A/n : Yaaay, I'm done with the second chapter~ Thank you for all the support! I won't say much, but please enjoy!
"Mnn..." Sleepy sounds left Kagami's lips as he dreamed about playing one-on-one with Tsuruko at the same basketball court when he fell off the bed with a loud thud. "Ah... Ouch..." He rubbed his back as he got up, completely awake now.
As he opened the door, yawning, he banged into something. "Huh?" He looked down and saw Kuroko, half-awake and dazed. For a moment or two, neither said anything and just stared at each other. Kagami then remembered he invited Kuroko over to help him with his Valentine's Day present. "Ah, K-Kuroko, sorry, I didn't see you there," Kagami apologized.
"I find that quite offensive, Kagami-kun," Kuroko teased. Kagami "hmph"ed a little and went to do his morning routine.
There was no lessons that day and they were pretty much free without any homework. After Kagami finished brushing his teeth, he went to the living room to find Kuroko taking out the chocolates from the freezer. "Let's have a taste," Kuroko told him.
"More importantly, Kuroko," Kagami walked closer. "Do you need a shower? And your bed hair is ridiculously bad, go and comb it or something."
Kuroko, setting down the chocolates onto the counter beside the sink, replied, "It's fine, I don't have extra clothes anyway."
"I can lend you mine," Kagami persuaded, but then added, "Hm, how about this : Tanaka-san invited me out to play basketball today - sorry I didn't tell you earlier - so how about you join us? Then after that you can just go home and bathe."
"But I would be like an intruder."
Kagami waved the comment off and told him that it was fine, he was sure that Tsuruko would not mind. In the end, Kuroko agreed.
"Anyway, let's taste the chocolates first," Kagami stood beside Kuroko as Kuroko knocked one chocolate out of the mold onto a small plate.
"Wah… It's shaped perfectly like a heart!" Kagami exclaimed. Even Kuroko's eyes showed some form of jubilance. Kagami took it and broke it into half, giving one half to Kuroko.
Both of them ate it and Kagami was on the verge of tears as the sweet substance exploded in his mouth, "It's so delicious! Damn, Kuroko, you're good at this!" Kuroko blushed a little upon hearing the compliment and nodded in agreement.
There were five remaining and Kagami decided to make another batch before Valentine's Day itself so it would be fresher.
"Then I'll leave it to you to finish the rest, Kagami-kun," Kuroko said as he put the chocolates into a container before he leaves it in the fridge.
"Haha, leave it to me!"
"Now let's go play basketball!" Kagami got into his basketball shoes and took his basketball under his arm. "Ah… I don't have basketball shoes…" Kuroko suddenly said, a little disappointed.
"Eh? I'm sorry, Kuroko. It's my fault…"
Upon noticing the sincerity in his voice, Kuroko got into his school shoes and said, "It's okay. Let's go, Kagami-kun."
Kagami still felt guilty, he could see real disappointment on Kuroko's face. They are really close and could easily read each other, and this was a first for Kagami : seeing Kuroko disappointed and sad.
However, Kagami told himself that he would definitely repay the debt as soon as possible and everything would be fine after that. At least, he hoped so, because the atmosphere this time was thicker than usual.
"Ah, Tanaka-san!" Kagami could not resist calling after her as they entered the court. She was playing basketball on one half of the court, while the other half was taken up by…
The Generation of Miracles?! Kagami and Kuroko nearly blurted out.
The whole team was literally there, even Momoi.
Kise was the first one to notice the duo, "Eeehh~ if it isn't the Seirin combo! Yo, Kurokocchi!"
"Ehhh?! Ah- Wai- What?!" Kagami was at a loss, looking back and forth at the two halves of the courts. "M-Momoi-san, d-don't tell me you actually…"
Momoi simply gave an innocent smiling face to Kagami then looked back at the bunch of monsters competing, who were also completely ignoring Kagami, except for Kise.
Kagami felt like banging his head against the wall.
Kuroko tugged at Kagami's sleeve, and said, "Good luck, Kagami-kun. Oh and, if you want, I can go and join them." He pointed to his ex-teammates.
Kagami thought deeply, contemplating and considering. If he goes over, I can have some personal time with Tanaka-san… But… It would be kinda rude, won't it? Ahh… What should I do?!
"It's fine if you can't decide, Kagami-kun," Kuroko assured him upon noticing the cold sweat dripping down Kagami's forehead. "I can just go over and play with them. Besides, they're odd-numbered."
But you've already did so many things for me, I can't possibly just leave you in a lurch with those monsters of yours! Kagami wanted to say.
This was literally a fierce battle between friendship and love.
Tsuruko noticed Kagami, and decided to continue playing on her own to wait for him, but Kagami did not want her to wait too long. He at least wanted to be more of a gentleman, especially in front of someone he admires.
"Well then, Kagami-kun, I'll be going now. See you later," Kuroko left before Kagami could even get a hold of him.
Aaahhh… Kurokooo! I promise this will be the last time!
Kagami clutched the ball hard and forced himself to clear his mind. He could not let this affect him too much.
He let out a little battle cry in his head and went over to Tsuruko who greeted him with an angelic smile which melted his heart.
They played one-on-one until lunchtime and Kagami could not be happier. Tsuruko was great at handling the ball and loved to crack jokes every now and then, causing Kagami to crack up and lose the ball. Kagami got psyched up because of that and decided to play a little more seriously.
One thing that Kagami really loved about Tsuruko was not her looks or whatsoever. It was the fact that despite her being exhausted and worn out, despite her losing the ball and not getting the rebound, she was always smiling.
And that smile of hers could light up the streets at night.
She was not hot-headed like Kagami, even Kagami had to admit that, and was very optimistic about everything. That fact itself was what made Kagami fell in love with her.
By lunchtime, both sides of the court were all worn out and decided to have lunch at the nearby Maji Burger.
Tsuruko and Kagami sat together at a table while the Generation of Miracles had to join two tables together and sit somewhere else. Well, the main reason was because they were curious and wanted to eavesdrop on Tsuruko and Kagami.
Kuroko, on the other hand, realized that Tsuruko's long hair was not black but instead coffee brown upon a closer look. Kuroko had to admit : Tsuruko was really pretty and was just a bit shorter than Kagami, which is really suitable for a guy like Kagami.
The rest of the Generation of Miracles members were all staring at Tsuruko and Kagami in silence, watching them talk and laugh together, amazed by the fact that Kagami could actually hold a proper and normal conversation with a girl.
Aomine was the first to burst out laughing, "Hey, Tetsu, when did he become such a gentleman? Ahaha, oh god my sides hurt!"
"I believe it was a couple of days ago when he met her while playing basketball. It was love at first sight," Kuroko replied monotonously and Aomine could not help laughing even harder.
Midorima piped in, "Such a fool. Love is still unnecessary at this stage in life." Kise chuckled at his comment and said his own, "Well, the girl's pretty though. I wonder if she's a model or something?"
Momoi sat close to Kuroko, beside Kise, and noticed something, "Tetsu-kun, what's wrong? You seem a little down…"
"Oh, it's nothing, Momoi-san," he replied quickly.
Momoi was worried but decided to let it go for now.
Meanwhile, on Kagami's end, he had just brought the topic of Valentine's Day to light, "Well, uh, next week is Valentine's Day right? I was just wondering if you're going to be free… Maybe we can go out and have lunch or something?"
By the looks of it, it was pretty obvious Kagami was struggling to string his words together. He had never asked a girl out before, let alone fall head over heels in love with one.
Of course, Kagami did not want to just "have lunch" next week, he wanted to do more things with her, to spend more time with her. However, he panicked a little and just made up something at the spur of the moment.
After he said that, he could have sworn he felt Kise facepalming to himself behind him, saying, Idiot! You could at least come up with a better plan!
"Yes, I'll be free next week, but only until noon," she replied with a smile.
It was real difficult talking to someone you like, and even more difficult trying to keep your cool.
Kagami heaved a sigh of relief and asked her, "Then… Let's go somewhere on that day, just the two of us. Is that okay with you?" Of course, once again, Kagami did not know where "somewhere" is and would probably just text her or something when he decides later on.
Tsuruko agreed without hesitation and all was set.
Back to the Generation of Miracles' table, Akashi had just came back to the table with food and Murasakibara dug in first.
"Ah, Tetsu-kun, do you know how old is she?" Momoi suddenly asked Kuroko. Kuroko then remembered he had not ask Kagami that and shook his head. Then another thought came floating into his head, Does Kagami-kun even know?
Akashi, who had kept quiet for quite some time, suddenly spoke up, "I've seen that girl before." The other members turned to look at him, surprised and waiting for him to continue.
"I came here to play often, during the weekends, and she's always there playing too," Akashi said. "But I've never talked to her before."
Once he said that, everyone went like, "Oh it's actually nothing much" and went back to their food while Kuroko drank his favorite vanilla shake.
"Tetsuya."
Kuroko turned to face his former captain, "Yes?"
Akashi paused for a while then asked, "Are you okay?"
Kuroko did not say anything at first, but then nodded in silence.
"If anything happens, don't be rash."
Kuroko, including everyone else could not figure out why Akashi had said that, even after he had to leave early to do homework at home.
On the other side, Tsuruko had also just left and Kagami came walking over with a huge smile on his face.
"So how is it, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked, slurping his vanilla shake. Kagami sat down at where Akashi had sat and replied enthusiastically, "I managed to get a date with her next week on Valentine's Day!"
"Ehh~ Not bad, Kagamicchi!"
"Hm, she's really curvaceous, though. You've got a really big catch this time."
"Congrats, Kaga-chin."
That was Kise, Aomine and Murasakibara commenting on Kagami's performance just now.
"Kagamin, how old is Tsuruko-chan?" Momoi asked.
"Well, she's seventeen this year."
"Oh? So you like older girls?" Midorima asked.
"Eh? Ah, I don't really mind the age…"
"Is that so…" Midorima's voice trailed off as he pushed his spectacles up his nose. Kise seized the opportunity, "Ah, that's right, Midorimacchi, you once said that you prefer older girls, didn't you?"
Midorima got shocked by how he got the information, "Eh?! S-Since when did I say that?! I-It's not like I actually want a girlfriend at this age…"
"Ahaha! You really are a tsundere!"
"S-Shut up, idiot!"
One by one, the Generation of Miracles joined the bickering.
Except for Kuroko, though, who was sipping his vanilla shake silently. He was still thinking about why Akashi had said that.
"If anything happens, don't be rash."
What did he mean?