Firstly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAGAMI BABY. I'm glad this chapter finished on time!

Secondly, happy AoKaga month everyone! May your days be filled with AoKaga glory.

Warning: Gun use. No one gets hurt. There will be more gun use in this story, since it is police, but I'll inform you in a note at the beginning when there is any violence. There will be nothing gory or detailed, however. Only for plot.

Chapter 2: Harbinger

Aomine couldn't believe what he had done. He wanted to regret kissing, tasting, Kagami like that, but he couldn't. He couldn't forget that deliciously warm skin, those sinfully sweet moans, that same fire that burned in those scarlet eyes as when they played basketball. He wanted to see it again, directed at him, clouded with lust. He wanted to hear his name slip past those plump pink lips as the redhead rutted against him. He'd wanted it for so long.

It couldn't happen again.

He knew the joint operation was a bad idea, but it hadn't actually been his idea. And he wasn't expecting to be partnered up with Kagami, no matter how much he had secretly wanted it in the past.

Aomine stared at the closed door of the ensuite after Kagami had slammed it shut, feeling the headache of a hangover throbbing at his temples. His memory had returned to him choppy, but he remembered enough to know that after yesterday, working with Kagami was going to be very awkward.

And difficult.

As if on cue, his phone began ringing. Aomine glanced at the screen, blanching when "No Caller ID" flashed on it. Wishing it wasn't him, Aomine picked up.

No luck.

"Daiki." The voice on the other end was calm and collected, contrasting against Aomine's pounding heart.

"What" – his voice cracked – "What do you want now?"

"We need to talk. Eight at night. You know where to meet me."

"Can't you just tell me?" Aomine's mouth was dry.

"I won't repeat myself, Daiki. I'll see you there. And if I don't…well, Kagami Taiga is not a hard target."

Aomine's knuckles whitened as he clenched his phone tighter. "How did you- no, just…leave Kagami out of this. He has nothing to do with anything."

"You'd be surprised," he could hear the smile in the caller's voice. "But don't worry, I have good news for you. Look forward to it."

His mounting feeling of dread didn't lessen at those words. Aomine swallowed. "What do you mean?"

His only answer was the cold sound of the dial tone.

He scowled, phone clutched tightly. He stared at the blank screen like it would provide all the answers. Maybe I should call Tetsu. No, Akashi would find out. How the fuck did he know I was at Kagami's in the first place? Probably bugged my phone back in middle school for all I know.

That man is a monster.

He only realised he'd been sitting there, naked body wrapped in another's blankets and staring at his phone for quite some time when the bathroom door clicked open.

He turned around to see Kagami towelling his head, sparkling beads of water clinging to his long lashes and gathering at the tips of his spiky hair. Aomine sometimes forgot how beautiful Kagami was, when he wasn't shouting or frowning. Even those unique eyebrows had some charm to them. Only a look was needed to remind him - he had to distance himself. Nothing good could come out of it.

Well, he could think of a lot of good things that could come out of it actually. Like kissing Kagami, licking Kagami, biting Kagami, fucki-

No, bad Aomine. Bad boy. He's strictly out of bounds. You can't think of your partner like that.

But it's so hard.

His actions yesterday were a crack in his defences. He had staved off his feelings for Kagami for the past few years, and he would keep at it. But that redhead tasted like a drug. Something forbidden, but addictive. He wanted more when he knew he couldn't have it.

And finding out that Kagami wanted him the same way didn't help, if yesterday was anything to go by. People didn't kiss just anyone like the way Kagami had kissed him.

Kagami blinked at him, as though he had forgotten the other was there. "What are you still doing here?"

"So mean, Kagami. You're the one who invited me in," Aomine rolled his eyes, nonchalance masking his feelings. "My mouth feels disgusting. At least let me shower. And feed me breakfast. Maybe some scrambled eggs."

"My apartment isn't a motel, and I damn hell ain't your wife," Kagami griped, but didn't say anything when Aomine casually grabbed his underwear off the floor and sauntered into the bathroom, only staring pointedly away from the very naked man. The bastard behaved liked he owned the place, but Kagami couldn't supress the feeling of happiness he felt when he saw Aomine acting so casually in his home. It seemed like routine, the way they were acting. Like they got up naked next to each other every day.

Wouldn't that be nice? Yeah, right. I'm acting like some love-struck girl, Kagami sighed to himself. He realised there was a blinking light coming from his phone and when he picked it up, he was surprised to see twelve missed calls from a Kuroko Tetsuya. He nearly slapped his forehead. Of course he didn't have an alarm at nine-thirty on a Saturday. Kuroko had been trying to reach him.

Kuroko picked after one ring. "Kagami-kun, where are you?"

"Sorry, Kuroko," Kagami muttered as he walked into the kitchen and turned the coffee machine on. "I just woke up. Drank a bit last night, and slept like a log. What did you need?"

"You went out drinking?" Kuroko's voice held a tinge of disappointment and exasperation.

"Hey! I needed to relax a bit after yesterday's…surprise," he glanced at his bedroom. Some strange kind of "relaxing" he had done last night.

"Chief wants you in. She needs to give you an assignment, and she couldn't tell you herself because she's too busy organising the other members," Kuroko paused. "She's also very…unpleased at your delayed response."

"Shit," Kagami hissed, returning the eggs he had just taken out. "Looks like there's no time for a real breakfast. Thanks, Kuroko. See you." He jammed two slices of bread in the toaster and turned the TV on to quickly hear the morning headlines. Some reporter in a jacket that looked like it cost his month's salary was prattling about some hotshot A-list model-come-actor – named Kisu or Kise or something equally annoying – who was holding some fundraising gala for all the other rich folk. Kagami turned it off. He didn't need to know how the rich lived, he was plenty happy living his own life. He poured out the coffee just as Aomine walked through the door. He was shifting his pants a bit, frowning at them. "What's wrong?"

Aomine looked up, shrugging. He sat at the counter and grabbed one of the two mugs, smirking as Kagami placed a slice of toast and butter in front of him. "Thanks, baby. No scrambled eggs today?"

Kagami had half the mind to dump his coffee over the asshole's head, but he was too hungry. And although he didn't want to admit it, this semblance of domesticity was kind of comforting and a nice change from lonely mornings. Aomine hadn't mentioned anything about yesterday's debacle, so he wasn't going to either. "Chief wants me at the station stat," he said, adding more bread to toast.

"Guess I'll go too, since we're kinda partners now," Aomine said, sipping his coffee. He plucked another slice from the toaster and slathered butter on it.

Kagami's eyes narrowed. "That was meant for me," he mumbled.

"Should've known, you greedy hog," Aomine smiled and Kagami choked at the warmth in his expression, coughing heavily into the back of his hand to mask his embarrassment. "Don't choke on your own stupidity."

"I'm fine," Kagami wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, grabbing his keys and jacket before lacing up his shoes. He realised his pants felt a bit uncomfortable, but his headache stopped him from thinking too deeply about it.

Aomine followed him out, glancing at his head. "You sure you're okay to drive? My hangover's not that bad. We don't want to crash because of your deranged driving."

"I'm fine," Kagami repeated, but his head was definitely throbbing. His injury coupled with alcohol probably wasn't a good combination. Aomine glared at him in disbelief and Kagami scowled, reluctantly handing him the keys. "Okay, but just this once."

When Aomine slipped into the limited police parking, and they stepped out together to see Izuki walking out of the precinct, Kagami knew he was in trouble. Izuki took one look at them, nothing escaping his calculating eagle-like eyes, before the sneak slipped back inside. Kagami felt the blood leave his face as he hurried through the doors to see all conversations pause at the sight of them.

"When Chief said partners needed to get to know each other, I don't think she meant it like that."

Kagami raised an eyebrow at Wakamatsu's comment. "I'm sorry?"

Izuki sniggered beside the blond. The two had been paired up for the investigation, and it seemed as though they had nothing better to do than tease him. "Well, Aomine drove you here in your car. And you're wearing each other's pants. Morning after much?"

Kagami audibly gasped, looking down at his pants, realising that they were in fact not his. They had looked like his when they were piled on the floor, and he'd been too tired to pay attention. He glanced back at Aomine who looked surprised as well. Both pants were black slacks, roughly the same size and quite alike. But nothing slipped Izuki's eagle-like vision.

"Guess we should go to the bathroom and take our pants off," Aomine offered and the whole room burst into giggles. Aomine felt a pricking sensation at the back of his neck and turned around to see a pair of pale blue eyes assessing him carefully. Kuroko sat in silence, observing the situation, but his gaze never left Aomine. He had a strange expression on his face, as though he was unsure of what to say. Aomine brushed it off.

"There's also a hickey on your neck," Wakamatsu pointed. Kagami instinctively slapped a hand to the spot and the two miscreants started snickering. "I was lying," Wakamatsu grinned. "But thanks for proving our point."

"If you have enough time to chatter, you have enough time to patrol Shinjuku," an icy voice made them freeze. "Out of my sight!"

The two bolted out faster than wanted criminals with a frail "Yes Chief!" as a goodbye.

Aida Riko stood before them, a smile on her face and death in her eyes. Kagami's headache instantly cleared. "You're late." She held up a hand before Kagami could make any excuses. Not that he was going to make any – what was he going to say, that he had been drinking and making out with his investigative partner?

Yeah, no.

She walked up to him, and although he was a few heads taller than her, she managed to tower over him. "I need you to meet up with your CI. Ask him why illegal drug sales have dropped. I know we're homicide, but this joint operation makes it easier for us to mix our information networks. I'm sure he knows something. Take your partner with you."

Kagami frowned. Confidential informants, also known as CIs, had slowly been dropping off the map all over the city. The last time he spoke to his CI was months ago. "I haven't been in touch for ages-"

"Just try," Riko spoke softly. Kagami nodded and began moving away, but Riko grabbed his shoulder. "And…for the duration of this investigation, a relationship between you and Aomine is prohibited. Jokes are just that. Jokes. Got it?"

Kagami swallowed thickly. "Of course!" He had never planned anything else.

Riko quirked her lips. "Wait until the joint investigation is over, huh? Keep it in your pants."

Kagami was burning with embarrassment as he walked up to Kuroko and lightly kicked his chair. "Let's go."

Kuroko turned his doe eyes to his friend. "Sorry, Kagami-kun, but I'm not your partner anymore. Aomine-kun stole you from me."

"You can't get rid of me that easily, idiot," Aomine drawled. Kagami sighed and barked at Aomine to get into the car, the lazy ass, cases didn't solve themselves, dumbass. He holstered his standard issue weapon and pocketed his badge before walking out.

Aomine buckled himself in the passenger seat. Kagami wouldn't let him drive. "What's gotten your knickers in a twist?"

"It's trousers in a twist, dumbass."

"I thought knickers suited you more."

Kagami was the better man. He wouldn't get mad. He wouldn't.

Kagami elbowed Aomine in the gut before starting the car.

Ikebukuro was a breathing beast: cars and people zipping through buildings like blood pumping through veins, horns and chatter thundering like a heartbeat. Kagami skilfully wove his way from backstreet to backstreet, eyes scanning for any sign of the small man. He knew how unlikely it was to find one person in this bustling area, but hopefully the guy would find him. His CI normally contacted him through a burner phone when he had information.

Almost as if on cue, his phone rang. He pulled over and answered. "Kagami."

"Kagami! Looking for me? You knew I wouldn't miss that beautiful black Toyota." the cheery voice filled the car. "Sorry for the radio silence, things have been a bit busy. Listen, we can actually meet right now. Regular place? Ah, but don't bring that hottie next to you. No cheating! Just us two, okay?"

Aomine raised an eyebrow but kept quiet.

"Yeah, you got it." Kagami hung up and unbuckled his seat belt.

"Oy," Aomine grabbed his arm. "Are you really going alone? I can tail you."

"He'll find out," Kagami shook his head. "I'll be fine. The guy's not dangerous."

Aomine frowned. "He doesn't need to be dangerous to set a trap."

"Stop worrying," Kagami got out. "And don't follow me or you'll blow the whole thing. I'll be back soon, the place isn't far from here." He folded his arms against the December cold and walked briskly to the usual meeting spot.

Deep in Ikebukuro, there was a mess of rundown apartment buildings with patched roofs and peeling wallpaper. The only way into the dying apartment complex was a narrow alleyway that opened up to a set of dumpsters and emergency fire escape stairs. Kagami slipped between the two buildings and looked up when he heard footsteps clattering.

There, calmly standing halfway up the stairs, was a relatively short man with piercing grey eyes and an insufferably annoying grin. "Miss me?"

"Takao," Kagami sighed, craning his neck. Takao Kazunari was a shoplifter Kagami had randomly run across one day when investigating a triple homicide a few years back. On more than one occasion, he proved to be a lot more useful running out on the streets than locked up in a cell. He'd gone quiet for the past few months, but seeing that familiar cheeky face brought relief to Kagami's heart. He was glad to know nothing ill had befallen the trickster. "Come on down."

Takao shook his head. "Sorry, Kagami. I wanted to tell you face-to-face, but this is our final meeting. I'm gonna have to break up with you," he grinned, but it seemed slightly forced. "Plus looks like you've got a new hunk to keep you company."

Kagami furrowed his brows. "You don't want to be a CI any longer?"

"Well, I knew it was dangerous being a CI in the first place – you know how the bad boys hate snitches," Takao shrugged. "But it's gotten a bit more dangerous now, and I've gotten…a new job. You be careful too Kagami," his voice dropped. "This is just the calm before the storm. Once the wind starts stirring things up, it's gonna get bad."

"You're speaking in riddles," Kagami frowned. "I understand if you don't want to endanger your life, but what storm?"

Takao opened his mouth, then paused. His eyes widened, directing their gaze to the building across the street. "Duck!" he yelled, disappearing from view.

Kagami's brain registered the command and his eyes widened at the implication. He rolled to the floor just as a bullet whizzed beside him, adrenalin pumping through his veins. Takao clambered up the fire stairs, vanishing into the building. Another bulled chipped the brick beside Kagami's head as he scrambled behind a dumpster, unholstering his gun. It had been a while since he had seen any real action. Peeking over the edge of the large bin, he couldn't see anyone. The shooter must've been on the rooftop of the opposite building, quite a distance away. He was about to call it in when he heard footsteps approaching. He held his breath, training his gun at the alley entrance. The footsteps got louder.

Kagami evened his breathing, steadying his aim. Steady…

Aomine walked into view, gun in hand and slightly panting.

…Aomine looked fucking hot with a gun.

Kagami rammed his head against the dumpster with considerable force. Aomine jumped at the noise but relaxed when Kagami came into view. "Fuck! I almost shot you, Ahomine. And get to cover, dumbass, the shooter might still be here!"

"He's gone," Aomine muttered, holstering his firearm and jogging up to Kagami. "I saw someone get into a car and drive off. Must've been him. No license plate."

Kagami stood up, dusting his clothes. "You didn't follow them? In fact, you were following me weren't you?" he said disapproving, although he was secretly glad Aomine hadn't listened to him.

"Partners stick together. I had to make sure you were okay first. They're probably long gone now. And don't worry, I called the station," he added. He moved to the bullet embedded in the brick. "Looks like a regular nine millimetre round."

"Makes sense if it was a handgun," Kagami came up to him. "From that distance, the guy had shitty aim."

Aomine frowned. "Unless…" Cocking his head to the side, he suddenly grabbed Kagami's arm and pulled him forwards.

"Hey!" Kagami protested as he got a face full of leather jacket. Damn, Aomine smells good…shaking his head, he pulled back to complain but was silenced when he saw the tear in his jacket sleeve. The bullet had missed his elbow by an inch. "…fuck."

Aomine's teeth were gritted, and a flurry of emotion danced in his eyes. Kagami winced when Aomine's grip tightened until it almost hurt. "It wasn't shitty aim. It was perfect. He didn't mean to kill you, it was a warning shot," he said so quietly, Kagami wasn't sure if he was supposed to hear it. "Those bastards."

Kagami gently placed a hand on Aomine's. "Aomine, it's okay. I'm not hurt. It just grazed my jacket."

Aomine looked up at him, eyes searching for any hint of pain on his face. "Okay, good," he nodded absently. "Let's go back. Your CI say anything useful?"

Kagami shook his head, a little frazzled from the shooting but more moved by Aomine's concern. "I feel like I have more questions than answers. It's messed up."

"It sure is," Aomine replied, but it seemed as though he was talking about something else entirely.

Riko sat down heavily in her chair, mulling over the events the two detectives in front of her had relayed. The afternoon sun filtered through the blinds behind her, casting her in shadow. "Thank god you weren't hurt. Were they targeting you, or your informant?"

Kagami shrugged. "I was shot at, but my CI said that if he continued to talk with me his life would be in danger. Maybe he was originally targeted."

Aomine made a sound of protest, but when they looked at him he averted his gaze.

"Forensics came back," Kagami continued. "The weapon was a regular Beretta M9, unregistered of course. Seems like weapons smuggling isn't as sleepy as we thought it was."

Riko pursed her lips. "At least this is progress," she placed her hands on the table and looked up at them. "I want you to take out all cases that your CI has helped you with, and see if anyone has a vendetta against him. If we find the shooter, we find the weapon. If we find the weapon, we find a link to the supplier."

Kagami frowned. "I'm homicide and he's narcotics. We have nothing to do with weapons smuggling-"

"Kagami-kun," Riko gave him a tight smile. "This operation means those boundaries have been erased. The reason the higher-ups gave us permission to investigate the drop in rates of crime is because…"she trailed off, unsure of whether to continue. "Well, we have permission to use these resources and so we will. You're not only homicide anymore. This involves everyone," she closed her eyes. "We're doing this for Tokyo. Now get to work."

Aomine and Kagami sat opposite each other on their desks, computers powered up. Aomine was sitting in Kuroko's seat. Kuroko had gone with his new partner Sakurai, a fidgety brunette, to Fuchu Prison in order to question some of the inmates.

Kagami felt pity towards whoever would get interrogated by Kuroko. The shortie could grill.

"I'll go through the department databases and send you the files of cases my CI was involved in," Kagami said. "You can start going through them." Aomine grunted in acknowledgement and Kagami peeked past his monitor to look at him. "Hey, are you okay?"

Aomine blinked up at him, jolted out of his thoughts, before leering. "Worried about me, Bakagami?"

"Shouldn't have asked," Kagami grumbled. They went at it until it was approaching evening and Kagami decided he needed some coffee, making his way into the shared kitchen. As he turned the kettle on, his ears picked up some scuffling and chatter at the main entrance. A few doors were banged and there was some shouting, so Kagami walked out to investigate.

A large man with a mop of brown hair towered above everyone else, a gentle smile lighting up his features. Riko stood in front of him, yelling at how he was supposed to be at home recuperating from his injury.

"The last think you should be doing is arresting criminals, you idiot!" she screamed, flapping her arms.

"There, there," he raised his hand, placating. Kiyoshi Teppei was not a man of violence or anger, despite his appearance. "I was walking my dog when I came across the guy running away after beating up some drunken folks. I had to stop him." His eyes lifted to see Kagami. "Kagami, long time no see. How's work?"

But Kagami wasn't looking at Kiyoshi. His eyes were glued to the demon spawn that was playfully yapping at his teammates. He didn't even register that Kuroko and Sakurai had returned, his eyes widening when the demon turned towards him and jumped.

"Get it off!" Kagami screamed, kicking at chairs, scrambling for his life onto the desk and bringing his knees up. Everyone looked on in astonishment as the small dog barked up at the cowering giant, its blue eyes shining with playfulness and its tail wagging with joy.

Hyuuga was the first one who burst out laughing. He was he was one of the most senior officers, but couldn't keep his voice down and his subordinates followed. "Kagami? Scared of dogs? How did you even get into law enforcement?"

"I got bitten when I was a child," Kagami flushed. "They're evil!"

Aomine clapped his hands in realisation, an evil grin pulling at his lips. "Is that how you got that scar on your ass?"

The laughter died down at the comment, then resumed even louder.

"Told you they're fucking. Now pay up," Wakamatsu smirked at Hyuuga, who huffily handed him a thousand yen.

Since when had those two gotten close?! Kagami's embarrassment turned to anger. "Don't place bets on us!"

Aomine glanced at his watch, his grin melting into a tight frown. "Ah, this late already? I'm leaving." Ignoring Kagami's protests, he walked straight out the door without a backwards glance. Kagami wanted to go after the man but saw Kiyoshi approaching.

Kiyoshi grabbed the dog's leash and let Kuroko take care of him so Kagami could get to his feet. The dog and Kuroko looked uncannily alike. Kagami belatedly remembered Kiyoshi talking about "Tetsu No. 2" and how he had adopted a puppy at the beginning of the year because it looked so cute and pitiful like his subordinate. Kuroko had been amused and only slightly insulted.

Kiyoshi placed a hand on Kagami's shoulder. "Jokes aside, Kagami, we need to talk."

Kagami looked at Kiyoshi's knees. "How's the injury?"

He smiled. "The bullet shattered my kneecap, but rehab is going well. More importantly, the guy I brought in?" his face grew grim. "Tetsu No. 2 started barking like crazy when I caught the guy. You should probably…search him. He's in Interrogation Room 1."

Kagami got the hint. "Why tell me this, and not Chief?"

Kiyoshi shrugged. "I'm no longer on active duty. I'll leave the telling to you. She'd freak out if I was more involved."

Kagami nodded and headed towards the interrogation room. One glance through the window in the door had his heart beating faster. He opened the door and closed it behind him, walking up to the man seated in the metal chair, bathed in cheap white lighting. The culprit looked up at him.

Takao grinned. "Miss me?"

Well, I'm kinda nervous about this fic, but I hope everyone is enjoying it!
I feel as though Aomine and Kagami would be more mature than their high school counterparts, seeing as they are about 26 AND in law enforcement, but in the end they're all idiots. XD
Thanks for the support! I'll try to have Chapter 3 here by Aomine's birthday!
As always, gentle criticism is welcome.