Week 4, Day 2: Shadow

The first time Aomine watched Kuroko finally shoot the ball in the basket, three different thoughts popped into his head at the same time.

'He doesn't need me anymore.'

'He's so beautiful.'

'I love him.'

There was no fear, agitation or sadness. Just acceptance and perhaps resignation to the fact that the love of his life, the man he would have once called his shadow was no longer really his. When Kuroko turned around and beamed at him, Aomine also realized another thing.

The two of them had always been a team. On the court, they had done everything for each other. Outside it, they spent all their time together, and to see them separate in the waking hours of the day would lead some people to believe the world was ending. It was set in stone, Aomine was the light to Kuroko's shadow, and that was simply the way things worked.

But if Aomine really thought about it, that wasn't entirely true. Watching Kuroko, the strength that lay behind those eyes, the pain he must have gone through, the way his heart would never give up even if the world went to hell, the love and respect he still held for the man next to him… All of those weren't befitting of something as meager as a shadow.

In a game, Kuroko's strength and power weren't very noticeable, but how many times had they won thanks to his invisibility, his misdirection? How many times did his sheer determination get them through a match? How many times-

How many times had Kuroko saved him?

Saved him from his anger, from his disappointment, from the fear of his own blooming strength, from the apathy he felt for the rest of the world, from himself?

The day Aomine gazed upon Kuroko shooting that ball, and understood how much the boy really meant to him, how he had been his lifeline for so long, Aomine felt the urge to cry. He decided not to, though. He didn't have the right. The right to break down in front of Kuroko and to beg for forgiveness, he had lost it long ago.

So he held it in.

After Kuroko left, Aomine stayed for a while, it was the court they used to play in. The tears never came, no matter how painful it was. He just sat there, holding his head in his hands.

Aomine was the light to Kuroko's shadow. That's the way it always had been. He laughed bitterly, and alone, an empty feeling started growing in his heart.

"He was my light."

Aomine grimaced as he nearly choked on his sobs.

"He is my light."

Angst angst angst. This is one of the few basketball AoKuro things I've done, mostly because I believe it's overused, but I guess everyone AoKuro shipper has to do this at least once.