Chiiwasu minna-san!
I just reread this and realized that I forgot an important factor for this story
So you should just read it again and find it haha
Sorry about that
And I slightly changed the scene a bit so that it would fit in the story
Hope you enjoy
And sorry for the inconvenience… =.='

Aaaaaand you know what else? I completely forgot the warning!
I'm supperrrrr sorry to those that didn't read the manga and didn't warn you in advance
Especially for the spoilers! -.-' Now I feel evil (TT A TT)
Hope you'll forgive me people on the interspace!
Saa~ we start!

Disclaimer: no ownage for me on this story, just my basic ideas on filling in the blanks of the past in which they won't tell us a thing (and by 'they' I mean the GoM gang… buncha meanies)

Ps: I just added the construction of the fourth gym on a whim since I forgot whether or not there were actually four gyms but oh well… I have to change the story a bit now shall i?

Ahh~ and for people who decided to skip out on the manga, you should get on that cuz it's really interesting to read! Support the author~ (free public advertisement… no money made for me here :P)

I really do talk too much -.-'
But I have to say this in response to x Chaos RebornX:
Yes I'm sure that there's no yaoi… if you refer to the GoM Stories that I have, I made a KisexKuro fic but that's as far as I can do with yaoi… it kills me inside when I write it . it's too much for my brain to write. I can read it but I literally am dying when I write it that my hands go numb… but if you squint, you'll probably find accidental hints lol and fluffiness but no upfrontness on couples…

Phew, that was a really long A/N
Saa~ We Start (for reals)

Chapter 8: There's No Problem, Right?

The following day had come and the basketball team was allowed to be dismissed from classes early due to the game that they had scheduled right after school. Kuroko had been told by Aomine to drop by as soon as he could and then he had promised to take him out to eat later on. Kuroko didn't mind being told what to do but he didn't really rush either. If it was anything like their previous game record, then he knew for sure that they'd win. Even if they were up against the ones that had beaten their sempai, he knew that Akashi wouldn't kneel over and let them do as they wanted.

The game had started right after school had ended so by the time Kuroko had reached the opposing school's courts, they were already nearing the end of the third quarter. Kuroko took a look at both teams and observed them for a bit.

"The other team seems to be sweating a lot." Kuroko mumbled to himself as he looked at the scoreboard. "I guess that explains it." The boy thought as he saw that the score was 48 to 88; not even doubling their score though was in favor of Teiko-chuu. Kuroko was a bit surprised by this.

With Akashi's past records, they'd at least have managed to double their opponents score by the third period but as he examined his team's state, he found Aomine perspiring slightly as well as the others. Of course the other team wasn't any better than them and some even looked like they were ready to pass out or give up. This, he believed was probably due to Haizaki's ability to steal ones move and make it as his own. That on top of Midorima's heart shattering, yet still in development, three pointers, Murasakibara's incredible height, Aomine's incredible gaming style and Akashi's intimidation and reaction factors.

"I guess they're better than the average middle school team," Kuroko thought as the buzzer blew, signalling the end of the third quarter. "but it isn't like Akashi-kun to be below his own standards, nor to underestimate an opponent... to some extent." He continued to think out these possibilities but then thought it useless to get into the mind of the sadistic redheaded captain.

"Maybe he's just showing pity for once." Kuroko concluded as the game then continued on to the finish. They eventually did double the score much to the others' displeasure but it couldn't be helped. After all, what Akashi wants, he gets.

Both teams had bowed and thanked each other for the game and then retreated towards the locker rooms. Aomine had gotten dressed and then said his goodbyes to the team almost immediately. Momoi wondered where he was going all of a sudden when he emerged from the room but he just said that he had to run. Akashi had let him go without so much as a word but he seemed genuinely interested as well though he hadn't questioned in the slightest.

"I wonder where Tetsu could have gotten to." Aomine wondered out loud as he exited the building. "I know I saw him on the balcony... surprisingly." Aomine thought sheepishly as he then bumped into the one person he was looking for.

"Ah, Kuroko, sorry." The taller boy said upon his realization.

"You should watch where you're going, Aomine-kun." Kuroko rubbed his head as he looked up at the boy.

"Yeah, still working on that." The tanned boy said. "So where do you wanna go now Kuroko?"

"You said that we would eat somewhere." Kuroko reminded.

"Ah, I did say that didn't I, huh?" He then looked around as they walked down the street, away from the school. They eventually made it to the busy street and they found a burger joint known for being one of the most popular in the area. "Maji Burger huh? I've never really come here but I heard it was pretty good." Aomine commented.

(A/N: I just wanted to say that I wasn't sure if their burger joint was local or if it were a franchise or something (I know it could be a spin on this mcdonalds thing) but for me, I decided to make it a local place. Just makes it more special, don't you agree? ^^ ps: if there's anything that you know about it, please share and then I may make the changes, thanks!)

"Yeah, I used to come here with my older brother and he'd always get me one of their milkshakes." Kuroko said.

"Then we should go in and try one." Aomine then led them inside. He then bought them a meal each along with a milkshake; vanilla for Kuroko while he got chocolate. "You take the first bite." The dark haired boy urged. The other just nodded and did so; he then gave a faint smile and said that it was good. Aomine then followed and declared it to be the best burger he'd ever eaten.

"How's your milkshake?" Aomine asked as he took a sip out of his.

"Oishi, it's just as I remember it. It must have been a few years since I'd come here with my family." Aomine wanted to question why he hadn't come here after so long, as he claimed, but didn't want to pry anything out of the boy. He figured that it was either they were too busy or they didn't live in the area after some time and it was too out of the way. Either way, he was satisfied with the conclusion.

"That settles it, let's come here from now on." Aomine said. "Since you really like the milkshake and the burgers are awesome, then let's just make this our normal place. That way, when we want to go and get something to eat or can't decide on where to go, we'll just come here. It's not so far from school anyways and is located very conveniently." The dark haired boy seemed to be justifying his choice.

Kuroko just looked at the other, slightly amused. "Aomine-kun seems to be much smarter than everyone thinks he is." He teased much to the other's displeasure. "But, it is a good idea." Aomine then regained his smile after that. "Though, it's funny that you'd declare something like that after only taking one bite out of a normal burger and one sip from the shake." He teased again.

Aomine just pouted off to the side and grumbled that he was sorry for liking something after one bite. The teal haired boy just sighed inwardly with his faint smile still present and continued to eat his own burger. He had to admit though, it was a good meal and reasonably priced for middle school kids to afford. He figured that it wouldn't be so bad to have this place as their own regular place to hang out at occasionally. And he did, in fact, adore the milkshakes and was grateful towards Aomine for helping him find it again.

Afterwards, when they'd finished their meals, they decided to walk it off for a bit; however, neither knew where they wanted to go, so they let their feet lead the way. Eventually, Kuroko was then reminded of a question that he'd wanted to ask not so long ago but for some reason, always forgot to ask when his chance came.

"Ano... Aomine-kun..." Kuroko got the attention of the other. "I was just wondering, I know the reason why you started to practice with me by saying that you felt bad for suddenly forgetting about me and that you wanted to play with someone new, but why would you go as far as to hang out with me as well?" Kuroko didn't really understand.

Aomine on the other hand, in fact, didn't understand either. He considered the boy as his friend so he thought, did he really need a reason to wanting to hang out for a while? After his surprise, he voiced this statement. "Also," Aomine decided to add. "I may have started practicing with you because of those reasons but they aren't the reasons why I chose to stay and to continue practicing with you. I found you interesting and fun to be with is all." He gave a heartwarming smile.

"Ah, soka." Kuroko said as they continued to walk. Aomine then felt that something seemed to be a little off with the boy today.

"Yo, Tetsu," Kuroko looked back towards the tanned boy. "is something the matter? You don't seem like your usual self." Kuroko looked like he didn't want to answer but when he took a glimpse at the other's expression, he couldn't help but say what was on his mind.

"I think... I'm going to quit the basketball club." He frowned and averted his eyes from the other's. Aomine couldn't quite grasp on to what he'd just heard and for a moment, he thought his ears were lying to him. However, the boy's actions and proved his thoughts otherwise. Aomine just stopped walking for a minute and tried to collect his thoughts on the matter.

"W-why would you quit all of a sudden?" Aomine didn't understand at all. Kuroko seemed to hesitate before trying to come up with an answer. "Does this have something to do about you asking why I hang out with you? Do you not like me hanging around after all?" Aomine was starting to feel slightly defensive about the topic.

"No not at all, it's just that..." Kuroko paused again, building the suspense in Aomine. "I failed to pass the test to move up to 2nd string once again. So I feel it pointless to continue on like this." Kuroko confessed.

Aomine looked at the other angrily yet at the same time, sympathetically. Of course he didn't share his feelings for he's never once thought of quitting before. So in this time, he wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to say to the other boy. "Well..." Aomine started, not really sure where he was going to go with this. "I don't think you should quit at all. If that's all that's getting you bummed out then I should be bummed out about way more things than you, since I have more problems other than basketball like studying and Satsuki." Kuroko had to chuckle at that fact. Aomine did complain about those two things a lot.

"You're also one of the few people that I feel respect for. I've never really told that to anyone before either. The way you always try your best to improve yourself every day and that determination that you have, it just makes me feel so... excited!" Aomine couldn't hold in his enthusiasm.

"So please don't quit Tetsu. If you're doing something that you love, then there's no problem right?" Kuroko felt sort of awestruck for a moment. He then smiled at Aomine which made him sort of surprised.

"You're a very simple person, Aomine-kun." Kuroko commented.

"Haaa?! What's that supposed to mean!" Aomine felt ticked off by the comment.

"Nande mo nai..." (nothing) Kuroko shrugged teasingly and continued on the walk.

"Right..." the dark haired boy said skeptically. "at least, you'll be staying in the club then, right?"

"Ah. Arigato Aomine-kun." The shorter boy thanked.

"No, I didn't do anything really." Aomine scratched the back of his neck and waited for the other to say something to fill the awkward silence. However, Kuroko just continued to walk in the silence.

.

.

.

Aomine wasn't liking the sudden pause on the conversation. Usually, even if he was with a complete stranger, he would usually find something to talk about even after a few good hours of talking already but that wasn't the case with Kuroko. With him, it was just harder to get things out for some reason; it was like his mind suddenly went blank... sort of like it did in school... occasionally. (Yeah, he's lying to himself lol)

Though with the topic that they just got through, he understood why the conversation didn't continue on. If it was him, he wouldn't want to continue on a topic about his own insecurities. Just then, a sudden topic popped into his mind.

"Ahh!" He said upon his realization. Kuroko just sent him an odd look which then made Aomine sweat drop when he also realized that he made his outburst out loud. He cleared his throat before starting.

"So, how's your practice going with Kaibara?"

"Why would you ask all of a sudden?" Kuroko questioned, slightly raising an eyebrow.

"Just trying to make conversation." Aomine admitted sheepishly.

"Well, it's going fine." He answered finally.

"That's great to hear, but hopefully you're improving yourself too though." Aomine playfully answered.

"Why would you care so much for my improvement?" Kuroko really had no idea where the tanned boy was going with this conversation but just played along with it. Aomine didn't even know what he'd hoped to achieve by going on said topic other than trying to carry on the chat but as they moved on, he then started to somehow speak unconsciously and was unaware of what words came out of his mouth.

"Well, you know Tetsu, I want to someday play on the same court as you." Aomine just smiled. Kuroko was then left a bit speechless, not that Aomine would have really noticed. The smaller boy had to recover a bit before he could come up with a response to the statement.

"You're odd, Aomine-kun." Kuroko just said simply.

"And how's that?" the dark haired boy frowned at being called odd by an even odder invisible man. Aomine wasn't liking how Kuroko kept on labelling him as simple, odd or whatever else he'd said before.

"Because there are way better people that should be suited to playing alongside you than me. Besides, that's something that I should be saying to you." Kuroko corrected.

"But like I said before, you're more fun to be with." The air then sort of became a bit more awkward, if it was possible, for the pair as they stopped at an intersection, waiting for the light to change.

"Well, then that's nice of you to say so, Aomine-kun." Kuroko, at that point, halted the conversation again.

.

.

.

As the silence was getting to Aomine, he immediately tried to continue the talking again with another random question. "S-So, how bout the others that you, you know, practice with? Are they getting any better too?" Aomine actually didn't really care much but he figured that it was better than the silence that they were once in.

"Aomine-kun really likes to be challenged doesn't he?" Kuroko teased while Aomine just scratched the back of his head with embarrassment. "They're fine as well but most of them are still beginners." Kuroko said as he remembered the times in practice alongside them.

"I bet they're still better than you." Aomine joked with a smile and nudge.

"Yes, they are and they can shoot without having to do a probability of shots that they can get in in a number of tries." Kuroko had taken the joke literally and made Aomine feel slightly guilty about the previous comment.

"You know, I didn't mean it like that." Aomine frowned once again and looked at the other with an apologetic yet confused expression.

"I know but it is the truth so you aren't in the wrong." Kuroko tried to reassure him.

"You should really joke around a bit more. I don't like how you always have on the straight face that you always carry. If you changed it up a bit, then I bet more people would know that you're actually an awesome guy and would notice you more."

"But I'm fine with not having much attention drawn to myself." The smaller boy said almost to himself.

"Now you're just being silly, everyone should've noticed you at least once, even without your help." Aomine argued.

"That's only when I want them to acknowledge my presence." He argued back. "But instead of worrying about others, you should worry about your own academics at school."

"What does that have anything to do with the topic?" The pair eventually couldn't stop talking with each other and eventually, their feet had naturally led them all the way back towards their neighbourhood without either of them realizing.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Days have passed and seemed to be going by in a breeze. During this time, Aomine and Kuroko eventually started to get closer and closer with each passing day and Momoi slowly started to join in as well. She had gotten used to the company that Kuroko had provided and he had somehow even made Aomine more tolerant and controllable for her as well; for that, she was quite thankful towards the boy. Kuroko even put the thought of quitting at the back of his mind during this time as well. Aomine was happy that the boy had returned to his normal, blunt self but he wasn't very happy about the words Kuroko uses to describe him at times.

Half of the month had then gone by and Kuroko watched their last game, the semifinals, for the interhigh league. Though, as they continued to play, he suddenly realized something: there was somewhat very little teamwork between the court members. Sure Akashi had done his regular passes by bypassing the opposing players easily then tossing towards one of the others, but afterwards, it was pretty much a solo deal for each player, depending their talent and the situation that they're in.

Once one of them has the ball, the others seem to back away slightly, defending against their own check while the person with the ball deals with a one on one situation. He wanted to help them develop some sort of sense of teamwork with each other or at least a minimal sort of cooperation amongst them but with him at his current level, he couldn't even keep up with them let alone change them. Therefore, he just settled with helping Aomine realize this lack of teamwork that he had developed over the course of these past few months. However, it was harder than he'd realized since it was just the two of them practicing alone without much room for any cooperation or teamwork of any kind, other than basic drills.

"Aomine-kun."

"Hmm, what is it, Tetsu?" Aomine asked, still bouncing the ball.

"Have you ever realized that the team might be lacking something?" He asked discreetly.

"Lacking? If Akashi thought we were lacking then I'd be dying right now."

"Are you sure he hasn't noticed something? Though from his point of view along with his expectations on top of that, it would be understandable if he is unable to fully realize." Kuroko said as he implied that Akashi, himself, was lacking in observation skills.

"Tetsu, you can't just say that Akashi is lacking in... well, anything! If you do, then you can just say goodbye to your life while wishing that you'd never opened your mouth in the first place." Aomine shivered at the thought.

"And who exactly is, as you say, lacking, Daiki?" a voice asked from the gym entrance way. The same voice that made people's skin crawl and run a shiver down your spine. Aomine just froze in place upon hearing his first name being called by a familiar voice.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Practice for all first stringers and regulars had just ended and everyone was given permission to head towards the locker room showers. A certain red haired captain gazed around the gym as his eyes scanned each person in order to find who he was looking for.

"Who's Aka-chin looking for?" Murasakibara crept behind him and asked.

"I'm looking for Daiki, Atsushi, if you must know."

"Ahh~ Mine-chin just ran out of the gym once practice was officially announced as over."

"It seems that he's made a commitment to another without telling anyone. Even Momoi wondered about his quick disappearance." Midorima added.

"Well then, shall you two keep me company as we go find Daiki and later question him?" Akashi looked at the pair who had exchanged glances before looking into the shorter boy's eyes. They didn't mind looking for Aomine and on top of it, watch him get questioned by their scary captain; however, it wasn't like they could deny any suggestion offered by said captain either, so they really had no choice but to go along.

"Ja, do you have any idea where Mine-chin could be?" Murasakibara threw his question out in the open, not really directing it towards anyone.

"Well, with the time between when he left and when we realized that he was gone wasn't so long ago. So he couldn't have gotten far either. On top of this, he didn't bother to change out of his practice gear, which is highly suspicious." Midorima announced his observations from the previous events.

"You're right, Shintarou, and if you're information is correct, then assuming that he hasn't gone as far as we'd think he's gone." Akashi started to develop a few different theories in his mind.

"I don't get it..." Murasakibara just rubbed his chin.

"You will when we get there." Akashi smiled. "And this gives me the perfect opportunity to check out something that's been nagging the back of my mind for a long while now." The redhead refrained from chuckling out loud as he was excited to see what he had been hoping to see since the beginning of the school year.

Haha, I finished on time didn't I?
And just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my cousin!
I made it on time, yay
And I just read the latest chapter
I don't want to give any spoilers but it was awesome!
Totally blewww myy miiiind!
Yup, that's it
Thanks for reading ^^

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I found something to make an omake about haha
So here it is!

-Omake-

"You should really joke around a bit more." Aomine said to the other as he looked straight into the dead panned face. "I don't like how you always have on the straight face that you always carry. If you changed it up a bit, then I bet more people would know that you're actually an awesome guy and would notice you more." Aomine said matter of factly as he shut his eyes, crossed his arms and nodded his head as though he knew that he was right.

Aomine then looked back towards Kuroko and his left eye started to twitch when he made eye contact. In front of him, Kuroko had seemed to put on a blue faced, demon mask. "With this on, people will definitely notice me more." Kuroko muffled behind the mask.

"Tetsu..." Aomine felt a vein throb in his forehead as he could hear Kuroko breathing from behind the mask, sounding like Darth Vader a bit. The tanned boy then noticed a large sack behind the blue haired boy which was filled with other masks. "That's not what I meant when I said to change it up a bit! And get a better sense of humor!"

Haha, another little short on Kuroko and Aomine
Hope you liked that!
See ya next time
And sorry for being awol
I've been real busy lately with school and whatnot
But I'm trying to write the story chapters for most of my pending ones
Look forward to that!
Owari desu~