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He had been dreading it ever since the invitation slipped into his apartment with the rest of his mail (a letter from his dad, a basketball magazine with Aomine plastered on the front page, and then Kise’s modeling stuff). Luckily, he wasn’t left alone to mull through over it.
“Kagamicchi, you worry too much,” Kise laughed and kissed at the corner of his mouth with a twinkle in his eyes that Kagami still wasn’t used to after all these months. “It’s gonna be fine.”
Kagami sighed and glanced at the letter of invitation that lay open on their kitchen table. “I dunno. I haven’t seen Kuroko in a while, and I’m not looking forward to getting jabbed in the ribs.” He said it lightly, like he was joking, but the heavy weight within his chest wasn’t going anywhere.
Kise saw it, too. (It’s Ryouta now.)
“Taiga,” Kise murmured as he draped his arm over Kagami’s waist. “Kurokocchi will adore you and your wonderful, muscular self. I mean, look at those guns,” he joked as he playfully bumped their shoulders together.
Kagami tried his best not to snort in laughter, but he failed. Spectacularly. “I can’t believe you remember that, Ryouta,” he managed to say between his breaths, his chest still swelling awkwardly at using Kise’s first name. “Shit, I still can’t believe Kuroko said that with a straight face.”
Kise’s golden brown eyes glimmered at the memory of the past. “Kurokocchi’s always been humorous when you least expect him, huh?” Kagami saw, from the corner of his eyes, Kise’s expression sofen the tiniest bit. He felt the hand on his hip dig a little deeper into his shirt; Kise was thinking about things again, probably about how he too had lost contact with Kuroko.
“Humorous? He was completely serious, though,” Kagami rolled his eyes and bumped his hip against Kise’s. “I’m gonna make lunch, get off.”
Ryouta simply laughed and detached his arms from Kagami's body, though with visible reluctance. “You never told me when that reunion is happening, Kagamicchi.”
“Uh, right. Next Tuesday in the evening.”
“Mm, alright.”
“I had a crush on Kuroko back in high school,” Kagami told Kise the night before the reunion, hands fidgeting and itching to have something to work on. Either a basketball or the handle of a skillet would do just fine. “I haven’t met him since then, and I still have a crush on him.”
“Didn’t we all,” Kise grinned, quick to accept that Kagami had feelings for another. “Or rather, don’t we all.”
Kagami paused and turned to stare at Kise.
“What?” Kise pouted. “Kurokocchi is cute, attractive overall, and keeps me on my toes. Or kept, I guess; I haven’t met him in a long time, either. I’d totes be open for a threeway, if he were to agree.”
Kagami closed his eyes. This is Kise. You’re not going to pinch him for a silly comment like that (because he's right for once)...
...but you should pinch him for coming with you to the reunion, when there's no ”plus one” in the invitation, Kagami decided almost a day later, his face twisting between irritation and fondness as Kise clutched his arm with strength Kagami had forgotten he possessed.
”Ryouta, I told you-" Though it was already too late, since Kagami had already driven them both to Seirin High School. But still.
”As if anything Taiga could say would make me want to stay home,” Kise huffed, his face holding that one spectacular smile that made Kagami weak on the knees. Every. Fucking. Time.
”At least you dropped the annoying suffix,” Kagami sighed.
”Oh, don't worry about that either, Kagamicchi!” Kise teased. ”I'm not going to embarass you by calling you by your first name all evening~ Aren't I kind?”
”Annoying sounds more accurate,” a soft voice startled both Kagami and Kise.
”Holy shit,” Kagami wheezed as Kise's expression lit up like Christmas lights they had decorated their home with last December. ”Kuroko?!”
”The one and only.” As if the light blue tint of his hair wasn't enough of a sign. ”Kagami-kun, Kise-kun.” Under the glowing light of the parking lot's lamps, Kuroko's eyes shone even brighter than what Kagami remembered.
”Kurokocchi!” Kise finally let go of Kagami's arm he had clung onto after getting out of Kagami's car, now practically leaping upon the smaller man. Yep, still as short as ever, Kagami confirmed as Kise bent down and wrapped his arms around Kuroko's waist like they were the best of buddies.
”Kise-kun hasn't changed, I see,” Kuroko sighed, wheezing as Kise's hold tightened a little too much.
”You'd be surprised by how little,” Kagami snorted, feeling awkward just standing at the side when Kise was rubbing his cheek against Kuroko's head. And they were still in the parking lot.
And Kuroko was wearing a suit.
Well, shit.
Kagami felt underdressed in his jeans and a hoodie, to put it lightly. Kise rocked pretty much anything he wore, so his weren't a big deal, but Kagami's...
”Kagami-kun, you look fine.”
”What the- since when have you been able to read minds?!” This – settling into the old normalcy with Kuroko – was easier than Kagami thought it would be. Awkward, but somehow easy.
”Kagami-kun's face says it all,” Kuroko said, his lips curving upwards, and his smile was just as pretty as it had been in high school, though a little more exhausted around the edges. ”Nice jeans.”
”And a nice ass,” Kise added, finally letting go of Kuroko.
”You shut up,” Kagami grunted as he turned on his heels abruptly towards the school entrance.
”I have to agree with you, Kise-kun.”
Was it just Kagami or had Kise and Kuroko just formed an alliance to drive him absolutely insane?
It turned out that Kagami's horrific thoughts were right. Kuroko and Kise had decided to make the night an absolute tease-fest, and naturally all of the people gathered for the reunion asked the same question: what the hell is Kise Ryouta doing in our reunion? The other popular question was how the hell does he look so good, and Kagami silently acknowledged that it was a good question, a touch mystery to crack.
Kagami and Kuroko eventually gravitated to their old basketball teammates, exchanging pleasantries before settling into a much more comfortable conversation about what everyone had been up to. Kise, ever the social butterfly, kept talking with everyone that his eyes could find, his expressions invariably friendly and open, which drew people to him even more than just his looks.
”He hasn't changed much,” Kuroko noted, lips slightly quirked as he stared at their old classmates rounding up Kise.
”He really hasn't,” Kagami sighed, rubbing at his nose in embarrassment as Kise let out a high squeal when he launched into an explanation of his current living arrangement with Kagami. Jesus Christ, Kagami thought but made no effort to stop Ryouta.
He had outgrown the phase where he would feel pangs of jealousy... for most part, he was glad that Ryouta was happy and laughing.
”Neither have you,” Kagami noted as he sipped from the glass of champagne, nose wrinkling at the taste. Kuroko's eyes crinkled a little, enough to hint the smile that wasn't on his lips.
”I've been told I was mature for my age back then,” he murmured. ”There has been very little reason for me to drastically change.”
”Mature, my ass,” Kagami chuckled. ”Your jabs were fucking painful.”
Kuroko jabbed at Kagami's side without much force. ”Kagami-kun, you still have no tact. Just like Aomine-kun.”
Kagami wondered how Kuroko had yet to change his form of address with any of them, despite everyon being grown-ass men already, but he decided not to question it. Maybe Kuroko had clung to the memories as much as Kagami himself had during the years of relative silence.
”I'm nothing like Aomine,” Kagami grunted, forever annoyed by how everyone he knew made that comparison. Hyuuga (who occasionally cut Kagami's hair), Kise, basically everyone at the fire station.
”You played professionally after college, like Aomine-kun,” Kuroko commented as he picked a glass for himself. ”You can't deny that that's something.”
Kagami refused to look at Kuroko in the eye after the third word. Lips thin, he ignored the bitter ache in his heart and calves. Kuroko probably knew about it, if he had kept in touch with Aomine at all. ”I don't play anymore.”
”I know,” Kuroko said softly. ”I heard about the injury.”
”Aomine probably laughed about it over the phone or something?” Kagami figured, sighing as he glanced down at Kuroko that loyally stood by his side as Kise hogged most of the attention.
That was Ryouta, alright. Charming wherever he went.
”No,” Kuroko shrugged. ”He cried about it over a couple of beers, but he insisted on me not telling you.” The bright-eyed man grinned, and Kagami couldn't breathe. ”I never promised not to, though.”
”You little shit,” Kagami couldn't help laughing until champagna nearly poured out of his nostrils. Nearly. ”You only kept in touch with Aomine?”
”He lived in the same apartment building as me for the longest while,” Kuroko explained as he took a sip of champagne, eyes searching for some place for them to sit down. None were found – Kuroko frowned. No one had bothered to drag any chairs into the old gym, but there was a table with mildly alcoholic drinks.
Clearly, someone had fucked up, Kuroko's face said, and Kagami couldn't agree more.
”He kept dragging me out for drinks, of course, even after he moved out,” Kuroko added. ”I think he tried to look after me when no one else did.” There was something terribly lonely in Kuroko's words and expression right then that Kagami had to squeeze his shoulder.
”I can do that too,” he blurted out, face flushing immediately afterwards. Fuck. Fuck. ”If you... want to, I mean.”
No one was looking at them, even though Kagami irrationally felt like a million hot gazes glared at him for getting too caught up in basketball to try to keep in touch with Kuroko and others. Hell, he should have tried even with Midorima. With all of them.
They're your friends too, Kagami-kun, Kuroko's words from their second year of high school echoed in his mind for the umpteenth time.
Kuroko's voice broke though Kagami's anxious musings. ”I would like that, even though I think I can take care of myself now.” With a small laugh, Kuroko continued as he squeezed at Kagami's bicep. ”I wouldn't mind having a coffee with you every once in a while, though.”
”Or breakfast dates with both me and Kagamicchi!” Kise suddenly broke into their conversation as though he had been there the whole time, his face practically glowing when Kuroko didn't immediately reject the idea. ”We've missed you so, so much, Kurokocchi.”
Kise was good at expressing the embarrassing things Kagami was too awkward to say, and so he found himself nodding to Kise's words. They weren't lies. He had missed Kuroko, and god knows how much Kise had longed to lunge himself at his long-time crush.
Kuroko eyed Kise warily, as though he expected the other to wrap himself all over him. ”I would love to, Kise-kun.”
”You can call me Ryouta,” Kise quipped, more quietly. ”I think we're all past that stage, already.”
Kuroko's pale cheeks darkened with color, which Kagami marveled. It was very rare of Kuroko to blush... or had been, at least.
”You're as shameless as ever,” Kuroko sighed, soft lips curving into a gently happy smile. ”Ryouta.”
Kagami did NOT imagine Kuroko saying ”Taiga” with that exact tone of pure fondness. No.
A little.
Enough to make his throat go dry.
”Kagamicchi, you could have been more encouraging about the breakfast date idea,” Kise whined on their way back home. It was his turn to drive, and honestly, Kagami was a little afraid. ”You barely said anything about it!”
”Excuse me for getting caught up in both your and his sunlight smiles,” Kagami grumbled, crossing his arms. ”Eyes on the road, Ryouta.”
”Awwwh, Taiga,” Kise laughed, a purr-like sound from the depths of his throat. ”You're still so adorable.”
”Besides, you didn't confess, either,” Kagami added, irritated by how good Kise's laughter sounded. Maybe the champagne had gone to his head, or maybe he was in too deep in the relationship with Kise.
”One has to be subtle about these things, Taiga,” Kise chastised as he sped up once they hit the highway. ”You can't go asking a guy's thoughts on polyamory after meeting for the first time in years. At least we got a coffee date with Kurokocchi settled, right?”
Tch, but that'd be easier than not knowing where this will go, Kagami thought to himself, though Kise had a point. ”That's true.” And it was good enough. ”Guess you'll be tagging along for that, too?”
”Ouch! It almost sounds like you don't want me there.” Kise sounded hurt, but Kaiga knew about seventy percent of it was fake.
Still, he gave Kise a small smile and a glance that Kise caught despite staring at the road before them.
”You're always wanted, idiot.”
Kise's lips curved up into a radiant grin, one that was worth every possible struggle in their relationship with each other and possibly with Kuroko in the future.
Kagami could only hope for the best, but even so, he already had Kise Ryouta by his side.
He was happy.
He just hoped Kuroko was, too.