Taiga Kagami had better things to do with his precious time than entertain his mentor, Alex Garcia, at 12 in the morning.
Like sleep. A lot.
"Alex, I alredy told you: I'll just ship the bulk of it ahead of time. The rest, I can take with me on the plane," he exasperated.
"I know. I know," she replied. "I'm just making sure you're ready. You're leaving next month."
Kagami's eyes drifted to the framed photo of his teammates that sat on one of the shelves in his apartment's living room. He would be definitely be taking that with him on the plane. "I know," he murmured. He jerked out of his solemnity when someone started to bang on the front door of his apartment. "What the heck? Alex, I'll call you back."
He his the "End" button on his cell before she could respond and rose from his sitting position on the floor. Then he made his way over to the door. The person had only banged thrice, yet it was enough to set Kagami on edge. He unlocked the door and swung it open. "What do you-"
His eyes widened as the rest of his question died on his tongue.
As he beheld Daiki Aomine leaning against the doorway with a hand, the other resting against his unnaturally red cheek, his bare feet dirtied and red. The ace sighed, looking uncharacteristically dejected as his eyes fell. "Can I come in?"
Kagami was quiet as he set a mug of hot tea with mil mixed in it on the coffee table in front of Aomine, who was staring off into space on the floor. Kagami didn't really know what to do with a depressed ganguro, so he pulled out his phone to text the one person who most likely would.
As if sensing his intentions, Aomine held up a hand without looking at Kagami. "Don't," he said, and Kagami's own hand faltered. "Don't tell Tetsu about this," Aomine repeated, his voice weak.
Kagami stared down at the ace, his lips parting. After having a silent council meeting with himself in his head about this, he came to the decision that respecting Aomine's wish for privacy would be the best course of action. He turned his phone off and set it on the table before taking a seat next to Aomine on the floor.
They sat in silence, the clock's ticking the only sound.
Kagami didn't look at Aomine as he asked, "Wanna talk about it?"
"I didn't come here for a therapy session," Aomine said with a hint of bite.
That was obviously the wrong thing to say, Kagami thought to himself. He looked at the boy this time. "Then why are you here at 12:15 in the morning, Aomine?"
Aomine's gaze remained on the floor, his eyes glistening. "I didn't have anywhere else to go," he rasped.
Again, words failed Kagamie. He grabbed onto them before they could die again, however, and said, "Momoi-"
"Satsuke hasn't been able to sleep lately because of her manager duties," Aomine interrupted. There's no way in hell I'm adding this to her plate."
"Then Kuroko-"
"Tetsu would worry, and I don't want Tetsu to worry."
Aomine drew his knees to his chest, wincing when he felt was pressure did to his left ankle, and rested his chin on a knee. "I don't want Tetsu sad," he murmured.
Had Aomine ever been so...childish? Not in the immature way, but in the way he was supposed to be. 15, and no older.
"What happened?" Kagami asked, deciding to get to the main question on his mind.
Aomine looked away from the floor to a different spot that was farther away from Kagami's questioning eyes. "Had a fight with my parents," he said. The words were weak. "They kicked me out."
Kagami's breath caught in his throat. "Permanently?"
"I don't know. They just said to 'get out'," Aomine replied. "Look, I don't...I wouldn't have come here unless I really needed to. It was...cold."
Aomine was wearing a dark blue winter jacket and long, black pants. But his feet were bare and red, suggesting that he had been thrown out into the snow on them. To walk all that way...
Kagami's lips thinned. "You can stay here," he announced, pushing to his feet. "Until you sort things out."
Aomine blinked and looked up at him in surprise, his eyes weary. "Seriously? Why would you-"
"I'm not doing it for you," Kagami clarified, cutting the ace off. "I'm only doing this because Kuroko would want me to. He's my shadow. I have to take his wishes into account."
He's my shadow.
Aomine's hand clenched into a fist. "Fine."
Kagami studied him for a moment longer before turning and walking towards the hallway door. "There's an ice pack in the freezer. You should use it on that ankle. Get it checked out by someone - Momoi, maybe - tomorrow. I'll bring out a futon. You can sleep out here."
Aomine raised a brow. "You don't have a guest room in this massive apartment?"
"Don't get greedy," Kagami warned, opening the door to the hallway and glancing back at him. "The only other room I have is Alex's, but I'm not letting you in there, Pervert."
Aomine stiffened. "Hey-"
Kagami was already gone.