Helloooo! I am back from the dead and have finally managed to finish this chapter – by far the hardest to get through.

The reviews, follows and favourites have been lovely, and they always prompt me to write a little after I receive an alert, so thank you!

Chapter 14

The troubles started the instant they set foot outside Tetsu's house. The original plan was for Aomine to bike them both to Ueno Park, fulfilling Satsuki's romantic fantasies of Tetsu clinging to Aomine's back as they rode into the metaphorical sunset. (The pink-haired girl had stars in her eyes when she had described this at Maji Burgers.)

Unfortunately, the fates had a different idea.

Aomine stared at the bicycle in dismay, both tires had blown in the scant half hour he had left it propped outside Tetsu's house. The hell was he supposed to do now?

He looked down at the soft tug on his sleeve.

"Aomine-kun. We can go catch the train instead."

Reluctantly he let Tetsu lead the way to the station, throwing the bike one last suspicious look over his shoulder. There were some questionable tears in those tires, which could have definitely been made by some sharp implement.

Like scissors.

Kise carefully and reverently slid the red scissors back into its leather pouch before placing it into his inner coat pocket. Akashicchi would never forgive him if they were returned damaged.

Ueno Park was uncharacteristically packed and it was a struggle to find even a small patch of grass to settle on. Aomine alternated between shoving at innocent park-goers roughly with his shoulders and sending death glares to young families every time Tetsu glanced away. He eventually managed to forcibly create a spot for them and had just placed the blanket down and turned to motion Tetsu to sit when-

"Achoo!"

Damn.

Aomine's expression fell as he took in Tetsu's red and puffy face. The smaller boy was rubbing furiously at his watering eyes while trying to stem the flow of his running nose. The tanned player signed in resignation and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Shit. I forgot about your allergies, Tetsu."

Kuroko sniffled and shook his head. His face set in determination as he looked up at his former partner, "I'll be fine, Aomine-kun, I just…a-a-achoo!...need a moment…"

Aomine couldn't stop his lips twitching up in a fond smile when Tetsu trailed off as his face scrunched up adorably, winding up for an explosive sneeze that landed him on his ass.

"It's not", sniff, "funny, Aomine-kun." Kuroko complained petulantly.

"It kind of is, Tetsu, you should have seen your face."

The ace rummaged around the picnic basket before fishing out a napkin and handed it to his friend. While Tetsu swiped at his red nose repeatedly, Aomine stood up, stretching, and peered up at the petals that were floating down from the low hanging branches laden with sakura blossoms. They were so thick that you could barely see the sky above. Feeling the familiar presence of his shadow at his side, Aomine glanced down at his shadow, who had also tipped his face up to drink in the beautiful sight.

"I'm sorry, Aomine-kun. It-"

"Oi, don't be stupid," Aomine gruffly interrupted, "It's not your fault, I should've remembered. Instead I stupidly chose a damn park jammed with flowers and pollen in the height of hayfever season."

Taking in Tetsu's blotchy face guiltily, Aomine sighed and set about packing up their supplies. A small hand slipped into his when he stood up again.

"Still, I appreciate the gesture Aomine-kun made."

This was punctuated with a gentle squeeze of his hand and sincerity shining up from round aqua eyes. Aomine found himself unable to resist the pull of his shadow and tugged him even closer, tracing a delicately flushed cheek gently with a finger.

Softly, not wanting to ruin the moment, he said huskily, "I know" before leaning in with the intention of tasting those soft lips again.

Before he could seal the deal, an abnormally large cloud of petals was dumped on them, triggering another sneezing fit from Tetsu. Aomine glared up at the branches as though they had personally offended him. Strange, but among the sea of pink he could have sworn he saw a flash of green...

Before he could investigate any further, he was reminded of his partner by a series of coughs. He had better get Tetsu out of here before he erupted into hives or something. Grasping the shorter boy's hand, Aomine led them out of the park.

"Ack, never again," Midorima muttered to himself as he lithely slid down the trunk of the sakura tree. Once on the ground he dropped the sack of flowers he had been carrying, and began brushing the copious amounts of petals and pollen off his body and stretching out his stiff arms.

Who knew that shaking branches and dropping petals on the heads of two blunettes could be just a good of a workout as a game of basketball?

Aomine groaned in absolute frustration.

In his hurry to get Tetsu away from the park, he had forgotten to retrieve their picnic basket. And in the search for a pharmacy for Tetsu's allergies, they had no time to grab anything to eat before having to head home to change for dinner. Damn it, this was really not going to plan. (Although considering who had come up with this plan, it really shouldn't have been a surprise.)

By the time Aomine knocked on the Kuroko residence for the second time that day, he was having serious reservations about continuing through with his friends' half-baked plans. He was tugging on his tie futilely so the damn thing would stop tightening around his neck like a noose when Tetsu opened the door. He froze and all the breath was knocked out of him as he took in his shadow.

He was gorgeous. He was perfect.

From the slightly tousled way his hair had been styled, the powder blue shirt that perfectly matched his eyes, to the slim fitting dark grey slacks that hugged his legs (and hopefully ass, although Aomine had yet to have a chance to thoroughly check it out), Tetsu was perfect, and all his. The warm sparkle that lit up those icy eyes and the fond quirk at the corner of his mouth were there because of Aomine Daiki. That alone banished any, and all, doubts that he might have had.

He wordlessly offered up his arm to Tetsu, still too enamoured with the vision that was his date to speak. There was the barest hint of a blush on Kuroko's face as he accepted the chivalrous gesture, flicking an almost shy glance up at Aomine, before setting off for their dinner reservation.

Aomine fidgeted restlessly in his chair as he took in the stylish and expensive décor of Kozue. It was beautiful; the soaring oak ceilings highlighted by the intimate lighting, enhanced the expansive view of the city's skyline at night. But Aomine couldn't help but think of the comfort and familiarity of the colourful plastic chairs and tables of Maji burgers. Across the table Tetsu's expression was blank as always, seeming as relaxed in this high scale restaurant as he was everywhere else.

He cleared his throat nervously, prepared to fumble into conversation when their waiter arrived with the first course. The dark haired male gaped in absolute disbelief and dismay at the small collection of tiny riceballs spread across the enormous plate. Was that it? There was barely a mouthful worth of food there! Surely there was more. He lifted the plate to make sure that nothing had slipped off the plate during a moment of inattention, even checking under the table when he couldn't find any.

"Aomine-kun," disapproval was clear in Tetsu's voice. (Although he thought there was the tiniest note of amusement threaded into his name.)

The basketball genius let his shoulders slump in resignation and began to pick miserably at his meal, if you could call it that. He perked up hopefully at the thought that maybe the main course would be more substantial.

He was wrong.

It was worse.

He poked at one of the few strands of limp noodle in his bowl suspiciously. Maybe the noodles were cannibalistic and were eating each other. A quiet growl from Tetsu's stomach made him lift his head from his inspection of his dinner. The smaller male shrugged helplessly, "Even for me, this is quite a small meal. And we haven't eaten since breakfast this morning." Aomine sighed in defeat, another failure to add to the growing list. A list that just kept expanding when he discovered his wallet missing. After the fourth frantic search of all his pockets, Tetsu waved away his protests and paid for their meal.

Behind the screen that separated the kitchen from the restaurant's main seating area, Murasakibara was having the time of his life "taste testing" the delicious concoctions that were Mine-chin and Kuro-chin's dinner before grudgingly allowing the waiter to serve them. If Momoi hadn't been there to supervise, empty plates licked of every last drop of sauce and soup would have been produced to the two bluenettes.

An evil smirk played on Momoi's lips as she spoke quietly to the giant next to her while tossing a brown leather wallet up in the air.

Aomine was still apologising by the time they reached Bunkamura Concert Hall.

"Please stop Aomine-kun."

"But Tetsu! It was my shout, I asked you out, I should have paid, I-"

"If it makes you feel better, you can pay me back later."

"It's not the same thing, and you know it."

Kuroko chose to ignore him, turning his gaze to the stage as the lights dimmed around them.

"Oi, Tetsu you basta-!" A strategically placed elbow in his stomach sufficiently put a stop to his complaints. "This isn't over," he hissed at the smaller boy as the orchestra began filing on and chords filled the air as the musicians tuned their instruments.

The combination of plush velvet seats, dim lighting, warm soothing music, and a gnawing hunger that seemed to eat away at his bones was bad news. Aomine was struggling to stay awake and could feel his eyelids getting heavier and heavier by the second. He pinched himself and it cleared the sleepy haze that was clouding his mind for a second or two before it came back with a vengeance. If he…could just…

Aomine jolted awake mid-snore when an open palm was slammed into his midsection. Bewildered he looked around seeing annoyed glares directed at him from all directions. Shrinking, as much as a guy over 6 feet tall could, into his seat he mumbled furiously under his breath, "I knew this wouldn't work. Stupid, stupid, stupid Ahomine. How could this possibly work?" He was going to kill each and everyone one of his former teammates, preferably slowly and painfully.

He was cut off from his ramblings by Tetsu's sharp intake of breath and he could almost feel his shadow stiffen. Alarmed he swung his gaze at the male next to him only to see Tetsu rise to his feet shakily and pushing his way through the aisle and heading for the exit as quick as his feet could carry him. Confused and worried, Aomine hurried after him, muttering half-hearted apologies to the numerous feet he stepped on in his rush.

Well, what do you think? :)