A/n : Before I begin to say anything, just let me apologize to you guys first. I'm sorry, but please don't expect too much from this chapter... I know I took a long time, sorry about that too. Whew... I promise I'll really try harder for the next. I promise, really, you have my word.

It was the day before Valentine's Day.

Kagami had been waiting for this for what seemed like ages.

Lessons had ended for the day and Kagami was about to rush home to make chocolates for the next day. Kuroko offered, "Kagami-kun, are you sure you don't need help? I can go to your house to make sure."

However, Kagami refused, "No, it's fine. I don't wanna trouble you any further. Go home and rest, okay?"

Kuroko nodded and went home first.

An hour later, at Kagami's house.

Apparently, he had just put the chocolate into the freezer. He was pretty pleased with himself, to say the least. He was sure it would turn out successful.

He really could not wait for Valentine's Day any longer.

Fortunately, Valentine's Day fell on a Saturday that year and Kagami got to sleep in just a tad more before he actually got down to business.

A couple of days ago, he arranged with Tsuruko that they would be going to the beach on Valentine's Day via text message.

Kagami chose the beach because he thought it would be romantic, and the sun would still be half-awake before noon, so it would not be so hot.

They met at a bus stop near Maji Burger first, before they went to the beach together.

Kagami did not bring much, just a bottle of sunscreen, water bottle, and whatever he needs to survive at the beach. Of course, not forgetting his precious Valentine's Day gifts, which he kept in a small cooler bag. The chocolates only, that is.

When they reached the beach, both were delighted to find that it was not that crowded and they got quite a big empty space to themselves.

They went swimming first, and Kagami nearly got a nosebleed from looking at Tsuruko's bikini. It was bright cyan with little flowery patterns on it.

They raced a little every now and then, but Tsuruko won all of them, proving to Kagami that she was faster in water.

After they were done racing, Kagami, in an attempt to tease Tsuruko, splashed water at her when they were about to come out to shore. "Hey!" Tsuruko laughed and threw an attack back, causing Kagami to back away a little. Back and forth, they tried to attain victory.

Tsuruko then went in for close combat, pouncing on Kagami out of the blue and pushing him into the water. However, Kagami was not done yet. Underwater, he grabbed Tsuruko and pulled her down, making them even.

When they broke through the surface of the water, they were gasping for air and laughing at each other.

"There's still time," Tsuruko reached into her bag after they sat down to rest. "Hehee… I brought pails, so let's make sandcastles!"

Kagami could have sworn he saw the cutest little girl in Tsuruko when she mentioned about building sandcastles. Ah, how much he wanted to hug her tight and tell her that she was just simply adorable.

An hour later, at around half past eleven, they managed to build quite a nice big sandcastle, with windows and a door and even a small moat around it.

"Whew! That was tiring, but the fruits of our efforts can be seen! Haha!" Tsuruko said.

"Why don't we take a picture together? With our sandcastle," Kagami suggested. Our sandcastle, Kagami thought, really happy that he got to say something like that.

Of course, they did, and Kagami sent the photo to Tsuruko via text message.

Soon, it was time to go. They could not bear to destroy the sandcastle so they left it there, standing in all it's glory.

However, Kagami suddenly remembered what he had prepared to do since last week and stopped Tsuruko for a moment.

"T-Tanaka-san, um…" He pulled out the chocolates from the cooler bag and the hamburger keychain which was in a box wrapped with pink wrapping paper.

He handed them over shyly, like a male penguin giving his crush the nicest pebble he could find. Well, because that's what they really do.

"Here, t-this is for you… Happy Valentine's Day, Tanaka-san," Kagami tried flashing his most charming smile sheepishly.

Tsuruko was surprised at first then blushed a little, "Ah, thank you, Kagami-kun. Sorry I didn't prepare anything." Of course, Kagami did not mind at all, all he wanted was his feelings to reach her.

Tsuruko took her presents and Kagami could feel his heart fluttering.

"Um, Kagami-kun..." She started to say, somewhat afraid. Kagami looked at her with a questioning look, "What's wrong?"

When she spoke once more, Kagami could sense that her voice was trembling slightly.

"A-Actually, I..."

Kagami slammed the door behind him as he threw his bag onto the floor of his house. He did not know what he was feeling, sad or angry. Or just simply disappointed.

He slumped back on his couch, looking blankly at the white ceiling above him.

What is he going to do now?

He was motionless for a moment or two then he fished out his cellphone from his back pocket and called Kuroko.

It rang twice before he answered.

"Hello?"

Kagami did not reply, but felt somewhat relieved to hear the familiar voice.

"Hello?" He repeated.

"Kuroko," Kagami finally greeted. "I'm sorry but… Can you come over to my house now?" Kagami was still looking at the milky ceiling, which was starting to remind him of vanilla shakes.

"Sure," then Kuroko hung up.

Kagami put down the phone and waited in silence.

Kuroko was fast, he was probably in the vicinity when Kagami called.

Kuroko rang the bell but Kagami did not bother, since the door wasn't locked. Kuroko then opened the door slowly and stepped in.

"What's wrong, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko sat down beside the sprawled out Kagami on the couch.

"Say… Have you ever confessed to a girl before?" Kagami did not look at him.

"Eh?"

"Kuroko… What should I do?" Kagami made eye contact. "Tanaka-san… She, she already has a boyfriend…"

Kuroko was shocked. Not just the shocked kind of shocked, but more of the worry kind of shocked. "Then wh-"

"I don't know, Kuroko!" Kuroko was taken aback by Kagami's expression. It was not just sad. It was disappointment, anger, frustration. Kuroko had never seen that kind of expression appear on his face before and he felt a tinge of fear.

Kuroko did not dare say anything back and just kept quiet.

Kagami did not say anything either.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Kuroko finally opened his mouth.

"When I gave her the presents, she told me that she already had a boyfriend. But because she didn't want to hurt me," Kagami started. "She kept quiet first, and decided to wait for a suitable time to say it. She said that her boyfriend was overseas currently for studies and would come back soon."

"Then I asked her if we can still at least be friends and that we can keep in touch," Kagami continued. "Of course, she agreed."

"Kuroko, I… But I can't stop thinking about her… What should I do?"

Kuroko looked at Kagami, quiet, feeling pretty guilty he could not come up with a suitable answer.

"I… Argh!" Kagami ruffled his hair with both hands.

"Then what are you going to do now?" Kuroko chose his words carefully.

"I don't know… I'll just try to stay as friends with her," Kagami responded.

Kuroko hesitated as he said, "But, if you keep doing this, you'll hurt yourself, wouldn't it? You really love her."

"I don't know anymore, Kuroko… I just don't want to lose her yet."

Kuroko tried to get it into his head, "Kagami-kun, she already has a boyfriend…"

"I know! But you can't just… Tell me to stop loving her. That's impossible." Kuroko flinched a little upon hearing the word impossible coming from Kagami.

Kagami's phone suddenly chimed a little and he fished it out, reading a text message. Kuroko peered over and realized it was from Tsuruko.

"I'm really sorry, Kagami-kun… But don't worry, my boyfriend is pretty understanding, I'm sure he wouldn't mind us spending time together. We're still friends, right?" Having read the message, however, Kagami did not look relieved at all.

Kuroko could feel worry build up in his heart.

He typed, "It's fine, don't need to worry about me, Tanaka-san. And yes, we're still friends, so let's keep in touch for now, since the examinations are coming up for me and I don't think I have time to play basketball." And sent.

Tsuruko replied back fast, "Yes, of course, sure, let's keep in touch for now."

Kuroko was still looking on, while Kagami did not even notice Kuroko doing that.

Like he wasn't even there.

The topic of the conversation between them changed quickly as they continued texting each other and a smile could be seen gradually growing wider across his face.

Kuroko still kept quiet. He was in a dilemma, not knowing whether should he go back home or stay here, alone.

Kagami suddenly looked up and told Kuroko, "Ah, I'm sorry I took up your time, it seems like I'm better now. Sorry, you can go."

Kuroko stared at Kagami for a little while, then left promptly, muttering a soft "Bye."

He closed the door behind him and walked with his head down. Before he could take more than a couple of steps, he banged into someone.

"Sorry…" He mumbled and looked up.

It was Akashi.

"Hm? Tetsuya? What's wrong?" He came closer and tilted his chin up a little bit to meet his eyes.

"It's nothing," Kuroko took a step back.

"You're obviously lying. Your eyes told me that."

He knew nothing could escape Akashi.

Akashi looked up at the apartment.

"Kagami's house?"

When Kuroko was silent, he knew he had hit the bulls-eye.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"I'm not."

Silence.

"Everything's going to be fine, Tetsuya. Don't worry," Akashi had hesitated for a moment.

Kuroko felt that Akashi didn't meant it.

"Mm…" Kuroko hummed back, feeling helpless.

"Sorry. I'm not sure how I should help you. But if I have to say something, it would be something along the lines of not expecting too much," Akashi told him and patted his head before going off.

Kuroko did not look back at Akashi and just walked off.

It was Monday again and lessons had just ended.

Kuroko was dozing off once again.

When he opened his eyes, Kagami wasn't there anymore. He did not even inform him or leave a note behind.

Ah, the exams are coming, aren't they… Maybe he went back to study first, Kuroko thought.

Or maybe hoped.

He stood up and left the school compound where he saw Kagami leaning against the wall outside with his cellphone pressed to his ear, smiling.

Kagami did not notice him.

Kuroko wanted to call out to him or just tap his shoulder to tell him that he would be going first, but decided not to disturb his happy time.

He moved a little closer and eavesdropped a little.

He could not hear much, but he could hear the same name a couple of times, "Tanaka-san, Tanaka-san".

He tried not to say anything nor show any expression on his face as he walked away, away from his closest friend.

However… Disappointment.

The next day was the last day of basketball practice before it temporarily stands down for the upcoming examinations.

Riko had tripled the intensity of the training and the guys were almost half-dead by the second break.

"Hey, guys, did something happen to Kuroko? He seems quieter than usual today," Riko asked when Kuroko went out to take a breath of fresh air while Kagami went out to refill his water bottle.

"Well, I noticed that Kagami and Kuroko haven't been talking much recently," Koganei piped up. "Really? I didn't notice," Hyuuga joined in while Mitobe nodded in agreement with Koganei.

Riko thought for a while and said, "Something must've happened... Try not to ask him anything, okay, guys?" Everyone nodded as Kuroko walked in, feeling slightly more alive now.

After practice had ended, everyone was on the verge of death.

"I'll be going first then, see you tomorrow!" Kagami went ahead, leaving Kuroko to pack up his things and follow the others instead.

On the way home, all of them were dead quiet as awkwardness ensued.

"Eh…" Koganei fought the silence but to no avail. "The examinations are coming up, right? I wonder how Kagami's doing…"

The rest of the boys, including Riko, nearly wanted to push him in front of a speeding truck for saying such a thing out loud. Does he not know that Kuroko's here?! They thought.

Kuroko did not look at Koganei as he replied, "I'm not sure…" For once, everyone could sense his emotions overflowing just from those three words.

Kuroko stared at the ground, looking at his senpais' feet as they walked.

Bit by bit, he was starting to understand why Akashi had said that…

And his heart ached... With frustration.