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BANDS OF black AND blue
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24 : stranger things can happen
The funny thing about fate is how it works so terribly well in-conjunction with irony. At this point in time, Aomine Daiki is absolutely certain that those two forces of life are either controlled by the same megalomaniacal god, or - on the off-chance that they're actually the manifestations of two different entities - then said deities are absolutely conspiring together. It's, quite frankly, the only logical explanation because he had taken this route home many times before and never once had he chanced upon Kuroko.
'So it looks like I have run out of salt,' Kuroko had thought to himself two hours prior. 'No problem,' he had continued, 'I'll just take the five-block walk to the grocery store... which happened to already have closed... that's alright, there's another supermarket two bus stops away.' That was his reasoning for walking around at 9 in the evening. He had absolutely no idea what was Aomine's reason for doing the same, only that - if the other was going in the direction of his home - they would have to take the same bus.
"...Hey." Aomine reclined his head in greeting. Or at least attempted to, because he swung it with a bit too much force and ended up knocking his ear against his shoulder.
"Hello Aomine-kun," Kuroko was quite impressed by how easily he managed to hide his own surprise (and not-very-deeply-buried feelings of some-degree-of-resentment towards the other for beating his team so soundly in the Interhigh).
Awkward was the word of the hour, apparently, because Kuroko made no attempt to start any form of conversation. He also did not change his pace - and no Aomine was not slowing down to accommodate the other, this was how he normally walked with a throbbing ear, thank-you-very-much - which meant that the two of them were simply leisurely strolling along to the busstop that Aomine knew Kuroko used. Strolling in utter silence.
Kuroko entertained the idea that this was how other people felt around him: unable to grasp a proper topic of conversation and subsequently falling back on stupid actions. He was two syllables away from laughing nervously (or possibly looking surprised... though he hadn't exercised those facial muscles since the Touou v. Seirin match) and then chasing after an imaginary dog. Just to get away.
'What to talk about, what to talk about,' Aomine thought to himself, feeling the weight of his bookbag and wondering why the hell he had decided that today of all days would be a good day to stay late at the public courts and practice basketball. He absolutely blames it on Kise - mimicking him to such an extent - and Momoi - for getting him out of the match - and his stupid coach - for listening to Momoi of all people and -
"...been doing?" The punctuation of silence by Kuroko's question lasts for maybe five seconds. Aomine swivels his head to look at the other, attempting to catch the words that he managed to space out on. To no avail, of course. The ensuing quiet is stabbed mercilessly with the sound of their footsteps. Kuroko sincerely considers walking the twenty...seven (and a half!) blocks home.
"Uh..." Aomine reassured himself that he was absolutely capable of pretending to have a conversation with Kuroko even after only hearing the last two words of the question. After all, Kuroko had been his partner through all of Teikou - that had to count for something, right? "Playing basketball?" he replied, slinging his bookbag more firmly over his shoulders.
'This is definitely the point where I tell him that I have been playing basketball as well,' Kuroko thought to himself, 'but the problem is that I have not and he is the reason why I have not been playing basketball recently.' This seemed like a uniquely response, so he pursed his lips and nodded... in a hopeful mixture of acknowledgment and interest.
'Okay, so he nodded, or at least I think he nodded,' Aomine, apparently, was also in the process of an extended internal monologue sequence, 'So what am I supposed to do? It's not like he actually replied with anything. Oh shit maybe that's because the only thing he can say is will-you-just-go-away... maybe I should just make a left turn or something...'
And right at that moment, two blocks away, Kuroko noticed the familiar bus 47-N pulling into its stop. "Aomine-k - !" he started, but the other had somehow grabbed onto his wrist and dragged him along like a rickety mannequin for the better part of two blocks. Kuroko wondered if this was how normal high school friends helped one another - running through still-crowded streets and ignoring the traffic signals completely, only to jump dramatically in front of the bus and collapse in it as soon as the doors opened.
"It's always nice," the bus driver noted with a knowing smile, stepping on the gas pedal - and Aomine took note of how they were the only passengers in the first five rows of the vehicle, "To see an older brother helping his younger sibling."
"Oh we're not - "
"This isn't - "
"We're not actually - "
"...Friends..." Aomine croaked out, the foreign word literally oozing out of his mouth. Kuroko turned his head to look at the other, and at the drop of a hat, the two of them started laughing like it was the silliest word in the world.