Aomine walked up the series of steps and opened the door at the end of them and was greeted by a cool breeze. The blunette loved resting on the school's rooftop; it was a place where he didn't need to think of anything. All he needed to do was close his eyes and let the breeze serenade him. However today, he wasn't here to relax; he wanted to think about a few things for once. He walked towards the back wall from the door, climbed up the ladder and rested his back against the warm cement, folding his arms behind his head while staring at the clear blue sky above him. He closed his eyes and began to think about the events that took place last night.
Last night
Aomine sat on his bed flipping through a sports magazine. "So boring" he sighed. Technically he should be trying to sleep since there was school tomorrow, but quite frankly, he didn't feel like sleeping. But what's the point of not going to sleep when you're not even sure what to do? "Maybe there's someone interesting to talk to" he said while scrolling through the contacts on his phone. He didn't have many numbers saved on his phone. It mainly consisted of his Teiko teammates, his current teammates, Satsuki, his parents, and Kagami… Surprisingly, Kagami seemed like the most interesting person to talk to at the moment. The blunette clicked on Kagami's name and typed a very simple message, 'Hey'.
It wasn't bad to text him right? Aomine thought to himself. Ever since his defeat back at last year's winter cup, they've gotten along better. At least that's what Aomine thought. They definitely weren't as hostile towards each other as before. His thoughts were immediately silenced when his phone buzzed. He frowned when he opened the message.
'What do you want?' was all it contained.
A bit ticked off by the contents of the message, the blunette replied, 'The hell! What do you mean, 'what do you want'?! Can't I start a conversation for fuck's sake'.
Ten minutes passed and Aomine was sure he wasn't gonna get a reply. The blunette's phone buzzed and he practically lunged for it. Upon reading the message, Aomine couldn't help but smile.
'…So what's up?' was all the red head replied with.
'Nothing. I didn't feel like sleeping and I got bored. What about you?'
'Same'.
This conversation was off to a bad start. Kagami just kept sending one-worded replies. Aomine sat there wondering to himself, How can I get him to send more lengthy messages…?
"Oh, I know!" the blunette shouted. He started to type the message, 'You make anything good today?'
After a couple minutes, Kagami sent a reply, 'Nah, I just went to Maji Burger with Kuroko today'. The blunette was a little disappointed; he wanted to know what other delicious dishes the red head could make.
'You and Kuroko sure do hang out with each other a lot'. Aomine replied.
'Well yeah, we're best friends after all'. Was the immediate response he got.
Changing the subject, the blunette typed in, 'Hey, you wanna play some basketball tomorrow night at around 9? I need something to do'.
'I'm not here to entertain you!' Was all Kagami sent.
Feeling a bit dejected, he began to type in his reply, but Kagami sent him another message before he could send it, 'But I wouldn't mind playing some basketball', was all it read.
Chuckling, Aomine sent the red head a reply, 'Well then I'll see you tomorrow'.
'Yeah, see you tomorrow. Goodnight'.
The blunette turned of the light of his room, not seeing the need to send a goodnight follow-up text. While positioning himself in his bed, he began to think. Maybe becoming better friends with Kagami wasn't so bad; it almost feels as if my life would become more interesting with someone like him in my life. The blunette let out a faint smile before closing his eyes.
Aomine opened his eyes and was greeted by a not so blue sky. "Where did these clouds come from?" he asked himself. "Nevermind that, did I actually fall asleep?" The blunette pulled out his phone and checked the time. 12pm. "Ah…I slept through second and third period," he let out a sigh, "I'm guessing Satsukis' gonna come looking for me". He repositioned himself, forcing himself to sit up. He looked back up to the cloudy skies, "seems like it might rain later…" he quietly said to himself. Will our meet up be canceled? The thought came to mind. "Nah, rain or shine, I wanna play him." He scratched his head, "I might be getting a strange addiction to his basketball." Aomine started to laugh hysterically, "How stupid…". After he had collected himself, the door underneath his slammed open.
"Dai-chan!" silky pink hair came into his view followed by a very upset facial expression. "I knew you'd be up here!" She yelled.
"When am I not here, Satsuki" Aomine calmly responded.
"Would you get down here already! You've already missed two of your classes" she pouted.
Aomine sighed and gave her a slight glance, noticing she was getting a little frustrated, "Fine, fine, I'm coming" he said while climbing down the ladder, moving towards her position. She started walking towards the door, guiding him to his class.
"You better not skip any more of your classes. Your grades are bad enough" Satsuki scolded him.
"Yeah, yeah"
"Ok you guys, one more lap!" Hyuuga yelled.
"Osu!" The whole team shouted.
They started their last lap around the school building, trying to see who can finish first.
Everyone finished their lap, Mitobe being the first to finish. They all entered the gym and saw Riko waiting for them. The team was afraid of what she was going to say because of the smile on her face, but thankfully that was not the case.
"Good practice everyone! Now let's do some stretching, then that's it for the day!" she commanded.
Everyone gathered into a circle and began to do stretches that focused on many parts of the body. While reaching for their toes, one of them shouted, "I'm so excited for the inter-highs~!" Everyone looked up to see that it was Furihata who yelled that out.
"Isn't everyone" Hyuuga said while trying to be cool.
"Of course everyone is excited" Kiyoshi agreed with a smile.
"You better be ready!" Kagami smirked, giving Furihata a thumbs up.
Kuroko and Mitobe quietly nodded their heads in agreement.
"Well then, on that note let's end practice!" Hyuuga proclaimed while everyone put their hands together in the center of their circle.
"Seirin! Fight!" everyone shouted with excitement.
Riko came in from behind them. "Ok guys, in order to celebrate everyone's hard work, I made you all a little something". Everyone froze when they laid their eyes on what was displayed on the tray. Protein shakes…
"Oh and one last thing. You can't leave until you drink every last drop of it" she smiled as she passed out a drink to everyone.
The team stared at the foreign substance, wondering if they were going to survive through the night. That is until they heard someone take a sip. Everyone turned their heads to see that Kuroko had already started drinking his. Kuroko noticed everyone's stares and just told them, "don't you wanna go home?" Upon hearing Kuroko's words, everyone began to drink their shake.
As the team started to clear the court, Kagami went searching for Kuroko, who was found gathering his things in the locker room.
"Kuroko! Do you wanna come over and study at my place? I completely forgot about the math test tomorrow" Kagami asked worriedly.
"Kagami-kun, that isn't something you should forget" the light blue haired boy said, still putting his stuff together.
"I-I know! It's just, our game is kinda soon, so it just slipped my mind".
Kuroko looked at the red head, completely understanding his reasoning. "You're lucky I have my notes with me" he smiled.
"Thanks Kuroko. You're a life saver" Kagami said relieved.
Kagami opened the door to his apartment and allowed Kuroko to enter first.
"Did you want anything to drink or snack on?" The red head asked as they took off their shoes and walked towards the living room.
"Do you have any orange juice?" Kuroko asked.
"Yeah, I'll go get you some" Kagami said as Kuroko followed him into the kitchen. As Kagami grabbed the two glasses from the cupboard and poured the juice into them, someone came into the kitchen.
"Hey Taiga, did you—oh! Kuroko it's nice to see you!" The taller red head said with a seemingly fake smile that Kuroko easily noticed.
"It's nice to see you too" Kuroko politely said as he slightly lowered his head.
"So what are you guys doing? Playing some video games? Ah…but there's school tomorrow".
"No. We're gonna study for tomorrow's math test" Kagami quickly answered, trying to get out of the kitchen, but his father was standing in front of the door way.
His father smirked, "Oh~ I'm guessing you're the one who asked him to help you" he pointed at Kagami. "You're so stupid when it comes to anything. It's no surprise that you asked Kuroko for help". He then turned his head towards the light blue haired boy, who was quietly observing the conversation, "But Kuroko, are you sure you wanna help him? He's pretty useless, so I advise that you leave now before he drives you insane".
Kagami looked away from his father, angry that he was saying these kinds of things to Kuroko. Noticing Kagami's expression, the light blue haired boy spoke up, "I don't think that's necessary. You may not know it, but when Kagami sets his mind towards something, he truly is amazing".
The man looked down at Kuroko, his face expressing the anger he felt. "Is that so" he spoke sternly and forcefully, "do what you want". He exited the kitchen and walked down the hall into his office, slamming the door behind him.
Kagami stared at his friend, shocked by the fact that he actually spoke back to his father. "Kuroko you…"
"What? I didn't say anything wrong. I said what I thought" Kuroko explained.
Trying to find the words to say, Kagami laughed. You truly are amazing he thought.
He felt Kuroko nudge his arm, "come on we have studying to do".
"Ah man! You're so good at this stuff! I think it's all making sense now" Kagami shouted while diligently jotting down notes.
"I think with this, you should be fine for tomorrow's test" Kuroko told him with a smile.
"You think so?! Ah man…thanks Kuroko. I'm so glad I asked for your help" the red head thanked as he was beaming with excitement.
"You're welcome". Kuroko's face then grew serious, "Do you mind if we talk about something?"
Kagami felt the air become tense. "Yeah, sure".
"It's about your father, I—"
Kagami interrupted him. "Why do you always have to bring him up?! Why can't you just understand that I don't wanna talk about him".
Kuroko looked him directly in the eye, "Kagami-kun, can you just listen to me".
Noticing the seriousness in Kuroko's eyes, the red head settled down.
The boy began to speak again. "You know, I'm still very worried about you. You always say that you're fine, but when I look at you, I see someone who is contradicting himself."
"I'm not contradicting myself!" Kagami drew back a little, but still held a stern face.
Noticing the red head scoot back, Kuroko added, "See it's little things like that. It's almost as if you don't want other people to worry about you".
"Kuroko, I already told you—"
"Kagami-kun". Kuroko stood up and walked towards the red head, forcing him to look up at him, "don't forget about everyone who cares about you. You have the whole team. Please don't keep everything bottled up inside you. You have people to talk to, don't forget that".
Kagami looked away from his friend, "Kuroko…I…I'm sorry for making you feel that way".
"There's no need to be sorry" the boy smiled at him, "I just wanted to remind you that we're all here for you".
The red head made eye contact with Kuroko, but then looked down once again and quietly spoke, "Thanks".
Kuroko put his hand on his friend's shoulder, "As long as you never forget that, you'll be fine". He then checked the time. The clock read 8:30pm. "Well, I think it's about time I take my leave. My parents don't like it when I miss dinner" he chuckled. "You should come and eat with us some time" he added.
Kagami escorted Kuroko to the door. "Thanks for helping me out today. I think I'm feeling a lot better now" the red head spoke.
Kuroko smiled, "You're welcome, I'm always glad to help".
"You're too nice" Kagami chuckled. "I'll see you tomorrow".
Waving goodbye, Kagami closed the door and went back into his room and began to change, since him and Aomine are suppose to meet in fifteen minutes. He went into his closet, grabbed a plain black t-shirt and grey basketball shorts, and threw them on. He began to pack his duffle bag with his basketball shoes and other necessities. He flinched when he heard the sound of his door open.
"Hey Taiga, did Kuroko al—". His father noticed him preparing to go out. "Where are you going?"
Kagami stopped putting his thing together, "Oh, um…me and a friend are gonna go play some basketball over at the nearby court"..
His father let out a heavy sigh, "Again with the basketball shit. When are you gonna realize that you're not going anywhere with that? Just give it up already?"
Upon hearing his father's words, Kagami remembered what Kuroko had told him the night before, If you give your father the opportunity to see just how passionate and talented you are, I'm sure he'll come to accept you.
Was this the time to ask him? Will he even agree to go? Kagami clenched his fists and took a deep breath, "Dad, I have something to ask you".
"Oi! Ahomine! Would you come at me already!" Kagami provoked.
"Shut up! Don't rush me!" Aomine yelled.
As the blunette was beginning to make his move, it started to drizzle, which in seconds became a downpour.
"Tch" Aomine clicked his tongue. "I definitely would've won" he said under his breath.
"Aomine! Don't be stupid and stand under the rain. There's some shelter over there!" The red head shouted as he pointed over to a nearby shed.
Aomine sighed, a bit unamused that he had to sit in there with Kagami for a while. He followed the red head into the shed.
"Oh~ it's actually pretty nice in here" The blunette said as he inspected the area. The walls were painted with an off-white color, there was a mat laid out across the ground, and the tools were nicely organized, leaving more than enough space for the two of them.
"Yeah, I think it was refurbished not to long ago" Kagami said as he settled himself in the corner.
"How do you know that?" the blunette asked he settled himself in the neighboring corner from where Kagami sat.
"I come in here every now and then cuz they have spare basketballs in here sometimes, but anyway, it didn't look this nice until recently" the red head explained.
"I see"
The two sat in silence while the sound of rain panging on the roof filled the room. Aomine was playing a game on his phone and Kagami kept moving around, looking for a comfortable position to sit in. When he finally found a somewhat comfortable position, he pulled out his phone from his bag and started typing something.
A few seconds later, Aomine's phone buzzed. He opened up the message and saw that it was from Kagami, 'what game are you playing?'
Aomine closed the message and turned towards Kagami, who happened to be staring at him. "I'm right here! If you wanna start a conversation just talk to me! Don't send me some lame message." the blunette yelled.
"Well you seemed to be really focused on your game, so I wasn't sure on how to start a conversation" Kagami shyly explained.
"It doesn't really matter, I'm not really into this game anyway" Aomine said as he put his phone into the pocket of his shorts. "Anyway I'm kinda curious on the way you were playing today. You were all fired up and everything, not that there's anything wrong with that."
Kagami moved closer to Aomine, "Hm…no reason in particular. I guess I'm just a bit excited about the inter-highs".
"Oh yeah, that's in two weeks isn't it?" The blunette laughed, "I'll be sure to crush you even harder than last year".
"Is that a challenge?" Kagami retorted.
After their laughter subsided, the room was once again filled with silence. Feeling the need to keep talking, Aomine said the first thing that came to his mind. "My parents keep making a big deal out of the inter-highs though. There's nothing to be excited about, we always win anyway, nothing new".
"Yeah…" It seemed as if the red head wasn't listening at all.
Noticing this, Aomine decided to ask Kagami a question, "So what about you?"
"What about me?" Kagami asked while he turned his head towards the blunette.
"I mean, what about your parents? Aren't they excited to see you play?"
"Hm…who knows" the red head answered.
"What do you mean 'who knows'? Aren't your parents going?" Aomine asked, becoming suspicious of Kagami's responses.
"Well I did ask my dad earlier today…but I don't know if he'll actually show up".
"Why would you have to ask him? Shouldn't it be a given that he needs to go?"
"I don't know". Kagami's expressions grew emptier.
Aomine sighed, "There's something wrong with that. You seriously shouldn't need to ask him".
"Well…it might be normal" Kagami said while staring up at the ceiling.
Feeling that he should drop the subject, Aomine couldn't help but be curious, "…well if your dad can't go, then why doesn't your mom go?"
Kagami flinched by that question, but he didn't say a word, nor did he dare to look at the blunette.
Aomine looked at the red head, who seemed to be mentally trying to run away. The blunette started to feel awkward. Maybe I shouldn't have asked that, he thought to himself.
Since the room remained silent for a good few minutes, the two realized it was no longer raining.
Kagami was the first to stand up and gather his things. "It stopped raining so we can go home".
Aomine quickly got up, put his things together and followed Kagami out of the shed and into the humid air. "Hey Kagami," Aomine began, "You know, you don't have to worry about anything. All you needa do is do what you do best".
Kagami stopped walking and looked over at the blunette, "Are you trying to encourage me?"
Aomine stared at the red head, "I-I just make sure you're on your 'A' game when you play against me!"
Kagami laughed a little, "Oh don't worry, I'll be on my 'A++' game".
"The hell? 'A++ game'. Who even says that?!" the blunette bursted into laughter.
"S-shut up! I thought it sounded good!" Kagami blushed.
"Yeah, yeah".
The two walked together until they needed to part ways. When that time came, they waved goodbye and wished each other good luck for the inter-highs and made a promise to face each other off in their game.
2 weeks later
Seirin exited the van and entered the arena in which the next series off games will be held. Kagami followed the team into the locker room, thinking to himself. This is where it begins.