Kagami yawned loudly, pulling his shirt over his head before bounding down the stairs to grab something to eat. As he rummaged through his 'empty' fridge, his landline began to ring. Suspicious of who it might be, he hesitated before picking up the phone.
"Kagami Residence."
"Ah, Taiga, you finally answered! I've been calling you all day!"
Kagami froze, dropping his other hand to his side. "...yeah."
"Well anyways, I have been calling to tell you that I went up to your school the other day and talke to your teachers. You're grades haven't been very good. I'm very dissappointed in you."
Kagami nodded, acknowledging that his mom couldn't see it, glad she was only talking to him over the phone.
"Look, Taiga, you need to fix this happy-go-lucky behavior of yours. Life isn't all about doing what you want. This is exactly why I sent you out there in the first place, to get you away from that stupid sport. You'll never get anywhere in life if all you do is throw a ball back and forth. Besides, you were never that good anyways."
"Like you ever came to watch me play," Kagami hissed under his breath.
"What was that, Taiga?"
"Nothing," Kagami said out loud.
"Good. Well, I just wanted to tell you that your new tutors should be coming by somtime this week-"
"I already have one!" Kagami said the first thing that came to his mind; anything to get out of that sticky situation.
"...Oh, really? You need to tell me these things Taiga. Well, you'll have to stop taking lessons from them, I've already-"
"Then come down to meet her!" Kagami exclaimed. "Come by this saturday and meet her..."
"...Look Taiga, I don't know-"
"You want me to be more adult-like and stuff? Then let me pick my own tutors. If you don't like her, then you can get rid of her. Deal?"
"...Fine. I'll come by Saturday afternoon. Make sure to be there."
"I live here."
"Watch it young man."
"Yeah." Kagami slammed the phone against the reciever, slamming his other fist against the wall, causing the whole frame to shake. 'Shit,' he thought. Glancing to the corner of the room, he noticed his tote. After and elongated sigh, he grabbed his bag and headed outside.
Once Kagami reached the court, he was greeted none other than the ever so familiar color of bright blue, bouncing across the pavement. "Yo, Kuroko." Kuroko paused to look at Kagami. "Oh, hello Kagami-kun."
"Wacha doin out here?"
"I'm playing basketball, Kagami-kun."
Kagami gritted his teeth in frustration. "Yeah, whatever."
Grabbing his ball from his bag, Kagami began shooting freethrows from the other basket. He couldn't seem to get any of them in.
"What the hell!" Kagami threw his ball one last time before laying down on the ground and placing the backs of his hands against his eyes. Kuroko approached him, looming over Kagami eerily.
"What seems to be the problem, Kagami-kun?"
Kagami layed his hands down on the ground, followed by a loud groan. He looked up at Kuroko with frustrated eyes, his eyebrows squinted. "I...I need a favor..."
Kuroko sat down next to Kagami, basketball in her lap. "What is it, Kagami-kun?"
"How do I say this...are you, like, smart?"
"...how dare you call an innocent young lady stupid, Kagami-kun."
"No, no, that's not what I meant!" Kagami sat up, staring at the ground. He let out a sigh, looking Kuroko into her eyes. "Will you...be my temporary tutor?"
"...I didn't know you were that stupid, Kagami-kun."
Kagami gritted his teeth. "Well, I can't deny that...
"Just, look - my mom is coming to town, and I told her I have a tutor, and if it turns out I don't have a tutor, well...just, please?"
Kuroko burrowed her gaze into Kagami's skull. "I only score in the top 50, Kagami-kun-"
"Perfect!" Kagami grabbed Kuroko by her shoulders. "Please please please?!"
Kuroko cleared her throat, breaking her gaze. "S-sure..."
"Alright!" Kagami leapt off of the ground, pumping his fist into the air. "Thanks alot, Kuroko!"
"...no problem, Kagami-kun."
"Well, my moms coming on satruday, so wanna start walking home with me from school?"
"...s-sure, Kagami-kun."
"Sweet...Oh! One last thing..." Kagami approached Kuroko, placing his hands on her shoulders again. "Can you...can you not tell her I play basketball?"
"W-well, I...I can't lie, Kagami-kun."
"Well then...can you at least not bring it up? And if she brings it up, just let me do the talking, okay?"
Kuroko stared into Kagami's eyes again. "Why are you so adamant on this, Kagami-kun?"
Kagami pulled away, shoving his hands in his pockets and averting his gaze. "Just cause."
"...okay, Kagami-kun."
Kagami walked alongside Kuroko, heading to his house. To Kagami, walking together already felt normal, although he did have a tough time explaining the situation 'properly' to his team. Of course, he left a couple details out, but those weren't necessary, really. Kagami let out a sigh. Kuroko looked up at Kagami.
"Are you alrigth, Kagami-kun?"
"Yeah...I'm good, Kuroko."
They continued down the path, shortly reaching his house. They both entered, Kagami closing the front door behind them.
"I don't know when my mom will be here, but...want something to eat?"
"...Like what, Kagami-kun?"
"Anything you want."
"...I want a milkshake."
"Anything but that!"
"...Onigiri. Please."
"Th-that's...okay then." Kagami began heating rice in the rice cooker. "What flavor do you want?"
"...Rice flavor."
"Che. Well, I'm adding pickled plum, whether you like it or not."
Not much later, Kagami placed a plate of delicately created Onigiri on the table in between them. Kuroko stared at the plate before staring at Kagami. "I didn't know you could cook, Kagami-kun."
"Well, this isn;t necessarily cooking, but...I guess I'm not bad. I-I'm used to cooking for myself, I guess."
Kuroko grabbed a rice ball, slowly nibbling down. Kagami placed one after the other into his mouth.
Not much later, the doorbell rang. "Shit, it's my mom!" Kagami stood. "Kuroko, would you mind answering the door? I gotta get my school stuff..."
"Okay, Kagami-kun."
"Thanks!" Kagami rushed off to get his things, while Kuroko quietly stood and headed towards the front door.
Kuroko carefully opened the door to become face-to-face with a woman that looked nothing like Kagami. "Hello," she said delicately. "Are you Taiga's tutor?"
Kuroko assumed she was talking about Kagami. "Yes, I am Kagami-kun's tutor."
The lady held out a frail hand. "My name is Hiruma Tsubaki. Nice to meet you."
"I am Kurkoko Tetsuya." Kuroko shook her hand, curious as to why she did not have the same last name that Kagami did.
"Oh, my, you must be wondering why we don't have the same name yes? Well, I'm not his real mother, I'm his adopted mother, you see. But, I think of him as my son, you see." Kuroko nodded.
"Come in, please."
"Why, I think I will." Kagami's nother chuckled, passing by Kuroko. When they entered the living room, Kagami was sitting down at the table, staring at his homework, wearing a pair of glasses Kuroko had never seen before.
"Oh, Taiga, you finally started wearing those glasses I got you! Oh, they look so nice on you, don't they, Kuroko-san?"
Kuroko fluttered her eyelids. "Y-Yeah." Kagami grunted.
"Well then, why don't we get properly aquainted?" Kagami's mom sat down on the chair across from Kagami. Kuroko sat down on the floor next to him, hugging her knees.
"As you know, I am Hiruma Tsubaki. My age and weight are a secret, but I work at a big company in America with my fiance. I'm not able to visit Taiga often, but I hope that he is in good hands here."
"Yes," Kuroko responded. "He is."
"Haha, you're a woman of little words, I see. Well, I'm curious to know...how did you two meet?"
Kagami stiffened, looking up from his papers. "We're in the same class," he replied. "And since our names are so close, we were seated right next to each other. It kinda went off from there."
"Ah, how sweet! But I'm curious to know, how did you become tutor and student? And Taiga, you DO have some male friends at your school, don't you?"
"Yeah, I've got some. They're all my sempais."
"Ah, how great! Did you meet them in a club of some sort?"
Kuroko stiffened. She felt Kagami's hand rest on her shoulder.
"Well, I met them through Kuroko. She's really smart, so one of her classes is advanced, and she's in a class full of second-years. She introduced them to me."
"Well, that's great...but, shouldn't you be finding some friends on you own? You shouldn't need someone unrelevant to find one for you."
"Sh-she's not irrelevant!"
"But Taiga, she's just your home tutor."
"No, she's...she's my girlfriend!"
Kagami wrapped his arms around Kuroko, whose eyes were widened in surprise. She looked up at Kagami with bright blue eyes.
"Oh, that's just wonderful! A girlfriend already, you little stud! And it's so great that she's so talented!" Kagami's mom stood up, brushing off her skirt. "Well, I have to go now, I've got to catch my flight. Taiga, I'll call you when I get to America, alright?"
"Yeah." Kagami and Kuroko listened to the door close. Kuroko was frozen in place.
Kagami stood up, lending a hand to Kuroko. "Here." Kuroko grasped Kagami's hand firmly, trying to hide her shakiness.
"K-Kagami-kun, I-"
"Look, Kuroko...I'm sorry what I did back there. You don't have to pretend to be my girlfriend, my mom probably won't come back until graduation. Okay?"
Kuroko's hands dropped to her sides. She looked Kagami straight in the eyes and smiled softly. "Okay, Kagami-kun."
Kuroko silently picked up her things and ran out of the house. "Kuroko...? H-Hey! Kuroko! Where are you going?!" By the time Kagami reached his front door, Kuroko was gone; vanished.