••••••••••••

Chapter Seven-point-five

Halfway there

••••••••••••

Rakuzan is leading by thirteen points when the buzzer sounds, signaling the end of the second quarter. They're allotted a ten-minute break before the last half of the game begins. Kagami storms off the court, frustrated, grabbing his bag and not even looking at his teammates before walking out. He's got three personal fouls on the ledger.

Kuroko watches him worriedly from the bench. Unlike the rest of Seirin who are stunned by the display, Kuroko makes to hurry after his light.

Riko, however, purses her lips and grabs Kuroko by the arm, shaking her head. She leads the team to their locker room to go over their strategy for this crucial match.

••••••••••••

Of course Takao wouldn't be in the hallway where he left him with Kise. Kagami scolds himself for having such a scrambled mind and heads out of the arena to get some fresh air. Slumping down on one of the benches, he empties his water bottle into his mouth but it's not enough to sate his thirst. He's way too tired for having just played half of the game; then again, they are up against the Uncrowned Kings and the Emperor of Rakuzan. The humid afternoon air does nothing to cool off his frizzled senses.

Kagami hates how he can't seem to find focus. He knows how dire their situation is but he still can't get it together, he can't get Takao's haunted expression out of his head. Growling, he slams his fists onto his thighs. Kagami has disconnected from his team – in this moment, rather literally so – and for what?

His phone vibrates from inside the bag and Kagami startles, somehow forgetting he'd brought it with him. Seeing the brightened screen and the name flashing at him gets Kagami sitting up straighter.

From: Takao
Subject: Sorry
:: I messed up real bad. Sorry for dragging you into this. I'll call you later.

Kagami's frown etches deeper on his face. There is no later, damn it. He needs his peace of mind right now. Kagami hits call and presses the device against his ear; Takao picks up after two rings.

"T-Tai-chan?"

Heat bursts from his chest at hearing that voice. The tension along his shoulders disperse and Kagami closes his eyes, breathing deep. "Where are you?"

"I'm…" The sound of a car horn blaring kicks up the static as Takao hesitates in replying. "I'm okay but what – why are you calling? You have a game–"

"It's halftime. I saw Kise in the stands. I thought he said he'd be with you but–"

"Tai-chan, I told you I'm fine. That's why I sent Kise back." Takao's tone gets insistent over the line but they both know it's a lie. Hours of phone conversations has made Kagami familiar with the tone Takao uses when he's not honest with himself. His next words are delivered softer. "Focus on your game, yeah? I'm sorry for distracting you."

You're not a distraction, Kagami wants to say but when he opens his eyes, Kuroko is standing right in front of him. The words get stuck in his throat and he's unable to look away when Kuroko is staring at him with that expression. "I've been playing like shit, you know, and maybe I was a little distracted but…" At this point, Kagami is sure he's talking to both shadows. Revived passion flares up in red irises. "I can only get better from here."

"I know you will," Takao assures him. From the background comes a voice calling for the Shutoku player to hurry, it eases off Kagami's worries of Takao being alone. "Talk to you later, Tai-chan."

Still – "Wait!"

"Hm?"

Kagami's grip on the phone tightens a little. Not even Kuroko's staring can stop him from asking, "You promise you're alright?"

There's a sharp inhale before Takao answers him. "Yeah. I promise." And there's enough of a smile hinted in his tone for Kagami to accept it without argument.

Bringing down his phone once Takao ends their call, Kagami prepares to meet Kuroko's judgment. He bows his whole upper body low and braces himself with a palm on each knee. "You can whack me on the head. Knock some sense into me. I know I deserve it."

Kuroko moves forward, stopping within two feet of the impressively folded stature. "Kagami-kun is being ridiculous," he states. "We can't beat Rakuzan if our ace is running around with a concussion."

Kagami looks up at him, peering out of one eye like he's making sure Kuroko doesn't have a fist ready to punch him. Deeming it safe, Kagami sits upright. "Apologies won't take away those fouls or bring back lost points. So give me another chance, Kuroko."

"Should I want to know what happened for you to act like you did?" Kuroko ventures with a slight tilt of the head. It's almost unheard of to have a distracted Kagami playing on court yet the whole stadium just witnessed that, in an official tournament no less. It doesn't take much guessing to figure out who Kagami was talking to on the phone just now.

"It's complicated," Kagami blurts out. They stare at each other for a beat, then Kagami stands up, hitching his bag over one shoulder. "And coach will kill the both of us dead if we don't head back. Damn it, now you're in trouble, too."

"Am I?" Kuroko asks, pulling his varsity jacket tighter around himself.

"Yeah," Kagami grunts, agitatedly running a hand through his two-toned hair. "You shouldn't have come after me, you know. Now we both missed the important strategy talk." They slip through the automatic doors of the arena, feet leading them by memory to the locker room area.

"Was it worth it, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko's question stalls them just outside the door bearing their school name. Vague silhouettes and muffled voices are filtered through the opaque window. By the look of things, their teammates are far from having lost all hope.

Kagami looks down at his partner, cast in shadow by his height against the ceiling's light fixtures. "Huh?"

The answer is written in Kagami's expression – determination and calm, exactly what they need to turn the game into their favor – but Kuroko's relief isn't wholehearted. It's a sad realization that all his worrying has been trivial, that Kagami has righted himself just fine without his help. Kuroko is well-aware that his reasons for going after Kagami were not entirely for the benefit of their team. He wanted to be the one but –

"There you are!"

Kagami balks for a second, caught off-guard, before bravely facing the collective wrath of Seirin's basketball team. "I can't excuse what I've done," he starts. "But if you'd still let me play–"

"Don't waste your breath," Riko snaps at him, pushing past her players to stand up front. "If you weren't key to the winning this game I'd have you benched until the last quarter. We're going into the final half, I don't need to tell how important this is for us."

Stealing a quick glance at the third years behind the coach, Kagami squares his jaw and nods. The weight of his actions dawns on him after seeing the resolve emanating from Kiyoshi and the rest of the upperclassmen. His selfish playing brought this on and the only way to recover from it is to clear his mind and focus on winning.

"So is your head screwed on straight or do I have to work it out for you?" Riko's rhetorical question is punctuated by the fist she pounds into her open palm.

"I – I'm fine!" Kagami splutters, taking a precautionary step back.

Riko narrows her eyes at him, height difference nullified by the authority in her expression. "And you better stay fine." The or else remains unspoken but it is heavily implied with the look she gives him. Having determined the effectiveness of her words, Riko leads her team back to the court.

Koganei smacks Kagami's shoulder as he passes, a jesting gesture that brings out a smile from his underclassman. Furihata, who has subbed for Kuroko in the last few minutes of the second quarter, nods at him. "We're counting on you, ace," Furihata adds before heading out.

Lagging behind the team, Kagami looks beside him with a fading smile. "Kuroko."

The shorter player side-eyes him while keeping pace, a wordless notion that he's listening. What is it?

"Just…" Kagami averts his eyes, arms squeezed tight to his sides with nowhere to stuff his hands in. "Thanks for finding me."

Blinking, Kuroko stares at his feet, muttering his response to the floor. "I didn't do anything, though." He didn't have to, Kagami already had who he needed.

"Yeah, you did," Kagami breathes, equally quiet and timid. His gaze slides over to Kuroko, almost shy, struck by the frown he finds tugging at the corner of thin lips. "Oi."

Faltering in his steps, Kuroko finds a fist held up to him with Kagami's assuring smile just beyond it. Kuroko doesn't understand what it's for until Kagami nudges him, walking closer to his side.

"Who knows where I would've ended up if I didn't see you there," Kagami mutters. Finding Kuroko in front of him had been a surprise, but it also served to be a reminder of what should've been his priorities. He's glad that Takao has regained his senses, relieved that the guy has people looking after him, but if he hasn't seen Kuroko, Kagami knows that he would've gone after Takao and he definitely (maybe?) would've regretted that.

Mouth slightly ajar, Kuroko customarily raises his own fist to meet Kagami's. The back of their hands remain touching after the fist bump and with the way Kagami is looking at him – in that very Kagami way of his that lets you know he's not looking at any one else when you're right in front of him – Kuroko finally surrenders to that little voice that's been nagging at him for over a year now.

Kuroko's hand is cold, fingers thin and pale but no less calloused than his own. Once the initial shock of the gesture fades, Kagami wastes no second in returning the uncertain grip. Not that he expects his own hand to be any warmer but still, he pulls their hands low in between them to make it easier. His hold on Kuroko is secure, proud to have replaced the unsightly frown with a smile.

There are so many things to be said but for now (as it has been for a long time) just knowing that they have each other as teammates, partners, friends (and more) is enough. A tangible silence blankets Seirin's light and shadow for the few short minutes it takes for their team to arrive back on court. Deafening cheers greet them, their audience just as pumped to see the game to its end.

••••••••••••

A/N: Sorry it's short. This was not part of the plan but my Kagami!muse insisted to have it's own mini-chapter so here we are... I guess this really means that the Takagami ship has sunk, gomen. I really wanted them to work out, though... Carly Rae Jepsen's This Kiss is definitely a Takagami song.