A/N: Here comes part 2. Hope you enjoy!
Let there be Light – Part 2
Kagami was running through the woods without stopping or even slowing down. In his current Zone-deep state, all unnecessary disturbances were discarded; his ears could hear nothing but the sound of Kuroko silently calling out to him, his eyes saw nothing but the path leading to Kuroko, his mind bore no thought but one: finding Kuroko. It could sound like a wild goose chase at first, but if one calmly thought about it, there was a rational way to tackle the problem.
First, Kuroko never actually hid. The main point of the misdirection was to be in plain sight yet without being seen. Second, he couldn't hide twice in the same spot since people would already be paying more attention to those spots. Of course, most of the others would have reached the same deductions. However, very few of them knew about a certain fact, namely Kuroko's extreme weakness to heat. Kagami had already noticed it before, yet today was even more obvious during their match. Despite not playing for long, Kuroko had ended up sweat-drenched and more exhausted than usual. If he were to use his misdirection for an entire afternoon, it'd better be in as cool a place as could be, preferably with a source of water nearby.
With those points in mind, the hunt was suddenly much easier. Kuroko had already been found once by the river – by Aomine, though accidentally – which left only one more spot to go. There was a small pond in the middle of the woods, covered by trees and therefore not exposed to the sunrays, and it was exactly where Kagami was heading.
Truth be told, he hadn't gone through the trouble of holding the previous reasoning, at least not consciously. He was certain that Kuroko was there, yet it was more a strong intuition born from a Zone-enhanced instinct than an actual rational analysis – anyone who knew Kagami even a bit also knew that he was one to rely on instinct rather than his brain.
He sprinted, getting closer and closer to his destination. He had to be right; he had to find Kuroko there to get a chance to apologize and properly explain himself. He had to, for he couldn't stand Kuroko giving him the cold shoulder anymore.
He arrived at the pond, completely out of breath, chest heaving for air. And then his lips stretched into a smile.
The Shadow was waiting for his Light.
It was way too hot, Kuroko mused as he settled down near the pond. So hot that he almost didn't care who would find him today, as long as they found him quickly.
Almost. But the probability for a certain idiot redhead to find him was about the same as the probability for Akashi taking up classical dance lessons. And in any case, assuming that the said idiot redhead found him, where would that lead them? Bakagami had made it clear that he wasn't into the kind of relationship Kuroko had been hoping to have with him. Why did all his Lights have to be such a pain in the neck?
His fingers skimmed the cool pond water nonchalantly. Couldn't someone just find him already? It was hot, way too hot, and he wasn't certain how long he'd be able to hold off before actually diving into the pond. Well, last time he did something similar, he had fallen asleep underwater and had been saved in extremis from drowning by Aomine. It was wiser not to repeat the experience again.
Several people had passed the spot, without seeing him – the whole point of his misdirection, one would have argued – but no trace of any idiot redhead. It's not like he absolutely needed Kagami to find him so they could spend a night together; there would be plenty of other opportunities back in Tokyo for the latter – it would be easy to convince Kagami to play basketball on a street court on an evening after school until it was too late and dark for Kuroko to go back home alone, and then Kagami would naturally invite him to stay over.
He should have done that since the beginning. But again, Kagami would have most likely ended up kicking him out at some point since it was 'gross' for two guys to be together. Perhaps he could settle with Momoi, after all; he'd be in a healthy relationship, marry her, have kids, get a nice house… Okay, now the heat was having some bad effects on his brain.
The blue-haired teen sighed silently before raising his eyes as a rustle was heard nearby. And suddenly his heart raced as a familiar silhouette appeared in his field of vision. Mild surprise painted his face as he noticed the streaks of red light flashing in the newcomer's eyes. And he smiled.
The Light had found his Shadow.
Kuroko stood up.
"Congratulations, Kagami-kun." he said softly.
The trip back to the inn was strangely quiet, and awkwardly so. It was as if all the elation of having found Kuroko had completely vanished, leaving room once again to the uneasy feeling of having to deal with what to do next. Fortunately, Kuroko was the one who started the conversation:
"It was unexpected to see you use the Zone outside a basketball match."
"Uh well, it kind of came just like that." Kagami answered, scratching his head.
"That is how the Zone works, yes. Though I do wonder about the condition that made you enter the Zone."
"The condition?"
"There is a different condition for each person that has to be fulfilled in order to enter the Zone." Kuroko explained patiently. "Even Aomine-kun knows this."
"Sorry for not being as knowledgeable as Aomine." Kagami muttered, annoyed.
"What drove you to enter the Zone, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked again.
"Hm? Well I told you, it just happened." the power forward answered before adding a bit hesitantly: "Though I guess I must enter the Zone when I really want to achieve something, like winning a match, or finding you."
Kuroko stopped and raised his head to Kagami, expression unreadable.
"W-What?" the latter asked, visibly disturbed by the stare directed at him.
"Did you want to find me that much?"
"Well, of course. I mean, even Aomine managed to find you. There's no way I'd lose to that guy." Kagami answered. "Besides... I can't call myself your Light if I can't find you at least once." he added hesitantly, cheeks turning slightly pink.
Kuroko didn't react at those words; at least not in a very visible way, but sharp eyes would have notice the very, very faint smile that graced his lips as he resumed walking and said:
"I see."
To celebrate the last night of the camp, it had been decided to take everyone to a grilled meat restaurant. The coaches had booked the entire place for dinner, which wasn't a bad idea for tonight was particularly animated; perhaps it was because it was the last night and everyone wanted to enjoy it as much as they could, but it seemed that the exhaustion of an entire week of non-stop training had no effect whatsoever on the high-schoolers.
Everyone was seated around a single long table and wolfing down the meat faster than they could grill it.
"Damn, they're too slow to bring the meat." Aomine ranted in front of his empty plate.
"You're the one who's too quick to eat it." Imayoshi retorted.
"Oi Sakurai, give me yours." Aomine ordered as he used his chopsticks to pick the remaining slices of meat in his neighbour's plate.
"I'm sorry! I'm very sorry!" Sakurai apologized profusely.
"What is he even apologizing for?..." Wakamatsu sighed to Imayoshi who merely shook his head. "And tell me what he is doing here with us?" he added, pointing at Kise who was also seated by Aomine's side.
"Well, there's no rule saying each school has to sit separately." the Touou captain said. "And it's kind of refreshing having him here, don't you think so?"
At the same moment, Kise brought a slice of meat with his chopsticks to Aomine's mouth.
"Say 'aah'~" the blonde teen said.
Aomine took the piece of protein in one bite as if it was the most natural thing to do. Wakamatsu twitched.
"Refreshing, yeah… Gosh, I think I won't be able to get used to this."
Next to them, and upon witnessing the very same scene, Takao turned to his team's ace:
"Shin-chan, do you want me to feed you like that too?" he asked happily, immediately resulting in a death-filled glare from Midorima.
"You should learn how to behave in public, Takao."
"Yeah, you totally should." Miyaji snorted.
"But come on, it's refreshing!"
"I got enough refreshing stuff from you two, thank you very much."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Midorima questioned suspiciously, but Takao answered hastily:
"Nothing, nothing!"
In the meantime, around the Yosen corner, another refreshing scene was occurring.
"You can take it, Atsushi." Himuro said with a smile, handing his own plate to Murasakibara.
The latter eyed at the three remaining slices of beef waiting to be eaten with obvious interest.
"You don't want them?" Murasakibara asked as he helped himself.
"I don't want you to starve, and they will bring more food soon anyway. Oh, and don't eat just meat only." Himuro added, picking a few vegetables and putting them in Murasakibara's plate.
"Ah, thank you, Muro-chin." the purple-haired teen said while chewing mechanically on the food.
"Himuro, I know I'm repeating myself, but it seriously feels like you're his mom, no matter how much you look at it." Fukui observed with obvious amusement.
"Does it now?" Himuro smiled.
"Well yeah, you manage to get him to eat something else but snacks and sweets."
"Muro-chin says it's good for me, so I believe Muro-chin." Murasakibara answered with his usual toneless voice.
"Be careful Atsushi, you have some sauce here." Himuro said, reaching his thumb to a small spot near the corner of Murasakibara's mouth. He wiped it off before licking it clean, earning a round of incredulous stares from his teammates.
"Mothers do that to, right?" Liu asked, uncertain.
"I… suppose they do." Fukui answered though very dubiously.
"You should tie your hair when you eat." Himuro continued, completely oblivious of the attention he and Murasakibara were collecting. He tucked a long strand of purple hair behind Murasakibara's ear. "There, better."
Inevitably enough, Murasakibara's cheeks turned pink and he scowled a bit at the gesture.
"I've no problem eating with my hair down." he mumbled.
"Oh? Too bad then, I actually kind of like it when you have your hair like this."
The Yosen centre puffed his cheeks but didn't protest. Instead, he just plunged his hand in the bag of crisps next to him and shoved a few them into his mouth, making a mental note to keep his hair tucked more often.
"Hey." Okamura whispered to Fukui and Liu. "Is it me or has Murasakibara turned even more obedient towards Himuro recently?"
"You mean, more than usual?" Fukui cocked an eyebrow. "It looks the same to me. A mom and her kid. Hey Himuro!" he called out to the shooting guard. "Why don't you adopt Murasakibara?" he joked.
Himuro looked amused by the question. He turned to Murasakibara:
"What do you think, Atsushi? That way you could officially call me 'mom'."
The other teen glared – very adorably, in Himuro's opinion – at him.
"As if I could call you 'mom' now." he grunted.
"Oh? Then how would you like to call me?" Himuro asked, playing along with the repeat game of two nights ago. Little did he suspect that Murasakibara would actually play it too, and it was all he could do not to look completely off guard when his partner suddenly smirked and answered:
"How about 'my beloved Tatsuya whom I adore more than sweets'?"
Thanks to the place being quite noisy, only those from Yosen heard the last sentence. Therefore no one noticed or wondered why a corner of the table had suddenly turned silent, with Fukui, Liu and Okamura staring at Himuro who was hiding his – blushing? – face between his hands while Murasakibara was eating his snacks nonchalantly as if nothing abnormal had occurred.
In the middle of those happy events, new plates of food came, much to the famished high-schoolers' pleasure. A minute later, the griddles were all covered with slices of beef and chopped vegetables.
"Kagami-kun, you put too much meat on this one." Kuroko said.
"But I'm hungry, I need a lot of meat." the redhead answered.
"Hey, leave some for us too or I'll kill you." Hyuuga warned.
"Maybe we should have taken you to that free-steak thing." Riko pondered. For once, all the coaches were eating at the same table as the players, though they were all seated together at an end of the table. The only exceptions were Riko and Momoi who had chosen to stay with Seirin. "With Kagami here, we'd all get free meat!" she exclaimed cheerfully.
"Tetsu-kun, if you want, you can have my share." Momoi offered. "And I can feed you too!"
"I appreciate the thought, Momoi-san, but I will be fine on my own." Kuroko declined politely. "Besides, you haven't eaten much since the beginning."
"I-I'm watching my figure, you see." the pink-haired girl explained, fidgeting a bit.
"Eating too little is not healthy for you. Besides, I believe you look fine like this, Momoi-san." Kuroko stated with his usual tone.
Upon hearing those words, Momoi blushed of embarrassment and delight. Stars sparkled in her eyes as she laced both her arms around Kuroko's:
"You really think so? I guess I'll eat a bit, then! Thank you for worrying about me, Tetsu-kun!"
On the other side of Kuroko, Kagami was trying hard to focus on not letting his meat burn, but somehow the scene that was happening right next to him was rather annoying him. Well, it was a secret to no one that Momoi had a crush on Kuroko, but that raised the inevitable question: what about Kuroko? Not that it was any of Kagami's business, but well, curiosity was a natural feeling for human beings, was it not?
From an objective point of view, Kuroko had never demonstrated anything beside politeness toward Momoi. But they had known each other since middle school, it would be strange if Kuroko didn't feel anything for her. 'And why does it bother me that much?' Kuroko was free to like whoever he wanted, and Kagami had no say in it. Still, if Kuroko could just pay a little less attention to Momoi, and maybe more to his teammates… 'To me.' Kagami thought unconsciously before pulling a weird face upon realizing the content of his own thoughts. 'Damn it, it's not like he belongs to me or anything!'
This was getting more and more confusing.
"Are you perhaps going out together?"
Takao's innocent question – at least, presumably so – suddenly popped up in his head. And the odd point was that this time, the words didn't make him feel like saying 'gross'. Even odder was the fact that he actually didn't dislike the idea.
The observation almost made him jump. Since when was he so comfortable with the perspective of going out with Kuroko? He didn't see his teammate that way, did he? Kuroko was a good basketball partner and a good friend. Was he a good friend enough that Kagami wouldn't mind considering him a bit more than a friend?
The redhead glanced at the object of his thoughts who was still conversing with Momoi, completely oblivious of the utter jumble his personage had created in Kagami's head.
"You seem to have made up with Kuroko somehow." Koganei nudged Kagami slightly on the side, interrupting his thoughts and almost startling him.
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, I guess I have." he answered, still in the middle of his reflections.
"And you even managed to find him!"
"Oh yeah, congratulations about that, Kagami!" Kiyoshi added. "I guess using the Zone was a good idea, after all."
"Only a Bakagami would be enough of an idiot to even think of using the Zone for such a thing." Riko commented. "But it was still a good job."
Kagami grunted at those words, but his mind was still too distracted to come up with a good retort.
"Ah, the meat's ready." Hyuuga announced in a completely unrelated way, immediately triggering an assault in the griddles' direction.
Next to them was the Rakuzan team which players were also helping themselves. Hayama made an attempt at stealing the meat on the Seirin griddle, but as his chopsticks almost touched it, Akashi's voice rose:
"Kotarou."
The small forward froze before turning to Akashi with a large grin:
"Yes, Akashi?"
"I will not tolerate such behaviour."
"Oh come on, that was for fun. You don't mind, right? Huh… I'm sorry I forgot your name…" he addressed his neighbour right next to him.
"I-It's Furihata." the point guard answered timidly.
"Ah right! And you even managed to find Kuroko, right? I wonder how you pulled that one." Hayama went on. "Or do you have some secret weapon you've yet to show us?" he asked with a grin.
"Kotarou, stop badgering him." Akashi ordered.
"Come on, I was just teasing him a bit." Hayama added, ruffling Furihata's hair playfully. Akashi's eyes flared eerily at the gesture.
"Kotarou." he repeated with a warning tone that left no doubt on the pending threat.
"I-It's fine, Aka–I mean, Seijuurou-kun! I don't really mind!" Furihata intervened hastily.
Akashi gazed at him silently for a second, before turning back to normal.
"If that is fine with you, Kouki." he merely said.
Silence.
Needless to say, that last scene earned them a round of incredulous stares. Then all the Seirin members turned slowly to Furihata:
"…'Seijuurou-kun'?..." Hyuuga repeated cautiously.
"Ah well… that's…" Furihata started stuttering, face turning red. At that moment he wished he could use Kuroko's misdirection ability to vanish from this place and hide somewhere far, far away from here.
"Are you hiding stuff from us, Furi?" Koganei inquired.
"N-No, it's…"
"I did not know Akashi-kun and you had become so close." Kuroko stated neutrally, but the long stare he was giving Furihata was worth a hundred words.
"Did something strange happen the other night, after all?" Hyuuga questioned the point guard.
"Nothing happened, really!" Furihata replied a bit too quickly, which Izuki didn't fail to notice.
"Hmm? Then something did happen! Come on, details, details!" he insisted.
"Now now, let's not annoy Furihata too much." Kiyoshi intervened to take the poor first-year's defence. The latter looked at him with obvious gratitude. "He can call Akashi however he likes, right?"
"Yeah but it's not fun if he doesn't tell us the details!" Koganei said.
Meanwhile, on the Rakuzan side, the badgering wasn't less harsh. Mibuchi put a hand on Akashi's forehead, looking overly concerned:
"Are you feeling well? Do you have a fever?" he inquired.
"You should go rest if you feel sick." Hayama added.
"I am feeling perfectly well. Reo, remove your hand." Akashi ordered, not the slightest bit fazed by the turn of events.
The shooting guard obeyed, but there was an impish smile on his lips.
"Could it be that?" he asked mysteriously. Akashi glanced at him with a mildly inquiring look.
"What do you mean, 'that'?" Nebuya voiced out the silent question.
"Well you know, that!"
"You're not making it any clearer, Reo-nee." Hayama said.
"Come on, isn't it obvious? But I'm not sure our dear captain here will allow me to say it." Mibuchi said, looking at Akashi very innocently. The latter, as usual, paid no attention to the tease, which made Mibuchi sigh:
"You could at least pretend to be embarrassed or something."
"I have no reason to be." Akashi answered.
"Can the two of you stop talking as if everyone could understand what you're saying?" Hayama complained.
"Oh come on, just how clueless can you be? I'm saying that Furihata and our captain–"
"Reo, that will be enough, I believe." Akashi cut him in, calmly but firmly. A mischievous smile appeared on the shooting guard's lips.
"So you are embarrassed by it." he said.
"It is simply neither the time nor the place to speak of such matters." Akashi answered, as composed as ever.
"Seriously, you two are pissing me off." Hayama grunted before turning to the Seirin side: "Hey, do you know what that's all about?"
"We're trying to extract information from Furi, but he's a tough nut to crack." Koganei answered.
"Eh? Now that makes me even more curious about what happened."
"Yeah, but we won't give up before–Hey Kagami! You ate all the meat!" Izuki exclaimed.
"Hm? You were busy talking to Furihata, so I figured you weren't hungry anymore." Kagami answered, his mouth full.
"You glutton! You could have left some for us!"
"That'll teach you to annoy Furihata instead of eating." Hyuuga said.
"Captain, don't take his defence!"
"I agree with Hyuuga-senpai." Kuroko added as he offered his plate to Kagami: "Kagami-kun, would you like more?"
"Ooh, thanks Kuroko!" the redhead answered gratefully, helping himself.
"And Kuroko, don't give him more food!"
"Will you all shut up already?" Riko intervened. "It's not like there's no more food. We knew that you'd all be famished, that's why we ordered a lot."
"That's Riko for you!" Kiyoshi said with a huge grin.
"But who's paying by the way?" Hyuuga inquired with sudden suspicion. "I hope it's not us."
"Of course not!" Riko answered. "It's the coaches. Well, beside me of course. We leave the bill to the grown-ups!"
The feast continued on until quite late into the night, filled with animated conversations, laughter, food theft, retaliation and good mood. At some point thought, it was decreed that it was time to go back to the inn and rest, for tomorrow they would have to depart early.
In the Seirin dorm, the full week of intense training and tonight's lavish meal were starting to have some effects on the players. Koganei was already snoring softly while next to him, Mitobe was also slowly drifting away.
"I will be leaving #2 in your care again, Hyuuga-senpai." Kuroko said quietly. "Kagami-kun, shall we go?"
"Hm? You're not staying here tonight? What's the point of going to a separate room?" the Seirin captain inquired.
"Akashi-kun's rules are absolute." Kuroko answered immediately in an attempt at sounding very convincing, but Izuki cocked an eyebrow, a mild smile on his lips:
"Sounds like an excuse to me." he said. He then nudged Kagami on the side: "Are you maybe trying to lay your hands on Kuroko?" he asked teasingly, but the question made Kagami turn bright red.
"N-No, of course not!" he answered vehemently. "That'd be completely–" He paused for a second, searching for a fitting word that would not hurt Kuroko. "–indecent." he finished.
"Well, as long as you're not having a kouhai meeting to conspire against your senpai, I guess it's fine." Izuki said.
"And don't wake up late, or we won't wait for you." Hyuuga warned.
With a last good night wish to their seniors, Kuroko and Kagami left the room. As they headed for Kuroko's room, Kagami couldn't help but feel growing anxiety and nervousness. For some reason his heart was beating a bit too hard against his chest, and though he had just taken a shower, his hands felt sticky. 'Calm down, calm down. You're just gonna spend a night with Kuroko, it's no big deal.' But it was precisely the fact that he was going to spend a night with Kuroko which made it such a big deal.
What were they going to talk about? What did the others talk about on the other nights? Basketball? School? Kagami mentally shook his head. No, first he had to properly apologize to Kuroko and set their relationship straight again, even if there had been some slight improvements today. Yes, that sounded like a good start.
They reached the room and settled down in a silent and awkward atmosphere which now felt very familiar but which didn't put Kagami much more at ease. He sat down on his futon, edgy just like before his very first official match. 'Come on, it's easy. Just start by saying you're sorry for before.' he encouraged himself. What was he afraid of? It was just a simple word, and Kuroko wasn't a particularly frightening person – at least, under normal circumstances. He just needed to apologize for being – in spite of himself – a bit insensitive, Kuroko would nod, accept his apology, and the issue would be solved. Simple, right?
And yet, Kagami just couldn't. He glanced sideways at Kuroko who was also settled on his futon and was finishing slipping on a shirt, quickly hiding the glimpse of Kuroko's fair, smooth skin. 'Wait, I haven't just thought that.' He felt blood rush to his cheeks and blamed the sudden increase in temperature on summer's heat.
"Kuroko." he blurted out before his brain even registered it.
"What is it, Kagami-kun?"
"Oh, hm. Well… I was thinking, huh… We could have actually stayed with the others." As soon as he pronounced those words, Kagami felt like hitting himself hard.
"Is that so." was Kuroko's mere answer, but the tone in his voice felt like a cold shower on Kagami. He started panicking.
"No! I mean, huh, it's just… Ahh dammit!" He hit his forehead with the palm of his hand before turning to Kuroko: "Sorry, I completely messed this up."
He let out a long sigh, then gathered his courage and looked straight at Kuroko: "Look, what I want to say is, I'm really sorry about the other day, when I said it's gross being with you."
"You already apologized about this, Kagami-kun."
Kuroko's answer wasn't the one Kagami expected. "Yeah well, uh, I thought that you were still upset by it so, uh, I figured I should apologize again." he said, scratching his head.
"I appreciate it."
'So that settles it, then?' Kagami wondered. It seemed a bit too easy and – disappointingly – short, but knowing Kuroko, he was never one to go into long speeches.
"Hm then I guess we should go sleep?" he suggested, while hoping for some reason that Kuroko would actually want to prolong the conversation – if it could be called a conversation.
And Kuroko did.
"Kagami-kun, what is your opinion on this training camp?" he asked, pretending he didn't hear Kagami.
Again, the power forward didn't expect the seemingly unrelated question. He frowned, thinking. "The training camp? It was good, I guess. I mean, training with everyone was kind of fun. And the basketball matches were a lot of fun too. But damn, the last one against those monsters was just plain amazing, even if we lost." Kagami grinned.
Kuroko smiled faintly. His Light was so easy to please, almost frustratingly so. As soon as basketball was involved, he was in heaven. Actually it was the same for his former Light too. Kuroko could only wish that Kagami wouldn't follow the path of the aforementioned former Light.
"–that dunk Aomine did near the end! It's almost pissing me off to say so, but that guy's incredible. Ah, but don't tell him I said so. When I think you played with them all during middle school… But hey, I'm glad you're part of Seirin now!" Kagami continued, unaware of the fact that Kuroko was observing him with what could be called amusement.
"I also enjoy playing with you a lot." the blue-haired teen answered, making Kagami grin even more. He kept on talking about more or less all the matches that had been held during the camp with a memory that would have earned him top grades, had he only bothered to use that same memory for school.
Kuroko listened politely, sometimes nodding, most of the time smiling. Reminiscences of a certain tan-skinned idiot talking endlessly about basketball resurfaced; Kagami and Aomine were similar in so many ways it was almost frightening.
"What about you? What did you think about the camp?" Kagami eventually asked after almost half an hour of monologue.
"I believe it was quite instructive."
"Instructive? What do you mean?" Kagami frowned. "About how the others play?"
"Among other things." Kuroko replied mysteriously. "The hide-and-seek game was also amusing."
"Amusing, you say…" Kagami crossed his arms. "Well, that made us run for sure, but that put aside, I'm still not certain about the purpose."
"Do you wish to know the true purpose of the game?"
"Huh? The true purpose?" Kagami repeated, perplexed. "There was a true purpose?"
"Indeed there was one."
"How do you know?"
"Because the idea of the game came from me."
Now Kagami stared at him, even more confused. "You? Wasn't it Akashi who decided to have that game in the first place?"
"I suggested the idea to him and he agreed."
"But why would you do that?"
"Would it help you understand better if I tell you I also suggested the idea of the reward?"
The power forward blinked several times, then frowned, obviously not much more enlightened. "Why would you suggest such a weird reward? I mean, spending a night with the winner is kind of… unusual."
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Kagami-kun does not get it."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Kagami growled.
"I hoped that Kagami-kun would find me." Kuroko went on, ignoring Kagami's last objection. "I have to admit I was a bit afraid near the end of the camp, though."
"Huh? But why would you–"
"Please try to understand on your own, Kagami-kun. It is a bit irritating having to explain everything. Not to mention embarrassing as well." Kuroko added, though nothing on his poker face reflected any kind of the latter emotion.
Embarrassing? Kagami frowned. What exactly could be embarrassing? He was hardly in any mood to have his brain function, yet he tried anyway. Not that he had much choice. Kuroko had been the one to suggest the idea of the reward, and he had hoped for him to win the reward, meaning that… Kuroko wanted to spend a night with him? But what for? Something told him that it wasn't merely for some bonding time between first-years. Deep inside, a part of him already knew the true reason, though unconsciously. He still needed a last push to be ready to face it.
"W-Well obviously he's a guy!"
"And?"
Aomine's impatient and irritated tone still echoed in Kagami's head, and the memory of how he and Kise had looked at him at that moment was still very vivid. He would never admit it, but Aomine was right. Kuroko was a guy, and so what?
Gears started clicking together, and as the answer slowly surfaced in his head, he could feel his pulse quickening and his face getting warmer and warmer. Amidst the silence of the room, he could clearly hear the sounds of his heart beating against his ribcage, and he was almost certain Kuroko could hear them too. Looking at the blue-haired boy, he could see that his cheeks weren't as pale as they usually were. That definitely took Kagami by surprise, as he had never imagined the Phantom Player capable of blushing, no matter how faintly, and it only served to confirm the result of his deductions.
'Damn…' Kagami covered his face with one hand, still trying to fully integrate the conclusion he had reached. This was going to be very awkward.
"Kuroko… Do you actually… hmm…" he tousled his hair nervously and looked away, unable to put voice his thoughts out loud. What was he doing, acting like some sort of shy girl? It wasn't as if it was a very difficult question to ask, for heaven's sake!
Do you actually like me?
"Kagami-kun." Kuroko called out softly. "Do you dislike me now?"
Oh, the sly question.
Coming from the no less sly, impish Kuroko.
Strangely enough, the question didn't even make Kagami panic, on the contrary. Even though Kagami's body showed very visible signs of nervousness, his mind was progressively cooling down as he was accepting the facts that presented themselves to him.
"You should know the answer to that question already." he said with a tone that was abnormally quiet compared to his usual self.
"Maybe, but I'd like to hear it from Kagami-kun." Kuroko insisted, his oval eyes not leaving Kagami for a second.
"Tch, you're a pain."
"I could say the same about you, Kagami-kun."
Touché. The power forward frowned slightly in discontent but found no suitable retort to it. Not that it particularly bothered him. He had never been one to win an argument against Kuroko, and tonight he definitely didn't feel like winning it. It was much more convenient to let Kuroko shift closer to him in a light rustle of sheets, intrude carelessly into his personal space – namely his futon – and settle there, light blue pools staring at him, insistent, unblinking, inviting.
If Kagami believed that his heart couldn't have beaten harder or faster, he was poorly mistaken at that instant. Thoughts of all kinds were mingling in a rather chaotic way in his head, yet he still couldn't find it in him to start panicking, or at least move back to put a bit more space between him and the little demon whose hand was now slowly moving upward; Kagami gulped silently when he felt the tip of Kuroko's fingers touch his burning cheek. Before he even realized it, his own hand had found its way to Kuroko's waist and he was leaning forward, all rationality deserting him as it should rightfully do under those circumstances.
The softness and the warmth of Kuroko's lips on his sent a shiver down his spine; his arm snaked even tighter around the teen's waist, leading their chests to ineluctably press against each other. It was then that Kagami found out that Kuroko wasn't as impermeable to emotions as his face would let believe and that his pulse didn't only pace up during a basketball match.
They parted soon – way too soon, in Kagami's opinion – but their faces remained close enough so that even the slightest movement would make their lips meet again. Kuroko lowered his head a bit:
"You still haven't answered my question, Kagami-kun." he said quietly, pretending to be almost unaffected by what had just happened.
The remark made Kagami twitch.
"Isn't the answer pretty much obvious now?" he growled.
"I would still like to hear the words from Kagami-kun."
The latter scowled, mentally cursing the little imp who was obviously enjoying this. He tried glaring at him, but to no avail. There was no way he could win a staring contest against Kuroko; the fact made him sigh loudly of annoyance. Then, with resignation, eyes plunging straight into Kuroko's, he opened his mouth and uttered three words.
Three tiny little words, but which were enough to make Kuroko smile fondly at him.
"You are blushing quite a lot, Kagami-kun." the latter noted.
"Shut up. Whose fault do you think it is? And you're blushing too!" Kagami protested, slightly annoyed.
"I am not."
"You are! You totally are!" the power forward retorted back, poking both of Kuroko's cheeks angrily.
"That is because the room's temperature is high." Kuroko answered, undaunted by the gesture.
"Like hell it is! Geez, you piss me off." Kagami stated, crossing his arms and looking away, a clear scowl on his face.
Little did he expect Kuroko to grab that very same face and plant another kiss on his lips. When the blue-haired teen pulled back, he gazed at Kagami:
"Was this enough to redeem myself for pissing you off?" he asked with a candidness that would have damned all the saints of this world.
Kagami's heart made a few random somersaults in his chest. He knew that Kuroko's angelic face was but a mask, that behind that mask lurked a most demonic creature; yet he had absolutely no will to resist.
"I guess that will do for now." he muttered, as flustered as could be. "Anyway, we should really go sleep now. It's getting real late." he mumbled as he suddenly flopped down on his futon, back facing Kuroko.
It was not a meagre attempt at preventing Kuroko from bewitching him even more with that expressionless face of his and those indecently innocent words of his. Not at all.
For a second he feared Kuroko may pull out something else, but the voice behind his back merely said:
"I agree."
The sound of faint footsteps was heard and a few seconds later, the light was switched off. With silent relief, Kagami allowed himself to finally relax and close his eyes, only to snap them open almost immediately after, his entire body tensing up like never before. He waited for a second, then two, then three; as no reaction came, he resigned himself to speak first:
"K-Kuroko?" he called out with uncertainty.
"What is it, Kagami-kun?"
"What exactly are you doing?"
"Snuggling against Kagami-kun."
Kagami didn't know what disturbed him the most: the fact that Kuroko was indeed snuggling against his back, or the fact that he admitted to it with such an unconcerned tone. He breathed out slowly, trying to keep calm.
"Why are you doing that?" he asked.
"Because it is warmer this way. I feel a bit cold."
"Like hell you do!" Kagami snapped as he sat up abruptly. The light from outside the window allowed him to glare accusingly at the shorter player. "You said that it was too hot a minute ago!"
"I changed my mind."
Kagami twitched, wanting to come up with a smart answer to that, but he knew in advance that Kuroko would always win, therefore he didn't even bother. Instead he let out a loud sigh as he tousled his hair in annoyance.
"Whatever. Let's just go back to sleep." he said, defeated.
If someone had decided to take a peek inside the room, they would have caught glance of a rather interesting scene: Kuroko comfortably nestled against Kagami's chest and the latter's arm around his waist, despite the summer's heat.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
And so, there will be an epilogue left to wrap things up. I know this chapter is kind of shorter, and I apologize for that. I hope you still liked it anyway.
A big thanks to those who're still following this, I really appreciate it!