How we chainsmoked until three

One friend he had had since middle school who he hadn't slept with yet, was Haizaki Shougo. Haizaki, much like Hanamiya, was a friend he could vent to. And just like Hanamiya, none of his other friends liked Haizaki. But this time, he could understand that. Haizaki wasn't the nicest guy, and he was rather … abrasive, to put it nicely to say or do something, when meeting people for the first time or otherwise, to make them hate his gutsy. He always man. Except that Kuroko had actually been really hard to piss off. Which, was why they were drawn to each other.

Haizaki needed a friend he couldn't drive off with his obnoxious attitude, and Kuroko wanted a friend he could be real with. He could be himself around Shigehiro, but when he was at school, well, he didn't really have a whole lot of friends there. He was quiet and shy in middle school. Shigehiro was at a different school entirely, and when you weren't entirely sure how to keep a conversation going with a classmate, let alone form a friendship, you got a little lonely and desperate. Which was how he had met Haizaki.

And then nearly eight years later, there they were, still the best of friends they had been back in middle school. Haizaki was into a few more sketchy things now, but Kuroko never judged. He had decided against attending university, so they didn't get to see each other too much anymore, but when the silver haired man called him up, he always made the time to go see him.

They had decided to meet up at a club across town that Haizaki liked to frequent. Kuroko walked in and was instantly assaulted by the smell of cigarette smoke. Yeah, this seemed like the kind of place Haizaki would like. It wasn't too brightly lit, the interior didn't look like it had been updated for at least a decade or so. But since the walls were all plane, bare wood, at least there was no peeling paint. Kuroko scanned the room carefully, he still didn't see his friend. Sighing he went up to the bar.

"What'll it be short stuff?"

"I'm actually hoping to find my friend before I order, you wouldn't happen to know if Haizaki Shougo is here yet, would you?"

"Huh, you're not the usual crowd asking for him."

"I would assume not. We're old friends."

"Well, if you're looking for Haizaki, he's back in the smoker's lounge."

"I see, well then I'll have a blue lagoon and be on my way."

"Fancy."

"Is that not available?"

"No, it is, just most folks coming in here, the fanciest they ask for is a white russian." The bartender just grinned at him and set to work fixing his drink. Kuroko felt bad that he was asking for something so unusual to this establishment, but at least the man knew what it was and didn't mind mixing it. Once he had his drink he was directed to the smoker's lounge.

"How on earth do you breathe in here Shougo? It's 90% smoke." Kuroko chided as he entered the room. His old friend merely chuckled at him.

"Good to see you too Tetsuya."

"Seriously, is there a window in here or something? I don't mind you smoking, but I do wish to still be able to breathe while we visit." Haizaki laughed again and moved to open a window next to where he sat.

"What'd you order?" He asked eyeing the blue drink as Kuroko sat down.

"A blue lagoon, I felt kinda bad after, the bartender called it fancy, the bar I usually go to has them on their menu."

"Huh, is it a fruit like you?" This time it was Kuroko's turn to laugh.

"It's not that bad, it's a little fruity, but it's not like I asked for a pantydropper. Or a creamsicle."

"Hey, a good pantydropper will fuck you up nice."

"I know, I'm starting small."

"Since when do you party that hard?" Haizaki raised a brow.

"Since I started hanging out with Makoto's friends. Kazuya likes to mix me drinks every chance he gets, and he makes them strong. I've built up a pretty decent tolerance thanks to him."

"Makoto, why does that name sound familiar?"

"Hanamiya Makoto. Shigehiro hates him. Takao hates him. Kagami kun hates him. Everyone hates him."

"And you're fucking him, huh?"

"Well of course I am, but we're friends first."

"Since when do you fuck your friends?"

"Since they're hot as hell and hung like a horse." Kuroko sipped his drink, a smirk firmly in place as Haizaki looks at him, trying to decide if he's lying or not.

"Well careful, or you might get another bastard like those Sasaki twins." Kuroko winced at the name.

"We aren't dating, we're more like, favorite friends with benefits."

"Well still, be careful." He took a drag of his cig, smoking it down to the filter, and then reached into his pocket to pull out his pack, lighting another off the first before putting it out in the provided ashtray. He held the pack out to Kuroko. "Want one? To go with your sissy ass drink?" He smirked and Kuroko rolled his eyes but took one anyway, lighting it off of his friend's.

"You are a horrible influence on me Shougo. I hope you know that."

"I live for it."

"I realize, though with how many of these you smoke a day, I wonder for just how much longer." He ribbed back.

"You wound me, I'll die by getting shot for saying the wrong thing to the wrong person, way before smoking does me in."

"I had been wondering about what you'd been up to lately, but if that's actually a possibility, perhaps I don't wish to know any longer."

"Oh please, the gang scene isn't that bad." He pulls the cigarette from his lips and rests his arms on the back of the couch they were seated on, his wrist resting lazily, dangling the lit cancer stick dangerously over the fabric. "Pays pretty well too." He exhaled and a bit of leftover smoke floated from his mouth and nose. "Still thinking teacher?"

"Maybe, though I have been toying with the idea to become a therapist instead."

"A therapist with a sex addiction, that's a good one."

"I think it makes me relatable." Kuroko smirked and took a hit from his own cigarette. He didn't smoke often, only with Haizaki, but when he did, he liked to savor them for as long as he could. They would chain smoke the night away, each lighting their next off the other's.

"Who wants to humanize their therapist? That just makes ignoring the shit they spew harder." Haizaki reached for his own glass and Kuroko just rolled his eyes.

"You're supposed to listen to them if you want to get better, though, knowing you, you'd never even step foot in the door." He pulled the cigarette back from his lips and sighed, exhaling the smoke from his body, watching the spindly grey tendrils float off into the air and dissipate. "Of course, you'd sooner deny having a problem altogether than go to a professional to help you "fix" it, wouldn't you?"

"Problem? What problem? You're the one with the problem bro. I'm perfect." Kuroko took a longer swig of his drink, setting it down on the table next to his side of the couch. He brought the cigarette to his lips and just held it there, not inhaling it, just tasting the paper and breathing in the fumes radiating off of the lit end. Shougo watched him, taking a drag from his own once more.

"If you like it so much, why do you only smoke with me?"

"I also like to try and be health conscious. Drinking more heavily is about as self destructive as I've been lately."

"Well, I guess if you aren't addicted yet, more power to ya'."

"One of Makoto's friends offered to help get me high last week. Shigehiro was so mad that I had invited them over in the first place that I almost considered it."

"Wait, all smiles, never-a-bad-day-in-paradise Shigehiro, got mad at "can-do-no-wrong-ever", you?" Kuroko rolled his eyes as he listened to Haizaki speak. "How badly do they hate this dude that Ogiwara would get made at you of all people?"

Kuroko took a deep breath, breathing in his cig until the flame burnt down nearly half way, he held it, flicked the ash over the ashtray and then let it all out through his nose. "They really hate him. Even Takao scolded me about it when he found out. Which, pisses me off, because unlike you, Makoto has never done anything to them personally for them to dislike him, and yet I think they'd sooner prefer I invite you over than him."

"Fuck."

"Seriously. It's like they think he's some sort of demon or something. Like, I get that Kiyoshi senpai doesn't like him. He has a personal grudge against him. But Shigehiro and Takao have no reason to hate him, neither does Kagami! And yet, any time I'm with any of them and I even think of bringing Makoto up, even in conversation, I get the iciest glare they can muster, and the topic is immediately changed."

"Well shit. I don't think I've ever seen you so riled up. This guy is really that important to you?"

"Shougo … I think I might be in love with him, but neither of us want anything to do with a relationship, and I can't bring myself to be vulnerable like that with anyone again. I don't want to get hurt again." Kuroko looked away, out the window, ignoring the stare of disbelief that his friend was giving him.

"That's why you never sleep with a person more than three times, feelings and shit get in the way. Are you sure it's love or is it just post sex glow?"

"Even when we're just hanging out I feel like I can't breathe when I'm next to him. My chest hurts and I feel nervous, yet I could talk for hours with him, either listening to his voice, or just jibbering on myself. When he touches me it feels like fire in his wake, when he tousles my hair I feel butterflies in my stomach. When he smiles at me my stomach does flips, and when he laughs I can feel my heartbeat pick up pace. I'm so far gone, Shougo, I really can't help it anymore. But I can't be monogamous, and I can't bring myself to ask him out."

"So, fuck buddies is the best you can do?"

"For now."

"Tetsuya, If you're ever going to get over them , you have to try again. And as hesitant as I am to suggest it … does he like you back?"

"I think so, but he's been hurt before too, neither of us is ready for that step."

"Fuck," He growled, seeming to make up his mind. "just ask him out, and if he hurts you, I'll take him out, permanently."

"I don't want him dead Shougo kun, even if it did backfire, assuming I grow a spine and ask him, I would never wish death on anyone. Not even Shouta and Sota."

"Well … you can hear and say their names without crying anymore, so I guess that's a good sign that you're moving on."

"Slowly." He moved to grab his drink again, feeling the need to wash the taste of that name out of his mouth. Picking it up he knocked back half the glass before setting it back down again. The evening progressed naturally, the conversation flitting between each of their past partners, both of them trying to outshine the other in terms of impressive lays.

"I fucked the mistress of this brothel last week, she was so loud I bet the whole damn place heard us." He grinned, wide and lecherous. Kuroko shook his head.

"I sucked off the only son of the owner of Akashi corps, made him pretend I was his crush and it got him so hot he came almost instantly, like, he didn't even last long enough for my jaw to get sore. Not that it would have with how hard and fast he kept fucking my face." Kuroko's own grin wasn't much better.

"No fucking way, I call bullshit, how did you get that close to a member of the Akashi family?"

"We share a few classes and the professor paired us up for a group project."

"And he just let you give him the best blowjob of his life?"

"He didn't want it at first, but you know how persuasive I can be."

"I know how addicted to dick you can be, so I think I can imagine. What was his crush? Hot blonde babe with G's?"

"More like, small, timid cutie with eyes like chocolate."

"No way, he's gay?"

"He said he was "disinterested" in sex, but as soon as I mentioned Furihata kun, boy did that change. Maybe he's just attracted to him ? Who knows, but I got him off to him."

"That is pretty impressive." They laughed, the ashtray starting to form a small mountain of cigarette butts. "Okay, I'll give you that round."

"Remember, you can't tell anyone though."

"Who would I tell? What would I tell them? "I know a dude who blew Akashi Seijuro"? No, that would be crazy."

"No, I mean about Furihata kun. You have to keep his name out of anything sketchy."

"I know, I know."

They talked for a bit longer, refilling their drinks occasionally and by the time the bar was closing it was nearly two in the morning. They left the bar, and Kuroko contemplated calling up Takao for a ride home, but decided against it. It was a nice night, a walk wouldn't kill him.

"Want a lift home? I do have my car you know."

"Hmm, Maybe, how much did you drink in there?"

"Less than you did, that's for sure. I'm still sober enough to drive, so get that perky little ass in my car and lets go."

"Aw~ you called my ass perky, thanks~!" He grinned, snickering as Haizaki unlocked his car, one of the four left in the parking lot.