Chapter 4

One year before…

Sweat ran down Kagami's back in rivers, his legs tense as the muscles in his back and shoulders tightened. The heat was unbearable; he could almost feel steam rising off his skin. He swallowed a low groan, I can't take much more of this….

He shifted and squirmed in his seat, stopping when he felt an elbow nudge him in the ribs.

"Sit still," Kuroko chided in his ear, and he sighed and slumped forward slightly in defeat. The stiff, uncomfortable clothes he was wearing were overheating him under the glaring sun, chafing his skin in the worst places; around the neck and under the arms, and he felt like he had to keep his head unnaturally straight to keep the awkward cap balanced on his unruly hair. For a while he'd amused himself tilting his head from side to side and watching the tassel swing back and forth, until Kuroko had reprimanded him for that too. Now, he had nothing to cure his boredom, as he listened - or didn't - to the person speaking at the podium in front of the great mass of sweaty, impatient teenager, waiting to be released from this torment so he could shed the ridiculous getup and relieve the adrenaline building in his veins. This was worse than enduring the droning lectures in class.

We're graduating...aren't we supposed to be congratulated, not punished for it?

The day before, when Aomine had dropped by in the afternoon as he always did, he had laughed at the garments Kagami was being forced to wear, announcing smugly that Touou let its students wear their school uniforms to graduation, and didn't require the square, tasseled cap either. Irritated, Kagami had muttered sulkily that he was astonished Aomine had even made it to graduation with his grades, a remark that had simply rolled right off the darker man's back, and, undeterred, he'd proceeded to tease him about how adorable (read: ridiculous) he was going to look in the loose, brightly colored robes. He knew Seirin was a relatively new school, having only been formed within the last four years or so, and he wondered ruefully if it was trying to imitate more American traditions with the dress code...or it might have just been a cruel joke, like Riko threatening to make the members of the basketball team strip naked and confess their feelings to the person they had a crush on if they failed the goals they'd set at the beginning of their high school career. In any case, he was envious of his boyfriend, and could just picture him sitting like a king with his fellow Touou graduates, perfectly comfortable and probably even in the shade, out from the boiling sun; reflecting with his twisted sense of humor and equally twisted smirk on Kagami's apparently hilarious predicament.

Honestly though, it had felt good to see his smile - mocking or no - to be a reason for it, so Kagami didn't let himself get too worked up about the indignity of it all, and tried to focus on fonder memories to keep himself from going all ADHD and getting jabbed by Kuroko again. Two years. He'd been with Aomine for nearly two years...it was kind of unbelievable, and sometimes he looked back with pride in both himself and his boyfriend, that they'd stuck with each other this long, through the difficulties and arguments that tested their relationship's strength, as well as the good times that had reinforced it. It was pretty astounding that it had survived under the strain of the underlying factors like rivalry and drugs, but as he'd come to admit to himself over time, he just cared about Aomine - loved him - that much.

It had been very awkward saying so out loud, and the first few times Aomine didn't even take him seriously; laughing it off and giving him a teasing shove, telling him to stop kidding around. But he'd seen the exact moment when it finally sank in that he meant it; and Aomine had seemed confused...had actually looked over his shoulder, as if to see if Kagami was talking to someone else. That response had caused something in Kagami's heart to twist strangely; that he thought it was such an unusual, impossible thing, to be loved by someone. And he'd wondered if anyone, even his parents, had ever said that word to him before.

The moment of sincerity had passed quickly, and he'd resigned himself to the fact that Aomine had acquired brand new ammunition to taunt him with, but to his surprise, he never held that in particular over his head. As if even someone as underhanded and crude as Aomine had standards, and knew such a rare gift was something he shouldn't tarnish and make meaningless. He teased him about everything else, anything and everything he could get his hands on, but he left that one simple, yet enormous word alone.

And Kagami had never heard it from his lips. He wasn't that surprised, in fact he thought he might have had a heart attack if he did; it seemed like something Aomine simply wouldn't say, under any circumstances...love just wasn't in his vocabulary. Not that he didn't show that he loved Kagami; every time he paused in his rough, demanding kisses to give slower, softer ones - or else just look at him, saying nothing, tracing his cheeks cherishingly with his hands - ...every time he put an arm around his shoulders when they lounged on the couch together, drawing him closer; hell, even his insults were affectionate, in their own way. And around the same time he'd finally realized Kagami was serious when he said he loved him, he'd started to develop a fixation with pet names. Every time he called him "babe", or even "baka", it meant "I love you", and about a thousand other things he refused to say, and didn't need to.

They still argued; with hot heads and short tempers it was inevitable that they would clash, and damn did sparks fly when they did. Their shouting matches were nearly loud enough to shake the walls, and Kagami had had to replace more than one plate or cup that he'd flung at his rival's head in a rage. Sometimes they argued over stupid, trivial things, but the one subject that sparked the vast majority of their fights was Aomine's "girl", or at least something linked to that. The bluenette's temper turned dangerously short when he'd gone a day or so without shooting up, and he became even more stubborn and irritable than usual, grousing over every little thing and scowling at Kagami even for just standing near him.

What got under Kagami's skin the worst was that Aomine always managed to invent excuses, and make himself the victim when all of it was his own damn fault…. But Aomine was also the first to apologize, every time, once he'd calmed down and put some of his veritable tranquilizer in his veins, and he made himself sincere - and pitiful - enough to earn Kagami's forgiveness. Besides, then his boyfriend would show just how sorry he was to back up his words, with heated, passionate kisses and lingering touches to every inch of Kagami's body. Almost all of their spats ended in them making up by making out, and some of their best sex followed some of their worst fights...and then the walls would be shaking for a different reason.

"What are you so happy about?" Kuroko asked under his breath, fixing Kagami with his deadpan stare and bringing him back to the present.

"Just remembering," he muttered, banishing the sappy smile from his face and hoping he wasn't blushing like an idiot; lost in thought while everyone else was entertaining themselves with whispered gossip or the shapes of the clouds, "It's kind of surreal, isn't it? We're going to be leaving high school…we won't be classmates anymore."

Kuroko gave one of his not-quite smiles and shook his head slowly, the red tassle on his cap swaying with the motion, "You were thinking about Aomine-kun," he said matter-of-factly, "Your eyes turn shiny when you're thinking of him. Something good happened?"

"Every day," Kagami replied, without missing a beat; used to his perceptiveness by now.

Kuroko's piercing blue eyes X-rayed him pensively, "You're good for him." Then his elbow planted itself in Kagami's side again, without warning, "You're also a lovestruck idiot."

"Ow," Kagami rubbed the spot, looking at his "shadow" reproachfully, "...And rude; do you have to say it so baldly?"

"Of course," Kuroko said simply, "Otherwise I wouldn't get through."

"You can be a real bully sometimes, you know that?" Kagami sighed dramatically.

"Not as bad as Aomine-kun."

He had to smirk at that, "No, I guess not."

Only a few minutes later, they were finally standing up, and as one the mass of Seirin graduates took their caps from their heads and flung them in the air, some in silence, some with joyous whoops. Kagami caught Kuroko giving him a real grin as the square black objects rained from the sky, and as he ruffled his friend's hair, using his ever-present height advantage and ignoring the shorter man's disgruntled frown, he knew they weren't really parting. In fact he would have been very surprised if his "shadow" didn't continue popping up out of nowhere for years to come, whenever he least expected it.

.

.

"Hey Bakagami, I've got a graduation present for you."

Kagami looked up from trying to find a black sock to match the one in his hand, to find his boyfriend leaning against his bedroom door frame; suit coat open, shirt unbuttoned to reveal his sculpted chest, red tie draped loosely over his shoulders.

"Kuroko's going to hit you if you show up like that," he muttered; trying to appear aloof and unimpressed by the show.

"Yeah yeah, I'm not afraid of Tetsu," Aomine smirked, sauntering over to him.

"Liar," Kagami teased, standing up straight to face him, "You flinch when he gets that look in his eyes, and you know it."

"Whatever...let's not talk about him." With that, he ducked in and snatched up Kagami's lips, hands wrapping around his shoulder blades to pull him in close, fingers flying over his back through the fabric of his dress shirt. His tongue claimed his mouth, confidently subduing Kagami's own before he added a flash of teeth against his lip.

Gradually, Aomine pulled away, stealing another kiss and giving a teasing jerk to his tie - causing his breath to hitch - before standing straight with a grin, "What do you think; does it fit?"

Kagami laughed breathlessly and pushed him with one hand, "I think it'll do. ...I have a present for you too, you know."

Aomine perked with interest, his expression turning sensual, "Really? Well, we've got few minutes…"

"Not what you're thinking, pervert," he sighed exasperatedly, "One-track mind, I swear..."

"Two-track," Aomine protested.

"Fine, but it's not a basketball either. Just...wait here a second."

Aomine obeyed, and Kagami dashed out of the room for a moment, returning a moment later and pressing something into his boyfriend's hand.

"Here…" he said, "So you don't get your dumb ass locked out for the hundredth time."

"Romantic as fuck," Aomine muttered sarcastically, before opening his fist to reveal a copy of the key to Kagami's apartment. Kagami imagined he saw a pleased smile cross his face for a fleeting moment, and knew he recognized the gift as a significant gesture, even if he didn't say it.

Kagami was already leaving the room by the time he looked up, matching socks triumphantly in hand. "Fix your shirt and tie and let's go, asshole. We're late."

It was Akashi that had organized a post-graduation reunion for the members of the Generation of Miracles, but it was Kuroko who'd threatened Aomine with some obscene form of punishment that only he'd heard specified if he didn't attend. Kagami knew this because he'd seen Aomine blanch white as a sheet when the slighter man had whispered what he would do to him in his ear, and then the dark bluenette had sulkily (if shakily) declared he would go, but only because he chose to of his own free will. Satisfied, Kuroko had turned with a much friendlier tone of emotionlessness to inform Kagami that he was welcome to come as well, and - deciding someone should keep an eye on his idiot of a boyfriend, and it might be interesting to see the Miracles all together again - he'd agreed. It was pretty difficult to say no to those round, blue, literal puppy-dog eyes anyway; though Kagami sincerely hoped he wouldn't see their lookalikes in the form of Nigou at this get-together thing. The damn pomsky was probably all grown up by now, and probably still just as prone to sneaking up on Kagami as his master.

The drive was rather short. Or it seemed that way; Kagami wasn't sure if it was because he was a little reluctant to go to this thing, or if he just wanted the relatively peaceful, amiable spell between him and Aomine to last longer than it could. His boyfriend had his hand resting casually on the center console, and he felt a vague inclination to let go of the steering wheel with one of his own to hold it. He kept his gaze on the road for the most part, but he knew that Aomine knew that he was shooting him frequent glances out of the corner of his eye, because he kept smirking at him or wiggling his eyebrows when he knew he was watching.

"You're going to get us in a wreck," he muttered, after Aomine gave him a particularly sultry, seductive look, tracing his upper lip with his tongue, indigo eyes narrow and burning with exaggerated intent.

"Then keep your eyes facing front where they belong," the bluenette chuckled, leaning his seat back and crossing his ankles on the dashboard in front of him, "Or am I just that irresistible to look at?"

"Idiot. If your head gets any bigger you'll serve better as an airbag."

Aomine shrugged, "Hey, then at least I could save your ass if you did get in a wreck."

Kagami blinked, not expecting the protective statement from such an unlikely source. Sure, Aomine showed he cared a great deal about Kagami's safety, but he almost never actually said so. He felt heat rising to his face quickly, and cleared his throat, pretending to be very absorbed with setting the headlights on the right brightness, using the falling darkness as an excuse.

"What's the matter, babe?" Kagami tried to assure himself he hadn't shivered at the deeper, huskier tone of Aomine's voice, coupled with the pet name that he didn't think he'd ever get used to, "You're starting to turn into a stoplight, you know."

"Sh-shut up," Kagami stammered, mortified that the flood of heat was only increasing to his prompting. His concentration was redirected, mercifully, as he put it into parallel parking in front of Akashi's manor, looking out the back window a fair enough excuse to avoid Aomine's teasing, compelling gaze. Shifting into park and turning off the ignition, he dropped his gaze to unbuckle his seat belt, resolutely refusing to give his boyfriend the satisfaction of seeing how red his cheeks still were.

"We'd better hurry. Akashi will have our heads if we're late."

Aomine took his own sweet time, unbothered, "Fashionably late, no big deal."

"I take it he's never violently wielded office supplies at your face for being somewhere you shouldn't be."

The darker man tossed his head back and laughed; genuinely amused, rolling peals of laughter that convinced Kagami to blink and look over at him, "Bakagami. I was there, remember? You looked about ready to piss your pants when he snipped at you."

"Did not," Kagami huffed, "He just...caught me off guard is all. And snipped is way too passive a word; he was going to chop my ear off."

"Whatever you say," Aomine said smoothly, sliding out of his seat and nudging the door shut with his hip, waiting for Kagami on the curb.

Just barely remembering to take his keys with him, Kagami followed hastily, adjusting his tie self-consciously and falling into step beside his idiotic, sinfully gorgeous boyfriend as they walked up to the elaborate porch.

The door creaked open before either of them had a chance to knock, and Kagami felt the usual prickle of uneasiness, convinced for the umteenth time that Akashi was a mind-reading alien sent to slowly and calmly take over the world with a silken tongue and an iron fist.

"Welcome, Daiki and Taiga," the man nodded to each of them in turn, which shouldn't have been intimidating from one of such a slighter stature, but it was. Kagami stuck his hands in his pockets, wanting to object to being called by his given name - not even his own significant other called him by it, after all, and it seemed unfair - but he wasn't quite able to summon the nerve, his courage quailing every time he tried to meet those slicing, mismatched eyes. He understood he was only a guest here, graciously allowed to stand beside Akashi's former teammates. Because of his friendship with Kuroko, not his performance on the basketball court that rivaled and more than once surpassed the Generation of Miracles...he doubted his relationship with Aomine was even a good enough reason to be invited, in Akashi's eyes.

"You are the last to arrive," Akashi went on in smooth, honeyed tones that didn't fool Kagami one bit. The displeasure underneath wasn't obvious, and thankfully wasn't severe, but it was present and understood, "You may stand by Tetsuya and the others and wait for me to speak."

Nodding hurriedly, Kagami dragged Aomine by the wrist before he could say any of the sarcastic comments he could all but sense on his tongue, ignoring his indignant protests and leading him inside. Briefly sweeping his eyes over what he assumed was the living room of Akashi's home, but what looked more like a lobby - not at all personal, just service and a regal sort of elegance - he found the other members of the Generation of Miracles standing in a loose half-circle all facing inward, as if about to perform some kind of dark ritual. This was just supposed to be a reunion, right? Why does it seem so...ominous?

Locating Kuroko and sidling up next to him, he let go of Aomine's wrist to appease his many grumbling complaints, completing the circle.

"What's going on?" he hissed in Kuroko's ear, and the light bluenette blinked up at him.

"Akashi-kun is going to give some sort of speech, I gather."

Great...listening to more people talk; as if yesterday wasn't enough. He supposed he'd signed up for this, and he hoped some of the stiff formality would drop after Akashi said whatever he meant to.

He glanced at Aomine, but his boyfriend's eyes weren't on him, and he was in fact trying to ward off an ecstatic Kise, who was attempting to throw his arms around him with excited whispers - whispers because the aura of Akashi was inciting everyone to be more or less silent here - of "Aominechii~ I haven't seen you in foreeveer~!"

"Aomine-kun has lost some weight," Kuroko observed quietly, fixing Kagami meaningfully with his lucid, blue stare. Kagami swallowed; Does he know? ...Probably figured at least something out. He didn't know how often Kuroko had seen Aomine since the Winter Cup, outside of their matches following it, but he was very good at reading between the lines, and knew Aomine very well. He would probably be able to deduce if something was different. He'd never brought it up before now, though...

Unsure how he was supposed to respond to the comment, he shrugged carelessly, "A little, I guess. He's been training hard."

He hadn't anticipated this issue, but probably should have...other people noticing that Aomine looked and acted different and prying. Aomine had never asked for the matter to stay secret, but he'd never breathed a word about it either, and from what Kagami could see, it wasn't really something he wanted people to know.

He certainly didn't like to discuss it, that much he knew for sure. He seemed ashamed sometimes, other times just plain defensive, and it was in those times that he was the most tight-lipped and clammed up even around Kagami, refusing to speak to him about anything at all. Because these variances from the loud, boisterous rival he was accustomed to were so awkward and troubling, Kagami learned very quickly when to stop pushing, and what details he just shouldn't bring up under any circumstances. He didn't know how evasive he could get away with being around others, though, especially Kuroko, who saw through him like a glass window.

"I'm worried about him," Kuroko murmured finally, scrutinizing Kagami closely, "And you, Kagami-kun. You both seem very tired."

Shit, he totally knows. He was thankfully saved from having to come up with a response by Akashi rejoining his fellows; the two giants Murasakibara and Midorima parting like the red sea to provide a space for him in the circle.

It turned out, Akashi didn't have all that much to say, and nothing he did say was entirely unexpected. He acknowledged the end of the Miracles' collective high school careers, and thus the dividing of their paths, as the individual members forged towards their own destinies. He said that basketball had held them together through middle and reunited them in high school, and it would hold ties between them now; they would respond if he summoned them, and maintain contact however possible. Finally, he said he was sending them each off with his blessing, for whatever future they created for themselves. It was inspirational, Kagami supposed, and made him feel awkward to be standing there, an outsider not included in the group.

When the circle broke up after Akashi finished speaking, Kagami felt some of the oppressive atmosphere dissipate, and like some signal had been given, Kise was the first to return to his normal volume, managing to snag Aomine and Kagami's arms and bring them into a crushing hug...which honestly weirded Kagami out; it wasn't like they were the best of friends or anything.

"Aominechi! Kagamichi! It's been so long since I've seen you~! You've gotta tell me everything that's happened; have you played against each other again? Did Aominechi lose again? Did anybody propose yet 'cause I do not want to miss that -"

"Oi, motor-mouth," Aomine scowled, extricating himself from the rib-cracking embrace, "Remember to breathe at some point, yeah?"

"And let us breathe," Kagami added, shoving out of Kise's arms as well and smoothing down his wrinkled shirt.

"You guys are so mean to me," Kise sighed dramatically, shaking his bangs out of his mischievous golden eyes, "At least Kurokochi let me hug him and didn't push me."

"That's because Tetsu serves his revenge cold," Aomine sneered, "In the dead of night when you're least expecting it."

"Eep! That's not true, Aominechi…"

Aomine shrugged and locked his hands behind his head lazily, "Whatever lets you sleep at night."

"Aomine-kun," Kuroko spoke from directly behind Kagami, "You shouldn't tease Kise-kun like that. You'll give him nightmares."

"Who's teasing?" Aomine sniffed in mock-offense, "I was being very serious, Tetsu."

Kuroko's eyes turned calculating, roving over Aomine's face, and Kagami heard several alarm bells go off in his head.

"You seem very cheerful," he said, impassive as ever, "It's rather unusual."

Almost immediately, the humor vanished from Aomine's face, and he lowered his arms to cross them over his chest, his stance becoming rigid and wary; even his eyes were frowning. The rapid, drastic change of mood was something Kagami had grown accustomed to, but it must have seemed strange to his current company. Kuroko's gaze shot to Kagami's, a question in his pale eyes. Maybe I was wrong… Kagami mused, Maybe he doesn't know, but he's definitely suspicious…

Kise glanced between Kuroko and Aomine, one slender eyebrow raised curiously.

"Kagamichi, has Aominechi been acting weird around you too?" he asked after a moment.

Great, now he's suspicious too, "I don't think so," he said carefully, keeping the phrasing of his interpretation loose. Maybe in comparison to how he was on the court and how he'd been before the Winter Cup, Aomine had been acting weird...very weird...for two years… But for how he was now, day-to-day, this was about normal.

He couldn't help but feel a prickle of unease, with how quickly Kuroko's suspicion had jumped to Kise; spreading like a germ. Before long, the others would want to know too, why Aomine seemed in some ways like an entirely different person. And Kagami didn't think it was his place to answer that barrage of questions. Aomine certainly wasn't going to answer them. Even now he could almost see him biting his tongue, withdrawing behind his wall of denial.

He remembered a time when he would have given anything to confide the situation he was in to someone - especially to Kuroko, his trusted friend - and get it off his chest, but now...that was the last thing he wanted. Somewhere along the line, he'd crossed over, firmly and loyally planting his feet on Aomine's side.

TBC