Spurred on by a whopping 17 reviews, here is chapter 25. Once again, a total change in tone, but I hope you're used to that by this point. I hope you enjoy this chapter (I am still nervous every time I post); your encouragement will help me with the next chapter! As always, thank you so much for the support!
Kagami stared at the scene in front of him in fascinated horror. The door to Kuroko's condo had been unlatched, so he had pushed it open (and ok, he knew he should have knocked, but Kuroko was expecting them, so it really shouldn't have been a problem) only to discover a terrifying scene; Kuroko was making out with Midorima.
Kagami and Himuro were frozen in the doorway. They had been roped into escorting Kuroko to Akita since Akashi had work in Kyoto he couldn't ditch, Murasakibara was 'getting ready' (whatever the hell that meant to the giant), Kise had a modelling shoot, Aomine had practice, and Midorima had 'matters to attend to'. Somehow, Murasakibara had convinced Himuro to spend hours taking the train to Tokyo in order to turn around and go back up the same day. Himuro had then turned around and suggested that since they hadn't had the chance to visit much lately, Kagami should make the totally useless round trip, too. Kagami, only seeing the opportunity to spend time with two of his favourite people had agreed. Well, he was regretting that now.
"Pinch me, Tatsuya," he muttered, unable to tear his eyes away from the softly panting mess that was his friend. Midorima had a taped hand holding the bluenette to his body, and the other buried in his hair. Kagami froze, wondering where Midorima's lucky item was (and why was that a concern, even under theses circumstances?) before spotting the paint roller sticking out of his pocket. Kagami distantly heard Himuro chuckle beside him, which was fine since it wasn't his partner who was lip locked with the Oha-Asa freak. What the hell was going on? He lost touch with Kuroko for a couple months and this happened? It wasn't like there had been no contact; they saw each other every couple of weeks for streetball! Kagami felt himself blush at the heated scene, truly understanding Kise's comment about Kuroko being attractive for the first time.
"Ah!" Kuroko exclaimed, pulling away, apparently just realizing there were others there. "Sorry," he muttered flushed and embarrassed, and damn if Kagami didn't find him cute. There's something wrong with my brain, he told himself. Kuroko is a stubborn minx with a dubious sense of humour. He is not cute. "Thanks for coming to pick me up, Kagami-kun, Himuro-kun."
"Hello," Midorima greeted, pushing his glasses up. "I apologize for our display." He spoke in that overly formal way of his, despite the deep blush that covered his face.
"No we should have knocked," Himuro denied while Kagami was still struggling for words.
"When did... What exactly..." Kagami stuttered. How did you ask how that happened?
"I didn't realize that you two were dating," Himuro commented smoothly. Kagami shot a glance at his brother wondering why he had all the composure out of the two of them.
"Um, that's..." Kuroko glanced up at Midorima, before meeting Kagami's gaze. "Midorima-kun has agreed to be one of my boyfriends." Kagami gaped at that response; he knew he was gaping, dammit.
"Wow, that's interesting," Himuro replied politely, once again winning the award for most composed reaction ever. Although to be fair, most days Kuroko could give him a run for his money.
"That's all you can say?" Kagami burst out, looking between the three of them and waiting for someone to tell him this was all just a bad joke. But he knew that if Kuroko had a bad sense of humour, Midorima had no sense of humour at all, and that kiss had been no joke. Dammit. The world used to make sense.
"I don't see what your problem is, Taiga," Himuro rebutted, and the sharpness in his tone made Kagami look at him more closely.
"Tatsuya?" He questioned cautiously, knowing he had misstepped somewhere.
"You owe Kuroko and Midorima an apology," Himuro informed him. Looking at Kuroko's fragile expression and Midorima's guarded one, Kagami cursed himself.
"Dammit, look, I was just surprised. You know I don't have a problem with things like that, I just wasn't expecting it." Kuroko looked at him a moment before nodding.
"That's true, we can't expect better of Bakagami."
"Hey!" Kagami protested as Himuro snorted discreetly.
"Congratulations," Himuro offered the two, "that looked like a pretty hot kiss."
"We've been practicing," Kuroko explained earnestly, deadpan except for the blush tinting his cheeks. Midorima, on the other hand, made a strangled noise and turned almost incandescently red. Kagami was sure Kuroko and Himuro were laughing on the inside.
"That's very important," Himuro agreed seriously, making Kagami wonder about his choice of friends.
"Maybe you should fix your hair, Kuroko," Midorima suggested, finally intervening in the conversation. Kuroko's hair was frequently amazing, but the effect of fingers being run through it repeatedly was not without impact; Kuroko seemed to realize that.
"Ah!" Kuroko exclaimed. "I'll just be a minute... or ten..." He mumbled, turning away and disappearing into the condo, leaving the three of them standing around awkwardly in the foyer. Kagami had been hoping they could just escape before anything else happened.
"Thank you for escorting Kuroko to Akita," Midorima said with a shallow bow, apparently trying to pretend the previous scene had never happened, a plan Kagami was totally on board with.
"No worries," Kagami replied.
"I don't mind," Himuro said, "but Atsushi wasn't very clear on why Kuroko needed an escort. What's going on, Midorima?"
"Ah," Midorima cleared his throat, "Kuroko is very attractive, and tends to draw the wrong kind of attention. If you're not careful, he will end up molested, and we would all prefer to spare him that."
"Kuroko gets molested?" Kagami asked, appalled. "Regularly?" And he never told Kagami? Midorima stared at Kagami for a long moment.
"Being noticed is important," Midorima began quietly. "It's more than a desire; it's essentially a survival instinct. A baby needs an adult's help to survive. From that point on, people want to be noticed. That doesn't mean that everyone wants to be a star like Kise," Midorima's tone made it clear that no one should want to be like Kise, and Kagami found himself in full agreement with the shooter, "but everyone wants to know that someone values their existence. It takes something truly momentous to overwrite a survival instinct," he continued. "Kuroko not wanting to be noticed... is not a small thing."
"But, I mean, Kuroko's ok with it, right? Not being noticed?" Kagami asked, because Kuroko had never really seemed to have a problem with it.
"Can you imagine living like that? In a world where no one holds the door when your arms are full, no one notices when you're sick, helps you reach things that are too high, offers to team up with you for group projects... Kuroko made his very first friend when he was ten. How lonely do you think he was before that?"
"I won't say I've never had trouble because of my looks," Himuro said after a heavy silence, diverting Kagami's attention, "but it sounds like Kuroko has been through far worse." It was true, Himuro had always used his hair to cover his face, and for the first time, Kagami really stopped to consider why.
"Yes," Midorima agreed. "We all feel quite protective because of it." Kagami thought about everything that had happened the past few months; Kuroko's disappearance, what Himuro had told him about Murasakibara not liking Kuroko's parents, his frequently changing schools, the intervention of the Generation of Miracles, the way those five circled around him...
"It's not just that he gets molested when he's out, is it?" Midorima stared at Kagami for a long minute, as the red head fit the pieces together. "His parents have something to do with this."
"Kuroko's mother believes that being molested," he hesitated there as though he had considered saying something else, "should not matter to a guy, so refuses to offer her son any protection." Kagami's stomach rolled at the implications of that statement. Even though his dad was in America, he knew his family was there for him in a pinch. What would it feel like to grow up knowing that you couldn't count on your family for support? Who had Kuroko turned to before he found his rainbow? "I would like to ask you both not to reveal Kuroko's home to anyone, since even people he knows can't all be trusted." His parents, Kagami realized. My god, they were hiding Kuroko from his own parents. Himuro had said as much, but it hadn't resonated with Kagami until Midorima had told them more about the dangers Kuroko had faced.
"Midorima-kun," Kuroko called out, halting the discussion before anything more could be said. Kagami was left with an unsettled feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Kuroko, are you all ready?" Himuro asked, glancing at the time on his cell. Kuroko nodded.
"I apologize for the delay," he replied politely. "I'll see you soon, Midorima-kun." Kagami was relieved when they didn't feel the need to kiss again, although Midorima brushed his fingers across Kuroko's cheek, eliciting a soft smile. Apparently Midorima was fine with locking up the condo, even though it was Kagami's first time visiting it. Seeing Kuroko struggle to pick up his bag (only one bag, even though he was living there for the next two months, honestly), Kagami sighed and grabbed it out of the bluenette's hands, earning a pout for thanks.
"Goodbye, Kuroko," Midorima said softly. The three of them walked quietly to the train station; Kagami, holding onto Midorima's words, scoured the area for potential gropers. They got their tickets and looked for some seats while they waited for their train to arrive.
"Do you think they carry ID?" Himuro randomly asked as they found three unoccupied seats together.
"What?" Kagami replied, distractedly.
"The gropers," Himuro clarified, getting Kagami to look at him. "Do you think that gropers carry ID?"
"If you had brought Nigou, he could have protected me," Kuroko told Kagami sadly, "but you didn't even bring him."
"Hey! I'm not bringing your monster on the train! You should visit him more!" Kuroko sniffed at this reply.
"Nigou is twice the man you are, Kagami-kun."
"What the hell does that mean?! He's a dog!" Kagami protested, outraged.
"Precisely," Kuroko agreed, as if that made any sense. Kagami sighed, but since he knew that the bluenette did in fact miss the creature, he pulled out his phone and handed it over. "Kagami-kun?" Kuroko questioned, holding the phone and looking at him for answers.
"Look at the photos," he muttered. There was a pause as Kuroko began swiping. Kuroko's expressions were always subtle, but Kagami knew that seeing Nigou's recent adventures had moved the bluenette; he was way too attached to that dog. Himuro and Kagami sat in silence while Kuroko admired the beast. Kagami had made a point of taking the photos for Kuroko, and seeing how much they meant to his friend, he promised himself that he would email some while Kuroko was studying in Akita.
"How was your time at Shutoku?" Himuro asked as the sound of the train approaching reached their ears and Kuroko returned Kagami's phone.
"It was good," Kuroko replied politely, as if he wasn't a little minx who liked screwing with people. "It's been nice having an opportunity to reconnect with each of the old group."
"Atsushi has been really excited about your arrival, Kuroko," Himuro commented. Kagami tried to wrap his head around the notion of that slothful giant being excited about anything. Except maybe food.
"What exactly does that look like?" He asked. Himuro simply smiled and glanced at Kuroko, which made Kagami frown. He hated it when Himuro got all sneaky on him. The train pulled in, and Kagami was determined that he would have Kuroko sit between him and a window: no perverts near his friend.
"Kuroko will find out soon. He's been working very hard preparing for you; that's why I agreed to help out by picking you up." The three of them got to their feet and headed for the doors, standing aside to let the other passengers off first.
"I apologize about all the fuss. I really could have gone on my own."
"I don't mind," Himuro assured the bluenette as they boarded the train. "We'll be spending a lot of time together over the next few months, so we'd might as well get to know each other now."
"That's true," Kuroko agreed, and the understanding these two had reached so quickly filled Kagami with foreboding. It was hard enough to handle them individually; what would they be like working together?
"I was thinking," Kagami began as they took their seats, guiding Kuroko to the window seat which earned him a pointed look from both of them. He was grateful they had been able to find ones facing each other, so they could all talk comfortably.
"Of?" Himuro asked, not sounding particularly interested.
"Himuro-kun," Kuroko interrupted, before Kagami could continue, "you need to say something nice to Kagami-kun." Kagami and Himuro both stared at Kuroko curiously.
"Why would I do that?"
"It's important to encourage people when they try something new," Kuroko informed him, his face a picture of innocence. There was a beat of silence, then...
"Kuroko!" Kagami objected. Himuro looked at them and laughed.
"I think you and I will get along well," he told Kuroko, who nodded seriously.
"Yes," Kuroko agreed, that almost-smiling expression on his face, "I think we will become very good friends." Kagami felt himself pale at that announcement, and settled for glaring at the bluenette, unable to find any answers that weren't going to lead him further into the verbal quicksand. The three of them spent the entire ride chatting, catching up and learning more about each other; Kagami's concerns about Kuroko and Himuro's compatibility came true, and he resigned himself to never winning an argument with either one of them again.
"Have you ever won one before?" Had been all Himuro had to say on the topic when Kagami moaned about it. When they finally reached Akita, Kagami saw them safely out of the train station before turning around and getting on the train back to Tokyo. What a day, he thought to himself.