Hey, Mom,

I'm sending this to you, before I

leave. I wonder who will arrive first:

me or my letter? Probably me, though,

now that I think about it, Pete has really

been stepping up his game lately.

Whatever the case, I'll see you soon.

It'll feel weird to be back in L.A. Taiga.

"Kagamicchi! You can't leave-ssu! You just can't leave!" Kise wailed, clinging to the boy's leg as if for dear life. Even though they had all known for a good month or so now that Kagami was going to take a short trip back to Los Angeles, the actual date of his departure was still a sad one.

"It's only for a week," Kagami reassured, patting Kise's head. The pup appreciated the kind gesture; little did he know that Kagami was mostly doing it with the hopes of getting him to let go of his leg. "I'll be back before you know it."

"That's too long! It's too long!" Kise continued to cry. He nuzzled his nose into Kagami's shin and whimpered. "I'm already starting to miss you and you're not even gone yet!"

They all laughed at that, all meaning every single resident of Kiseki Village. Kagami had never asked for such a grand send off; it's not like he was leaving forever. If that had been the case, he could bet any bells that Kise would have never let him go.

"It's just a week," Kagami repeated, throwing his duffle bag over his shoulder. "That's seven days. I think you'll all be fine."

"You're going to miss the Fishing Tournament!" Kise realized, hitting his tiny paws against Kagami's leg. "You can't miss it, right? You'll stay, right-ssu?"

"I'm sure missing one tournament won't hurt me," the teenager chuckled. "It's not like I could ever win, when we got that one over there, and that one other there." He was pointing at both Aomine and Kuroko, who had recently begun speaking with one another again.

Aomine shoved Murasakibara (who had apparently been in his way) out of the way and struck a mighty pose. "That's right!" he declared. "No one can beat me! The only one who can beat me is-"

"Me, actually," Kuroko interjected. "I've won the last three tournaments." Again, everyone began to laugh. It was moments such as this that made Kagami feel like he was living in a sitcom.

"Well, guys," Kagami breathed, "I'd better getting going, or this train is going to leave without me." He shot a thumb back at the train station to emphasize his point. "But really, it was nice of you all to come out here and say goodbye to me."

"But it's not goodbye!" Kise interrupted. "Goodbye is when it's forever, right-ssu? And this isn't forever!"

"You're right, you're right," Kagami sighed. He ruffled his hair pensively, trying to come up with something better to say. "How about...'see you all really soon'?" With the way that Kise's face had instantly lit up, he knew that he had picked something decent.

"Such a lovely thing to say!" Pelly smiled, clapping her wings together to applaud Kagami's word choice. "Let's all say it together!"

"Together...?" Murasakibara droned.

"A wonderful idea, Pelly," Akashi purred.

"Let's just get this over with, nanodayo," Midorima scoffed.

"Midorimacchi, you're going to miss Kagamicchi, too. Don't even try to pretend," Kise grumbled. To that, Midorima harrumphed.

"Okay!" Pelly announced. "On three, everyone!" Kagami readied himself, while everyone else straightened and clasped each other's hands. "One..." They smiled brightly. "Two..." They held their hands tightly. "Three!"

"We'll see you really soon!"

Shifting restlessly in his cramped plane seat, Kagami sighed and searched through his iPod playlists for something to listen to. Nothing was all that appealing to him, so he decided to take a gamble and set it on shuffle. Surprisingly, some of the best songs that he had on there began to play. 'Just two more hours, until we land. With three minutes per song, that's like...what? Forty songs that I have to listen to?'

Just as he was figuring out his mental calculations, a kindly air stewardess walked down the aisle and began asking if any of the passengers needed anything. When she approached Kagami, he nodded to her and said, "I'll have a ginger ale, please."

"Sure thing," she smiled, taking note of his order.

Kicking back in his seat, Kagami sighed again and closed his eyes. He wasn't the type of person that could sleep while flying; he had to be alert at all times. It was lucky for him that he was only dealing with a five-hour flight, three hours of that having already been knocked off, otherwise he could have ended up being severely jet lagged.

"Your ginger ale, sir," the stewardess stated, after coming back a few minutes later, pulling Kagami's attention from the chorus of Chasing Cars.

"Thank you," he said, graciously accepting his bubbly beverage. Taking a sip, then another, Kagami stuck his drink into the cup holder of his seat tray. As if he didn't feel cramped for space before, now all of his breathing room was pretty much occupied. 'Just two more hours,' he told himself again. 'Two more...oh!'

Suddenly remembering something, Kagami quickly reached for his duffle bag - which was laying beneath his feet - and pulled it up into his lap. As he rummaged through his belongings, Kuroko's gentle words of temporary farewell echoed throughout his mind.

'Be sure to read this, when you're on the plane.'

Pulling a letter out from underneath some of his socks and sweatpants, Kagami flipped the envelope over so that he was viewing the front. On it, his name had been inked in nearly perfect handwriting.

Zipping up his duffle and tossing it back under his feet, Kagami began to open the letter, a bit jittery as to what Kuroko had to say. 'Couldn't he have just told me in person?' he wondered, but whatever the case, he carefully pulled the stationary out from the envelope and began reading.

Dear Kagami,

I know I very well could have

told you this face-to-face, but

I figured that a letter might be a

good way for you to remember

your way home. Take that as you

will, I hope you have a safe journey.

I'm sure your parents miss you and

are happy to have the chance to visit

with you. But that is not your home

anymore. Your home is here with us,

here in Kiseki. Please don't forget that.

I look forward to your return. Kuroko.

Fighting back the will to shed a few, burly tears, he rubbed his eyes and set the letter down. Taking another sip from his ginger ale to wash away the lump in his throat, Kagami looked up at the small airplane window. With determination, he balled his hand into a fist and lightly pounded it against the thick glass. "I'll be back soon," he whispered. "Don't worry; I haven't forgotten where my home is."

Kagami's ears had popped, upon landing. He honestly couldn't have been happier to see the ground again. Grabbing his belongings and exiting the plane as fast as the line of people in front of him would allow, the eager teen lugged his duffle over his shoulder and through the tunnel. Once he had made his way out, he could clearly see his parents waiting for him at his gate. "Mom...Dad..." he whispered with disbelief.

"Taiga!" his mother called out, dropping the cheesy little white board sign that she had had in her hands, opting to rush over toward her son instead. Once she had made it over to him, she wrapped her arms around her son in a suffocatingly sweet embrace. "I've missed you so much!"

"Mom..." Kagami groaned, trying to wiggle his way out of his mother's hold. "I can't breathe-"

"Oh, you're just being silly," she giggled, squeezing him tighter.

"Mom-"

"You should have done this sooner, Taiga! It's been over a year! Don't you know what that does to a mother's heart?"

"Mom-!"

"Hun," Kagami's father stepped in, resting a hand on his wife's shoulder. "I think you should let go of him now. He's turning blue."

Reluctantly releasing her son, Kagami's mother sighed and shook her head. "I wouldn't have had to hug him like that if he would have given us a call every now and then."

"I told you, Mom," Kagami reasoned, "the phone service out there is weird. I've been sending you letters-"

"Letters aren't enough!" she protested. "I need to hear my baby's voice!"

"Mom, I'm not a baby-"

"Oh, you'll always be a baby to me," she cooed, closing in on him once again.

"Mom-!"

The ride home wasn't nearly as long as the flight had been; in fact, it was only forty-five minutes. All the while, his mother told him all about the things that had happened on their end, such as his eldest cousin getting married, his grandmother's retirement, and his father's promotion at work. By the time that it was Kagami's turn to talk, they were already pulling into the front drive of his childhood house.

"I sure hope you haven't forgotten where your bedroom is!" his mother laughed, unbuckling her seatbelt and stepping out of the car.

"I'm fine, Mom," Kagami sighed, grabbing his duffle bag and getting out of the car, as well. "Like I could forget something like that." But actually, he did. Walking through the front door, Kagami found himself a bit lost. Where was his cabana sofa? Where was his exotic lamp? His CD player? His bonsai?

"Up the stairs, Kagami," his mother said, nudging his arm. "See? I knew you would forget!"

"I didn't forget!" Kagami lied, but he knew he wasn't fooling anyone. Tightening his grip on his duffle, he ascended the stairs and paused. "Uh..."

"To the left, dear. The last door on the left."

"Right. I totally knew that."

In his room, his room that had been left untouched (save for the periodic dusting and cleaning that his mother had done) for over a year, Kagami felt out of place. "I just...need to get adjusted," he breathed. He ran a hand through his mop of messy red hair and sat down on the edge of his bed. Before long, he was laying down, and soon after that, he had fallen asleep.

Adjusting had happened a lot quicker than expected. By the time he had woken up the next morning, Kagami was ready to go out and catch some waves, some real waves. After that, he met up with some of his old friends from middle school, chatting about the good times and what had happened during their small hiatus from each other. Minutes melted into hours, and hours melted into days (melted being an appropriate word, because it was just so darn hot in California). Before he knew it, Kagami's week in L.A. was up, that is, it was supposed to be.

"It wouldn't hurt to stay...one more week, would it?" he asked himself, and it was with that mindset that had allowed himself to stay in Los Angeles for not just another week, but an entire year.

Hello there! Chappy here! :D

I know this chapter ended on somewhat of a cliffhanger (an angst-worthy cliffhanger), but fear not! Next week's chapter will be...well, actually...yeah, no. Next week's chapter is going to be just as sad (if not much, much sadder).

Regardless, hang in there, my faithful readers! The end is near!

Thank you for taking the time to read!

I hope you've enjoyed! (:

- Chappy