Daiki Aomine was feeling good enough the next morning that he insisted on taking Satuke Momoi, who had fallen asleep at Kagami's place, home. Tetsuya Kuroko had gone home the previous night, and Taiga Kagami had woken up before Aomine to make breakfast. Aomine crouched down next to his childhood bed friend, eye catching on the blanket wrapped around her. He looked towards the kitchen. Had it been Kuroko, or...

"I'll put your food in the microwave," Kagami announced without looking at him. "Get her home and come back."

Aomine's eyes narrowed. "You're not my parent," he retorted. He hunched over and scooped Momoi up into his arms, bringing her up with him. "I'll be back when I want."

"That's what got you kicked out," is what Kagami replied with.

Aomine froze on his way to the door. He leveled Kagami with a dangerous stare. "Don't act like you know what my life is like," he warned.

Kagami met his gaze, but didn't say anything. Aomine didn't either as he left.

Shintaro Midorima, the former vice captain of the Generation of Miracles and now a member of Shutoku High, didn't bother going easy on Kuroko as he raised a rough, worn basketball in his hands and sent it spiraling through the air, just as Kuroko raised a hand to try and block it. The ball went into the outdoor hoop, and Midorima adjusted his glasses. "That's 10. I win," he stated matter-of-factly.

From the side of the court, standing next to a bicycle with a cart attached to the back, Takao let out a breath of laughter. "I can't believe Shin-chan actually agreed to this," he said.

Kagami stood next to him, his arms crossed. "Idiot," he muttered, watching Kuroko. "His defense sucks. I'm not surprised."

"Be honest," Takao spoke up. "Kuroko didn't just call Shin-chan here to play basketball, did he."

Kagami didn't reply.

Back on the outdoor court, Midorima watched Kuroko retrieve the ball. "Your form is off," he commented.

Kuroko met his gaze. "Eh?"

"On your shots," Midorima clarified.

"My regular ones?"

The green-haired boy nodded. He tugged on Kuroko's sleeve and drew his back to him. "You aren't following through well enough. You have to aim for the basket all the way through." He lifted the boy's elbow, ignoring Takao's gaping face. As he helped Kuroko into a shooting position, he said to him, "I saw the pictures you sent me of Aomine's ankle. Have you gotten it checked out by a doctor yet?"

Kuroko's form faltered. "No," he admitted. "Momoi-san tried to convince him to do so, but he refused. He doesn't know that you're helping us, either. Thankfully, Momoi-san was able to help Aomine-kun with her own knowledge of first-aid."

Midorima sighed. "Stubborn," he muttered. He fixed Kuroko's position once more. "The photos will stand as evidence, should Aomine choose to go in that direction. If we pair them with a testimony from Kagami, and maybe even Momoi-san. it's highly likely that we'll win the case."

They were talking about court, now.

Kuroko launched the ball, and it bounced off the rim of the hoop. Midorima let go of him, silently concluding that Kuroko was genuinely cursed, since not even Midorima's guidance had caused a successful shot. "What if Aomine-kun doesn't agree?" Kuroko asked.

Midorima looked down at him. "We could still take action, but if Aomine fights it, it will most likely just hurt the case."

Kuroko fell silent at that. Midorima was just about to add something reassuring when someone said from outside the cage, "Midorima?"

Both Kuroko and Midorima turned to find Aomine walking towards them, his brows raised. "You playing ball without me?" he asked.

Midorima's eyes narrowed. "Aomine."

Aomine ignored him and looked at Kuroko questioningly. Midorima said for him, "I was teaching Kuroko how to shoot normally."
"It didn't work!" Takao yelled from the sidelines.

Midorima shot him a glare.

Aomine huffed a laugh. "You idiot." He walked over to the ball and picked it up with one hand. "You should know by now that Tetsu doesn't work like that. He's never been normal. He's never been our kind of special, too. He just is. You can't put a label on it, and you can't change it."

Kuroko felt slightly surprised that Aomine was saying things about him that most people overlooked. His thoughts dissipated when Aomine's eyes flicked to his. They narrowed. "What're you doing asking other people to teach you this stuff? Are my lessons boring for you or something?"

Kuroko blinked. "No. Why would you ask that?"
"Because I just found you doing that," Aomine said sharply. He shoved the ball into Kuroko's hands. "Shoot."

Kuroko hesitated, then got into a shooting form. "Not like that," Aomine scolded. "The other way. You're way."

Again, Kuroko hesitated. Midorima quietly watched him lay his hand flat on the ball and push it up. The ball disappeared until it fell into the hoop. "See?" Aomine spoke up. "That's who you are, and that's who you should always be. You're a shadow, Tetsu. The darkness between stars or whatever Akashi used to call you. Quit trying to be normal, and quit going to other people for help. You came to me first. If you want a lesson, come to me, not him. Or anyone else, for that matter. Just...just focus on me."

Midorima's brows furrowed, as if he saw something in that moment that was worth noting.

Kuroko's lips parted. "...I'm sorr-"
"You're as selfish as ever," Midorima cut in, pushing his glasses up. "Kuroko didn't come to me. I came to him."

Aomine's eyes narrowed once again. "Why?"

"I'll tell you," Midorima replied, then nodded towards the ball, "if you can beat me."

From the sidelines, Takao couldn't help but gawk at the interaction. "Hey, hey, is he serious?" he asked. Kagami was speechless.

"They're styles are completely different," Kuroko said from beside them.

Kagami was the only one who yelled in surprise. "When did you get here?" he demand at the same time Takao asked, "What do you mean?"

Kuroko turned to the court, where Midorima and Aomine got into position, the former on offense and the latter on defense.

"Should he be playing on that ankle?" Kagami asked, eyeing Aomine's bandaged leg.

"Midorima-kun wouldn't challenge him if it was that way," Kuroko answered. "Chances are Midorima will slightly hold back."
"Aomine won't be happy about that..."

Kuroko looked over at Takao and answered his earlier question. "Midorima-kun always scores away from the net. His style requires a level of isolation. People, except for Kagami-kun, can't stop it. However, Aomine-kun is aggressive. The ball is always on the court whenever he plays."
"So you're saying that while Shin-chan makes the ball fly, Aomine prefers intense matches on the court itself. One is a shooting contest, and the other is all about stamina," Takao concluded for him, receiving a nod from the phantom player.

"They're starting," was all Kagami said.

"You've got some guts challenging me," Aomine said as he stepped in front of Midorima. "You and I are completely different. I've never seen you even dribble the ball."

Midorima ignored the jabs. "Aomine," he said instead, "your jealousy is clouding your judgement. You will lose."

"My 'jealousy?'" Aomine parroted incredulously. "Why would I ever be jealous of you? Don't underestimate me." He nodded towards the ball. "Check it."

Midorima sighed and tossed the ball over. Aomine quickly returned it, and that's when Midorima stepped back, the ball already rising in his hands. Aomine huffed a laugh and was on him in a heartbeat. "I knew you would do that," he said.

But Midorima wasn't done. He glanced over to where Kuroko stood, making sure his eyes lingered. Aomine's eyes narrowed, and they flicked over to Kuroko as well. Midorima stole the opportunity and quickly shot the ball into the air. And because the ball was already in motion, Aomine could only watch as it fell into the hoop. The sidelines was quiet.

Midorima pushed up his glasses. "Aomine, I acknowledge your skill. I even respect it. However, there are some things about you that I don't admire." His eyes narrowed. "You don't learn, and you're completely oblivious to the things and people around you. More than that, you're oblivious to yourself."

Aomine looked back at him with wide, angry eyes. "You..."

Midorima met his burning gaze with steady calmness. "If this was any other match, you would win," he admitted. He looked to Kuroko once more. Aomine didn't follow it this time. Kuroko, however, gazed back at Midorima with slightly worried eyes. He hadn't known of what just happened, since neither he or the others could hear their conversation. "But what I said earlier still stands," Midorima continued. "You will lose...

"Because you revealed your only weakness."

Back on the sidelines, all three members of the audience were wide-eyed with disbelief as Midorima scored his third point against Aomine, who still remained at zero.

"Is this really happening?" Takao asked no one in particular.

"Two more and he wins," Kagami breathed. "Is Aomine really going to lose right now?"

Kuroko's eyes fixed on Aomine, his brows furrowing ever so slightly.

Midorima was relentless as he shot the ball into the air for the fourth time. Aomine was breathless, but it wasn't from the workout. His only weakness had been exploited, left out in the open to bleed. He usually hid it well. In fact, Aomine hadn't even known about this weakness.

He saw it now. He saw it when Midorima made a small comment about Kuroko that had him seeing red. He saw it when Midorima glanced Kuroko's way once again, and Aomine stupidly fell for it once more. He saw it when Midorima asked him personal questions about Kuroko during their match.

Midorima made the fifth shot, and Aomine could only stare. He had lost before. To Kagami, to Kuroko. To Seirin. But this...this felt different. He felt like there was a bleeding wound on his arm that Midorima kept staring at, watching bleed, but doing nothing to stop it.

"Do you see...what I mean?" Midorima asked. When Aomine didn't answer, Midorima went on. "I lied to you." Aomine turned this time. Midorima met his gaze.

"I came here, because Kuroko asked me for help," Midorima confessed, and Aomine's eyes slowly widened. Midorima's own eyes fell to the bandage around Aomine's ankle. Sensing what his attention was now on, Aomine hid it behind his other leg. "I don't need your help," he stated.

Aomine glared at Kuroko, who Kagami could've sworn flinched. "Why would you tell him after I asked you not to?"
"Kuroko was merely worried for you," Midorima said calmly.
"This isn't any of your business," Aomine snapped. "I can handle myself."
"Is that why you're here?"

Aomine's harshness faltered. He managed to yank it back enough to repeat coldly, "I don't need your help." He said to Kuroko, "Stay off my case."

Then he left.

Kagami gritted his teeth. "Hey-" He followed after Aomine, leaving Kuroko alone with Midorima and Takao.

Aomine didn't stop walking until he reached a riverbank. He whirled. "I don't need you-" He stopped when he saw that it was Kagami. "Oh. It's you." Memories of the last time he was by a river flooded his brain, and he shoved them away. He turned, shoving his hands into he pockets of his jacket. "What do you want?"

Kagami angled his head, his eyes fixed on the back of Aomine's head. "I should be asking you that."

Aomine half-turned. "Hah?"
"You come to my place in the middle of the night asking for help," Kagami began.
"I never-"
"You tell Kuroko and Momoi-san to back off, but then ask if you can stay with me."
"I didn't-"
"That's the problem," Kagami snapped. "You don't. You never do. You sit there and have all these problems, you say what you need to say, but when it comes down to it, you're too scared to actually do anything.

Aomine's eyes widened in a dangerous manner. "You've got some nerve talking to me like that."

Aomine was speechless as Kagami grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him forward. "And you've got a lot of nerve talking to Kuroko like that. Do you have any idea about how much he's done for you?" He said harshly, "Haven't you hurt him enough?"

Silence.

"I don't like you," Kagami indented. "I never have. In fact, I don't even know what Kuroko sees in you that's worth defending. However, I like him. He's a good teammate, and an even better friend. He's not just my shadow, or the 'darkness between the stars.' He's my friend. So I'm not sorry if I get a little ticked off when brats like you have him crying on the bench, because he thinks he's useless!" He hadn't meant to raise his voice at the end, but he couldn't hold back. He had been mad about that for a while, even if Kuroko and Aomine had subtly made up at the end of that second match. The image of Kuroko's silent tears, his desperate face, still irked him.

Aomine felt the words sink in. "What?" he breathed. Had he heard him correctly? Kuroko...cried? When?

Kagami let him go so abruptly that Aomine nearly fell backwards. He managed to catch himself, but he didn't have the energy to fix his shirt. He just stared into Kagami's angry red eyes. Kagami broke off their connected gazes to dig into the pocket of his jacket for his phone. He hastily opened it to a picture, then practically shoved the screen into Aomine's face. "Look," he ordered.

Aomine was about to snap at him again, but he caught sight of the picture first. His heart stumbled. He knew those blue uniforms, knew the people in the picture, the blur of pink hair at the edge. He slowly took hold of the phone. "Where did you get this?"

"Where do you think?" Kagami retorted.

Kuroko.

His Tetsu.

"That's all he's ever wanted," Kagami said, and Aomine gazed down at his young, smiling face, at how Kuroko looked at him like he was his entire world. Like he was a bright, shining start that was worth admiring. "He just wanted to see you smile again. You, and the others," Kagami continued.

Tetsu...

Kagami took his phone back. "You don't learn, and it hurts you." You don't learn, and you're completely oblivious to the things and people around you. "You're so caught up in feeling sorry for yourself that you don't realize it hurts the people around you like it hurts yourself. It sends Momoi-san to our school's gym door in the rain, thinking you hate her. It sends Kuroko to the bench doubting himself, thinking that everything is his fault. And it sends you here, angry and confused and looking at me like you need help but then rejecting it with your words. You push people away, and it hurts you. It hurts them."

Kagami turned away. "You're being selfish. You think you have forever with them? You've already lost Kuroko once. Don't expect him to come around a second time. Keep this up, and there'll be a day when you're asleep on some rooftop, and no one comes to get you, because you ran too far, and you pushed too hard." Kagami walked away before Aomine could respond.

Takao was quiet for once as he waited by the bike, giving Kuroko and Midorima space to talk.

Kuroko stared after the direction Aomine and Kagami had walked off in. He felt like this was a different, more familiar day., Like he was by the edge of a pool, instead of a sideline by a basketball court.

Midorima tried to gauge Kuroko's emotions. Tried, because he never could. Honestly, there had only ever been one person he knew of that could read Kuroko like a book from the start. If Midorima knew Kuoko, however, watching Aomine walk away like that couldn't have felt good. "Aomine will be fine," he found himself saying.

Kuorko looked up at him. "He wasn't last time. I don't think he has been."

Midorima pushed up his glasses. "It's different this time," he assured the boy.

Kuroko raised his brows. "It is?"

Midorima gazed at the beaten path Kagami and Aomine had taken. "Kagami has an indescribable way of ticking someone off enough that they come back to their senses," he explained.

"He's speaking from experience!" Takao added from where he was.

"Shut up, Takao. I am not."

Midorima glanced sidelong at Kuroko. "And you have a level of loyalty and integrity that people can't help but respect you for it." Kuroko met his gaze again, and Midorima looked away.

Midorima thought of Aomine's harsh words, his angry eyes, his tenseness. To others, it might've seemed like simple immaturity. But it was more than that.

There had been a sense of betrayal in those harsh words, pain in those angry eyes, and fear in that tenseness.

"No matter how much you want to, you cannot help him," Midorima stated, and Kuroko stiffened. "You cannot help someone who doesn't even hold the desire to help himself." He looked down at the small, blue-haired boy. He sometimes overlooked how small and breakable Kuroko was. Something about it had Midorima feeling a bit protective towards the boy. "Our hands are tied," he said quietly, wondering if his attempt at saying it more gently only made things worse when Kuroko wouldn't look at him anymore. "Only he can untie them," he finished softly.

Midorima turned to the bike. "Takao, let's go," he said. He looked at Kuroko once more. "We'll stay in touch about it for now. You're stubborn enough that I wouldn't be surprised if he changed his mind by tomorrow."

Kuroko finally met his gaze, and there was indeed determination set into his eyes. "Midorima-kun, thank you."

Midorima looked ahead. "Don't thank me. I'm merely doing what I owe." He caught Kagami coming back to the court out of the corner of his eye and made his way over to Takao.

When the two were gone, Kagami came up to Kuroko's side and scanned him over. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Kuroko nodded. "I was hurt at first, but wallowing in self-pity won't help the situation."

Kagami angled his head. "What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know."
"Quit saying that!"

Kuroko rummaged through his bag. "It seems I have to take more drastic measures, however, so I'll start with that." He pulled his phoned out and quickly dialed a number. "There's only one person I know of that not even Aomine-kun would think of crossing. He always gets his way, after all."

Kuroko brought the phone's speaker to his ear, and on the third ring, as he expected, the person on the other end of the line picked up. "Hello?"

Kuroko said firmly, "Akashi-kun, I need your help."

There was a beat of silence. Then-

"Consider it yours."

BRINGING THE EMPEROR IN!
Akashi is my favorite. Can you tell?
I also like writing drama, and I like resolving it. :)
Thank you for reading, my lovelies!