins were picking on Sakurai.
"How'd Midorima-san know that they were there?" He asked.
"After the incident, we put a charm on Sakurai. If they come within a certain distance of him then it alerts one of us."
"Midorima-san really cares for the students." Kuroko stated with a smile. The green-haired man was extremely helpful and he couldn't help but admire that.
"D-Don't be absurd. It's merely my job." Midorima cleared his throat and adjusted his monocle before walking ahead. "Get going now, that red-head has been looking for you."
The bluenette nodded and bowed to the green-haired man before taking off to meet with Kagami.
Kagami nervously paced around the room he and Kuroko shared. Where would he be?! He checked the arena, the library, and searched the halls near their room, but there was no sign of the bluenette anywhere.
'Maybe Hyuuga knows...' He was about to go out and ask when he heard the sound of a door opening.
"Kuroko! Where were you?!" Kagami shouted as soon as he saw the door open. Luckily it was the said boy at the door and not anyone else because he would've been mortified if Hyuuga or worse Midorima heard how worried he was.
"I was eating with Tsugawa and the others." Kuroko said, as he sat down on his bed.
Kagami let out a sigh of relief and plopped down next to him. When he finished training and headed over to the arena to watch Kuroko work out the boy hadn't been there, in fact no one had been. So, imagining the worse he checked everywhere to no avail.
With his worry ceasing, Kagami noticed that Kuroko seemed slightly more cheerful than he'd been in days.
"What happened at lunch?"
"I made a new friend today." The bluenette responded.
"Huh? Who?" Kagami had to admit that he was more than a little jealous that Kuroko had hung out with yet another person besides him.
"Sakurai-kun."
"Is he in your class or something?"
"No, he's in Third Kodor." The bluenette clarified.
There was only one person who could be in that class, and Kagami remembered well what happened to that teen that day.
"Oh, that boy who-." Kagami cut himself off. He didn't know what made Kuroko upset that day, but he didn't want a repeat of what happened. He quickly changed the subject before the bluenette could notice.
"What were you doing out of class so early anyway?" Had that insanely strict blonde teacher decide to give them a day off for once? He somehow doubted that...
"We don't have to do physical training anymore. We're starting magic next class." Kuroko stated with an eager smile.
"That's great, Kuroko." Kagami said, ruffling Kuroko's hair. He really was proud of his accomplishments and even more so that he wouldn't need to see the bluenette worn-out everyday after the strenuous activities that teacher gave them.
"Where was Kagami-kun today?"
Kagami paused in his petting. He never told Kuroko about his secret training, and since Kuroko was always busy in the mornings he had been able to practice and get back to the room before the bluenette. But, since he got out early today and noticed his absence he supposed he could tell him...
"Uh, I was training..."
Kuroko tilted his head to the side. Kagami hadn't trained since they left for Seirin. He always knew that the red-head put things aside for him and felt bad for being the cause of him not being able to do what he enjoyed.
"I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time, Kagami-kun." The bluenette said frowning. If he hadn't lost his memories, then things would be much easier on the red-head.
"Don't be silly. You're not any trouble. Things have just been...hectic. And I didn't feel up to it." He admitted.
"What do you mean?" Other than the run in with Kise, everything had gone relatively well. What was causing Kagami to be down about it?
"Well, in that dungeon I felt like I let you down. I put us both in danger and Kise would've hurt or killed me if you hadn't jumped in the way and shielded us. I just.. don't want to ever have you to be in that dangerous position again..." Kagami admitted. "And then when you started taking classes because of that I...I don't know." He couldn't explain this need to impress this person.
"I didn't start taking classes because I don't believe in Kagami-kun." Kuroko said with a frown.
"Then why?" Midorima had said that Kuroko had taken classes because of him.
"I wanted Kagami-kun to be able to believe in me just like I do to you. I can't do much and I'm not sure if I can actually fight with people... but I want to be able to do something for Kagami-kun." Kuroko answered. "When Kise-san attacked you... I felt really bad about not being able to do anything to stop it."
"You shielded me, remember?" Kagami pointed out, trying to cheer the boy up.
"Yes, but I was afraid of that magic. Midorima-san said that by learning magic I could get used to it. Midorima-san helped me realize that there are people who hurt others for no reason..."
Kagami remembered how distraut the bluenette was the day Midorima spoke to him in private.
"Did that have anything to do with why you were crying that day?" Kagami asked.
Kuroko stiffened a little at the mention of his actions that day.
"I saw something from my past...or at least Midorima-san said it was..." Kurko said.
"What did you see?" He wondered what he could've seen that'd make him that sad.
"Aomine-san attacked some people... There were all covered in blue flames." He had tried to forget about it since that day, but now it was being brought up again and he couldn't help but feel the same fear.
"They were in so much pain..." Kagami didn't miss the slightly shaken voice
Seeing how distressed the bluentte became at the memory of it made him feel bad for bringing the subject up, but that was nothing compared to the hatred that flared inside of him for the person who was responsible. For the first time he was glad that he wasn't being compared to that Aomine guy.
Kagami brought Kuroko closer to him and pulled the bluenette into a hug to calm him down.
"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you Kagami-kun. I didn't want to be a bother and worry you." Kuroko explained.
Kagami was a little hurt by the fact Kuroko didn't think he would care about his problem, but he supposed that it was his own fault since as he himself hadn't told the bluenette anything from his past as well.
"It's alright." He reassured. "Don't think about it, okay?"
He felt Kuroko nod against his chest and heard him release a sigh as the tension from the memory left his mind.
"If you ever see anything like that again... I don't mind listening." He wanted Kuroko to be able to share anything with him and for the bluenette to be able to rely on him no matter if it was from physical or emotional dangers. And he had no doubt that whatever happened in the past hadn't been his fault. Kuroko was too earnest and wholesome to hurt anyone as he said he remembered.
Kuroko looked at the red-head from his position and saw that Kagami didn't look irritated at his previous actions at all. The fact that Kagami didn't think any different about him after hearing everything made him feel better. He had been worried that the red-head would want nothing to do with him after knowing he had been involved in something horrible before losing his memory. But, just like always Kagami was there or him and he appreciated that greatly.
"Thank you, Kagami-kun."
Kagami stared as Kuroko let an authentic smile form on his face, and felt a familiar sensation fill him. Just like when he say how angelic the bluenette looked as he was healing him that moment after they cleared the dungeon.
He went through all that training for him and he cared for people despite their flaws. Kuroko truly was a beautiful person inside and out.
He didn't know when he started seeing Kuroko this way. Maybe when the boy had put so much faith in him that night he chose him to be his King? No... Kagami knew it was even before that. Perhaps this attraction was from the moment they met.
Kagami found that it didn't matter when they started, the fact was he liked Kuroko. He wasn't used to the feeling called love since he's never really experienced it before, but if it was the feelings he felt inside of him right now... The want to treasure this rare person, to have Kuroko feel the same about him as he does. Then maybe it was love.
Taking a chance, Kagami stared into Kuroko's blue eyes as he slowly reached a hand to cup his pale cheek with his hand. Not seeing any fear or worry, he leaned closer to capture the soft looking lips that belonged to the bluenette.
Kuroko watched with questioning eyes as Kagami's face got inches from his before he felt the pressure of lips upon his. As soon as they made contact the bluenette felt something rush through him. It was a different feeling than when his friends Rukh would envelop him when they were close together or holding hands. It was as if a jolt went through his whole body, and although it felt strange and unusual to what he was used to, it wasn't exactly unpleasant...
A moment later Kagami pulled away and opened his eyes, getting full view of the slightly dazed and confused look in Kuroko's eyes and realized what he'd just done.
He mentally cursed himself for acting on his feelings. He had been so entranced that he hadn't noticed what he was doing until it was already done. Of course the bluenette would be confused, and the fact that Kuroko had no idea about what happened made it worse. He felt horrible for taking advantage of the situation...
"S-sorry Kuroko." The silence that followed the kiss made him lose some confidence.
Kuroko touched his lips in wonder before looking into Kagami's red eyes and seeing the barely concealed disappointment in them, cleared up the misunderstanding.
"No, I...liked it." Kuroko said.
"R-Really?" The red-head asked, scratching the back of his head, still feeling a little dubious.
The bluenette nodded and smiled again to confirm the statement he made.
"Well, uh. I'm glad you liked it..." He replied lamely.
Kuroko noticed the red-head awkwardness and did what Kagami would do if he were the one in that position. Wrapping his arms around his friend and he knew that it had worked when he heard Kagami let out a small chuckle before ruffling his hair.
They both sat like this for a while, taking in the newfound information and feelings that they admitted to each other. Their future was uncertain and they both lacked experience, but they knew that despite all that, whatever problems they faced from now on, they'd always have each other.
A/N 3: Was the kiss scene too sudden? Or too soon? Never wrote one as descriptive as this one. XD Oh, and next chapter the story line will progress I promise! I needed Kuroko to meet Sakurai and for Kagami to work on his own things before continuing. =)