So, I wasn't actually going to upload this chapter until later, but some things came up and also, I feel really bad that some of you couldn't read the latest chapter the other day. Though that means that Chapter 5 may be a bit delayed. Sorries .-.

I'm just happy that everything got resolved before I could have a breakdown ahaha...

Anyways! Thanks to all of you lovely people who reviewed, favourited and followed this story! You guys are the reason I slave over it continuously even though sometimes I feel like shooting myself ;-;

And thanks to all of you who PM'ed me to tell me about the issue, or else I would never have noticed. I'm so happy that there is so much love for my crappy writing. So, into the story! Enjoy, and let me know what you think! :3

"Ow!"

Aomine spun in his seat to glare up at his partner, hand rubbing at the sore spot on his head that had made contact with the hard-cased file Midorima held in his hands. "The fuck was that for?!"

"That disgusting look on your face. You've had it on since your ugly ass sashayed in this morning," Midorima replied disgustedly. He walked to his desk which was opposite Aomine's. The stuff they'd each accumulated over the years was stacked in between them, as a sort of makeshift wall for when they didn't want to look at each other's faces. Which was, well, all the time. However, the pile was low, and as both men were unnaturally tall, they could easily talk across at each other just by sitting up. If they didn't want to see the other, they just hand to hunch over their desk slightly.

Now, Midorima sat down facing slightly away from Aomine across their desks as the latter twiddled with his computer, scrolling through online reviews and suggestions to find a nice place near the bar to which he could take his date. He wasn't looking for somewhere incredibly posh. Although Kuroko came off as the kind of person who would fit well in high society, the man's dressing was a lot more down to earth. And inappropriate for the rich crowd in many other ways. Aomine also didn't want to take him somewhere that was crowded and rowdy. What he wanted was somewhere quiet and decent, where they could be alone and he wouldn't have to worry about anyone bothering them, and he could spend the night drowning himself in the man's voice.

Aomine almost didn't register the movements until moments before impact. His eyes widened as his brain kicked into auto-pilot and he twisted his head out of the way just as the eraser went screeching past his ear. He could feel the heat singe part of his hair. Behind him there was a loud thud, and someone shouted for an ambulance. He stared at Midorima, raising an eyebrow. His partner returned the gaze mildly.

"Was that truly necessary?" He asked, the poison in his voice a complete contrast to the blank look he shot his counterpart.

"Yes it was. I can't stand that ridiculous smile on your face." Midorima stated, his voice matter of fact as he resumed typing on his computer.

"You weren't even looking!" Aomine exploded. Their computer screens were faced towards the sides, meaning that as long as they looked at the screen, the other person would be completely out of view.

"I could see your teeth sparkling out of the corner of my eye. It was starting to hurt." Midorima replied with a shrug, eyes still on the computer screen.

Aomine cursed under his breath. Why they'd stayed partners for so long, he hadn't the faintest idea. Neither could stand the other, and the whole department knew it.

Minutes later, the office had calmed down and the man who had been hit by the eraser had been seen to by the paramedics. Aomine had resumed his search, and Midorima was still clicking away on his keyboard. Suddenly, the silence was broken.

"How did your date go?" Aomine looked up at the casual question. His tone had been easygoing, but he could read the curiosity in those eyes.

"What date?" He asked deliberately. He knew that part of the reason Midorima was asking was because Takao hadn't let him rest with his pestering. He wasn't going to make this easy for the frog. As though reading his mind, the latter shot him a dirty look.

"The date last night. He finally showed up, right?"

"What makes you say that?" Aomine asked. Midorima raised an eyebrow at him.

Right. The disgusting look on his face.

"He did, but it wasn't a date." Midorima almost looked sorry. "I'm meeting him tonight for an official one."

The green-eyed man almost looked happy, though Aomine suspected it was because he finally had news to take back to his boyfriend to get him to shut up for a while.

"You're putting an awful lot of effort into this date," he observed.

"Am I?" Aomine asked, going back to his research.

"Usually you just take your girls to whichever bar happens to be the closest and get them drunk."

"Yeah, well." Midorima didn't need to know that he was actually really looking forward to sitting down and having a chat with Kuroko.

"Have you found a nice place?" The navy-haired man threw a suspicious glance at the man across the desks. Midorima looked back innocently. Something was up. He was never this inquisitive, nor did he ever hint at an offer for help. Usually, what he'd get was disgust and be cursed with AIDS.

"No," he replied cautiously. Midorima stood up, the move so sudden that the others nearby glanced up, startled. Not paying them any attention, he walked around his desk and shoved Aomine out of the way, tugging his keyboard closer. He quickly typed in the name of a restaurant, and pointed at the address and phone number on the company's website.

"It's quiet and secluded, and the food's good." With that, he returned to his seat and resumed his work.

Aomine stared at the computer screen then at his partner, expression baffled. After a while, he manages a, "Thanks."

Midorima gave him a curt nod, eyes completely focused on the screen in front of him. Aomine snapped a picture of the address and contact number of the restaurant with his phone and then glanced at the time on his screen. Four hours to go.

xx

He pulled up in front of the bar an acceptable eight minutes before seven. He had deliberately driven as slowly as his impatience would allow him, having left the house nearly an hour ahead of time. He lived barely a fifteen minute drive away.

For the umpteenth time, he glanced up into the rearview mirror to check for a wayward strand of hair or something stuck between his teeth. He ran a hand over the unblemished skin of his chin, grateful that he had recently gotten a new razor that left his face feeling extremely smooth. Midnight eyes stared back at him as the corner of his mouth curved up into a small smirk. He knew that he was exceptionally attractive even without any effort, but he'd gone out of his way to dress up for the night in black slacks and a pale blue dress shirt that made the navy of his hair and eyes stand out even more.

The effort was partly to impress Kuroko, but it was also because Midorima hadn't mentioned what kind of dress code the restaurant had, and if the place was more casual than he was dressed for, he had only to roll up the sleeves of his shirt and undo a few buttons and he'd fit right in. Sometimes it was good to have a model for a friend.

However, he didn't have any way of contacting Kuroko, and so he hadn't any idea what he would show up in. One thing he was sure of was that no matter what the blue-eyed man wore, he'd attract attention.

Two minutes before the clock on his dashboard hit seven, he saw the bright blue shock of hair appear from the end of the street. His eyes followed him, happy to notice that Kuroko was dressed rather well, too, in the pair of dark boots that he had seen the night before, gray jeans, and a black vest over a black long-sleeved dress shirt. He definitely had a grasp on the term 'smart casual'.

As his eyes trailed after Kuroko, admiring the way his clothes fit him, he noticed other eyes following the man. And they weren't exclusively female. To his surprise, more than just the smugness he felt when he knew he was going to be seen with a very attractive date, there was a foreign urge to go up and reprimand the men who were throwing suggestive glances at his date. Didn't those guys realize how disgusting they looked?

Kuroko had almost reached the door of the bar, when it dawned on Aomine that the other wouldn't know to look out for his car. He leaned on his honk, the sound turning several heads, but it did the job. A smile slipped onto Kuroko's face as he sauntered over to his vehicle.

An easy smile lit up his face as the bluenette opened the passenger door and leaned in.

"Hey, sexy," he greeted, as the weight he had been carrying with him since the night before dissipated. He had secretly feared that Kuroko wouldn't show up at all, and he'd be left hanging looking like a total idiot.

"Hey," Kuroko said, looking extremely pleased with the nickname. "Where're we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"This is unexpected," he said as he slid into the car and shut the door. "I almost expected you to just try and get me drunk."

Aomine's smile faltered. What the hell? Were he and Midorima friends?

"That's absurd." He remembered the way Kuroko had downed the lethal concoction during their first encounter. "I'm not going to waste my time hoping on the impossible."

Kuroko turned to him with a grin, probably remembering that first night too. Aomine pulled out of the parking spot and merged into traffic. They drove for a while in silence.

"I hope I'm not under-dressed." Kuroko said, breaking the silence.

Aomine wanted to laugh. With the eyes that had followed him earlier, Aomine knew that most everyone, himself including, rather wished he was.

"I wouldn't know if you are. I've never been to this restaurant before." He admitted, careful to keep his eyes on the road and not on the form he could see had started writhing out of his peripherals.

"That's nice. It'll be a surprise for both of us, then," came his reply, followed by a grunt.

"What are you doing?" Aomine asked, turning his attention away from the road briefly. Kuroko stared back at him, an arm frozen in position over his head as though he was trying to reach the back of his shirt.

"Oh, am I distracting you?" More than you'd like to know, Aomine thought wryly. "This was a present from someone and I forgot to clip out the tag. It's itchy as hell."

Deciding that having the man flopping about in his car could end rather badly for him, Aomine pulled up on the side of the road and turned to him.

"Turn around," he ordered. Kuroko complied, and Aomine caught himself wondering if he was this obedient in bed. Now is not the time, Daiki.

He tugged down the collar of the shirt, exposing creamy white skin. He resisted the urge to run a trail up the back of Kuroko's neck with his tongue. He didn't need a black eye to enhance his looks. Shutting off that part of his brain, he made quick work of the tag, snapping it easily and dropping it onto Kuroko's lap.

As he released his hold on the collar, he let his fingers brush lightly over Kuroko's skin, feeling the smoothness of it send a tingly sensation to the bottom of his spine. He put the car into gear and continued the drive with no outwardly apparent change in demeanor but on the inside, he congratulated himself on doing nothing more than that.

He was only human.

xx

"That was delicious," If there was a person who could radiate satisfaction, he was sitting in Aomine's passenger seat. As far as Kuroko was concerned, the way to his heart, Aomine had discovered, was through vanilla flavoured desserts, preferably milkshakes. He'd downed an obscene amount of them throughout their dinner.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," Aomine said. Midorima's suggestion had been spot on, and they had been able to talk in quiet seclusion. The food was really good, and the atmosphere was exactly what he'd been aiming for.

Kuroko had not disappointed either. They'd talked for most of the meal, only pausing occasionally to take a bite of the food in front of them.

He'd found it slightly odd, though, that the blue-eyed man made sure not to talk about anything personal. If something related came up, he'd easily steer the conversation away from it. It was so that Aomine left that restaurant with a building sense of curiosity about the enigmatic man and knowing nothing more than what he'd found out up till that point.

Aomine pulled up to a stop in front of the same bar which they had departed from, and turned a smile towards the man in the next seat. He'd offered to send him straight home, but Kuroko had given him a knowing look and insisted that he'd be fine walking.

"You're sure about that drink?" Aomine asked. Not deterred by that let down, he had immediately suggested that Kuroko go to his apartment – which was a convenient distance away from the bar – and have a drink before he went home.

"Very sure. You must have noticed how much milkshake I drank earlier," Kuroko smiled slightly, the movement almost too cute to bear. "Thank you for a wonderful dinner."

"It was my pleasure," Aomine returned the smile, dark eyes glinting in the street light. He leaned over the armrest that divided them, eyes travelling from the glassy depths of Kuroko's eyes to his lips. This was the perfect way to end the night.

Aomine knew that he didn't have a chance of getting laid that night, but he was definitely going home with something.

He had inched forward slowly, as though afraid of scaring Kuroko away. He watched Kuroko drop his gaze, and marveled at how long his lashes were. His eyes had slid half closed when his lips encountered something that he wasn't expecting. He pulled away slightly. Between their faces Kuroko held up a small piece of paper that looked like an old receipt. He grinned up at the dark haired man.

"I don't kiss until the fourth date."

Aomine stared at him, feeling his heart sink. "You're kidding, right?"

Kuroko laughed at the look on Aomine's face. "Of course, but I'm not about to kiss someone who had tuna for dinner."

Aomine made a sound and drew away completely. He shouldn't have turned down the waiter's offer for mint tea. Kuroko opened the door and got out, and then stood outside for a while, looking as though he was leaning on the roof of the car.

Just as Aomine was going to ask him what he was up to, he bent down again and handed him that faded receipt from earlier. "If you're up for the next three dates."

Aomine glanced at the piece of paper and saw a phone number scrawled on it, along with the name, Kuroko Tetsuya.

"Tetsu, huh?" He looked up in time to see Kuroko look slightly surprised. Well, what could he say? He was a friendly person. Then he smiled that strange smile again.

"You're the first one to think of that," he said. At least he wasn't getting something thrown at him. "I rather like it."

Score!

"Great. Me too," Aomine slipped the piece of paper into his pocket. "So, until next time?"

"Until next time." Kuroko surprised him by climbing partway back into the car and leaning over the armrest to plant a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks again."

Aomine nodded dumbly, having momentarily misplaced his voice. He watched as Kuroko waved and began walking down the street, looking practically ethereal in the dim street lights.

Unconsciously, he ran his fingers over the spot where he could still feel the lingering sensation of Kuroko's lips on his skin. It was ridiculous that he was getting this worked up over a kiss on the cheek. It hit him that it was his first in a really long time. And to have gone on a date that wasn't followed by a night together in bed.

Kuroko was doing strange things to him. Aomine pulled out the slip of paper again and stared at what was written on it.

Damn it.

He almost wished that Kuroko wasn't worth it.