Breed

Chapter 29: Party

"You know I'd fall apart without you. I don't know how you do what you do. 'Cause everything that don't make sense about me makes sense when I'm with you. Like everything that's green, girl, I need you, but it's more than one and one makes two. Yeah, put aside the math and the logic of it. You gotta know you're wanted, too.

"'Cause I wanna wrap you up, wanna kiss your lips; I wanna make you feel wanted. And I wanna call you mine, wanna hold your hand forever, and never let you forget it. Yeah, I wanna make you feel wanted."

―"Wanted" by Hunter Hayes

oO_Oo_oO_Oo

Murasakibara didn't think it's possible. His brothers are actually working together in the kitchen, and nothing has exploded yet. He and Himuro are supervising, and Kira and Momoi are going be the tasters.

"See, Atsushi, it's going really well. You should give your brothers more credit," Himuro says.

Aomine grins. "Yeah, this is a piece of cake."

"Cookies, not cake," Kuroko corrects.

Akashi measures a cup of milk and pours it into the bowl while Kise cracks the eggs. Midorima stirs as they do this.

"There's still time," Murasakibara says.

Luckily, the cookie recipe is very simple. Chocolate chip cookies, and there's nothing to it other than adding the ingredients.

Once the cookies are in the oven for ten minutes, Kise and Midorima clean the dishes. Akashi and Aomine will be doing the extra clean up afterwards. Kuroko is keeping everyone on track for the most part since if he pulls his disappearing acts in the kitchen, it won't end well.

For now, Kuroko sits at the counter, silently staring at the sink. The girls are in their swimsuits in their anticipation for another trip to the water park, and Momoi is following Kise like a duckling because she doesn't want "ocean Ki-chan escape". Once the cookies are out of the oven, everyone is going to go to the water park while dessert cools off.

Oo_oO_Oo_oO

"Ki-chan ride! Please! Ride!" Momoi points to the tube slides. "Race Dai-chan!"

"Okay, we can do that," Kise says when Aomine nods. Then he pauses, somehow noting the Shadow moving to the lazy river. "Kurokocchi! Do you want to go down the slide with us? Aominecchi needs extra weight."

Kuroko nods and follows them up the stairs.

As they wait, Momoi choppily explains the experience to Kise, who tries to keep up with her fragments despite their unclear meanings. Aomine holds the tube on one arm and looks at Kuroko. "So what happened with Kagami this morning?"

"I believe I have said that nothing happened, Aomine-kun," Kuroko replies evenly.

"Who do you think you're talking to? I know you better than anyone else in the family," Aomine says.

Kuroko stares at him. "Kagami-kun slept in my bed last night. When he woke up, he insisted that I try to go through him, and after I did, he ran off."

Aomine raises an eyebrow. "If you know that's the reaction he had, what are you waiting for?"

"Kagami-kun is indecisive due to the Bond. He fears we won't Bond when we kiss, and he doesn't want to risk our relationship if that happens."

"Geez, he's an idiot."

Kuroko doesn't reply.

"Come on, Aominecchi!" Kise says, putting his tube in the water. Momoi smiles like a kid with candy as she settles in the front seat of the tube and waits for Kise to do the same behind her.

Kuroko nearly falls down the slide trying to sit in the tube, but Aomine yanks him back before he can. It feels odd to have his older brother's legs under his arms when he holds onto the tube, but he supposes he can deal with it.

Kise sticks his tongue out, which Momoi quickly mimics. "You're going down!"

"We weigh more, genius!" Aomine retorts before the lifeguard gives them the okay to push off.

Kuroko hasn't gone down this slide before, but while he'll admit to laughing a little and smiling, he finds himself constantly wondering how on earth Aomine's head hasn't hit the top of the slide yet. If Murasakibara tried to ride this slide, he would probably get stuck.

In the end, Aomine and Kuroko beat Kise and Momoi by a good four seconds, but considering Kise fell off the back of the tube as soon as it shot out of slide, it doesn't really matter.

Kise then continues to say, "Kurokocchi, why don't you and Kagamicchi race Aominecchi and me?"

"Did you look at the max weight for the slides?" Aomine asks.

"Four-hundred pounds," Kise replies. "Let's go!"

So Kuroko has to wait for Kagami and Kira to come around in the lazy river before he can explain what Kise proposed.

"Yeah, let's kick Ahomine's butt once and for all!" Kagami declares as he wades out of the river. Kira hooks onto his leg until she can walk without getting swept away in the current. Then she hops alongside him.

It apparently becomes a contest between Momoi and Kira as well.

"Ki-chan Dai-chan win!"

"No, Uncle Taiga and Kuroko-nii are going to kick butt!"

As Kise carries the tube up the stairs, he says, "Hear that, Aominecchi? Our Baby Girl's dignity is riding on this, too."

"Didn't we clarify that weight wins?" Aomine asks. "BaKagami and I weigh about the same, but you have fifty pounds on Tetsu."

"You know, you better be glad I'm not a woman," Kise replies.

Kuroko adds, "And Aomine-kun, Kagami-kun tied with you yesterday, and there's a fifty pound difference between Momoi-san and Kira-chan."

"Yeah, Ahomine!"

"Shut up, BaKagami!"

"Please, children," Kise says.

Luckily, there's only one person in line, so they're able to race sooner than they expected.

Kise carefully lowers himself in the front of the tube. "Geez, I feel like I'm going to fall down the slide."

"Welcome to the world of midgets, Kise-kun," Kuroko replies.

Kagami laughs.

As Aomine holds onto the edge of the slide to keep from going too soon, he grunts, "Kise, aren't you supposed to be a model? Lose some weight, will you?"

"I'm ten pounds lighter than you, Aominecchi!"

Kagami and Aomine exchange a few threats before they push off. Kuroko finds the ride much more enjoyable when it's Kagami hollering behind him. There isn't a particular reason, but he enjoys it.

While Kise and Aomine beat them, the mates also flip their tube as soon as they get out of the slide, which Kagami says disqualifies them. Kise is whining due to always falling off his tube, and challenges Aomine to a one-on-one. This time, Kuroko and Kagami are rooting for Kise while Momoi and Kira cheer for Aomine. The girls even come up with their own cheer. "Dai-chan, Dai-chan, you can beat―Ki-chan can't stay in his seat!"

Hanging over the banister in line, Kise calls, "Momocchi, you traitor!"

"Just remember that Dai-chan was your daddy first!" is Aomine's reply.

Kise glances at his mate. "I'm never going to let you forget that statement."

"And you're going to flip your tube again."

"Will not."

Two minutes later, Kise resurfaces from the water and cries, "Why can't I stay on my tube?!"

Aomine smirks and tosses his tube into the pile next to the stairs. "Satsuki, can you sleep in Takao-chan's room for a few hours tonight?"

She nods. "Don't hurt Ki-chan."

Kagami grimaces. "Geez, get a room."

"I will. Jealous?" Aomine asks as his depressed mate steps out of the exit pool.

Had his niece not been so close, Kagami would've flipped off the tanned male, but instead grumbles, "Not really."

And considering the present elementals know what he did this morning, Aomine just smirks in response.

In the lazy river, the girls plus Kise find a new form of entertainment at the expense of the rest of their family. The first victim is Shikari, who's floating next to Alex, but still in a separate tube. Kira warns Momoi and Kise that Alex doesn't like getting chlorine in her hair, so doing anything to her is off-limits. However, Momoi and Kira have no problem flipping Shikari's tube. When she resurfaces, she's laughing. "I get to do that the Kazu-nii!"

And thus, their next victims. Takao knows beforehand that this would happen just because his little sister loves dunking him underwater for some reason. Apparently, Midorima is not expecting it at all, so when the three females start pushing at the tube to make it flip, he doesn't know what's happening. Three seconds later, he resurfaces, rubbing his face so he can see again. He hates contacts, but he wouldn't have been able to get in the water with his glasses.

Takao laughs as Midorima glares at the girls.

Next, Furihata and Akashi. However, their tube is floating backwards, so the pair sees the four coming. Instead of saying anything though, Akashi raises one hand like he's holding a wine glass, and about a foot behind the girls, Kise jumps and yelps, "Hot! Akashicchi!"

"Don't even think about it," the redhead mutters as he lowers his hand.

"Did you have to boil me?!"

"Would you rather I barbequed you?" Akashi raises an eyebrow. "I hear fish fries are very popular in this area."

Momoi pouts. "Don't hurt Ki-chan!"

"It's fine, Momocchi," Kise quickly says. "He's just joking."

Akashi's mouth twitches, but Furihata and Kise can't tell if it's a smile or a smirk. Neither is preferable.

Which leaves Himuro and Murasakibara. Kira is more than excited to flip her uncle, and said uncle sees them coming, too. He's floating beside Murasakibara, who has a double tube since the single is too small.

"Okay, let's get it over with," Himuro says before he holds his breath and closes his eyes. Kira and Momoi need some help from Shikari to flip him, but nothing too drastic.

Murasakibara is a different story.

Despite his bored expression, Kise swears the giant is internally laughing as the trio pushes and bumps his tube to no avail. The tube barely rocks. So Kise has to help as well, and that's when the Titanic finally tips.

Murasakibara doesn't even stand up; he sits down backwards and lets the current bop him along. His head is easily above the surface. "Kise-chin, did you flip Aka-chin, too?"

Momoi shakes her head. "Boil Ki-chan."

Himuro frowns at that. "He boiled Kise-kun?"

"He heated up the water around me," Kise explains. "He constantly threatens me by means of fish fries and other methods of cooking. To be fair, he's not a fan of water for obvious reasons."

"Kise-chin is suicidal," Murasakibara comments.

Somewhere along the way, it's decided that there needs to be a sibling race. The immediate thought is Himuro and Kagami verses the Takao siblings, but Himuro isn't a slide fan, and Murasakibara makes it very clear that Himuro will not be going down a slide with Kagami.

So in order the make the weight halfway even and for Kise to prove himself, it's Shikari and Takao verses Akashi and Kise.

At the bottom, everyone gathers to see the result. Due to Kise's inability to stay on his tube, everyone votes the Takao siblings will be the winners.

And as expected, Kise and Akashi come out first. Then Kise falls off the back of the tube.

However, two seconds later, Takao does the exact same thing.

When he sees this, Kise hops up and announces, "It's not just me!"

Midorima muses, "So it seems the Water elements naturally are drawn into the water."

oO_Oo_oO_Oo

Later that night, there's a beach party held at the condo. Shikari and Alex volunteer to watch the girls and have a hang out night to themselves, talk about girl things and stuff like that. The boys don't understand this, but don't say anything about it.

A few things are learned that night.

One, Akashi barely knows left from right, as demonstrated during the "Cha Cha Slide".

Two, none of the born elementals know how to do the "Cupid Shuffle" or the "Macarena". This is quickly corrected.

And three, Midorima can't walk on sand for the life of him and ends up going back to the room with Aomine due to it. Their partners are gone, so it isn't as fun.

And that leads to now. Most of the heavy partiers are going for another drink while the slow song plays.

Kuroko stands near the gate of the beach, where he's been most of the night. He's trying to figure out what's fun about this event. Sure, the "Cha-Cha Slide" was very amusing, but he doesn't know why humans feel the need to gyrate and grind on each other as a form of dancing to songs about pouring sugar on people and riding ponies. Sure, the guy has a pony, but why does he feel the need to sing about it? And if his partner is horny, Kuroko doesn't think going horseback riding is the answer.

So the slow song now is one called "Wanted" by Hunter Hayes, if Kuroko heard it right.

Amongst the now small crowd of people, Kagami appears. As he approaches, he glances to the side, hand outstretched. "Will you…dance with me?"

Kuroko takes his hand with a small smile. "I don't know how, but I can figure it out."

He figures it out pretty quickly actually. All he has to do is put his arms around Kagami's neck and wobble like a penguin.

Kagami rubs Kuroko's back slowly as he hums along with the music. At first, Kuroko thinks it'll become annoying, but he finds that it's actually really sweet. Going along with the song lyrics, Kuroko likes the idea of Kagami calling the Shadow his. And he wouldn't mind holding Kagami's hand and never letting go.

The song ends far too early for Kuroko's liking, and he doesn't bother hiding it in his expression. Kagami guides him to the edge of the crowd as a fast-paced song comes on, and he asks, "Do you want to head upstairs? I have that song on my phone."

Kuroko nods.

As they walk to the elevator, Kagami texts Himuro to say they're leaving. The reply consists of a wish of good luck and a winking face, which leads to Kagami's blush and Kuroko's soft chuckle.

Luckily, the girls are in Kise's room, so no one is in the main condo room. Kagami flips through his playlists while Kuroko closes the bedroom door and waits patiently.

When he finally finds the song, Kagami sets it on repeat and wraps his arms around Kuroko's waist again.

As they dance in the darkness of their room, Kuroko closes his eyes and rests his head on Kagami's chest. The even breathing. Low humming. Easy motions. The warmth that leaks from Kagami's body and reaches into Kuroko's core. The Shadow has never been a fan of heat, but he'll gladly drown in this fire sensation in his body. He wants to stay here, glued to Kagami's body like a leech. He wants to replay this song a million times because it's already so nostalgic in his mind.

He wants to wrap himself in the sweet scent of a spring, dawn morning and the dew that comes with it. It doesn't matter that he belongs to the night, that the morning always brings light-induced headaches like he has a hangover. If he can stay with Kagami, he'll live in the light; he'll leave his home in the shadows and let himself be a black spot on the sun.

After the song ends for the third time, Kuroko murmurs, "Kagami-kun?"

"Hm?"

"You don't need to worry about the Bond."

There's a short pause.

"I know."

Author Note: Ooh, what does that mean? Find out next time, and please, Please, PLEASE REVIEW!

A hint for next chapter:

"And we need to talk about Momocchi."