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BANDS OF black AND blue
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14 : wishes of the magi
Please don't have an umbrella, please don't have an umbrella, please don't have an umbrella, Aomine mentally prays before stepping out of his classroom and into the locker rooms. It's become an everyday activity: the bell will ring and he will get out of class and then Kuroko will be waiting by their adjacent lockers (and so what if Aomine had to 'convince' the person who used to have a locker next to Kuroko to trade lockers - it was so worth it in the end) with his bag and, on account of rain, an umbrella.
It's really stupid, he knows, something that girly-girls like Satsuki would do, but all the same, he is curious: how would it feel to walk home in the light rain, sharing an umbrella with Tetsu? The good news is that it has been raining for the whole week; the bad news is that during each and every one of those days, Kuroko had steadfastedly chosen to remember his umbrella.
If you walk home in the rain with someone you love, Satsuki had told him the other day with a smile and a wink, then you'll be destined to be together! And then she squealed like it was the most romantic thing in the world and Aomine had shrugged her off because he was a boy and he didn't care about those sort of superstitions. Not one bit - not at all - not him, no way!
And then he had got to thinking, during a particularly boring history lecture, about how it would feel to be walking through the rain with Tetsu, possibly holding hands. And then they would chance a glance at one another and their eyes would meet and Tetsu's fingers would brush against his under the umbrella and he would tilt his head in that utterly adorable fashion and Aomine would cup his chin and...
Needless to say, the history teacher interrupted that daydream rather quickly. It was terribly embarrassing, a slightly-pink Midorima informed him after that class session was over, because he had been slumped over with a dazed look on his face while drooling. But Aomine manages to tune Midorima's casual ranting out, looking out at the promising gray sky and remembering that umbrella that he had remembered to put in his bag the night before.
"It's not there," he says, opening his locker and shuffling through the incredibly messy contents (Norikita Mai magazines, two basketballs, a somewhat-moldy sandwich, and half a dozen mismatched socks) while Kuroko stood by watching. "My umbrella isn't there," he hopes he manages to keep the hysteria out of his voice, but he doubts it, especially when he looks at Tetsu's utterly disconcerted face.
"Ah, um," he falters. He's blushing badly because he can literally see his fantasy being blown to pieces by the harshness of reality. He was the one that was supposed to offer Kuroko an umbrella! He had been planning this for only an entire week! He's certain that Kuroko will think of him as childish and unreliable now. "Um..." he starts again, wondering if anyone else feels so immature during their final year of middle school, "Do you think we could share an umbrella?"
"Ah, well..." Kuroko replies, and Aomine feels his heart sink to his stomach (oh God he must think that I'm a total moron who can't even remember to bring his own umbrella and now I'm going to have to walk home alone in the rain!) only to leap out of his chest (metaphorically, of course!) at Kuroko's next words: "I would share my umbrella with you, but I left it at home."
Aomine stares at the other, and then blinks. Kuroko continues staring at his bemused teammate. And then the two of them break out in smiles, and then laughter, clutching their sides and sniggering like the basketball-loving-morons anyone walking by would believe them to be.
"Screw that!" Aomine declares, grabbing both their schoolbags, "I have to go watch the latest Naruto episode this afternoon!" Kuroko bites back a snicker, remembering an earlier argument between Midorima and Aomine about which two characters could defeat one another in a fight. "What?" he asks, and Kuroko shakes his head in response. And then Aomine takes a leap of faith, grabbing Kuroko's wrist and dragging him more-or-less through the pitter-patter of the light May rain.
He's laughing hysterically because Kuroko has managed to lose some of his inhibition along the adrenaline-driven way, going to far as to actually hold hands with Aomine. They run like the middle schooler they are through the rain, schoolbags bouncing and soaked to the skin. Just for the sake of prolonging the moment, Aomine makes it a point to jump in every possible puddle. Kuroko is less than amused, but ends up with the last laugh with Aomine accidentally gets his uniform's pants drenched to the calf in muddy water after a particularly exhilarating splash.
"Aomine-kun is so weird," Kuroko mumbles, after Aomine looks at his pants and laughs even harder, his fingers clenching Kuroko's all the tighter.
"Only for you, Tetsu," Aomine cheerily replies.
The rest of their basketball team (including their yaoi-loving manager) places bets the following day when both of them end up staying home, sick - according to an overly defensive Aomine - with a cold. All the same, Aomine remembers to bring his umbrella everyday after that - and Kuroko does not. Much to nearly everyone's disappointment, it stops raining after that.