-Keep Close-
Summary: Kuroko and Aomine are struggling with their feelings as they look for Yuki. There's a mini reunion of old acquaintances.
Warning: More AoKuro. Additional bromance and 'potential' pairings. Heheheh. BL included. ^_^
Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Kuroko no Baske. All rights go to Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei. ^_^
-Chapter Seven: Impending fall-
Kuroko was at Aomne's apartment once again. He looked at Aomine from across the dining table and realized that he was the only one who was affected by what happened last night.
Yes, he was the only one. Aomine seemed cool about it. But for Kuroko, he did not know what to do the moment he and Aomine were alone together. He would not dare strike up a conversation because it may lead to what happened last night. But up until now, everything that they have talked about was only regarding the investigation and about Yuki.
That even made Kuroko guiltier than before. He was guilty with the thought that he felt pleasure and totally forgot about Yuki last night. He felt guilty because he enjoyed every second of last night. But it did not seem like it to Aomine. He seemed to be just cool about it, like he already had tons of experience when it came to sex.
That thought suddenly made his chest tighten. He resented the thought of Aomine sleeping with others. He castigated himself that he did not have the right to resent those people since they were before Aomine was with him.
He held his glass tightly. He suddenly felt the urge to reach out to Aomine. But he stopped himself. What was he doing? He was making things worse by thinking about these things. He must not. If he was a good boyfriend, he should not even be thinking about such things.
"Tetsu..."
His heart skipped a beat. Aomine's voice roused him from his thoughts. He looked up to the guy. "Yes?"
"Will it be okay if the other Generation of Miracles know about you and Yuki?"
He could not think of an answer for a second. He thought Aomine would ask him about last night. "Yes, it's fine. If they will help us with finding her, then it doesn't matter."
Aomine nodded. "We need to get together somehow to discuss this matter formally. I'll go ahead and call them."
Aomine stood up from his chair and went to his bedroom.
When Kuroko was done with his dinner, he decided to wash the dishes. He did not want to be a burden to Aomine. At least he should do the things that he could for him. This was only a small thing compared to what the guy was doing for him.
After he finished washing the dishes, he wanted to take a shower. His things were inside Aomine's bedroom so he decided to go inside.
He was about to open the door when it opened on its own. It almost took his breath away when he saw Aomine's face up close. The guy was about to go out of his room and they crashed into each other.
Kuroko nearly lost his balance but Aomine was fast enough to hold his arms and steady him.
"Are you okay, Tetsu?" Aomine asked.
Kuroko looked up at Aomine's face. His heartbeat raced as he saw Aomine's lightly opened lips.
"I'm—I'm not," he answered in a low voice.
Aomine held his chin with his thumb and index finger and raised his face further so that they could meet each other's eyes. "What are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling..."
The pull of Aomine's dark, blue eyes made Kuroko want to reach out and touch him. The feeling was so strong that his hand went up on its own and he touched Aomine's face.
"Tetsu?" Aomine looked worried. His eyes were searching his.
In a split-second, Kuroko stood on tiptoes and his lips reached Aomine's. He moved his lips and egged Aomine for a kiss. The guy responded with an equal passion.
The connection was electric. Kuroko felt an undeniable force pull him close to Aomine. His arms went up and wound them around Aomine's neck. Their bodies became closer and he could feel each other's warmth. Kuroko felt his insides grow warm. It was like he was melting with his kisses.
He felt Aomine's hand inside his shirt. It climbed up to his chest and found his nipple. He pinched it and it made Kuroko moan against his lips.
Aomine smiled. He swept Kuroko off his feet with a princess carry and took him inside the bedroom.
They did it three times. The next morning, they did it twice. It was like a surge of a tsunami. It was uncontrollable and all consuming. It was like a forest fire that started with a small spark and spread without stopping as it burned everything.
If Kuroko learned a lesson about all that had transpired, it was that he had no sense of control and that he had indeed become unfaithful not just once but many times. And what was worse was that he felt no sense of stopping.
Tears streamed down his cheeks as he lay on the bed. His hips ached but his chest ached more. It was more of self-pity more than self-hatred. Yes, he pitied himself. He pitied himself for becoming someone he wasn't. But because of his own loneliness, he became someone he did not want to be.
"Tetsu..." Aomine hugged him from behind. Their naked bodies becoming closer once more. "Please don't cry, Tetsu."
But the tears would not stop. He felt Aomine push him down so that the guy could see his face. He refused to look at Aomine despite their face being inches from each other. He felt Aomine's fingers wiping away his tears.
"Tetsu..." He felt Aomine's lips on his and the sudden bolt of electricity made his whole body shiver. And that made the tears stop as if they never started.
And Aomine held him ever so gently once more.
Himuro laughed when Kagami suddenly fell off his chair. The guy was over eating as he normally did but suddenly had food stuck on his throat. The guy rushed to grab his glass of water to drink. And when he finally had his throat cleared, he leaned so much on his chair that it flipped over and he fell off.
"What are you doing?" he said in a laughing tone.
Kagami shook his head and made the chair stand after he did. "Sorry about that." He scratched his nape and was even laughing himself.
They were in his house. He insisted that Kagami stayed with him instead of the guy staying at a hotel. For one, he did not want to be alone after Alex's disappearance. Second, he enjoyed Kagami's company. Since they were little, he liked spending time with Kagami on and off the court.
Kagami sat on his chair once again and they continued eating.
He remembered the time back in high school when they fought over their rings. It was because he did not want to be Kagami's brother anymore. No, he never wanted to be in the first place. He wanted to them to be something more than brothers.
Himuro wanted so much to reach out and hold Kagami's hand that was holding his chopsticks as he ate. He wanted to hold him and tell him what he felt but stopped himself.
A plain-looking ring glinted because of the light in the dining room. It was on Kagami's right ring finger. Himuro secretly gritted his teeth as he looked at the engagement ring. He only knew about it after Kagami arrived. The engagement was apparently recent and to an American athlete for women's basketball.
"Tatsuya, are you okay?"
He looked up to Kagami. "Huh?"
Kagami looked worriedly at him. "You're not eating."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just thinking if Alex was eating properly," he lied through his teeth.
Kagami's expression changed after he heard Alex's name. Kagami sighed. "I know. I'm worried about her, too. But please take care of your health, Tatsuya. I don't want to see you acting like that. I'm sure Alex would also think the same if I she were in my situation."
Himuro nodded and picked up a piece of shrimp with his chopsticks. "Thanks for being here, Taiga. You just don't know how much this means to me."
Kagami smiled. "I will always be here for you, Tatsuya. Never doubt that."
Liar. If so, why are you marrying someone else?
"Aomine-san. Aomine-san."
Aomine blinked and turned to the person who was calling him. It was Matsuba. He was standing in front of Aomine's desk. Aomine got caught in his own thoughts again. His thoughts were all about Kuroko and everything that had transpired last night and this morning.
It was the greatest experience so far. He never imagined it to be possible to embrace Kuroko without getting rebuked. He did not think that the guy would let Aomine hold him a second time. That was why his head would always be up in the clouds and he would be smiling like an idiot.
He remembered Kuroko's voice. How he cried out in passion. He remembered Kuroko's face. The usually blank face gave him so much expression that it made Aomine's whole body ache for him.
"I'm sorry. What was that?" he said, pretending nothing happened.
Matsuba shook his head. "Focus, man. Focus." The guy pushed the mug of coffee that was already on his table closer towards him. "You probably need more of this."
He smiled sheepishly. "You got me."
"Rough night, huh?"
He just shrugged as he smiled.
Matsuba looked at him with an understanding smile. He was probably thinking that Aomine got himself a girlfriend. He was wrong but what he was also thinking about what had transpired last night was somewhat right.
"So, we just got word from our player that he got contact with Kai. He agreed to have a substitute team play on the next game provided the captain of the team meet him first," Matsuba said.
Aomine stood up from his chair. It was a really good chance that they just got. He was thankful that Kai was an easily agreeable guy. "Why did he agree so easily?"
"Well, our player said that he bragged about the sub team being really good. So I guess that kind of bagged it."
He rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb and thought about his potential teammates. It wasn't bad, it was the best possible team he could have right now. He just probably had to think of how to compensate the others for this favor.
"Tell the player I'll meet him. Do we have Kai's contact information?" he asked Matsuba.
"No. But Kai said that he will send a message to our player to give the time and place of where you can meet him," Matsuba answered.
He nodded. "Fine. This is better than nothing."
"But we need to be careful about this. This may be a trap," Matsuba said.
"I know. But we can't just sit around and do nothing when this chance is the best that we have," he said.
Aomine's cell phone rang. It was Kise calling. He excused himself and went out of the office to answer it.
"Yo, Aominecchi!" Kise said.
"What's up?" he said.
"Nothing much." He heard Kise snicker from the other line.
"So what do you want?"
"Are you free later? I want to invite you and Kurokocchi for some drinks. I received a bonus so I was thinking of getting together later tonight. Are you free?"
Aomine sighed. He still hadn't sorted things out with Kuroko yet and now they were going for drinks? It was like suicide for their relationship. He was taking a dive without water on the pool. But he shook the negative thoughts away. He could not refuse a free drink especially if it was Kise. He was very generous when it came to treating others especially every time they would go out.
"I will ask Kuroko first. I'll go if he does," he said.
"Yes! Thanks, Aominecchi. I'm sure Kurokocchi wouldn't mind. He even said yes when I asked him last time, right?"
He shook his head. There was no saying no to an over eager Kise or he would bug you incessantly about it later. He remembered the time back in middle school where Kise would always try to be close to Kuroko. He was also incessant before. Nothing changed until now.
"I'll call him. Now, hang up the phone so that I can go ask him," he said.
"Okay, Aominecchi. Ja ne!" Kise said and then the line was disconnected.
Aomine scratched his head as he looked at the people around the table. They were in a bar in Shibuya where Kise told them to come. He looked at the other four faces with a slow growing discontent. But he could not say a word. It was Kise who invited them and were treating them for drinks. He should not complain.
Starting from his left, there was Kise, Kagami and then Himuro. Kuroko was on his right. They were all drinking silently it not for Kise's usual banter.
Kise seemed happy tonight. That was probably because of his bonus. Or was it because he saw Kuroko again? But he still could not figure out why Kagami and Himuro were with them.
He felt Kuroko gently nudge him on the side. He turned to his side and saw Kuroko looking at him. His face was blank but his eyes seemed like it was telling him not to do anything stupid. He easily agreed when he called the guy after Kise's call. It was like nothing happened last night and this morning. He knew it was something that they need to talk about it sooner or later but not one of them were willing to talk about it now.
"You know, I saw Kurokocchi at Haneda and then I saw Kagamicchi in Narita. It was funny how I always meet people at the airport," Kise said with a smile. He drank his beer afterwards.
"Isn't because you're a pilot, Kise," Aomine said.
Kise turned to him. "Ah, maybe you're right, Aominecchi. That's right."
Aomine saw that Kagami was looking at Kuroko. He knew that the two were only together back in high school because of basketball. But it still did not stop him from getting irritated. He did not want anyone else looking at Kuroko. But that level of selfishness was not allowed for him. He had no right over Kuroko despite the things that they had done together last night.
"So, Kagami-kun, why are you here in Japan? Weren't you pursuing basketball?" Kuroko said. He slowly drank his own beer.
"I was but I decided to be a firefighter after college," Kagami said.
Aomine saw Kagami's ring on his right ring finger. It was a simple silver band that looked like something for engagement.
"Kagami, you..." he said.
The guy noticed him looking at his ring. Kagami scratched his nape while sheepishly smiling. "Ah, this. Yeah, I'm engaged now. I'm getting married next year."
"Wow. Congratulations, Kagamicchi!" Kise said.
"Good for you, Kagami-kun," Kuroko said in his poker face.
"Congratulations," he said. He somewhat felt happy with the thought of Kagami marrying someone. He suddenly felt like a wave of relief washed over him.
"So, who is the lucky woman?" Kise said.
"It's a professional basketball player in the women's league," Himuro said.
"Kagamicchi, there really is no doubt that you love basketball so much," Kise said. He laughed. That made the others laugh as well.
Kagami scratched his nape again. He smiled. He obviously looked happy about his engagement.
"What's her name?" Kise asked.
"It's Paula Stewart," Kagami answered.
"Woah." Kise laughed again. "I know her. She's like one of the best players for the women's league in the world right now. You're really a lucky guy, Kagamicchi." Kise nudged him on the arm.
Aomine's hand was under the table. He reached out to Kuroko's left hand that was on his lap and gently held it. He was sure that Kuroko had thought about Yuki because of Kagami's engagement. Kuroko also had a girlfriend. He was sure there were already thoughts of marriage if they were going out for three years now. Wasn't that the case ofr Kuroko and Yuki? But then, why would Yuki disappear?
Aomine's chest ached with those thoughts. He knew he was a fool but he still could not help but think about those things whenever it came to Kuroko. But he shook away those thoughts and just held Kuroko's hand.
Kuroko slowly turned to him and gave him a smile only he saw.
Kuroko decided to slip away from their table. Kise and Himuro excused themselves because some phone calls. He, on the other hand, decided to go to the toilet to ease out his drunkeness. He was slowly feeling the effects of alcohol. He was not much of a drinker since he mostly drank only vanilla milk shakes.
When he entered the toilet, he heard people arguing. It was Kise and Himuro. But since they did not normally notice his presence even after several years in high school, he just stood there at the entrance, not wanting to disturb the two men.
"What do you think you're doing?" he heard Himuro said.
"That's none of your business," Kise said in a hard tone.
"None of my business? Everything is my business. You—You should not pull on the wrong string or I will cut it and let you loose. I'm warning you, Kise. Don't get on my bad side," Himuro said.
"Or what? Cut me loose? Turn me in? Just because I did something nice. But you can't do that, Himuro. You can't lift a finger that's why you're angry at me. Because you don't have any power that I have. You're just wingman so just shut up."
"You'll soon see the consequences of your actions today, Kise. I promise you that."
"Woah! What the h—" a guy said as he was about to enter the men's room. He accidentally bumped into Kuroko because he did not notice the light blue-haired guy standing by the door.
Kise and Himuro stopped talking.
"It's fine," Kuroko said. He entered the men's room along with the stranger. He saw Kise and Himuro washing their hands.
"Yo, Kurokocchi," Kise said.
He just nodded at the two and then went about his business. He secretly looked at the two as they exited the men's room.
He wondered what the two guys were arguing about. He knew there was bad blood between the two starting in high school because of Murasakibara. But they were adults now. Can't they just forgive each other now?
Meanwhile, Aomine and Kagami were the only two left at the table after they noticed that Kuroko was no longer with them.
"So, why are you here?" Aomine asked Kagami.
Kagami drank his beer first. "I'm here on vacation." He decided not to tell Aomine and Kuroko anything. Himuro told him that Aomine was a cop. Although it seemed like a good idea at first, he still could not trust Aomine that much to let him in on their secret about Alex's disappearance. He also could not confide in Kuroko since he was with Aomine. "How about you, it seems like you and Kuroko are staying together temporarily?"
Aomine smiled. "Tetsu and I are pretty close. We may decide to live together later. That's just to save costs and stuff since I have a place enough for two."
Kagami just nodded. What Aomine said was a bit puzzling. He knew Aomine and Kuroko were close because of basketball back in middle school. But they were also rivals in high school. They probably got closer after high school then if they could live together now. He also saw that the two looked at each other often.
Yes, he admit that he was looking at Kuroko most of the time. It was just that they had not seen each other for a long time and he wanted a moment to just talk and catch up. But since this was a drinking party, he really could not ask some of the questions that he had in mind. Like if he already had a girlfriend or how he felt knowing that he was engaged already. Was he envious? Was he jealous? But he said congratulations so maybe he did mean it despite his poker face.
"Tetsu and I, were a team now. It seems like you and Himuro got closer, too. Am I wrong?" Aomine said.
"Y-yeah. We are. We are." Kagami drank the remainder of the beer in his glass in one gulp.
[A/N: Wow. This is already the seventh chapter. I did not imagine this to stay this long and to be read by many. But seeing the 2000+ views makes me happy and inspired in writing some more. Minna arigatou!
You may or may not be surprised by the potential pairings and bromance that is happening this chapter. I seriously did not initially intend for any of this to happen. They just came naturally as the story progressed. I am innocent. Lol.
So far, I'm glad that the story is progressing at the pace that I wanted. There will be more to come. Sigh. I wanted a novellete and here it is turning slowly into a novel. Dang. But still all is good since you guys still like it. ^_^
Please send me reviews or pm about Keep Close. I'm looking forward to knowing what you think about this baby.
See you next week!
P.S. Will edit later after some good breakfast and some Lee Min Hot. Hahahaha.]