A/N: This Fanfic was inspired by the song 'Dark Blue,' by Jack's Mannequin. It's a really beautiful song, and if you want to take the time to listen to it, then you can find a bunch of versions on the Tube of You. I prefer the cover by Alex Goot, but you can go ahead and make your own decisions.

Aomine meets Kuroko for the first time. None of the Gen of Miracles plays basketball competitively.

Hey, everyone. The story might start out a bit slow, but I wanted it to work like a real relationship would; the couple takes the time to get to know each other before getting physical. So, I hope that you can appreciate that because I promise the two will join each other in that capacity eventually.

Chapter One:

How did I get myself dragged into this again? Kuroko asked himself as, once again, Momoi pulled him toward the public pool. It was a sweltering 86 degrees on a July Saturday morning, and it was only going to get hotter. The public pool was clear across town but worth the walk if one arrived early enough to beat the crowds to the locker rooms, which is why Momoi had texted him at 8 a.m. until he responded:

Momoi: Heyy, Kuroko!

….

Momoi: Wanna go to the pool?

Momoi: Please?

Momoi: Hey, you awake?

Momoi: Wake up, Kuroko! We're going to the pool.

Momoi: . . . If you don't answer soon I'll just find a way into your house again . . .

Kuroko: Alright, what do you want.

Momoi: Kuro-chan! You promised we'd go to the pool

And she went on and on and on until Kuroko had finally given in. The struggle was real; anyone who knew Momoi would know that Kuroko tolerated her crush on him. It wasn't that Kuroko didn't want to go to the pool; more like he didn't want his cozy butt dragged out of bed at 8 am to trek across town with a chattery morning person. Even his aggravation at being woken too early on a Saturday was kept hidden behind his almost expressionless face. Kuroko never showed how he was truly feeling. So he packed his swimwear, SPF 55, sunglasses, towels, and some snacks in a bag after he had gotten dressed and waited for Momoi to arrive at house so they could walk to the pool together.

As expected, Momoi chattered the entire way there, content to listen to Kuroko politely laugh or comment a couple of times to keep the conversation a little less than one-sided. Kuroko prefer silence, but Momoi's talking certainly had made the half-hour walk feel faster as they arrived just after the pool opened. Flashing their summer passes at the teen working the front desk, they each went to their respective locker rooms to change. Kuroko arrived on the other side in his dark blue swimming trunks already wet because of the mandatory showering before entering the pool area. People were flocking toward the deck chairs clustered in groups around the shallows; children were pulling away from their parents, toddling off like so many penguins because of various floating devices on their bodies, and the lifeguards—tall, tanned, and imposing—were already stationed in their respective places. Momoi practically strutted out of the women's locker room, brushing her flowing pink hair back behind her shoulders and flashing large, happy eyes at anyone who walked past. Rocking a barely-there biking, she was scanning the thickening crowd for Kuroko who waved her down by a couple of deck chairs he had claimed for them.

"Kuroko," Momoi shouted as she threw her arms around him, "Where were you? I was looking everywhere!" She sounded so anxious already, and her eyes were getting all shimmery as her mouth quivered. It's so easy to upset her Kuroko thought as he looked at her expressionless.

"I was waiting for you to get out of the locker room. I decided to go put my stuff down. It seemed like a good idea to get us chairs before everyone else grabbed them. I'm sorry if I upset you—"

"Kuro-chan!" she yelled, effectively cutting him off, "thanks for being so thoughtful! Now let's go get in line for the water slide." She tugged on his arm urgently, like the slide was going to get up and leave before they could go down it a couple of times. Making their way up a set of stairs, they waited in line for their turn as a bored lifeguard sent kids down the dark tunnel one at a time.

The sun was hot and the water cold as Kuroko took what soon felt like his fiftieth turn going down the slide—truly disappearing and reappearing seemingly out of nothingness—until he arrived tumbling into a pool of water five feet deep. Surging upward out of the water sputtering, Kuroko knew he didn't want to go down that slide again. But he also knew that it would be rude to simply wander off, so he waited for Momoi to jump out of the water giggling (and for the lifeguard to quit ogling her barely contained breasts).

Trying to tell her that I don't want to go down again is going to be difficult. Momoi was happily chatter about how happy she was that Kuroko had decided to come with her to the pool when he interrupted and asked, "Do you want to, I don't know, just go and jump in the pool and swim?" She looked at him silently for a second—her eyes going impossibly large and round until Kuroko thought he had broken her—until she broke into a dazzling smile, grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the edge of the deep end, dragging him in after she jumped. Once he resurfaced, they proceeded to splash around and play water tag. When Kuroko grew tired of being around noisy people, he decided that running from her would be the only way to get time alone. Suggesting a game of Marco Polo, he made her turn her back, and then he swam for it. There were now so many people in the pool that it would be near impossible to find him.

Sighing with relief as he sat in the shallow end of the pool, he watched one of those giant mushrooms with water falling around all its sides until he laid back on his hands and smiled.

Now that is a sight that I haven't seen all summer Aomine thought as he stared at the ice-blue haired boy through dark Aviator shades. Aomine had been working his summers at the pool for three years now, and he was always curious as to how long it would take Kuroko to run away from his childhood friend. (If anyone knew how tenacious Momoi could be it was Dai-chan). But in all his three years working here, he had never seen this boy smile after escaping. That small, secret smile on that pale face was so intriguing that Aomine almost failed to notice one of the kids struggling in the water. Blowing his whistle quickly to get the other kids away from the poor kid, Aomine practically fell off his super tall chair to get to the kid in time.

At the sound of the piercing whistle, Kuroko shrieked and slipped off his hands until he was flat on his back and seeing stars. He regained straight-vision just in time to see a tall, tanned lifeguard scooping up a child and setting him on the deck. That is one hot lifeguard Kuroko thought, letting his mouth hang open slightly.

His eyes skimmed over what looked like rock hard abs as the lifeguard left the child in his parent's care and turned back toward the pool. Tan and gorgeous, Kuroko was practically drooling over this guy. I wish he would take off his shades so I could see his eyes. Oh, well. There's plenty of him to look at. Kuroko's thoughts verged on the dirty as he slowly moved his eyes over that lifeguard's body. He studied him so long that he could see pool water beading down his body, leaving trails that Kuroko wished he was making with his tong—

"Gotcha!" Momoi yelled as she threw herself down on Kuroko with a tangle of long limbs and boobs pressing into his chest as he shrieked.

Aomine, startled, looked down at the two tangled in the shallow end and started walking over to separate the two when Kuroko gently pushed her off. "You scared me, Momoi," Kuroko whispered, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Kuro-chan," she murmured appropriately abashed, but she still looked a little please to have finally found him.

Before Aomine could make it all the way over to the pair, Kuroko hurriedly stood and pulled Momoi up by an arm saying, "We should go. I'm getting kinda sick of swimming." She protested as he pushed her out of the water and toward the women's locker room as he rushed into the men's changing room.

What was that about? Aomine asked himself as he watched the attractive boy pull Momoi away from the pool. Oh, well; I know I'll see him tomorrow.

Kuroko refused to talk to Momoi the entire way home and was about to turn off his cell phone when Momoi texted him:

Momoi: Hey… I don't know what happened, but there's supposed to be a killer party later at some guy's place. One of the lifegaurds told me about it while I was looking for you, and he said I could bring you… If you want to go.

Kuroko started at his phone. Maybe I should go. I need to think about something other than tan skin and a hard bod wearing nothing but a speedo . . . He sent her a quick "Sure" and went to go shower and then sleep in his bed. If Kuroko was going to party tonight, he was going to party hard and make sure that everybody, especially someone hot, would notice his presence.