Kagami's phone rang incessantly. Aomine could hear the tones of some American song through the door. She tapped her foot, a little cold. How dare Taiga not reply her messages? Or her calls? After- she blushed a little, in the cooling air. After yesterday.
Asshole! She pounded on the door, and, unexpectedly, it gave way into an unlit apartment.
She inched into the house. The curtains were half-drawn, but this late- after school and after practice- Taiga should have been home, should have turned on the-
"Aomine-san," said Kuroko.
Aomine screamed and almost flung her bag at Kuroko.
"Aomine-san," said Kuroko, disapprovingly.
Aomine leaned on the back of Taiga's one chair and reminded herself not to give her friend the further satisfaction.
"What are you doing here?" said Kuroko, sweeping past her to put a bag on the counter of the kitchenette.
"What are you?" Aomine retorted.
"Kagami-kun is sick," said Kuroko, fishing a box of medicine from the shopping bag. "I've brought his homework, but he didn't have any fever medication in the house."
"Sick?" said Aomine, and throwing down her bag she walked directly into his bedroom.
Taiga was curled in his bed, red-faced with a huge jug of formerly iced water at his bedside, a towel lying crumpled next to it and next to that- Aomine's face pinked. He'd put the ball she'd given him yesterday there, in pride of place, and stuffed t-shirts in it to keep its shape.
Taiga did not look well. His shirt was soaked with sweat, and when Aomine touched his head, it was burning. His breath was shattered and he looked more unconscious than asleep.
"Bring out the towel," called Kuroko, from outside. Aomine hastily snatched her hand back.
"How'd he get sick?" she said to Kuroko, walking out with the towel. "He was fine yesterday."
Kuroko efficiently wrung out the towel in the sink. "Yesterday," she said. "He hurried out after changing with his hair wet, and neglected to dry it before leaving school."
Aomine chewed her cheek. Shit.
"I understand he then passed a sleepless night," continued Kuroko. She folded the towel, handed it to Aomine, and then walked into Taiga's room with a cup and the medicine. Aomine followed her. "Kagami-kun is known to be excitable," she said, pouring water into the cup. "He must have been overset by something."
"What an idiot," said Aomine, in subdued tones, and shook Taiga awake.
He blinked up at her and said, "Aomine?"
"Why are you sick?" she demanded of him, slapping the towel on his face.
"Dunno," he said, with great effort. He tried to sit up, but only succeed in keeling sideways, so that his head was hanging over the side of the bed. He seemed very puzzled by this. Aomine grabbed him by the back of his (ew) damp shirt and hauled him upright.
Kuroko handed the medicine and cup of water to Aomine.
"You make sure Kagami-kun takes this," said Kuroko, and hurriedly swept out before Aomine could do more than squawk in protest.
Aomine glared at the door and then turned her attention back to the murmuring Taiga, his forehead slumped against her shoulder.
"Look at you," she said, then set to forcing them down his throat.
Quite a lot of the water sloshed onto his shirt, but since it was wet anyway and she managed to get him to swallow the pills, she called it a win. She dragged the shirt off his body and dug him out a clean one. Then she tucked him in again and put the towel back on his head, ignoring all his protests.
She sat back, feeling very satisfied. Kuroko was pottering around in the kitchen- Aomine could hear the banging, bubbling noises, and the occasional quiet swear- but Aomine felt no need to join her, instead sitting on one of Taiga's arms and picking up his phone.
Interspersed with her own messages- not counting today's increasingly annoyed demands, a melange of 'oi's, one-word sentences, and the occasional picture of shoes she coveted- were scattered messages from his teammates and coach. She scrolled absently- did she really message him this much, or did he just not really have many-
"Didn' know what to say," Taiga said, peeking at her from under his towel. He looked a bit better, Aomine thought.
"Put that back on," said Aomine authoritatively, and smoothed it back over his forehead, the back of her hand trailing over his eyebrows. Was he a bit cooler? Stupid of him to go out without drying his hair. Idiot Kagami-
"You said it was," Taiga slurred. "Imp't."
Aomine twitched. "It was," she murmured, in the same soft voice, barely a murmur.
His mouth quirked up. "It was," he said.
Aomine put her hand over the towel- to keep it from falling off- and leaned down to kiss Taiga, a quick dry brush of lips. He couldn't get any hotter, but the arm she hadn't sat on flailed for an embarrassing moment.
"Go to sleep," she said, and shifted her weight to stand.
He caught her hand, without looking, and then froze. The towel shifted, and one eye stared at her fearfully.
Aomine sat back down, and he relaxed, closing his eyes again.
She stayed, and petted him until he fell asleep.
The distinctive chch noise of a shutter going off woke Aomine from her reverie.
"Kuroko-" she snarled, turning to the door.
"Saved," said her friend, tucking her phone back away in her pocket. "I've made the okayu for him."
"I'm starving," said Aomine, not entirely because it surprised her, but because it was later than she'd thought it would be, the light gone. The world after yesterday had felt- still felt, with this casual intimacy- entirely new.
Kuroko had unearthed a giant stewpot and filled it to the brim with mush, which Aomine eyed uncertainly but decided that Taiga would be less hungry if he was sick, and anyway that if he was well enough to complain about being hungry he was probably- probably- going to be well enough to cook.
Or she could make something. No biggie. She'd look it up on her phone. Call Ryou.
They filled two bowls and ate in comfortable silence. Aomine wished she'd thought of picking up takeout on her way here, but who'd known that this would happen? She chewed on chunks of hard-boiled egg.
"Kagami-kun will be hungry when he wakes up," said Kuroko, seemingly as though she'd just thought of it.
"I'll stay," said Aomine, who had been thinking about it. Kuroko's eyes rested on her. "I've done it before," Aomine said, defensively. "I've got some stuff here."
Kuroko's gaze failed to waver.
Aomine reddened. "He has another bedroom," she said. "Alex slept in it, too, that was all right."
Kuroko drank. "Okay," she said.
"That's all we did," said Aomine.
"Fine," said Kuroko.
"Nothing happened," said Aomine, setting down her can of soda. Her soda, chilling in Taiga's fridge. He must have picked up more in the past week. Kuroko didn't need to know that.
"I believe you," said Kuroko. "Unfortunately."
"Oh, shut up," said Aomine, and unfolded her legs to kick at Kuroko under the table. "Who'd you give your chocolate to yesterday?"
"My team and those to whom I was obliged, as I told you," said Kuroko.
"Yeah," said Aomine, stirring her spoon in the empty bowl. "Uh-huh. Suuuure."
Kuroko's calm reserve cracked. She sent Aomine a snappy little look through her eyelashes and kicked back at her, scoring a hit to the shins. In just socks, she could hardly expect to make a dent, but it was a decent effort nonetheless, fortified by bitter and hard-won knowledge of the enemy terrain.
"OW," said Aomine, and they waged war for a full minute below the table. Only the tipping of the mercifully empty plastic cups onto the floor halted their fight, since this noise also brought Taiga out from his bedroom, looking much better for a few hours of unbroken sleep, very ruffled, and torn between asleep and alarmed.
"The medicine is working," said Kuroko for Aomine's sake. She left the feeling of Kagami-kun's forehead to Aomine, who slipped from her seated position to murmur to Taiga in a soft voice. Kuroko instead moved to the counter to pour him a drink of water. Even if Kuroko had stood on tiptoes, she would not have reached, and so she considered the effort moot.
"Better?" said Aomine, pressing the back of her hand to his neck.
"Upright," said Taiga, smiling at her in a way that made Aomine feel, suddenly, very shy. "Kuroko was-"
"I'm here," said Kuroko. "Coach sent me, and I collected your assignments. We ate," she added, unnecessarily.
"I'm not hungry," said Taiga, barely sparing the pot a glance.
"He's dying," croaked Aomine, throat suddenly dry. Kuroko was similarly shocked.
"Not-" said Taiga. "Not now, I'm still-" he yawned.
"Back to bed," Aomine ordered, and pushed him back into his bedroom. "You shouldn't be up yet, idiot."
Taiga resisted. He held her wrist again, like he had when she would have gotten up and left him, just as mutely, and it tore at her just the same.
"Yeah," she said, in answer to his unspoken plea. "I'll- I'll call home, I'll be here when-" she swallowed. "I'm staying," she said, and he let her put him back to bed.