The Merits and Convenience of Second Place
Chp 2: Shared History
Chapter Summary: Kagami confronts Kurorko and their complicated past is explained.
Timeline: Set after Seirin was defeated by Touou in the Summer Tournament.
Kagami's spiky red hair fell flat onto his head as he raced though his last lap around the soccer field. After their defeat against Touou he had fallen into a slump. At first the coach let it slide quietly since the whole team wasn't in the best shape either. However, as the team began to pick themselves back up, Kagami was still there, missing shots, ignoring passes, and jumping lower than he had before.
Fed up with his performance, the coach kicked him out of the gym and told him to run until he couldn't run anymore. Knowing that it'll be useless to do anything else, Kagami quietly followed her instruction and ran until he was ready to pass out.
'This sucks.' Kagami thought to himself, his legs burning up and twitching like crazy. While everybody else is stumped on his lack of progress, he knew what's holding him back mentally. Aomine.
His talk with Aomine affected him so much that he couldn't see Kuroko in the same way that he did before. He knew that their past was complicated, but the things that Aomine told him in that darkened hallway really made him think twice about Kuroko.
'After all of that, can he still have a normal relationship?' He thought, laying down on the grass to let the evening breeze cool him off.
"Good work on your run." A familiar monotone voice called. Kagami sat up in shock, butting his head onto Kuroko's temple and leaving an angry red mark on his pale white skin.
"Fuck! Are you ok?" Kagami rushed over to Kuroko.
"I feel like I lost a few brain cells, but other than that, I'm fine." He answered sarcastically as always.
Kagami wiped the sweat off his brows and sighed in relief, glad that he didn't knock Kuroko's lights out or something. The boy is so small and frail that Kagami was surprised that he could play in a game full of eight feet giants. Kuroko chuckled at Kagami's worried face, which prompted a full-blown laughter from the boy. They both lay on the grass together, laughing at the absurdity of their situation and forgetting about their defeat at the Inter high.
"I'm glad we can still laugh together." Kuroko said, wiping a laughter induced tear. "I was afraid that you're still angry at me for losing to Aomine."
"You? No, no." Kagami sighed. "If anything I should be the one apologizing. I mean, an ace is supposed to carry the team right? I didn't do it properly so, I'm sorry." Kagami said with a slight bow. Kuroko laughed at his awkard Japanese and patted his head.
"Silly bakagami." Kuroko sighed and threw his towel at Kagami. "Your head getting too big for you huh? You want to shoulder all the blame and get all the glory huh?" He scooted closer to Kagami and wiped the sweat off his face. "I told you many times before, you're the Ace then I'm your shadow, so by blaming yourself you're blaming me. Are you blaming me for being weak?"
"No!" Kagami answered hurriedly.
"Good, because I'm not blaming you either, so stop feeling sorry for yourself, okay?" Kuroko gave him one of his rare smiles, the genuine ones that made his eyes close and crinkle adorably. Kagami held the towel up to his face and inhaled the faint scent of Kuroko's maddening aroma. He watched him walk away with mixed feelings. Situations like these should make his heart flutter in pure joy, but all that he could think of was weather Aomine has experienced this same scenario before.
It's frustrating, and it has to stop.
"Wait." He called out with a shaky voice. "The truth is… there's something else other the game that's been throwing me off." Kuroko looked at him questioningly and sat back next to him. "It's kinda personal." Kagami draped the towel over himself to hide his face, torn between embarrassment and dread.
Kuroko patted his head. "It's okay, I wont judge." He chuckled, urging Kagami to begin his story.
Flashback
"Tell me your name. I like to know someone's name before I beat their face in." Aomine glared down the red haired stranger, sneering when he saw the same uniform as Kuroko's
"Kagami Taiga." He answered proudly, not the slightest bit intimidated by Aomine's threats. He crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. "You can try and fight me, but after that disgusting scene? Hah! No way am I letting you anywhere near Kuroko."
"Ah, are you Kuroko's new knight in shinning armour?" Aomine jeered, eyeing him up and down. "You're not much of a 'Taiga' now are you?'"
"You don't look like someone that would assault their opponent before a match, but I guess appearance isn't everything right?"
Aomine scoffed. "Is that what you think that is? Assault?" He took a step closer and bumped his chest against Kagami's in a show of dominance. "Listen here goody two shoes. you should really mind your own business. Whatever happened here is between two consenting adults, now move." He said, pushing harder against Kagami. The redhead narrowed his eyes and stood his ground.
"I heard it all, so don't you try and deny it. You were a few step away from rape."
"Rape implies that one party was unwilling. I can assure you that Tetsu was very willing."
Kagami grabbed Aomine's collar harshly. "Liar!" He barked right in his face. "Tetsu would never ask for something like that!"
The blue haired man watched the man screamed at him like a madman, veins popping out of his temples loh so dramatically. 'What a pain. What kind of person gets so upset over their teammate's personal life. Unless…" Aomine eyes widened in sudden realization. "You're one of Tetsu's fanboys…"
"What?!"
"Yes, yes! I'm sure of it!" Aomine laughed, laughing maniacally at the thought. "I've seen plenty of guys like you, you're the type that felt a little special just because Tetsu smiled at you a little right? That's why you're going around acting like you're his boyfriend!"
"Shut up."
"Tell me, are you actually going out with him for are you just acting this way to 'to get his attention?"
"Shut up."
"Hahaha! I bet you haven't even confessed yet, have you? Pathetic."
"Shut up!"
"Don't waste your time over him tiger. You can confessed to him a thousand time and he'll reject you. You've seen him today didn't you? He was spreading his legs like a lewd slut, begging for me to f-"
Kagami threw a punch that connected straight onto his jaw, effectively shutting Aomine and knocking him back onto the floor.
"Wow you actually punched me." Aomine murmured, unhinging his jaw and cracking his neck. "That really pisses me off." Like a nimble snake, Aomine closed the distance between them and strike Kagami on the jaw, returning the punch he received with the same amount of force Kagami staggered back and held his ground, smirking when he noticed Aomine hand twitched in pain.
"Your punches is pretty weak for someone who talks a lot of shit." He taunted, spitting out some blood from inside his mouth. Aomine scoffed and rushed towards him again.
The two wailed on each other like wild beasts, each using their full power to pound the other into submission. Aomine was a little taller than Kagami, but the redhead was bigger, his large frame supporting him through the punches. After ten minutes, the two sat down on the floor, each winching from the bruises they inflicted at each other. Aomine had a little cut above his eyes, and Kagami's had the beginning of a welt forming on his arms, but neither looked like they're ready to back down. Aomine tried to get up, but the sweat on his palm made him slip and fall back down on his ass.
"Hahaha!" He exploded in laughter. "This is ridiculous. You're insane you know that?
"Huh?! What do you mean?" Kagami growled.
Aomine shook his head. "Look at yourself… You're all black and blue from defending someone that you know nothing about."
"I know enough!
"Unbelievable." Aomine chuckled. "Your blind faith reminded me so much of Tetsu-kun. He's always been an obedient little puppy."
"Don't-" Kagami gasped. "Don't talk about Kuroko that." He mumbled out between his heavy breaths.
Aomine grinned, happy that he had hit a nerve. "Back in middle school he really was like my personal pet you know? All I did was play a few games with him and in a week he's following me around with his tail wagging away. He even offered me his body, that lewd slut, always trying to seduce me even though we were just in middle school."
"You're lying, he's not that type of person." Kagami said nervously.
Aomine laughed and flipped open his phone. "Why lie when the truth is so much juicier?" he slid his phone over to Kagami.
The redhead grabbed the phone without hesitation. In his head he had this pure image of Kuroko, the silent supporter who put his faith in Kagami. The Kuroko that he knew never never showed other than playing Basketball, and yet, the phone scene blinking under his eyes tells a different story.
Pages after pages of pictures showed snapshot of Kuroko's middle school life. Some of the pictures are harmless; some selfies of Aomine with Kuroko, some silly pictures, and pictures of them taken at various places that he didn't recognize. Other than a faith twang of jealousy, Kagami didn't see anything wrong with it. Kuroko did spent three years with Aomine, so it's no unusual for them to have pictures together. However as he scrolled down the list the pictures became more… explicit.
"Fuck!" Kagami threw the phone back at Aomine. "You fucker… You did forced him didn't you!"
Aomine sighed. Kagami's fervent devotion is blinding him from the truth. "Does this look like the face of someone being forced?" He shoved the phone back under his nose and grinned. It's another picture of Kuroko on Aomine's lap, naked and smiling as he reached for the camera. Kagami felt like his whole world stopped.
"Well, does he look like he's being forced to do these stuff?" Aomine demanded, jeering as he showed photos after photos of Kuroko, each one more explicit than the one before it. Kagami couldn't deny it. Kuroko looked… happy.
"Enough…" Kagami said quietly, standing up and began staggering away, shoulder slumped down, torn and defeated at what he just saw.
"That's it?" Aomine frowned, he wanted to provoke him further not crush him completely. "Oh well, I guess that's the extent of your feelings for Tetsu then."
"Shut up." Kagami slammed his fist onto a wall, giving Aomine one last glare. "One more word and I'll kill you." He murmured, his red eyes glinting with murderous intent.
We walked through the seemingly endless hallway until he found himself in front of a bathroom, staring blackly at his own reflection. He looked like hell. His clothes are all wrinkled from the fight, his lip is bleeding from one of Aomine's attacks, and his eyes no longer hold that glimmer of life that he usually have. He looked like death.
'I feel dead.' He thought to himself, turning on the sink only to watch the water swirl into the drain. What a shitty day this was. What he thought was a chivalrous move turned out to be an idiotic mistake. He wanted to do something for the boy, anything to protect him from his tormentor, but he ended up as a nosy bystander jumping headfirst into a lover's quarrel.
"… Dammit Kuroko…" He murmured, the pictures flashing through his head again. He looked so young in those photos, his lean body splayed bare with Aomine's hand all over him. Even in the most vulgar picture he still looked so angelic and pure, looking up at the camera and giving it a smile that he only fantasized about in his dreams.
"Fuck." He whispered, staring at his growing erection. Even the disgusting thought of Aomine couldn't stop his body from reacting to those pictures. He hated it.
Kagami pulled himself into an unoccupied stall, pulled out his painful hard on and closed his eyes. 'Please. Please let this be a dream.' He prayed as he desperately released all of his frantic hands, the image of Kuroko's smile burned into his mind.
Flashback ends
Kuroko's listened as Kagami struggled to tell the events of the day before, his broken Japanese sounding worse than usual as he tried to hide things that Kuroko knew he was too embarrassed to say. It's happening again. First it was Aomine, and now it's Kagami. First they'll look at him differently, and then they'll leave him.
"… and then the next day he destroyed us in that game, even with his injured first. Pathetic isn't it?" Kagami laughed awkwardly, rubbing his head with the towel until the nape of his neck is as red as his face. Kuroko could still see the hints of a bruise underneath his shirt. The rest of the team thought those were injuries from his jumping practices so he didn't pay them any mind. He would never guess that it was from a fist fight with Aomine.
The familiar feeling of guilt and shame overwhelmed him. Slowly, Kuroko inched away from the redhead, mumbling incoherent apologies.
"Huh? Come again?" Kagami called out.
"…. I'm sorry." Kuroko said, wrapping his knees with his head and burying his head in it. "It must've disgusted you so much. No wonder you're so distracted this week... How could you concentrate when your teammate is a… a… " Kuroko struggled to find his words and failed. He pulled himself into a smaller ball instead, expecting the same torrents of abuse that the boys in middle school gave him to explode out of Kagami.
When a large hand settled on his head he flinched, but instead of a slap, it was an awkward caress from his big awkward friend. "There, there." Kagami mumbled. "I'm not disgusted or anything. I mean, I grew up in America! I couldn't care less if you like men. It's just.." Kagami grunted and punched the ground, taking a deep calming breath. "It just bothered me that you let him treat you like that. You shouldn't ever lower yourself for someone like that. You're some much more than just a piece of meat for him to use." 'You deserve better than that.' Kagami wanted to say. 'I can treat you better.' He thought helplessly as he laid back on the grass.
Kuroko looked down at his gruff companion, suddenly feeling blessed that fate brought them together. He was never one to talk about his feelings, so he surprised that Kagami cared enough to say such things. Kuroko leaned down, tucking a stray hair behind his ear and lifting the towel off his Kagami's face.
"You're right Kagami-kun, as always." Kuroko said. He paused an wondered if he can continue. 'I should. I owe him at least that much.'
The blue haired teen laid back next to Kagami and recounted the story of his last year In Teiko Gakuen.
"I've always like Aomine-kun, but I didn't confess to him until the summer before our last year in Teiko. He rejected me, of course, but promised that our relationship wouldn't changed, but it did.
"We started spending more time alone, talking about intimate things and eventually he asked if he could touch me. I was enthralled, I thought that it meant that he returned my feelings. I enjoyed it of course, but I began to realize that I became an outlet for his frustration and loneliness. Sleeping with him doesnt buy his love, and that knowledge hurts.
"So I confronted him, saying that we should stop messing around and go back to being friends. That's when the rumors started. People began to stuff my locker with trash, stuff began to go missing, and worst of all they wrecked my seat and table. People from the club asked about it, but I was too embarrassed to say anything. It's bad enough that my classmates hated me, I didnt want my team to feel that way too. Eventually the rumour spreads to the whole club. Even though it wasnt as bad as the things that happened in my class, I still lost the few friends that I made there. In the end, I had nobody else to turn to but him. Knowing that I am solely dependent on him, Aomine grew possessive, violent even. We stopped playing basketball and spent every free time we had locked in his room.
"That's why after graduation I went to Seirin even though Aomine saved me a spot in Touou. When he found out I guessed he just stopped bothering me. We haven't spoken since, so I guess that's why he was so… unstable."
Kagami listened to the unbelievable story with his jaw unhinged. "Unstable my ass." He spat out, clearly unhappy with that's excuse. "He's a piece of shit. Plain and simple. Good on you for turning him down." Kagami huffed out and began pulling out the grass out of frustration. "Why didn't you say no to him earlier? Why dragged it out for so long? Now he's got this annoying god complex and kept saying 'Tetsu is mine! Tetsu is mine!' Fucking brat."
Kuroko laughed at Kagami's impression, finding the smallest things that Kagami does to be adorable."You're right." He admitted. "I should've stuck to my guns and leave him alone. Its just... It's hard for me to say no to Aomine."
"Why? Cuz you l-l-love him?" Kagami asked, preparing himself for the worst.
"No… I mean, at least I don't think so. It's just that despite everything, I'm thankful that he was my friend. Even before I confessed to him he would stayed back and practice with me even after everyone else left. He'll share his burgers with me, talk about movies, and when he felt basketball was isolating him from everybody else… he turned to me for comfort. It just felt wrong to turn away someone as lonely as Daiki."
"Even if he ruined the last year of your middle school?"
Kuroko looked out into the distance wistfully and nodded. Kagami pouted and pulled on the grass even more vigorously. "Ugh, why do you want to take care of someone as shitty as Aomine. That guy's the worst!" Kagami fumed, turning away from Kuroko and sulked.
"You just caught him at his worst. He's really is a nice guy."
'Yeah, but I'm nicer. I can take care of you better.' He thought to himself. His heart demanded that he screamed those words out, but his lips ranted about how stupid Aomine instead. For him, it was enough since the idle chatter made Kuroko laughed. As long as Kuroko is happy, he can endure anything. That's all that matters anyways.
Right?
TBC
Next Chapter: The trio share an awkward dinner together.