Chapter Six:
"Momoi, you go on ahead. I'll text you later after we get food. Aomine said something about noodles? I think we might be going to get Ramen or something." Kuroko wasn't too sure what was going to happen. He only knew that he wished this first date wasn't happening when he smelled of chlorine, water, and the cheap shampoo he had bought specifically for the public pool and public pool only. Sighing inwardly, he wished he had invested more money in the shampoo at this point. Just because I was just in the public pool doesn't mean I have to smell like one.
"But, Kuro-chan," Momoi whined, "What if that 10 hurts you? I know he's cute and all, what with those tan muscles and his dark blue hair, but what if you don't get home? Will you promise to call when you get in your apartment? Just call? How about a text? Will you text me, please?" Honestly, Kuroko thought her concern to be endearing, but before he could answer Aomine came up behind him and peered over his head at Momoi. "I promise I'll make him text you if we go anywhere unexpected." That certainly earned him a look of approval from the best friend.
Aomine: 1 Dog House: 0
The look on Kuroko's face as Aomine pushed him into a verbal contract with Momoi to call and text her his whereabouts was a little overwhelming. Who knew that baby blue eyes could be so . . . Fiery. "Let's go get some noodles, Tetsu." Kuroko soon found himself pulled behind this dark blue haired giant while he waved goodbye a shocked, but pleased, Momoi.
Noodles are delicious. And Kuroko is just happy that he's not the one cooking and cleaning up tonight as he wondered over the amount of food Aomine ate; Kuroko hadn't even finished his own bowl! "Are you gonna finish that?" Aomine garbled out around a mouth full of buttered noodle. When Kuroko shook his head, his date scooped out the noodles into his own bowl and mixed them all together before continuing his feast. Kuroko could only sit back and watch in fascination. There was nothing but the sound of the mastication of noodles until Kuroko said, "Are you gonna say something? Cuz if you're not going to say something this is a lame first date."
And Aomine almost choked.
"Also, are you gonna take me anywhere? Because I've been waiting for you to say something for 2 weeks, and you only just said something today. So you've got a lot to make up for." Kuroko's face was expressionless, but his eyes were a gentle, teasing, blue.
"I've said nothing?!" Aomine was feeling a little upset now. "You were supposed to call me or text me at least so I could have your number! All you did was show up at the pool and ignore me. You swam out into the middle of the deep end like some loner and stared at me the entire time-" At this point, Aomine was seething. 2 weeks. 2 weeks he had waited for this guy to make the next move because he didn't want to freak him out or whatever and here they were (finally!), on a date, and the guy had the audacity to go off on him. Him! Well, he was not gonna take this.
"I was freaking waiting for 2 weeks, Tetsu. You were swimming there, and I couldn't do anything. I gave you my number, and you ignored me. What the fuck more did you want from me at that point? It's not like I could just leave my post while I was at work and come flirt with you unless you were drowning or something. What did you want?!" He wasn't yelling, mostly just whispering vehemently across the table at Kuroko, who was just sitting there quiet. He had never seen someone so upset by lack of his attention. Sure, Momoi would cry sometimes, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Aomine was a whole other animal, and it kind of freaked him out a bit. "I'm sorry, Aomine. I just wasn't sure if you were joking or not. It's not so easy to tell if someone's, well, into me. I'm the quiet one no one usually notices." He was feeling very reserved now, his expressionless giving nothing away until you looked into his large baby blues which were shimmering with angst and sadness. How could I fucked this whole situation up this badly? If I had just called him, what would we be doing by now? Holding hands? First kiss? Movies and dinners? . . . Sleepovers?
Aomine sat back kind of surprised. He hadn't meant to make Kuroko upset. In fact, he hadn't meant to do this at all; this whole date was not going as he expected. He had hoped to take Kuroko out for noodles, make him smile a little (even laugh!), and then take him back to his apartment. Hopefully, if things went well, Aomine was going to be allowed to hold Kuroko's hand, but that was only after Aomine had plucked up the courage to actually ask him out, sweetly, politely. How did I fuck this whole date up this badly?
"You know . . . You're the only person I've really noticed at the pool from day one, Tetsu." Kuroko looked up shocked; no one ever noticed him. In a crowd as big as the public pool's got, he was amazed that Aomine would focus on him. "And you're the only one I've ever really wanted to notice either." Aomine was blushing as he told the cute blue-haired guy about his crush on him, and Kuroko just sat there looking at him; eyes getting larger as Aomine went on: "I just… you looked so cute flipping your wet blue hair out of your eyes. And you were always so pale, so different from my own skin. And all I wanted to do was touch it and pull you closer when you shivered in the sun. I just wanted to be near you, but you were always with that pink-haired girl. So I thought it would be a good idea to just not say anything. When I met you at that party and that song was on by Jack's Mannequin . . . it all just felt so perfect. You were there and I was there, but then I passed out. Waking up on that strange couch was probably the best thing's that's ever happened to me, but when I gave you my number and you never called, I was afraid you weren't interested in a guy like me . . ."
Kuroko reached a hand out across the table and put it over Aomine's mouth. "You can shut up now." Aomine smiled under Kuroko's hand and then kissed his palm.
A week later found the couple walking down the street after Aomine's lifeguard shift at the pool. Momoi was with them, mostly because Kuroko kept telling Aomine that he couldn't just keep ignoring his friend. And though the couple was now holding hands, Momoi still wasn't treated as a third wheel. They all went and got noodles or burgers together after Aomen's shifts at the pool, and though Kuroko smelled like chlorine, that didn't stop Aomine from nuzzling his nose in Kuroko's fluffy blue hair or resting his head on top of Kuroko's as he hugged him from behind. Disgusted, but pleased, Momoi couldn't help but look affectionately at her friends. Whatever she had for Kuroko couldn't compare to what those two have together. But she wondered how long this happy phase could last. Kuroko really wasn't one to spend all of his time with other people, and that's what he'd been doing with Aomine. Sooner or later, she knew Kuroko was going to crack.