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BANDS OF black AND blue
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26 : painted blue dreamscapes
Sometimes he dreams of Aomine kissing him. The location and reasons vary - whether it's because they just won nationals again or it's simply a lazy weekend afternoon or the world is crumbling at the tips of their fingers - but the kiss is always the same. It's soft at first before becoming insistent, tongue digging in, fingers pressing against Kuroko's shoulder blades. And through it all, Kuroko allows it - wants it, even.
The kiss is always deep and at some indefinite point, it mimics the feeling of drowning.
Drowning - the sensation - causes him to open his eyes and suddenly, he's submerged underwater, arms and legs paddling confidently towards the opposite end of the swimming pool. He pushes himself up against the edge, gasping for air and looks up to see Aomine standing above him, a wide smile planted firmly on his face and a towel hanging from his shoulder. Kuroko always remembers to say thank-you before taking the towel, except then -
The world swirls around him and he feels his eyes relegating themselves to the back of his head because it's him and Aomine again and there's a towel between the two of them.
But Kuroko is now the one who is handing the towel to Aomine, his teammate drapes it over his head, mutters some phrase of thanks and it's only then that Kuroko realizes that he's in his Teikou uniform once again except he's not number 15, as he remembers. No, in this space and time, his number reads 27 and Aomine laughs when he even tries to take the ball. 'What are you doing?' he remembers the other snickering, 'You're not even allowed on the court, third string player!'
Those are the times when he wakes up covered in a cold sweat, breaths short and fingers in a chokehold around his blanket.
Most of the time, however, he dreams of chasing Aomine - whether it be in middle school, high school, or college.
Of course Aomine is the type to run - and run fast. Of course he, like any good runner, will not stop to see who is behind, single outstretched, desperately attempting to catch up. It's been like this for as long as Kuroko can remember, and he's stopped minding. It's just another fact of life: Aomine will constantly be ahead of him - in school and basketball and everything else - and there is nothing he can do but run, run, and then run faster still.
The strange thing is that, at some point, he gives up in the middle of his dreams. Forces his legs to stop crashing through crowds of people - whether they be old classmates or competitors - and sits himself down on the concrete, carpet, or grass. This is when he realizes that it cannot possibly be reality, because Aomine not only stops (as if he's not already a tiny dot in the distance) but he looks over his shoulder at that second and, without any hesitation, doubles back and pauses in front of Kuroko.
'C'mon Tetsu!' the other gaily calls, arm outstretched as if Kuroko had not been chasing him for what seemed like eternity. 'What're you waiting for?'
Without a doubt, he always - always, always, always - takes that hand.
And then he wakes up, pale hand in the midst of contact awkwardly in front of his face and he blinks because: wasn't he just running a second ago?
Standing over the rooftop of one of their high schools, he thinks that everyone looks so small when they're seven stories below him. The sky is a beautiful shade of blue today and he wonders if, for whatever reason, Aomine is seeing the same sky as him. And then he laughs, because Aomine is constantly doing one of two things: sleeping or playing basketball - or, when the world is a dream, running away from Kuroko - and of course there's no time for looking at the atmosphere of all things.
"Tetsu!" he hears the other call. He blinks, eyes snapping open and face turning in surprise. He feels himself tackled against the chain-links of the rooftop fence, two familiar arms snaking out to wrap around him - an equally well-known voice whispering his name again and again.
"Aomine-kun," he murmurs, wondering between the blue of his friend's eyes and the blue of sky - what is it between 'reality' and 'dream' that makes one so much better than the other. "It's nice to see you."
"Stupid!" the other immediately responds, hugging Kuroko all the tighter. "What the hell are you thinking - always running away from me like that?"
Kuroko's eyes widen before he breaks out in soft laughter. It's so strange, he thinks, even as Aomine pressing their hands together and talking about 'tomorrow' like it's supposed to be 'forever'. It's so strange that in the midst of so many realities, they would end up connecting in the one that mattered. And when Aomine looks curiously at his amused expression, cheeks pink and hands firmly wrapped around his wrists, Kuroko feels the universe spin faster and faster and he looks to the sky and - finally - stops running.