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Chapter Text

Hanamiya was... bored

That was the only explanation he could find for why he was currently perched opposite the last person on Earth he would've pictured himself playing with, a shogi board spread between them, impassive blue eyes boring into his own. Kuroko Tetsuya was, for lack of a better word, an anomaly. Hanamiya remembered the match between them, how much he had hated the pale teen then, how much he had wanted to crush him and watch him fail as he crushed his foolish dreams into smithereens, and how, even in the face of utter defeat, the other had spouted nonsense about the dreams and hopes of his senpais and how Hanamiya should not get in the way -

Pathetic, Hanamiya remembered thinking, truly pitiful; how someone like that could call themselves a basketball player, it was shameful. He wasn't anywhere near bloodthirsty enough.

Off-court, the bluenette was not spouting any of the nonsense that had made Hanamiya's blood boil with its idyllic idiocy. No, he was sat quietly, the shogi board before him providing no obvious openings which Hanamiya could exploit and laugh at, staring at his opponent with the same maddeningly expressionless face, and the Uncrowned King made it his personal goal for the night to break that façade.

To his surprise, that strategy backfired as the bluenette met each of his spiteful comments and mocking remarks with one of his own, delivered in perfect deadpan, his little feathers still annoyingly unruffled. But Hanamiya had always liked a challenge.

He waited till the other had lifted a hand to move one of the pieces during his turn and delivered another jeer. "Are you and Imayoshi fucking?" it was only because he had his eyes trained on the bluenette that he didn't miss the small spasm of his hand that nearly knocked over one of the pieces, but whether it was at the accusation or the profanity, Hanamiya could not guess. To his utter irritation, the other regained his composure too fast for him to fully enjoy the reaction.

"Why ask? Are you jealous, Hanamiya-kun?" the bluenette raised his eyes to meet his own, a challenging glint in the previously expressionless orbs. Ah, so he had caught on to the game after all. Hanamiya snorted, crossing his arms, the game temporarily forgotten, slipping into a persona he thought would work best with the icy teen.

"Why, I'm merely looking out for my kouhai. I know Shouichi can be very... demanding." he averted his eyes, not trying to hide the not-so-subtle implication behind his words. Something that sounded suspiciously like a snort escaped the bluenette, but it was so quick that Hanamiya could not be sure.

Instead, Kuroko fired back, the corner of his lips turning up ever so slightly. "Mhmm, it sounds like you're speaking from experience, Hanamiya-kun." he murmured, blue eyes boring into Hanamiya's own grey ones, not even trying to hide his amusement this time.

Hanamiya had to physically restrain himself from spluttering. That little shit-! suddenly, he realised the table on which the board was laid was shaking slightly and as he raised his eyes to the bluenette, he realised the kid was shaking with supressed laughter. Hanamiya let a smirk grace his face, pleasantly surprised. He had expected a few things from the bluenette, but him being well-versed in the art of sexual innuendos had not been one of them.

As his laughter subsided, Kuroko was back to his stoic self. "How about we get back to the game, hm, Hanamiya-kun?" he murmured, focusing again on the shogi board before them.

Ah, the game. Hanamiya thought back to how he had even ended up in his current predicament.

"Oi, Shouichi, I brought booze!" he yelled into the empty hallway, having let himself into the other's house when he realised the door was open, snorting at the other's carelessness. It wasn't his first time in Imayoshi's house, so he had no qualms about throwing his jacket to the side and shucking his shoes, and he waited for a reply.

"We're upstairs, Makoto-chan!" came the other's voice, muffled by the walls separating them. We? Hanamiya thought suspiciously, Imayoshi having forgotten to mention that particular detail when he invited him over 'for old times' sake' as he'd called it. Still, the Kirisaki Daiichi captain made his way upstairs, bottle of sake held nimbly in one hand as he climbed the narrow stairs-o'-doom that led to the living room in Shouichi's tiny apartment. As he walked into the living room, he came across a curious sight - Imayoshi was sat by the kotatsu, a shogi board spread on top, yet Hanamiya could find no other person in the room that could justify Imayoshi saying 'we'.

"Got lonely and decided to start without me, Shouichi?" he mocked, moving to sit opposite the infuriating teen. At the other's smirk, he scowled, moving to sit down before-

"Hello." he looked down to where he'd been about to sit and didn't jump, he most definitely did not jump, fuck you Imayoshi-! and impassive blue eyes gazed unerringly back at him, face expressionless save for the corner of his lips quirking slightly downwards, apparently not appreciating the fact that he'd nearly been sat on. Hanamiya snarled.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he yelled indignantly before turning to Imayoshi, "And you! Next time you decide to involve me in your fucking mind games without telling me, I will make you into shoes!" he raged, and while Imayoshi was positively cackling, the fucking bluenette would not stop staring at him, a tiny frown of displeasure pulling at his brow, mouth opening and; "You should not swear so much, Hanamiya-san. It's unbecoming." and Hanamiya was certain that if Imayoshi had been anybody else, he would've fallen out of his seat from how much he was shaking.

"The fuck did you say?" he snarled, glaring at the bluenette, unable to believe the kid's gall. He lowered himself till he was right close and personal with the teen, revelling in how his frown deepened, even if he didn't move back. "Fuck basketball. I'll break you right here, right now." he murmured, the tone of the threat and the proximity in which it was delivered bordering on intimate, even if the words were anything but.

"Mou, mou, Makoto-chan, stop being so hostile towards Tetsuya-kun." Imayoshi drawled amusedly, having finally righted himself. "I invited him over because I wanted my two favourite kouhai to get along."

Hanamiya scowled, straightening up again. "Well, you can get along without me then. I'm getting the fuck out of here." and just as he was about to turn on his heel and leave, his gaze fell on the shogi board, and his eyes widened out of their own volition as he appraised the situation. "Shouichi," he began, a hint of a laugh threatening to burst out of his throat. "are you... losing?" he snorted, eyes flickering between the bespectacled teen and the blue haired menace.

Imayoshi's eyes flickered to his own, and he wondered what the other found there, because a smirk made its way onto his face as he admitted, "It appears so." before he moved his pawn in a way that niggled at the back of Hanamiya's mind but he chose to ignore it for the time being.

Kuroko sighed, though there was a small smile on his face. "Check, Shouichi-kun." though surprised at the familiar way the kid referred to the Touou captain, he tried not to show it, and appraised the board again.

"Don't you mean checkmate?" he spoke before he could stop himself, pointing to the position of Kuroko's rook, which the bluenette must've forgotten about, judging by his quiet 'huh'. "It appears that Hanamiya-san is correct. Apologies, Shouichi-kun." he offered blandly.

Hanamiya snorted. "How the fuck did you lose to him, Shouichi?" he asked. Imayoshi merely chuckled and congratulated Kuroko on his win. "Tetsuya-kun is rather good at this. I told you, he plays like you." Hanamiya scowled again, but as he turned to look at the board in more detail, he saw that Imayoshi was not wrong; some of the traps and majority of the pawns that remained were set in a very similar formation to how his own often ended up, and he appraised the bluenette in a new light, gracelessly plopping down where Imayoshi had been sat moments before. "Play with me." he demanded, leaving no room for argument.

Kuroko stared at the other teen for a few seconds, trying to decide whether he should agree or not, but Imayoshi's words as well as his last play was pulling incessantly at his mind, so he finally succumbed. "Alright." he nodded in acquiesce and set up the pieces again.

Hanamiya smirked.

Sighing, he focused on the game, though if he was being honest, he was a lot more interested in seeing how much he could get away with before the other snapped or lost that impassive façade. He managed to unknowingly force it during their game, but that was with anger, now it was with not-so-innocent banter, and he was curious what other ways there were, and how long they took to make a dent in the mask. Hanamiya had always been a meticulous person; give him something to do and he'd wring it dry til there was nothing left, and even then sometimes he wasn't fully satisfied. He knew that, after this, it was likely he wouldn't see the bluenette again unless it was on a basketball court, and he still remembered how infuriating he'd been in that context, and he was certain that the current curiosity would not last if he were to meet him on a court; he'd want to crush and stamp and spit on the other's idyllic portrayal of basketball. So, he took a gamble.

"I propose a bet." he broke the (oddly comfortable) silence that settled between them, only speaking when the bluenette's attention was solely on him. "Winner gets loser to do what he wants." he smirked as the other's eyes widened, surprised, but considering.

"Alright. And what do you want, Hanamiya-kun?" Kuroko asked, and oh, what an open-ended question that was, how easy it would be to make it dirty, to knock the other's feet from under him with a lewd proposition and watch him fumble to try and regain his footing on their verbal battlefield. Too easy.

"For one, stop being so fucking formal. It's not normal." he snorted. Kuroko nodded, accepting his demand, and seemed to think about his own.

"If I win, I would like it if Hanamiya-kun didn't swear as much. It's a disgusting habit." Hanamiya nearly gaped at the outrageous request, and the deadpan with which it was delivered.

"What are you, a monk?" he mocked, snorting. "And I told you to stop being so goddamn formal." at that, Kuroko's lips twitched into something that could only be called a smirk.

"Ah, but you haven't won yet, Hanamiya-kun."

But he did, in the end, though it was the closest scrape he had experienced in a while; their styles of play really were similar and because of that Kuroko knew not to fall for some of the traps he'd set up, knowing that they were merely distractions. The bluenette was frowning at the board, not looking bitter about losing, but contemplative.

"I'm not playing my best today..." he murmured, more to himself than to Hanamiya. "Ano, Han- Makoto-kun," he corrected, earning a pleased smirk from the other. "Would you have played me if you hadn't seen me win against Shouichi-kun?"

Hanamiya blinked, surprised by the question. "No, I wouldn't have." he stated bluntly. He had been about to leave before he saw the state of the board, and the niggling feeling that he'd previously dismissed came back full force.

"No, I didn't think you would have." the bluenette agreed. "It's just... Shouichi-kun's last move. It was stupid. He must've seen the bishop that was in the corner." Hanamiya narrowed his eyes at the same time as Kuroko's widened; they both reached the same conclusion.

Makoto scowled. "What a fucking annoying, manipulative, megane bastard." he hissed, not too pleased to realise that Imayoshi had thrown the fucking game so him and shadow boy would play together. To his surprise, said shadow boy only nodded, not bothering to reprimand him on his foul language, and a weird glint entered his eyes.

"I dislike your style of play, but what I disliked more about you was the fact that you underestimated me. I hate when people do that." that was probably the most passionate Hanamiya had heard Kuroko speak the entire night. "Shouichi-kun should know better than that."

An idea formed in Makoto's mind, and he allowed the most sadistic, shit-eating grin he could manage to form on his lips. "Ne, Kuroko-kun," he started innocently. "What do you say we give him a little surprise? In thanks for setting us up for such a pleasant game?"

To his surprise, Kuroko nodded, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "What do you have planned?"

Hanamiya was nearly pissing himself, making sure to take as many photos as he could before his cover was inevitably blown.

After their discovery of 'Imayoshi is even more of a manipulative shit than we thought', they had sat and schemed together, Makoto's natural sadism aided by the beauty of sake (he was still not over Kuroko's polite rejection of his offer to share - what sane 16 year old doesn't drink?) and Kuroko piping in with surprisingly sly ideas every once in a while, occasionally startling a surprised snort from Makoto at the particularly evil ones. Eventually, they had settled on something that seemed tame, but, with the right angle and some photoshop could very nearly ruin Imayoshi; a thought that sent pleasant tingles down Hanamiya's spine. Even if the Touou Captain had been the one to uncover Kuroko's sly nature, Hanamiya was certain that he never expected for it to be directed at him, and Kuroko's impassiveness meant that he was surprisingly good at keeping a stoic face, even in awkward situations. Besides, Imayoshi was a tsundere at heart, even if he would deny it to the very day of his death.

That's how they arrived at their current predicament; Kuroko perched very nearly on Imayoshi's lap, head resting on the other's shoulder, murmuring about he was tired and upset that 'Shouichi-kun' had just up and left him with the 'most unpleasant person on the planet' (that was Makoto's idea, though he had to admit, Kuroko was a lot better at acting than he gave him credit for) and the more he spoke, the more his eyes drooped and the more slurred his speech became, til he slowly slid down Imayoshi's chest and landed with his head pillowed on the bespectacled teen's lap, face turned towards his navel. Hanamiya stifled a snort at how he could almost see the cogs turning in Imayoshi's head, fighting between staying in the awkward position or shaking the other awake; a battle between the 'tsun-tsun' and the 'dere-dere' sides. In the end, the 'dere-dere' won out, and the panic faded slightly from Imayoshi's face. Kuroko, who must've felt the other's muscles relax, took that as his cue to snuffle sleepily and shuffle closer, cheek pressing against the crotch of Imayoshi's sweatpants. Hanamiya choked on a laugh at Imayoshi's renewed fluster and kept snapping pictures, shifting slightly for a more incriminating angle. The Touou Captain's hand spasmed around the TV remote, the other clutching at the sofa, and the look on the teen's face provided the most incriminating photo Hanamiya could've hoped for.

Just photoshop the light blue into something less obvious and it'll look like the presumably asexual, deeply feared Captain is indulging in the most carnal activities of all. Hanamiya thought, snorting. Oh how the mighty fall.

And then Kuroko shifted and Imayoshi's face went from 'frozen constipation' to 'I'm gonna shit myself at an alarming velocity' and Hanamiya could not hold it back anymore; he burst of laughing, full body quaking laughs that startled Imayoshi into nearly jumping off the sofa and causing Kuroko to fall off.

"Ah, I'm sorry Tetsuya, but you should've seen the look on his face!" Hanamiya managed to choke out between chuckles. The bluenette got up off Imayoshi's lap, brushing off imaginary dust as he straightened up, unfazed. "About time, Makoto-kun. I was starting to think you forgot about what the actual aim of this was."

Imayoshi stared from one to the other, for once at a loss of words, though he had a suspicion that he had just been conned. Kuroko, meeting his gaze, narrowed his eyes. "You should know better than to throw the game, Shouichi-kun. You know I go to great lengths with those who underestimate me." the bluenette murmured, deceptively sweetly. "And it would do you well to remember that there is no worse enemy that the shadow always behind you." he added vaguely.

Hanamiya snorted. "I don't know where you found him, Shouichi, but I like him."

The Touou Captain was struck with the thought that he deeply regretted his decision to introduce the two to each other. It seemed as if his third prediction had been correct; they really were going to team up and ruin everyone else.

Starting with him.

After that first meeting, Hanamiya and Kuroko had, to Imayoshi's horror, traded numbers, and stayed in contact. Starting hesitantly, unsure what to say or text, Kuroko would often take his phone out then put it back in his pockets, convinced that the other would think him stupid. After a few days, Hanamiya sent him the picture, completed with photoshopped colour of Kuroko's hair into a less conspicuous dark brown, and honestly, Hanamiya should either become a photographer or a professional blackmailer, because even Kuroko could appreciate meticulous work when he saw it. On a whim, he went into a grocers store and bought a 100% cocoa chocolate bar and texted Hanamiya the picture with the caption 'for you, for our next game as a thank you for being an evil genius' which was odd in itself, and when coupled with who had written it and who would be receiving it, Kuroko was 90% certain they deserve their own sitcom.

When Hanamiya merely responded with 'when are you free?' he smiled and counted his momentary out of character act a success.

Though few and far between, whenever he did receive texts from Hanamiya, it always seemed to make to make his day more interesting. One particular day was after a grueling training session as Riko had been in a particularly bad mood. Luckily, it was finally over and Kuroko was grabbing his bag and getting ready to leave when his phone vibrated.

-I'm going to kill my teammates.

Chuckling inwardly, Kuroko replied.

-That's a felony, Makoto-kun. You'll be sent to prison.

-At least it'll be away from those fucktards. came the instantaneous reply. If there was one thing Kuroko had to give Hanamiya, it was the other's creativity with insults.

-You can't play basketball in prison - he tried to argue

-Fuck basketball

Kuroko sighed, trying a different angle -You won't get 100% chocolate in prison

-I'll get one of the idiots to bring it to me.

-Won't they all be dead though?

-Fine I'll get you to bring them to me

-I'm not your girlfriend, Makoto-kun, nor your slave

-You wouldn't visit me in prison? I'm hurt, Tetsuya.

-I wouldn't visit if you got sent there because of your own idiocy, no. And you being hurt would require you having feelings that could be hurt, and I thought genius psychopaths lacked those?

-You consider me a psychopath? Why, Tetsuya, I'm flattered.

-You're crazy

-And you're associating with the crazy, so doesn't that make you crazy too?

-I'm merely making sure a genius psychopath doesn't become a murderous genius psychopath. If anything, I'm a saint.

-Is that you or your ego talking?

-Is that you or your wounded pride talking?

-Touché. Well, thanks to you they live to tell another day. You're well on your way to sainthood, shadow boy.

-Call me shadow boy again and I'll sic all the pigeons heaven has on offer on you.

-Ooh aggressive! Didn't know you had it in you!

Before he could reply, another text came - got to go Hara got chewing gum stuck in his hair again wtf

Kuroko snorted, attracting the attention of Kagami beside him. Somehow during his text war with Hanamiya they had managed to leave the sports hall and were already nearly half way to his house.

"You alright, Kuroko?" the redhead asked worriedly (he'd never seen Kuroko do something as undignified as snort. Usually it was either a smile or a quiet chuckle, but never a snort)

"Hai, Kagami-kun. Why ask?" the bluenette replied, looking up at Kagami in curiosity. Deciding not to elaborate on his sudden bout of worry, Kagami quickly changed the subject.

"Who were you texting? You were nearly beaming at your phone." he justified as the shadow looked at him with eyes that seemed to indignantly scream 'that's private, Kagami-kun!'. If eyes could scream. Yeah.

"I was convincing an acquaintance of mine that committing a felony would be a bad idea." Kuroko replied nonplussed, looking back curiously when the redhead beside him stopped walking.

Kagami gaped. "You should seriously stop with the deadpan, you idiot! I can't tell if you're pulling my leg or not when you're spouting nonsense like that with that face!" he yelled, indignant.

Kuroko blinked owlishly at him. "Why would Kagami-kun think I'm telling anything other than the truth? And what's wrong with my face?" he questioned curiously.

The taller teen spluttered, trying to find an explanation. "Who laughs about felony?!" was what he finally came up with.

"I wasn't laughing about the felony itself, I was laughing at their reasons for it." he explained, careful to use gender-neutral pronouns; he was not quite ready to reveal the identity of his mystery not-friend, and he was certain that the assumption of 'girlfriend' would come up in the future. So he kept walking, though struggling to keep his expressionless mask in place at the defeated look on Kagami's face; he looked like a 6'5" kicked puppy.

"Stop pouting, Kagami-kun, you look like an overgrown five year old." he announced, startling the redhead before he registered the meaning of his words and nearly jumped at him. "Why you lil-!"

"We're at my house. See you tomorrow, Kagami-kun." Kuroko replied, sneaking away and closing the door behind him, chuckling at the indignant grumbles of the redhead as he walked away.

Still, a certain thought would not go away; "You were nearly beaming at your phone." - had he been? For once, he could not tell for certain. Texting in general was something Kuroko did not do very often unless it was with Ogiwara-kun or his old teammates, but texting Hanamiya had felt easy. Fun, even. And he could not help noting how much more relaxed the other appeared over the phone, less concerned with keeping up the image of the sadistic Bad Boy once Kuroko had gotten him sidetracked from his original reason for texting.

Kuroko found he rather liked that version of Hanamiya.

"That was a stupid move." Hanamiya remarked casually, fingers dancing over the rim of his sake cup as he considered his next move.

"Be quiet and play, Makoto-kun." Kuroko replied distractedly, a tiny scowl pulling at his mouth as he regarded the board and the no-escape trap he'd apparently fallen in. His gaze fell on the nearly half empty bottle of sake by the table and his scowl grew. "And stop drinking so much; you'll give yourself alcohol poisoning."

"You're being even more of a prude than usual, Tetsuya." the other mocked, eyes glimmering at the chance of another verbal showdown. "What's got your panties in a twist?" he crooned.

Kuroko's scowl grew fiercer than Hanamiya had seen before. "Makoto-kun is playing dirty even in shogi and I don't like it." he murmured, aware of how petulant he sounded even to his own ears. Hanamiya laughed.

"'Playing dirty'?" he asked, tone coloured with faux disbelief. "This is exactly the same style with which you're playing, just upped another two levels." he ignored the other's deadpan 'are you kidding' look that the bluenette sent him. "And stop commenting on my alcohol intake - you sound like my grandmother." his eyes flickered over to the bottle as an idea formed in his head. It was still almost half full... "In fact, since we haven't placed our bets yet, here's mine; if I win this game, during the next one you have to take a shot of sake for every piece that I take!" at the other's incredulous gaze, he laughed. "C'mon, school doesn't start for another week, it's Friday, I don't feel like murdering anyone at the moment; have some fun, shadow boy! Live a little!" he prompted, alcohol making him oddly (endearingly) languid.

The bluenette gaped. "That's ridiculous, Makoto-kun!"

Hanamiya merely smirked, gaze back to the intensity of a serpent preparing to strike; after three months since meeting, he'd learnt how to push the icy bluenette's buttons. "Are you giving up?" he mocked, getting real close to the other's face. As always, it worked like a charm and Kuroko's eyes hardened. "Fine. But if I win, Makoto-kun has to walk down the middle of the road singing 'I will survive' at the top of his lungs. Naked." now it was Hanamiya's turn to gape incredulously. If someone had told him after their game at the Winter Cup qualifiers that Seirin's shadow boy had a single nasty bone in his body, he'd have laughed in their face. Now, after his and Imayoshi's joint efforts, the creativity of the bluenette's bets and their occasional viciousness surprised even him. But this whole tentative friendship fiasco had begun because Makoto liked a challenge, and he was most definitely not about to stop now.

"Alright, you're on, shadow boy." he smirked at the dirty look the other threw him and cackled as the bluenette slammed the piece on the table with clearly excessive force on his next go.

Hanamiya still won. Naturally.

As they had agreed on a 'best of three games' for that particular evening, the start of the second game had Kuroko glaring at the other with all the hatred he could muster.

"I really hate you sometimes, Makoto-kun." he grumbled when the other took his first piece and dangled a sake cup in front of his face like some mockery of an offering. He snatched it from the laughing teen's grasp and eyed the contents wearily, having never tried alcohol before.

"Here, Tetsuya, you do it like this!" Hanamiya teased, grabbing his own cup and downing the contents like an experienced alcoholic. Kuroko regarded him disdainfully and carefully brought the cup to his lips, deciding to just tip it over and get it over and done with.

He choked.

Hanamiya burst out laughing.

He'd heard others describe alcohol as 'burning' but it didn't come close to how the liquid seemed to almost corrode his throat on its way down, leaving everything behind feeling like it was on fire.

"I really hate you." he managed to choke out in between gasps for air. But once the initial shock wore off, he could not deny that it left a pleasant, tingly feeling in its wake that made him warm from the inside.

"Feels good afterwards, doesn't it?" Hanamiya asked, voice softer than Kuroko had ever heard it before, so he just nodded, not trusting his voice.

The game continued, and less than half-way through, he could not sit straight anymore; this being his first time trying alcohol, coupled with his already tiny build, he was proud of himself for still being conscious. Hanamiya, luckily, was in a similar state, the previous half a bottle on an empty stomach finally catching up with him.

"Call it a night, hmm?" the raven murmured, not quite slurring but rather relaxed on the vowels.

"Mmhm," Kuroko agreed easily, too tired and warm to bother being more coherent. He startled as he felt an arm wrapping around his middle under his arms, hauling him up. "C'mon, shadow boy, time for bed."

"Don't... Call me 'sha-shadow boy'" the bluenette drawled, interrupted half way by a massive yawn, that, for once, he didn't bother trying to cover up. Hanamiya chuckled, feeling warm and loose around the edges. "Whatever you say, shadow boy." and he led the pale teen to his room, house being too tiny to accommodate a guest room. He didn't really care about propriety; it's not like he was going to take advantage of the kid or anything. Yeah. Wait, no. He didn't even know, his thought process was seriously delayed. (he liked alcohol because it provided a valid reason to stop being a genius. Seriously. Living up to a reputation of genius Bad Boy was tiring.) He let go of Kuroko when they got to his room, and the bluenette dropped onto his bed like dead weight, asleep within seconds. Hanamiya had enough conscious thought left to take out his phone and take a picture of the scene (for future blackmail, he assured himself when sobriety returned) and then physically rolled Kuroko to one side of bed before he, too, dropped down beside him.

(another picture was taken in the morning, the bluenette's ridiculous bedhead providing a great source of amusement for Hanamiya which he demanded to be documented because 'we never actually finished our second game; you owe me'. Though arguing as ferociously as a hungover allowed for, the bluenette finally succumbed, and, when finally back in the sanctuary of his own home, he realised that a drunk Hanamiya was a cute Hanamiya, and one he didn't mind too much.)

The worst were moments when their priorities clashed.

"No." Kuroko stated into the phone, his voice leaving seemingly no room for argument.

"Oh, come on, Tetsuya! Stop being so chicken-shit!" Hanamiya snorted.

"No. No way, Makoto-kun. I'm not skipping school to go to an arcade with you, don't be stupid."

"I'm not asking." came the sly reply, and a moment later, a pebble hit the window by which Kuroko was sitting, and as he startled and looked out, he saw Hanamiya standing on the edge of the courtyard, hidden by the shade of one of the many cherryblossoms, smirking even from that distance. Kuroko scowled. "You're a bastard, Makoto-kun." But he still got up and grudgingly slipped away, unnoticed by his teacher and classmates alike.

(when Hanamiya greeted him, he looked like a satisfied cat, all lazy smirk and half-mast eyes, but Kuroko almost forgave him when the other held out a vanilla milkshake. Almost. "I'm not that easy, Makoto-kun." he murmured, not nearly pacified. The other merely laughed. "Wouldn't dream of it." half an hour later, Kuroko was trying his luck at a claw machine, smile on his face and vanilla milkshake in hand. Hanamiya won that round, but the bluenette could not find it in him to hold too much of a grudge; he, too, enjoyed a challenge.)

"If I can speak Japanese, why the fuck do I need to know what it was like 200 years ago? When would I ever need that knowledge?" Hanamiya grumbled, poring over his ancient Japanese textbook.

"For a genius, you can be surprisingly stupid at times, Makoto-kun." Kuroko mumbled, not looking up from the mess of formulas and equations that made up his chemistry textbook, trying to translate it into something that made sense.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" the other glared, eyeing the bluenette up. "I have no idea how you can be struggling over something as simple as limestone decomposition. It's literally calcium carbonate and heat." he pointed out, not even looking at the formula to see if he was right.

Kuroko blinked. "What is Makoto-kun struggling with in ancient Japanese then? It's literally the stem of a compound word in modern Japanese?" Hanamiya froze, staring at his paper critically until his eyes widened and he looked at Kuroko with a sly smirk. "I think we can both get something out of this, hm?"

(it was worth all the arguments and the scowls and Hanamiya smacking his head on the desk for the nth time when Kuroko couldn't grasp electrolysis even after thorough explanation when Kagami stared at his partner's assignment, a large, unmistakable 96% in the top right corner, then back to his own 47%, then back to Kuroko's, who, not too long ago was only marginally higher than him and his dumbfounded question of, "Oi, Kuroko, since when are you good at chemistry?" and, to his surprise, the bluenette merely shot him an enigmatic smile and murmured, "I found a good tutor."
Hanamiya was cold, sadistic, impatient, and a menace on court, but when Kuroko sent him his result, the other replied with a smiley face and a 'if I pass my ancient jap, I'll treat you to a milkshake' that had Kuroko smiling adorably for the rest of the day, to the great concern of his teammates.)

After half a year of being friends, Kuroko could attest to six things about the other. Number one, Hanamiya was as sly and calculating in front of a shogi board as he was on court. Number two, he was a lot more unguarded when texting, joking and teasing coming a lot more easily to him that face to face. Three, he was an affectionate drunk. Number four, he had absolutely no regard for any form of hierarchy, or the wishes of others of the was something he wanted. Number five, he was almost scarily persuasive. Number six, he required almost as much if not more of Kuroko's attention that Nigou, getting snappy when the other ignored him or didn't answer his messages immediately, regardless if he had good reason not to.

Riko, unfortunately, got the true meaning of number six at practice, one day.

Their first practice match of the season was scheduled with Touou, but it was late enough in the afternoon that Riko saw no need to cancel practice, and so there they were, running shuttle runs while trying to conserve energy for their game afterwards.

Riko was standing on the side by the bleachers, next to Kuroko's bag as the bluenette had been uncharacteristically late and had not been able to put his stuff away in the locker rooms. She was just about to move and reprimand the new first years for slacking off, when she heard a quiet 'ding' from Kuroko's bag. That's odd, she thought, curious as to who would be texting Kuroko at a time when they have practice, but deciding not to invade the other's privacy.

That resolve lasted all of two minutes when she heard at least four more dings come from the bag, all within less than half a minute from each other. Making sure the bluenette's attention was focused on his 'light', she crouched and rifled in the bag until she pulled out the teen's phone, flipping it open quickly.

6 New Messages from 'Mako-chan'

'Mako-chan'? Curious still, she opened the messenger, and nearly gaped.

-I'm bored

-Tetsuya. Entertain me.

-Are you ignoring me?

-Do I have to remind you why that's a bad idea, Tetsuya?

-Tetsuyaaaaaa

-I'm giving you two minutes, then I'm getting on a train and coming to your school.

Just as she was gaping at the other's gall, and wondering why on earth someone as meek and unassuming as Kuroko would be hanging out with someone as obviously self-absorbed and attention seeking as this 'Mako-chan', the phone vibrated again, three times in a row in quick succession.

-I'm getting on the train. I warned you.

-You owe me chocolate. You know which kind.

-Oh, and I'm bringing shogi.

Riko paled, dropping the phone back into the other's bag. Surely, the person was bluffing. She shrugged and called a water break, the boys crumbling on the side, the water break very much appreciated. As Kuroko approached his bag, she debated straight out asking or trying to be subtle, then realised subtlety had never been her style. Oh well. "Kuroko-kun," she called to the boy as he came closer, smiling. "do you have a girlfriend?" she saw Kuroko as well as some of the other regulars do a doubletake, confused. "No, I don't, Riko-san." the bluenette murmured, nonplussed, even as he regarded his coach curiously.

"Ah, okay, I was merely curious." she shrugged it off, ushering them back to practice. So that rules out the possibility of a secret girlfriend, she mused, still intrigued as to the identity of the secret caller. She debated calling Momoi since the other girl was rather gifted in the art of information gathering, especially when it came to her dearly beloved Tetsu-kun, but she decided against it for the time being; she still had her pride, damn it!

Practice came to an end not too long after that, Riko having decided to give them more than enough recovery time and go over the tapes of their old games with Touou, trying to discern any patterns in the offense or habits to exploit.

Just as they were all getting their things ready to leave the sports hall and move into one of the empty classrooms, an unfamiliar voice called out, freezing them all in their tracks.

"Tetsuya."

The bluenette in question did not jump, but his eyes widened marginally, yet he appeared oddly unsurprised for what the occasion called for.

"Makoto-kun, I told you not to come today, I have a game after this." the steely tone of the shadow's voice was more exasperated than angry, as if berating a misbehaving pet.

"And I told you that I don't appreciate being ignored." the other snarked back, but it lacked any real bite, sounding more like a familiar routine.

"Yes, I do recall Makoto-kun mentioning that he has about the same attention span and patience as a needy puppy." Kuroko remarked, forever deadpan.

Kagami blanched, and Seirin gaped at their shadow, the previous mocking turning into something that sounded suspiciously like friendly teasing .

"If I'm a puppy then that makes you the bitch." the other merely retorted, smirking at Kuroko, a challenging glint in his eyes.

To Seirin's surprise, their shadow took the insult in stride, signing dejectedly. "Crude as always, Makoto-kun. I should really make you wash your mouth out with soap."

"Honestly, Tetsuya, you sound more and more like my grandmother with every fucking day." the other sighed dramatically, running a hand through his hair.

Tetsuya. Riko suddenly gasped at the realisation of who 'Mako-chan' is. But when had Kuroko had the time to get so familiar with the Bad Boy of Kirisaki Daiichi? And why on earth did this partnership cause such an uneasy feeling in her gut?

"If I agree to play, will Makoto-kun shut up and let me play the game in peace?" Kuroko asked, though it sounded rhetorical more than anything as he was already gathering his things and turning towards where the raven was standing. Surprised at the blunt tone and rude question of the usually overly-polite boy, Seirin could only stand and watch, dumbfounded, as Kuroko and Hanamiya fucking Makoto walked out of the gym, not quite holding hands, but standing much closer than rivals from opposing schools should.

Finally, Riko regained her wits. "Wait, Kuroko-kun!" she called out, catching the bluenette's attention just as he was about to step outside.

"Yes, Riko-san?" he asked with his usual politeness.

"We only have two hours till our game with Touou." she pointed out, eyes narrowing when Hanamiya chuckled, draping an easy arm around Kuroko's shoulder which he, to everyone's shock, made no move to shrug off.

"Don't worry, that should be plenty of time for what I have planned." his grin turned savage. "I'll try my best to deliver your darling Kuroko-kun back on time. And in one piece." his eyes glinted in the same maniacal way they had during their game, and Riko felt uneasy letting Kuroko go off with such a creep-

"Ah!" Hanamiya scowled, rubbing the spot on his ribs where Kuroko had elbowed him. "Enough with the dramatics, Makoto-kun; stop wasting the time that could be spent playing. Then, he turned to Riko and smiled reassuringly. "You needn't worry yourself, coach, I'll be back on time." and then he led Hanamiya away, leaving the rest of Seirin gaping at the place where their shadow had last stood, trying to make sense of the events of the last five minutes that were more logical than 'Hanamiya had brainwashed Kuroko and now they're best buds'. Kagami, visibly the most affected of them all, finally found his voice. "Can anyone tell me what the fuck just happened?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, bakagami." Hyuga muttered, eyes wide behind crooked glasses at the same time as Riko slapped Kagami on the back with a warning "Don't swear!"

Honestly, all of them had been wondering about their shadow ever since their win at the Winter Cup; could there be more sides to their Phantom player than the one they were so accustomed to seeing, sides that stood on equal grounds with the likes of Imayoshi or Hanamiya? They shuddered to think that could be the case.

Seirin had, in fact, gradually recovered from the shock of seeing Bad Boy Hanamiya with their shadow, and had gotten on with analysing the games till it was really time to go and start warming up. Touou had arrived too, Imayoshi at the front with Aomine trailing not too far behind, his usual scowl only deepening when he looked around, no doubt in search of his shadow, and could not find him.

"Oi, Kagami, where's Tetsu?"Aomine barked, unable to find his shadow.

"Like hell if I know! That bastard Hanamiya just appeared out of nowhere and dragged Kuroko out, 'cause he was bored and he 'wanted to play'!" the other yelled back, cringing as he quoted.

"Oh? Makoto-chan was here?" Imayoshi inquired, his tone making it sound like the situation was a fascinating science experiment. "I told him not to bother Tetsuya-kun today since he needs to be sharp for our game." he murmured, smiling.

"You knew about this?!" Aomine snapped, turning on his captain, torn between anger and curiosity.

"Mou, of course I did - I introduced them after all." Imayoshi explained, grinning. "But even I could not have predicted that they'd get along so well ~ they're getting out of hand." he chuckled, sounding half amused, half ominous.

"'Get along'?!" Kagami shrieked, to the amusement of the Touou Captain. "They should not 'get along'! That Hanamiya is a goddamn maniac!" the redhead raged while Aomine, for once, backed the other up.

"Tetsu had been real angry on court during their game, he wouldn't just get comfy with the creep after that!" he argued, narrowed eyes glaring at Imayoshi.

"Ah, I never said that they get along on court." the bespectacled teen pointed out, smirking mysteriously. "They're the opposite of what you and Tetsuya-kun had" he motioned to Aomine "they hate each other, and everything the other stands for when on court, but are almost scarily compatible off-court." he explained, then added almost as an afterthought. "And they are both quite good at board games, so that's always fun."

"What the actual - you know what, I don't even want to know." Kagami shook his head, signing dejectedly, wondering what kind of shit his partner had gotten into this time. "But if he doesn't show his face in the next minute I'm gonna -!"

"You needn't finish that sentence, Kagami-kun, I'm already here." a voice interrupted, and all heads swerved in the direction from where it came from. And there stood Kuroko, all kitted up and ready, wristbands on, while beside him -

"Ah, have you finally decided to embrace your feminine side, Makoto-chan?" Imayoshi crooned.

"Shut the fuck up, Shouichi, I swear to god -!" but the threat was considerably weaker than it would've normally been when Hanamiya was dressed in one of Kuroko's spare jerseys, number 11 displayed like a brand on his chest, while a matching white and red rimmed miniskirt hung off his hips, with knee high white socks to match and heels that would've put Momoi to shame. Both Seirin and Touou stood with their jaws hanging wide, some snickering openly at the usually fiercesome General's unfortunate predicament.

"Ah, yes," Kuroko began, as if only just realising that all eyes in the sports hall were on them as he addressed Riko. "Makoto-chan will be our mascot for today, if that's okay?" he asked casually, voice deadpan as ever. To everyone's surprise, Hanamiya ground his teeth in obvious agitation, but didn't otherwise try to defy Kuroko or the bluenette's words.

"How the hell did you even get him to agree?!" Kagami scoffed, disbelief, amusement and frustration all meshing into one.

"I believe Makoto-chan lost the game, didn't he? " Imayoshi chuckled, appearing unaffected by the withering glare Hanamiya sent his way. When Seirin's curiosity didn't subside, Kuroko explained.

"Hanamiya-kun and I have a habit of betting before we play. Today I requested that, if I won, Hanamiya-kun had to dress up as Seirin's mascot in today's practice match."

Kagami laughed, but Aomine seemed almost concerned. "But with your bet being as ridiculous as that, I doubt that the bastard didn't think of something even worse." Nobody had time to wonder at the ace's sudden display of intelligent thought, as, the moment the comment left his lips, Hanamiya laughed.

"Oh no, if I had won, Tetsuya kindly agreed to volunteer as a model for a gay porn magazine." he announced, cackling gleefully. Both Seirin and Touou froze, while Kuroko merely nodded in acknowledgement, appearing nonplussed. "Hai, I did."

Both, Hyuga's and Imayoshi's glasses showed clear signs of being about to crack, while Aomine and Kagami's jaws had officially hit the floor, and Izuki was trying to hide something that looked suspiciously like a nosebleed.

"O-oi why the fuck would you ever agree to something like that, Tetsu?!" Aomine raged, pointing an accusatory finger at the impassive bluenette.

"I was feeling lucky; I wasn't going to lose. And Midorima-kun messaged me saying that Aquarius ranked first in today's Oha-Asa horoscope. I even had today's lucky item on hand; a black wristband. I just felt like I couldn't lose, and I had to get back at Makoto-chan for his previous request." at that, Kuroko shot the raven beside him a piercing glare, while the other merely smirked and winked, of all things. Kuroko's eyes narrowed in a way Seirin rarely got to witness off court, and they nearly pitied the cross-dressed teen.

"Anyway, Makoto-chan, I have a game now, so why don't you go and sit at the side like a good mascot? Nigou might even keep you company if you behave." Aomine paled at the sickly sweet quality of the others voice and stared at Imayoshi in horror, but his captain merely clucked his tongue, looking for all intents and purposes like a proud mother. This display, more than most, had both teams staring at Kuroko in unmasked awe, even more so when the Kirisaki Daiichi captain merely scowled but obediently walked off to sit at the bleachers.

Kuroko turned to them all, a curious look on his face, "I believe we have a game to play?"

And as Riko watched the game unfold, their first since the Winter Cup, and the one where Kuroko's Misdirection was meant to have been futile, she found that that was, in fact, not the case, as some of the Touou players could not help glancing at Hanamiya every once in a while, providing the bluenette enough of a window to slip away from the defence. Half-way through the game he was finally able to fully overwrite his presence with that of Hanamiya's, and, as the game came to an end, Seirin having secured their win with another buzzer-beating dunk from their, now second-year, duo, Riko could not help but wonder if that hadn't been Kuroko's intention from the very start.

She really needed to watch him now that he'd picked up such troublesome friends.

As Kuroko walked up to Hanamiya, she saw the other murmur what sounded suspiciously like "I'll get my revenge, Tetsuya. Just wait." to which the bluenette cracked a small smile and patted the other's head. "Whatever you say, Makoto-kun." and she could not help but wonder if she'd missed some monumental moment when Kuroko had grown some serious balls.

But Hanamiya had gotten his revenge, not too long after that; at the Interhigh qualifiers, to be exact.

Seirin, as well as all the other teams that had Generation of Miracles players were all sat in the same wing, watching as Kirisaki Daiichi was warming up for their game against Seiho, and Kuroko was mysteriously missing.

"Oi, does anyone know where Kuroko is?" Kagami spoke out, catching the attention of those around him. "I thought he'd want to be here when his new bestie gets his ass handed to him on a silver platter."

A surprised guffaw came from the region occupied by Touou, but when everyone turned to see, Imayoshi had already composed himself. "Ah, I believe Tetsuya-kun got front-row seats." he murmured vaguely in response to the questioning looks.

"Nee, you can see Kurokocchi, Imayoshi-san?" Kise piped up, craning his head to look at the older boy. When the other nodded, Seirin and those who knew Kuroko turned back to the court to try and find him.

"There he is!" Kagami exclaimed, then paled. Sitting at the side of the court, on the chair usually reserved for the coach, was Kuroko, looking for all intents and purposes relaxed, as if this was a commonplace occurrence, if not for the fact that he kept fidgeting and trying to pull down the skirt that kept riding up his thighs. Kagami's mind short-circuited. Skirt? Forcing himself to calm down, Kagami looks down and considers his partner again. He was wearing the trademark bottle green and black uniform of Kirisaki Daiichi, the #4 jersey clearly borrowed from Hanamiya as it hung loosely around his shoulders, (even though the other is only a few inches taller than him), and a matching black miniskirt and knee-high socks with green ribbons covered his shins.

"K-Kurokocchi is wearing... a skirt?" Kise stutters out, a light blush dusting his cheeks, and his wide eyes were mirrored by Aomine, who looked as if someone just slapped him. Momoi was cooing at how adorable her Tetsu-kun looks and how they should definitely play dress up more often, while Takao could barely reign in his laughter, but whether it was at Kuroko's embarrassing predicament or Midorima's visibly flustered face, was anyone's guess. They watched as the referee called for the players to line up, and just as Hanamiya was about to walk off to join his team in the middle, he stopped by Kuroko's seat and they had a short exchange that ended in the bluenette burying his face in his hands, the tips of his ears clearly red even from as far away as the onlookers' stands, and Hanamiya laughed and-

"Oh."

"Well, well, Makoto-chan, who knew you could be such a charmer?"

Akashi had heard the rumours about a friendship forming between Kirisaki Daiichi's Bad Boy and Teiko's phantom sixth man, but he'd dismissed them; if it was anything serious, he was certain Kuroko would come to him himself, now that their relationship was on the rocky but steady path to recovery.

He had a very poor opinion of the Kirisaki Daiichi player, the other having done little out of the ordinary to impress him. But, he thought, as he stared at the photo Aomine had sent him, on which Kuroko's face was dusted with a light blush as he tried to unsuccessfully tug down the black miniskirt, the clearly too-big jersey slipping off one shoulder, and the gap between the skirt and top of the stockings exposing pale, unblemished skin of his thighs, he reckoned that he could learn to get along with Hanamiya Makoto if it meant more of that kind of pictures.

That opinion was shattered not ten seconds later when Kise sent him a picture with the Uncrowned King kissing Kuroko's cheek, the latter's face considerably more flustered than before, and the smirk of the Kirisaki player visible even on the grainy 2D image. Akashi felt a sadistic smirk forming on his own lips.

Seems like he'll have to reacquaint himself with his trusty old scissors.

Chapter Text

Thing is, Kuroko thought, sighing inwardly as Kagami sent him another ‘stealthy’ (according to the redhead) look; thing is, he liked hanging out with Hanamiya. Not in the same way as he liked hanging out with Aomine when they were back in Teiko, or with Kagami at Maji Burger after a particularly gruelling training session, but he enjoyed the raven's company nonetheless. 

Yes, the other was rude, judgemental, impatient, and with an irritating fondness for profanity, and the bluenette absolutely despised his rough play on the basketball court, but he had absolutely no expectations of Kuroko whatsoever, and that realisation was almost liberating. Due to school work, conflicting schedules, basketball practice, and the sheer distance separating them, when they did meet, both had quickly learned to shed any silly expectations they might've had at the door.

Sometimes, Kuroko mused, feeling almost guilty, (and rather bemused), Hanamiya was like his escape, the way basketball had been at the start of middle school. If, when they were together, and he didn't feel like speaking at all, the other wouldn't even think to ask if he was okay, just let him mull over things in silence and sometimes offer alcohol. ("Because that always helps." Hanamiya had once said, and when Kuroko had raised an eyebrow and asked "Does it really?" the other had snorted and rolled his eyes. "Of course it fucking doesn't, dumbass. But it makes you forget." and Kuroko had been startled to realise that he was not the only one who wore a mask among them.) 

Other times, it was Hanamiya who broke, though the raven's shattering manifested in a different way, and every time it happened, Kuroko could not help but liken the boy to a tornado; his anger was quick and ruthless and all-consuming, and nothing was safe from it. Kuroko had tried to calm the other the first time and had earned a punch to the gut that left him winded for his efforts; another time, he'd tried to hold him back, but despite their similar heights, Hanamiya was much stronger physically and had shrugged him off like he weighted nothing and continued on his path of destructiveness. But Kuroko was an observer at heart and he catalogued and he learned, so he knew that when Hanamiya was even more snappy and cruel and taunting when he made a mistake, or lost the game, him snapping was merely a matter of time. So when the next time did come, when Hanamiya threw the shogi board off the kotatsu, scattering pieces everywhere, screaming and cursing as he threw and broke and ripped books and notes and whatever he could get his hands on in blind rage, Kuroko merely stayed silent, collected the pieces and put the game away and busied himself in the kitchen, making tea and kimchi, (the raven's favourite food) staying silent to the other's rage. And when he was done, he collected his creation and went back to the kotatsu, sitting himself down, the tea and the meal laid out before him, before he sighed and called out to the furious teen. "Makoto." and the other turned, eyes that blazed like an inferno was raging inside them zeroing in on him and Kuroko made sure his impassive mask was faultless as they stared each other down, and after a few seconds Hanamiya's eyes left his and flickered to the tea and the food, and as his scowl faded, he threw his head back and laughed that condescending laugh of his, startling the bluenette. (but as he came and settled down across from him, muttering disdainfully about how Kuroko was 'like a fucking wife if not worse', the bluenette noted the traitorous corner of Hanamiya's mouth that was quirked up in wry amusement, and as the tension fully dissipated from his shoulders when he dug into the meal, Kuroko had no qualms about counting that particular battle as his victory.) 

Yet, as he walked beside Kagami, sighing as another failed 'inconspicuous' look was directed at him, he realised that the redhead would not understand. He would gape and freak and question but ultimately not understand because Kagami was simple. He was kind, sometimes dense, and a basketball loving idiot, but that was it. Whereas Kuroko was like Hanamiya; all layers and masks and façades and double meanings, the only difference between them being that he clung to what was right rather than what felt right to him. But he owed the other more than that, so he grudgingly accepted his fate and broke the silence. 

"Whatever's troubling you, Kagami-kun, I assure you, you don't have to be afraid to share it with me." and when the redhead visibly relaxed in relief, Kuroko could not help adding teasingly, "Your thinking face looked painful." chuckling quietly as the other spluttered, surprised and indignant. 

"That!" Kagami yelled, surprising the shadow, the other's finger pointing at his amused face, "That's my problem!" 

Kuroko blinked, though he was almost certain he knew what the other was referring to, he wanted him to say it. "My face, Kagami-kun?" he asked, feigning cluelessness. 

"No, you idiot," the other grumbled, eyes narrowing. "You know damn well it's not your face." and it spoke of the depth of their bond that the redhead saw through his farce. Kuroko sighed, resigned. "Hai, Kagami-kun. I know, I apologise." 

Kagami, to Kuroko's surprise, sighed too. "It's your partnership with that bastard Hanamiya that's my problem. I think he's changed you and I don't like it." 

Kuroko frowned. "It's not a partnership, Kagami-kun, Makoto-kun and I are not married." he ignored how green Kagami got at the mere suggestion. "Makoto-kun is my friend, just like you or Aomine-kun or the rest of Seirin." the word sounded odd out loud, even to him, but it was better than voicing his thoughts about the other being his 'escape'; he was sure Kagami would well and truly freak out then. 

"Eugh, don't put me in the same group as that bastard!" Kagami scowled, then added something that nearly made Kuroko's blood boil. "Did you forget what he did to Kiyoshi-senpai? What he very nearly did to Hyuga?" 

Kuroko spoke only when he was certain he wouldn't say something he'd later regret. "No, I didn't forget." he murmured slowly. "But... We don't talk about that." Kagami stared at him, surprised. "You don't talk about your games?" he asked, to which Kuroko shook his head. "We don't talk about basketball. At all. It's... Better that way." he looked to the side as he spoke, remembering the last time they'd somehow gotten onto the topic of basketball and he winced inwardly at the ghost pain of the fist that had come in contact with his ribs, and the tingle in his knuckles when he remembered how he had retaliated, punching the raven on his smug face; remembering how angry he'd been, thinking that he hadn't shouted that much since he berated Kagami in their first game against Shuutoku. 

His gaze was suddenly drawn to the redhead in question; the other was shaking his head, looking almost disappointed. "That's not healthy for you, Kuroko." he stated, and the bluenette couldn't help himself; that being the last comment he expected; he snorted. Then, thinking of just how right the other was, he calmed down, pondering, and nodded slowly. Kagami stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "Trust me, Kagami-kun," he finally murmured, looking up at his light with a fond expression. "I know." 

But he also knew that he wouldn't have it any other way. 

 In a way, he'd known that the minute it would come to light that they were actually persevering with this odd friendship of theirs, there'd be a lot of people who'd have something to say. 

But neither he nor Hanamiya, for all the other's scheming and genius, could have predicted the sheer scale of the metaphorical shitstorm that would take place at the news, with his old teammates at the epicentre.

I. Kaijo 

It was a weekend in September, and it was much hotter than it had any right to be considering the season, too hot to sit inside for longer than five minutes without going crazy. With that in mind, Kuroko grabbed a small cooler and packed a few ice lollies and drinks, instructing Hanamiya, who stood, smirking, propped against the doorframe leading to his kitchen, and making some sarcastic comment about domesticity which Kuroko just shook his head at, (for all his commentary and bravado, the heat was getting even to him as he was reduced to black basketball shorts and a loose white shirt,) to grab some books and a shogi board before he dragged the raven outside, unwilling to spend any longer inside lest he go crazy. 

"You're taking me out for a picnic, Tetsuya?" the other crooned, fluttering his eyelashes mockingly. Kuroko shrugged, trying to remain indifferent even as he felt he would faint any minute, "You're welcome to stay inside and boil, Makoto-kun." he grumbled, the heat greatly reducing his tolerance of the other's antics. It was a testament of how relaxed Makoto was when he only shrugged and smirked, falling into step with Kuroko as the bluenette led them to the park. A few other people had brought out their blankets and some snacks to enjoy the last few rays of sun before what would no doubt be a very cold winter. But Kuroko, taking one look at Hanamiya's equally pale complexion and irritated scowl as he gazed at the sunbathers, led them over to a shaded space under one of the trees close to one of the 'secret' entrances into the park. Having laid it out, Kuroko flopped face down on the blanket, enjoying the temporary cool provided by the shade. Hanamiya snorted and settled down (much more gracefully) beside him, setting up the shogi board then taking out a book when he was done. They lay in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the relaxed aura that was so rare to come by considering their usually packed schedules and Hanamiya's workaholic personality. Finally, Kuroko dragged himself up, taking out the ice lollies and chucking one at Makoto's head, who, to the bluenette's chagrin, caught it deftly, smirking. "How rude, Kuroko-kun." he chastised mockingly, hand over his breast in mock indignation. Kuroko snorted rather disgracefully, but played along regardless. "Will you forgive me if I let you be white?" Hanamiya had an odd quirk of preferring to have his opponent start and react accordingly, but Kuroko rarely humoured him since he himself hated starting. At his offer, the raven's smirk grew and he settled back on his hands, gesturing towards the board set up between them in a much too grandiose fashion. "Be my guest." he drawled lazily.

Kuroko popped his lolly in his mouth, wiped the sweat off his brow, made sure he was comfortable and began.

They'd been playing for about an hour, trading offhand comments that ranged from casual observation to borderline insults, the uncomfortable heat almost forgotten, when there was a sudden commotion by the way into the park, but before Kuroko had any time to react, there was a startled "Kurokocchi?!" that had him groaning inwardly, much to Makoto's amusement; it was much too hot to deal with Kise. "Why are you here, and with him?!" the blond nearly screeched, while Hanamiya quirked an amused eyebrow, but refrained from commenting just yet.

"We were playing shogi, Kise-kun, and enjoying the silence." (he never claimed he was a pleasant person when the weather got so hot he could feel his already flimsy shirt sticking to his back with sweat that, for once, had nothing to do with basketball) still, he eyed the rest of the Kaijo team that kept trickling in behind the blond, those who'd played last year widening their eyes as their gaze flickered between Kuroko and his companion. "But, more importantly, why are you here?" he questioned, not impolitely.

It was Kise's turn to stare at him in surprise. "Don't you know?" he asked. "Your coach organised a practice match between your team and ours." Kuroko did a double-take; he was sure that even if Riko or one of his senpais didn't inform him of this development, then Kagami would no doubt demand the bluenette walk with him to the game. He went to fish out his phone from his pocket only to realise it was not there, even though he was certain he'd brought it with him. Puzzled, he glanced at the raven, asking; "Makoto-kun, have you seen my phone?" studiously ignoring Kise's startled noise at how he referred to the teen, "No, I haven't seen it, Tetsuya." the other replied, also ignoring Kise's apparent despair at the familiarity. "Want me to help you look for it?" he asked innocently. Kuroko froze as his gaze slowly moved to the other's face, eyes narrowing, suspicion rising. Too innocently.

"Makoto-kun." The icy quality of his voice made Kise flinch, but Makoto was still lounging comfortably, as if used to this particular tone. (he probably was, Kuroko reckoned. It was, after all, his 'stop drinking so much' and 'you're playing dirty and I hate it.' and 'I know you're a Bad Boy, but this is bordering on asshole' voice) so he gazed at the other with as much of his own ire and assertiveness as he could muster and said, "I would like my phone back, please."

Hanamiya's grin was more sickly-sweet than even Imayoshi's. "I have no idea what you mean, Tetsuya-kun." he crooned. "But frankly, I'm hurt that you think I'd resort to such crude tricks." Kise snorted, disbelieving, but one look from Hanamiya had him quiet again.

Kuroko's eyes narrowed further and he leaned forward, going for a more direct approach, hand reaching for the other's pocket, but the raven was quicker and a pale hand shot out and wrapped around his wrist, successfully aborting its motion. "Tetsuya!" Makoto was too good at feigning surprise. "I'll have you know I don't even kiss on the first date, much less what you're planning!" he exclaimed, faux indignation almost perfect, if not the small glint in his eye and the muffled snort at the interesting shade of green Kise and some of the Kaijo regulars had turned. Kuroko was still angry, but the tips of his ears burned, not yet immune to the innuendos the other could dish out, and he grudgingly retracted his hand. "Quit messing around and give me my phone back, Hanamiya." he ordered, his embarrassment making him lose his patience.

"Oh, but Tetsuya," the other murmured, Kuroko's name sounding like sin when it rolled off his tongue, and he leaned forward till there was less than an inch between them, looking the bluenette up and down suggestively as he continued. "I haven't even started 'messing around' with you yet." Kise made a very distressed sound, drawing Hanamiya's attention, and Kuroko, quickly regaining his wits, used the other's momentary distraction to lunge for his pocket, what he lacked with speed compensated for with Misdirection and he fished his phone out, quickly moving away before the other could catch him. He flipped his phone open and groaned quietly at what he saw.

"I'm going to kill you, Makoto-kun." he promised nonchalantly as he scrolled through the dozens of missed messages and phone calls. "Slowly." he added, when he discovered a particularly violent one from Riko, "and painfully." as he found one from Kagami going 'you better not be hanging with that bastard again'. He looked up from his phone, finding a very (worryingly) satisfied Makoto and a terrified, wide-eyed Kise who was staring at him like he'd just pulled Misdirection on him.

"T-that was scary, Kurokocchi!!" the blond wailed, falling to his knees and draping himself over the bluenette. "That's not normal! It's Akashicchi who's the scary one!! Not Kurokocchi!! Kurokocchi is meant to be the cute one!" some of Kise's teammates sighed while others facepalmed and shot apologetic looks at Kuroko, but the blond model remained clueless to the exasperated aura the boy he was smothering was exuding.

Kuroko's eye twitched, making Hanamiya cackle gleefully. "I'm sure Akashi-kun would love to hear that, Kise-kun." the stoic teen muttered ominously.

Kise paled, drawing away slightly. "Kurokocchi wouldn't dare." But he didn't sound as certain as he would have before. Kuroko didn't speak, didn't try to deny or confirm, but when he looked at the blond, his eyes clearly said try me. By then, Kise had fully disentangled himself from Kuroko and turned to face Hanamiya, eyes narrowed, pining the raven with an accusatory gaze. "What have you done to Kurokocchi?" he asked coldly, and Kuroko briefly wondered, not for the first time, if Kise was bipolar, with how his demeanour could do a 180 in the space of two seconds flat. He quickly dismissed the thought in favour of grabbing the blond by his shoulders and turning to face him. "Kise-kun." he started. "Makoto-kun didn't do anything to me. What even gave you such an idea?" to his surprise, the look in Kise's eyes softened and he raised his hand and gently poked him in the temple, smiling, small, but genuine. "It's your eyes, Kurokocchi. They're different." he murmured quietly, intimately. "And I'm not sure if I like the change." Kuroko barely managed to mask a wince, Kise's words reminding him of Kagami's, and his own ones to Aomine when the other started to change, all the way back in middle school, but he shut that train of thought down before it could fully form; that was not a pleasant memory, and there was a time and place for such reminiscing, and this was not it. He focused back on the situation at hand, but before he could even think of responding, he felt arms wrapping around his middle and a chin being propped on his shoulder. "I've got no idea what he's on about, do you, Tetsuya?" Makoto drawled, eyeing Kise up, his breath fanning over Kuroko's neck (deliberately, Kuroko knew, but he still struggled to suppress a shiver and an amused exhale alerted him to the fact that his efforts were in vain) but it seemed that Hanamiya was not done, and he added, "Your eyes are prefect." his tone sounding reverent, and it was only through having been around the raven so often for the last few months that Kuroko knew just how much the other was fighting not to burst out laughing as he uttered those words, and he sighed inwardly.

Unfortunately, Kise, not being privy to such knowledge, froze, eyes widening as they took in the scene before him, lost his balance as he fell back in shock, landing on his bum as he gazed between the two, "A-are - wait...  You and-! What??" Kuroko didn't answer, confused by Kise's rambling and hoping the blond would elaborate, and Hanamiya also remained silent, but, as Kuroko could not see his face, he did not know if the other also didn't understand the confusing rambling, or was simply keeping quiet to mess with Kise. (if he really thought about it, the latter was much more likely. Hanamiya might not always be the Class A asshole he knew him to be around Kuroko, but he was still the same person he'd played in the Winter Cup qualifiers, and that Hanamiya would definitely do the latter.)

Suddenly, Kise jumped up, as if burnt, and practically dragged the rest of the Kaijo team away, meeting no resistance or abuse now that Kasamatsu was at university, muttering something unintelligible under his breath.

Kuroko sighed when they were finally out of his sight. "That was unnecessary, Makoto-kun." he admonished, trying to detach the raven from his person. But Hanamiya's arms tightened around him, growing more uncomfortable by the second, squeezing till it was impossible to breathe and holding on until a small panic rose up in the bluenette and he scrabbled at the raven's arms, and then they loosened and Makoto backed away with a small chuckle, as if near strangling Kuroko was just fun and games to him. (Kuroko refused to think that it probably was) Instead, he glared at Hanamiya as he struggled to get his breath back, the other staring back at him evenly, as he spoke, "Oh, Tetsuya, but fucking with people is just so much fun." he crooned, the, by now, familiar glint of insanity shining in his eyes, putting Kuroko on edge.

 "It won't be fun when Kise-kun relays all that back to my team." the bluenette argued, to which Hanamiya just laughed. "Oh, but then that won't be my problem, will it?" he taunted, unaffected, his, as Kuroko had dubbed it, 'asshole smirk' on display. But the bluenette was not to be deterred, and he stood up, a look of 'I'll make it your problem' on his face, smirking inwardly at the other's surprised look, but whether it was at his sudden movement or the promise in his eyes, he had no idea. Instead, he spoke, "You have the keys to my house. Clean this up," he gestured to their 'picnic', "I have a match to play." and he walked away, leaving the other laughing in his wake.

 (He'd learnt quickly that the other was much more versed in the art of witty, snappy comebacks than him, and Kuroko's biggest strength in arguments was his deadpan expression; but that was something Hanamiya was rarely affected by due to his frequent exposure to Furuhashi, so he had to think up other ways to get back at Hanamiya when the other threw him off, tripped him up in their little games. And he had. Never let it be said that Kuroko Tetsuya didn't give as good as he got.

 That was why, when he'd realised the other must've taken his keys too when he'd somehow nicked his phone, he didn't mention it, knowing the other wouldn't think he'd realise till it was too late. Showing that he had realised, and all but ordering Makoto around had made the raven see two truths: number one, his assumption about Kuroko had been wrong. Number two, was that although Hanamiya had the psychotic edge on him, it was not enough to make the bluenette cower and submit. The whole scheme, the act, the teasing was, Kuroko knew, crazy, dangerous, manipulative and probably outright wrong, but it was how they worked, how they fell together; it was their little game.)

And their little game, he frowned inwardly, was, oddly enough, the only real way they had to really get to know each other, to learn the things that mattered about the other. Kuroko, being a quiet, private person, was not in the habit of easily offering up information about himself. Hanamiya, on the other hand, was an avid believer in the notion that the more you give, the less you become. That belief, coupled with the fact that the raven considered himself a puppet master and could not have a measly puppet using something he'd said to cut the strings, led to the other being almost paranoid of the information he surrendered.

 But they needed to learn somehow, and the one thing that kept popping into the bluenette's mind was what the Kirisaki Daiichi captain had once told him; he said that he loved studying people when they were caught off-guard, because he said that their reactions when least expecting a stimulus were the most genuine you'd ever see, and thus it was the best way to really judge character. Kuroko, remembering all the people he'd unintentionally scared with his lack of presence, could not help but grudgingly agree. Thus, this little game of theirs was born; a mutual need to know more about the other, but also a shared unwillingness to be the one to offer first. Hanamiya's guard was the easiest to penetrate when the other was drunk, but due to Kuroko's personal aversion to alcohol, that tended to be the time he exploited least. Another, he was surprised to discover, was when he acted out of character. Hanamiya was much like Momoi in a way; an almost compulsive information gatherer, and he used that information to get ahead, whether in social interaction or in a game. But, also like Momoi, he could not prepare himself for something he never saw with his own eyes or heard, and so Kuroko occasionally found himself startling a laugh, a raised eyebrow, or a slight widening of the eyes out of the elusive raven, meticulously recording each and every reaction, trying to get to the bottom of who Hanamiya Makoto is, if you look underneath the sarcasm, the sadism, and the cruel ambition. So far, the picture that he could piece together was interesting enough that he stayed.

Kise had, predictably, told Kagami all about what he'd witnessed at the park before their game (the redhead didn't outwardly confront him, but Kuroko knew from the disappointed looks the other kept shooting him) and the blond had unintentionally rendered himself and Kagami useless, both playing distractedly, making more turn-overs than baskets, resulting in their respective coaches subbing them off half way through the second quarter. Kuroko had, to Kise's surprise, stayed on court for three quarters, varying between normal passes and staying in the shadows and utilising Misdirection to its full potential, keeping the Kaijo team constantly on their toes. Seirin had lost, barely, but still, Kagami and Kiyoshi's absence under the basket making it hard to gain rebounds on either end, Hyuga too distracted to land his threes, both teams too fatigued by the sudden heat to play full out. Afterwards, Kuroko had been cornered by Riko and Hyuga who thoroughly chewed him out for not answering his phone and almost being late and told him to straight out 'kiss and make up' with Kagami, because neither of their his heads were in the game and it was detrimental to their performance as a team.

So he had tried to make up. He straight out acknowledged that what Kise had told the redhead was true, sat through a lecture on how irresponsible he was being, how he was too trusting towards their rival, and let the other ramble on till he was talking about how he should all but kick the other out from his life, but by then, Kuroko had had enough, and he stood up, telling Kagami to sit down, because he had something to say too, damn it. He explained then, why exactly he enjoyed the Kirisaki Daiichi captain's presence, and, as he'd thought, the redhead had gaped and argued and struggled to understand, but when Kuroko had crumpled in defeat, all the fight gone out of him, he'd gone quiet and hesitantly patted him on the back and helped him stand, wholeheartedly assuring him that he'd try to be more tolerant of his friendship because he wasn't aware of it before but he could see now how much it meant to the petite bluenette. Kuroko had smiled tiredly and thanked his light, promising to invite him for Maji Burger sometime soon, and then he'd turned and left, heading home, exhausted by the heat, the arguments, and the day's events.

(And when he got home, only to find Hanamiya lounging comfortably on his sofa, some irrelevant programme playing on the TV, a vanilla milkshake and two sake cups already waiting on the coffee table, he couldn't help a small smile as he fell gracelessly on the sofa, forehead cushioned by Hanamiya's thigh, hand tiredly swatting at the other when he started shaking with laughter at his less than dignified position. Makoto allowed him a few minutes of playing dead before he started shoving at his shoulder so he was at least partly sat up, shoving the milkshake in his hands, the familiar sweetness marginally improving Kuroko's mood. Then, the raven filled two cups with his favourite poison, snatching the, by then empty, milkshake cup from Kuroko's grasp and replacing it with the alcohol. "Down it." he merely instructed, and when the bluenette did so without further prompting, he just chuckled and refilled their cups, and a few minutes later found them both pleasantly warm and loose around the edges, the earlier tension and fatigue that had been present in the line of Kuroko's shoulders as he stumbled home gone: instead, he was slumped against Makoto's shoulder, and the raven sneaked another secret picture to add to the folder succinctly labelled 'drunk Tetsuya'. Yet again, he had the amusing job of shepherding the bluenette to bed, though this time it was his own. As they got to Kuroko's bedroom, the shadow player lost his balance and tumbled onto the bed, never letting go of his grip on Makoto and therefore effectively pulling the raven on top of him, groaning at the sudden weight on his back but too lazy to try and shake it off. Hanamiya laughed, piecing together the leftover braincells to muster enough effort to roll off, so he was only half-crushing the bluenette. Spent, he stole Kuroko's pillow and buried his feet under the blanket and drifted off.

 In the morning, Kuroko woke up to discover the entirety of his right side was numb, crushed by the unforgiving weight that was Hanamiya Makoto, and, chuckling at the drool coming out of the other's mouth, he came to a startling realisation: Makoto hadn't once asked what had actually happened during the game that had him so exhausted, yet he'd still known exactly what to do to get the bluenette to relax. Realising how rare it was to find someone like that, Kuroko came to the conclusion that he'd go through Kagami's disappointed rants and stares all over again and even the combined wrath of the Generation of Miracles that was bound to be bestowed on his person, if it meant keeping the oddball that was Hanamiya Makoto in his life. But before that, he was going to take a picture, because a drooling Hanamiya was too great of an opportunity to pass up.)

II. Shuutoku

He'd heard, by word of Riko, that Hanamiya was going to be having a practice match with Shuutoku, and he'd been worried, knowing that the raven did not care about the difference between a sparring game and a competition. That was how he'd found himself at Midorima's school, having located the gym easily. He kept to the onlookers’ balcony, waiting for the teams to arrive. This being a Saturday, and a practice game meant that he was the only spectator, but he knew nobody on the court would spot him, his weak presence making sure of that. Nobody apart from Hanamiya, it seemed, because the moment the Kirisaki Daiichi team walked into the gym, the raven's eyes flitted over to him and he separated from the group, making his way upstairs.

 "Tetsuya." the other greeted, smirk in place. "What are you doing here?"

 "I came to watch the game." Kuroko murmured, not liking the way Hanamiya snorted. "Bullshit." he denied, turning almost disappointed eyes on him. "You came to make sure I didn't kill your precious teammate."

Kuroko sighed. "I know you don't care about the difference between a practice game and a tournament, but please, don't intentionally injure them too much."  he requested.

 Makoto snarled. "I'll injure them however, whenever and wherever I please." he hissed, eyes narrowing, then they flitted over Kuroko's shoulder and something unpleasant flashed through the bottle-green pools, and his tone turned almost hurt. "Besides, you can't blame me if someone gets injured accidently; that's just unfair, Tetsuya."

 The bluenette sighed, knowing that further pleading would prove futile. Choosing a different approach, his eyes narrowed. "Then you're going to show all your cards in a practice game? How desperate are you?" he accused, knowing the desired effect had been achieved when Hanamiya narrowed his eyes and grabbed him by the collar, bringing him to eye-level.

"The fuck did you say?" he snarled, but as his eyes fell on the victorious smirk on Kuroko's face, he burst out laughing, letting go of the bluenette as he reached up to wipe his imaginary tears. "Good!" he praised, "I nearly knocked your fucking teeth out just then, well done!!" Kuroko knew he shouldn't take it as a compliment, he knew, but he also knew that, for just a split second, Hanamiya had fallen for his taunt and that was a win in his books. "Alright, I'll make you a deal." the other proposed suddenly. "I won't injure any of your precious little friends too much, but next time, when I feel like it, I'm calling you over and you're taking me out drinking." which was code for 'next time I have a shitty day, I'll have you pay for all the alcohol I'm gonna drown myself in because I'm a firm believer in forgetting about my problems and pretending they don't exist rather than dealing with them' Kuroko thought. "Deal?"

 The bluenette thought it over and nodded once. "Yeah, deal."

 And alarm bells only started going off in his mind when Hanamiya smirked, soft and dirty and victorious, and a startled, "Kuroko?!" that was all too familiar to the bluenette made his stomach churn unpleasantly.

"M-Midorima-kun?" he asked as he turned around, hating his voice for breaking slightly.

 "What is the meaning of this, Kuroko?" the other demanded, Takao who was at his side sending Kuroko an almost pitying look.

 "Ah, I'm afraid you're going to have to be more specific, Midorima-kun." Kuroko replied, sounding the most sheepish the shooting guard had ever heard him be.

 "You don't drink." Midorima stated bluntly, eyes narrowing as they flickered between Hanamiya and his ex-teammate. At that, Makoto had laughed again, faux surprise clearly fooling Midorima as he gazed at Kuroko, "What's he on about, Tetsuya? Of course you do!" then, turning to the Shutoku duo, he exclaimed, "Here, I even have pictures!" cheerfully. By the time Kuroko registered which pictures the other was referring to, and uttered a startled "Wait, no, Makoto-kun!!" the teen had already showed Takao and Midorima the pictures where he was clearly drunk and draped over random things ranging from his bed, Makoto's sofa, Makoto's bed, and Makoto himself; Kuroko watched with raising trepidation as with each picture, the scowl on Midorima's face deepened and by the end Takao looked amused while Midorima murderous.

 "Whose bed is that?" Takao asked at one point, and Kuroko groaned as Makoto looked like Christmas had come early this year. "Ah, that one's mine."

 It seemed like Midorima had had enough and adjusted his glasses as he glared at Kuroko. "You should know that I disapprove of this... habit of yours, Kuroko. It's disgusting and dangerous, and while I expected it from Aomine, I never thought you would be so foolish as well." Which one? Kuroko was tempted to ask, the drinking or the one that looks like I’m sleeping around with my rival?

 "Midorima-kun, I-!" Kuroko felt the need to explain himself, to explain the circumstances behind each of the pictures, but the taller teen cut him off.

 "Later. I have a game to play now." the other interrupted, already walking away. "Come, Takao."

 "Hai, hai, coming, Shin-chan!" the pointguard called, before he turned to Kuroko. "Don't mind Shin-chan, he's just being his usual tsundere self. But I can tell you he's actually just worried you'll get hurt." his eyes shifted to Hanamiya who was observing their interaction with obvious amusement. "And thanks for, y'know, making that deal. I like being able to walk off the court." and with one last wink, he turned to chase after Midorima.

 Kuroko turned his disapproving stare on Hanamiya, who had not stopped looking amused. "Must you make all my old teammates think we're sleeping together?" he questioned bluntly.

Makoto laughed, sounding, for once, like he was genuinely amused. "I don't make them do anything, Tetsuya, I merely plant reasonable doubt and watch where that takes them." and Kuroko was angry because he knew the other was right. Hanamiya hadn't explicitly said anything. He hadn't even implied much. But he knew what conclusions both, Kise and Midorima had arrived at, and he needed to take his frustration out on someone, and he knew Makoto wouldn't hold it against him because he himself often did the same thing.

 "Fine." he relented, sighing. "But if you lose, I want a vanilla milkshake."

 "Like hell you do." the other spat back, but with no real bite behind it, and he smirked. "Make sure to cheer for me, Tetsuya!"

 Kuroko was suddenly really tempted to take a leaf out of Kasamatsu's book and kick the raven down the stairs.

 (he stayed and watched the game regardless, and, by not playing, was able to really notice Makoto as a captain from the perspective of an impartial observer. And he was struck with the realisation that Hanamiya was good. Even though he was still not fond of the rough play, he could appreciate that the other did not lack talent; his passes were always on time and on target, his steals made easy baskets, he was never sloppy, whether on offense or defense, and the odd way he cooperated with Seto was almost fascinating to watch. Kuroko acknowledged that the other was more than deserving of his title as an Uncrowned King.)

In the end, Kirisaki Daiichi had lost, but not overwhelmingly so, and Shutoku, though all beaten and bruised, had all walked off the court by themselves with no need for stretchers, so Kuroko had decided that Hanamiya had held up his end of the deal. Something caught his eye, and he looked over to the raven, surprise evident in his eyes when he realised that no one on his team looked like someone who'd just lost. In fact, they all looked like everything had gone to some kind of preconceived plan. And when Hanamiya raised his eyes to meet his, a smirk so confident and feral on his face, Kuroko knew that his assumption had been correct. After all, everything was a game to Hanamiya.

 (in the end, he still had to buy his own milkshake.) 

 III. Kirisaki Daiichi

 It was a Friday in-mid October, and Kuroko had the day off. In fact, all of Seirin High did, because some pipe had burst and the school was closed for the day to allow the necessary time to fix it.

 As a result, Kuroko found himself looking for something to do for the day. Riko had advised them all to take the day off from basketball, so that was out of the question, he'd already been to the library and taken Nigou for a walk, and he'd taken the necessary trek to Maji Burger to purchase his favourite milkshake. Now it was one in the afternoon and he was out of things to do. Suddenly, just as he was debating taking Nigou for another walk, his phone vibrated, three times in quick succession.

-Seto fell asleep during class. Again.

-Update; Hara is drawing dicks on his face.

-Update #2; I gave him a permanent marker.

Kuroko couldn't help the startled laugh that escaped him as he considered a reply.

-With 1 being 'not at all' and ten being 'very', how heavy a sleeper is he?   -11 came the instantaneous reply

-Hara's the one with the chewing gum, right?

-Yeah?

-Put them together.

There was a long pause, so long that Kuroko thought the other didn't understand, but then his phone vibrated and opened onto an MMS message, and he snorted when he saw pink bubblegum tangled in the obviously still asleep Seto's hair, and what was an unmistakable outline of a penis drawn crudely on his face. The caption read; -this is the first time I'd seen Hara willingly give up his gum. You should come see this, Tetsuya; our masterpiece doesn't look half as impressive over the phone.

 Just as Kuroko was about to write a 'thank you, but I can't', his fingers paused over the keys. Why couldn't he? He had the day off, didn't he? With that in mind, he made his decision and grabbed his phone, wallet and a jacket and headed out the door to the train station. 

Time to pay Makoto-kun a visit.

He arrived in less than an hour, the train ride being the most direct route to get from one end of Tokyo to the other, but then came the tricky part; actually locating Hanamiya's school. He found it, in the end, but had spent much longer than he'd like to admit trying to get the attention of one of the staff at the train station, choosing to ask for directions rather than wonder around hopelessly. By the time he got to the gates, students were already spilling out, none  sparing him a second glance even though he stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the black and pink of Kirisaki uniform with his black v-neck, blue jeans and white-with-teal-edges cardigan (it was still oddly warm for October). Locating the gym was also not easy considering how grand the entire school was, but he located it nonetheless, choosing to watch the practice rather than approach Makoto straight out. This time, he utilised Misdirection to its full potential, not wanting to alert anyone to his presence.

 He'd had the surprising pleasure of watching the other play, but only whole sharing the court with his teammates. He had to admit, with the raven being both, coach and captain and having to do the drills he came up with himself, Kuroko had thought the other would be more lenient to his teammates since he had to suffer through them too. Whereas, in reality, the opposite proved true; Hanamiya seemed to adapt an almost 'if I can do it while watching you and planning the next drill, you should be able to do it with your eyes closed' mentality. Kuroko found his eyes glued to the raven, enthralled, greedily soaking in the Makoto he knew he could learn to handle and respect while on court. Sooner than he'd realised, practice was already over, and there was a sudden commotion taking place.  Kuroko left his post at the onlookers balcony and came down to witness what seemed to be Seto bearing down on Hara for the chewing gum still visibly sticking to his hair and the faint outlines of genitalia on his face, arriving just on time to catch  Hanamiya's annoyed, "Well if you actually stayed the fuck awake and payed attention in class, this kinda shit wouldn't keep happening to you, you fucktard!" he snapped, and although Kuroko could sense no real animosity behind the words, he would still rather advert a potential storm,  so he took that moment to make his presence known. "That's rather hypocritical coming from you, Makoto-kun," he murmured, startling all but Hanamiya, who merely looked surprised, "considering you spent most of today's lesson texting me." he finished, sighing as five pairs of eyes turned to look at him.

 "Don't push your fucking luck, Tetsuya." Hanamiya warned at the same time as the one Kuroko remembered to be Yamazaki shoved him in the chest, making him stumble slightly before he regained his balance. "Who the fuck are you? And where the fuck did you come from?!" he demanded angrily, almost worried. The boy with eyes that were even more dead than Kuroko's own ones seemed to recognise him if the bluenette were to judge based on the small downward quirk of the other's lip when he spotted him, but he  addressed Yamazaki nonetheless. "Ah, my apologies, I'm Kuroko Tetsuya, and I came to visit Makoto-kun." he introduced himself, bowing politely. Just then, he felt someone drape an arm around his shoulders and the obnoxious sound of chewing reached his ears. "Ne, Hanamiya, he's so polite~" Hara drawled, blowing a lazy bubble before he chuckled. "What the fuck is he doing around you?" 

 "As if I know." Hanamiya snapped, but was interrupted by the blunt tone of Furuhashi. "Is he the one that has you grinning at your phone like a preteen girl with a crush?" he questioned blandly.

Hanamiya snarled, but it seemed his teammates were used to it and merely continued with their, what Kuroko had suddenly realised was, teasing of the raven haired captain. "Aw, Hanamiya-chan has a little crush on a boy," Hara crooned, arm tightening around Kuroko's shoulders. "How embarrassing." even as Hanamiya was hissing threats and profanity at his insolent teammates, Kuroko found that he rather liked the pink tinge that had taken residence in the tips of the raven's ears.

 Time for payback, Makoto-kun.

 "I know other things about Makoto-kun that are embarrassing." he piped up, ignoring Hanamiya's 'don’t you fucking dare' glare. When he was sure he had the eyes of the other's teammates on him, he smirked. "He drools in his sleep." he announced, ignoring the raven's glare. "Here, I even have a picture." he echoed Makoto's words and the older teen made a move as if to snatch the phone off him, but Hara's arm had pulled him way out of the raven's reach.

 "Tetsuya, you don't want me as your enemy, trust me." Hanamiya hissed, still trying to take his phone, and Kuroko flashed him a quick, cheeky grin as he evaded him yet again. "But this is merely payback, Makoto-kun." he argued, earning a laugh from Hara.  "Where the fuck did you find him, Hanamiya-chan? Kid's got balls." he drawled. Kuroko frowned, shrugging off the lilac haired teen's arm. "I'm not a kid." he murmured disdainfully, making Hanamiya snort.

 "Enough with the pleasantries; I know I've been gradually converting you to the dark side, Tetsuya, but I didn't think you'd actually skip school for me. I have to say, I'm flattered." he mocked, walking over to stand beside the bluenette. Kuroko looked up at him, feigning innocence, but Makoto could see the teasing glint in the other's eyes. "You needn't be." he stated bluntly. "I didn't skip school; I had the day off, and I was bored, so I decided to visit you." he grinned when Hanamiya's eye twitched and he was swatted over the head. "I change my mind. You're a fucking shit, Tetsuya." the other commented, glaring, but there was a smirk on his lips. Kuroko, already used to his antics, just smiled up at him. "I learnt from the best, Makoto-kun." he teased, hearing something like a muffled snort come from one of Hanamiya's teammates, while the teen in question glared at him. "The fuck is that supposed to mean?" he snarled, but Kuroko just sent him a faux disappointed stare. "Aren't you supposed to be a genius, Makoto-kun?" he asked, frowning. Boisterous laughter cut through the silence that fell after that statement, and a hand settled on Kuroko's shoulder. When he looked up, Seto was grinning, and his eyes flickered to him before they settled on Hanamiya as he drawled, "Seems you finally found someone who can keep up with you, hm, Makoto?" he asked, hand going to ruffle Kuroko's hair, but the bluenette ducked under it, moving to stand closer to Hanamiya.

Just as Makoto opened his mouth to answer Seto, Furuhashi's deadpan voice interrupted again. "Are you two fucking?" he asked, completely nonplussed. Kuroko wasn't fazed, having half expected something like that to come up, but he could see Hanamiya was spluttering inwardly, taken off guard by the question. (it seemed as if Hanamiya was unaffected by the accusation when he was the one to prompt it, but it had thrown him off to hear it when he wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary around the bluenette.)

At the duo's silence, Yamazaki laughed. "They must be! If any of us were to say something like what he'd said, we'd have been made into shoes!"   Hanamiya remained quiet, but there was a tick forming in his left eye, and Kuroko himself was itching to perform an Ignite Pass on the teens' stomachs.    "I wonder what kinda kinky shit Hanamiya's into." Hara mused, apparently ignorant of the murderous aura forming around the two. He sauntered cheerfully over to the bluenette and popped a strawberry bubble in his face. "Won't you tell us, lil blue?" Kuroko pushed at his shoulder in distaste, gently but insistently until the other teen backed away with a laugh. "Even if I could tell you, I wouldn't, Hara-san." he divulged, prompting a snort from Hanamiya. "That's right. If you want to acquire some metaphorical 'dirt' on me," (Hanamiya was apparently not above wiggling his fingers to indicate inverted comas) "You're going to have to try a lot harder than that." at such a cocky declaration, Kuroko couldn't resist muttering "It's really not that hard." which earned him a swift smack to his behind from Hanamiya, and his indignant glare was met with the challenging glint in the raven's eyes and the laughter of his teammates.

 "Come now, Tetsuya; since you came all this way you may as well come with us." Makoto declared, wrapping a possessive arm around the bluenette's shoulders.

 "And where exactly are you going, Makoto-kun?" he inquired, but it was surprisingly Hara who answered him.

 "Why, lil blue, we're gonna hit the club!!"

'Hitting the club' apparently meant going into the first open bar they could find, settling in a booth so secluded it may have as well been outside, and ordering enough alcohol to drown a small town. Kuroko went along with it, as if in a daze, falling quickly into the easy way Hanamiya's teammates interacted with each other. The daze was broken when he, having refused to partake in taking shots of tequila, had inadvertently admitted to never having drank anything other than sake. This resulted in Hanamiya's team pooling their individual genius and money and getting a sizeable sample of every alcohol the bar had on offer, ranging from tequila to whiskey to vodka and gin and a lot of other mixtures Kuroko had less than a few seconds to appraise distrustfully before it was being shoved in his face with a joyful call of 'drink!' usually from Hara.

He'd voiced his qualms the first two or three times, but after the third shot things were already getting kinda fuzzy and he was half amused half irritated by his companions' obvious entertainment at the various faces he made as the alcohol made its way down his throat. He decided he liked some foreign brand the most, an amber coloured vodka with a sweet taste and an almost fruity, herbal tang, and he vehemently refused to try anything else after that, merely appropriating the bottle and all that was left of its contents for himself. Conversation flowed easily, all of them having been forcibly relaxed by the alcohol, while Hara's hyperactivity was only increased as had Yamazaki's trigger-happy quality, and Kuroko watched, torn between amusement and exasperation as the two butted heads for the nth time that night.

"Hara-san," Kuroko murmured, all his surviving braincells focused on not slurring. "Calm down."

 The meaning of his words seemed to completely wash over the lilac haired teen, but it was enough to make him detach himself from Yamazaki and point an indignant finger at himself. "Why am I," he hiccuped, "Hara-san, but he's," he pointed an unsteady finger at Hanamiya, "Makoto-kun?"

 "Because I'm better." the raven grouched from Kuroko's right, having singlehandedly consumed more than three quarters of a sake bottle, the alcohol making him loose limbed and childish in a way Kuroko found endlessly amusing (and endearing, though he'd rather not have to reveal the latter). The bluenette tried to piece together a reasonable explanation, but the only thing his inebriated brain managed to come up with was, "Because he's... Makoto-kun." and he frowned, knowing that that was not quite it. "And I don't know what Hara-san's name is." somehow, the last part made sense in Hara's mind because he brightened and exclaimed, "I'm Kazuya!!" and then proceeded to introduce all the other Kirisaki regulars by their birth name, and Kuroko found that neither they nor he minded the familiarity too much.

 In the end, they had been kicked out of the bar because they'd stayed right till closing time, all too drunk to really make sense of the time. Furuhashi seemed to be the only one with remaining braincells, leading the way to his house, the others following along, not even bothering to ask if they could crash at his place; as if Hanamiya, shitfaced as he was, would allow him to have a say in that matter. Somewhere in his mind, he remembered that he only had one futon in his room, but that would've only been a problem if any one of them had had any remaining energy to do anything more than collapse.

 Which was how Kuroko had woken up, groggy and hungover, only to discover he was in a dogpile; all of them piled on Furuhashi's futon, arms, legs, heads and limbs in general so tangled up it was hard to discern one body from the next. All that Kuroko knew was that his head was pillowed on someone's butt (probably the best part to have as a pillow considering they were all ridiculous athletes with abs made of rock, he thought sullenly.) and further inspection revealed that that someone was Furuhashi himself. Taking his situation-assessment further, he realised that his hip was digging (probably rather uncomfortably) into Seto's stomach, while Hara's head was pillowed in the crease of the bluenette's bent legs, and Makoto was draped over him like a blanket, head resting beside his own, (a patch of drool already forming on his shoulder,) and the raven was making little huffing breaths that made something warm bloom in Kuroko's chest as he decided that a few more minutes wouldn't hurt.

 It was during those 'few more minutes' that Furuhashi's mother had walked in, then promptly walked out of the room, only to come back with a camera in hand, snapping pictures left and right. It was not often she got to see her impassive son with someone else, much less with five someones, and as tangled up as they were in each other.

(And if one of those pictures ended up on the inside of Kuroko's locker, next to the one taken on his birthday, well, nobody beside him would ever know. It would be his little secret that the people he'd feared the most had ended up being the people he'd gained the most from.)

 Until it stopped being a secret.  

Persuading Hanamiya to do anything was not easy, but Kuroko prided himself on having the eons of patience and determination to succeed, formed by years of dealing with the forces of nature that were the Generation of Miracles as well Kagami and Nigou. Having seen Makoto coaching his team, an idea had formed in his mind; when he'd presented it to the raven though, he'd been rebutted instantly, but Kuroko didn't get to where he was now by giving up on first try.

 "Makoto-kun." he tried for the nth time.

 "No, Tetsuya."

 "Makoto-kun, but-!"

 "No!"

 "Makoto-kun?"

 "For fucks sake, I said no!!"

 "Makoto, if you just -"

 "I swear Tetsuya if you even think about finishing that sentence-!"

 "Please, Makoto-kun?"

 "Fine, fine, fuck me, alright!! Enough already!!"

Kuroko tried not to look too smug, but there was a smile on his face and a victorious glint in his eyes that earned a smack on the head from the raven, and a threat of "Make that face again and I won't do shit for you." But there was a smirk on his face, and, despite his protests, he did not look like he had lost. 

 IV. Generation of Miracles

 The Winter Cup qualifiers were going to start in a week and Akashi had called a meeting of all his old teammates in the courts where the streetball tournament had taken place.

 To his surprise, all but Kuroko had replied to his message, which was odd because the bluenette was always punctual and even when they were no longer teammates, he'd still replied to his calls. Now, as he appraised them, he noted the sheer difference in their disposition since last year. It seemed that losing to Tetsuya had done them all a world of good, even if it took much longer than he'd have liked to admit to patch up their pride. "Daiki," he addressed the ace, "do you know where Tetsuya is?"

 "Nah, he's not replying to my texts." the darker bluenette admitted, scratching the back of his neck lazily. "That's weird for Kurokocchi!!" Kise pointed out, turning worried eyes to the redhead. "What if something happened, Akashicchi?"

 "I'd be the first to know, Ryouta." he assured easily. "Nonetheless, Tetsuya should still know better than to ignore me." he smirked inwardly when Kise gulped, aware of the punishments that had befallen the unfortunate souls who'd ignored Akashi during their Teiko years.

 Suddenly, the sound of familiar laughter reached their ears, and, as if on cue, all heads turned towards the direction of the sound, eyes widening when they fell on its source. There, about two courts away from where they were stood, was Kuroko, dribbling the ball in what seemed to be a one on one against an oddly familiar raven. Seemed to, being the key words. Akashi's first realisation had been that it was not quite a one on one, and he felt something cold and heavy settle in the pit of his stomach. His second had been that he could actually see the bluenette without having to look for him, just as easily like he could see anyone else. That in itself was enough to prompt alarm bells to ring out in his mind.

"Kuro-chin is playing one on one?" Murasakibara mumbled around a lollipop, brows scrunching in confusion. "That's a first." back in Teiko, Kuroko had always politely refused to play one on one due to his inability to score, only occasionally agreeing if only to improve his defense.

 Aomine mirrored Murasakibara's frown, but more in concentration than confusion. "He's not playing one on one though."

 And before Akashi could comment on the surprisingly astute observation the other had made, Midorima spoke, forward thinking as always. "What do you want us to do, Akashi?"

 But, like before, just as he was about to answer, Kise had launched himself towards the two on the courts, a joyful call of 'Kurokocchi!' on his lips. Akashi sighed, reminding himself to talk to the blond about impulse control after this, before he turned to Midorima. "We might as well follow Ryouta."

 So follow they did, arriving on the courts just in time to witness Kuroko forcibly detaching the blond from his person and frowning up at him, Hanamiya watching the duo from beside him. "What are you doing here, Kise-kun?" the bluenette questioned quietly, wincing at the other's loud reply, "Don't you know Kurokocchi?" he all but yelled, "Akashicchi called a meeting!! They're all here with me!" he looked behind him, surprised to see the others literally behind him and chuckled sheepishly. "There they are!"

 "Tetsuya." Akashi greeted dully and Kuroko inclined his head, murmuring a quiet, "Hello, Akashi-kun." prompting a snort from the teen beside him.

 "Did you not receive my message?" he inquired curiously, eyes searching for Kuroko's bag and finding none. The bluenette had the gall to look apologetic. "Ah, no, I left my bag at Makoto-kun's place and my phone was in there." a miniscule frown pulled at Akashi's brows at the easy familiarity and the notion that Kuroko was spending considerable amounts of time in Hanamiya's home. Sensing an amused aura from the raven at his repressed frustration, he changed the topic. "Do you not find Riko-san's training programme sufficient?" he asked instead, noting the way Midorima froze at his question, only just realising that Kuroko hadn't been playing Hanamiya so much as he was being coached by him.

 "On the contrary, Akashi-kun, Riko-san is more than capable of providing challenging programmes and useful feedback, however, there are some things that she can't help me with, and that's just that. Makoto-kun here was kind enough," at that, the bluenette's eyes flickered to the other teen, a secretive smile on his face that prompted a scoff from the raven, though there was a pleased glint in his eyes that unnerved Akashi. "to offer his assistance." Kuroko finished, the smile still present.

"You could have come to me, Tetsuya." Akashi declared, trying to stamp on the disappointed feeling that bloomed in his chest, only growing when Kuroko blinked, as if surprised by the offer. "Ah, I didn't want to trouble you, Akashi-kun." he replied, but Akashi didn't miss the hesitance of his words. Hanamiya didn't either, it seemed, because the raven scoffed. "Bullshit." he called. "What Tetsuya means is that he didn't think you'd care."

 Akashi frowned at the interruption, pushing the raven's words to the back of his mind to puzzle over later, for now focusing on something that sat even more wrongly with him than the odd friendship itself; 'Tetsuya'?

 His eyes flickered to the bluenette, narrowing slightly. "Did you give him permission to address you so familiarly?" he demanded, eyeing the raven with distaste while the other just laughed condescendingly at his hypocrisy.

 Kuroko sighed, seeing the battle of egos taking place, guiltily amused. "Hai, Akashi-kun, I did." then, just because he might as well get some entertainment out of this, he added, "Although, knowing Makoto-kun, even if I didn't allow it, he'd have called me that anyway." at which Hanamiya snorted, murmuring "Damn right I would've." which earned a sharp elbow to the ribs and an annoyed mutter of 'Language, Makoto-kun!' from the bluenette. The raven scoffed, smirking. "I'll get you to swear at one point, don't you fret, Tetsuya." and Kuroko scowled, shaking his head. "That'll never happen, Makoto-kun." he denied, noticing too late the trap he'd walked into as Hanamiya smirked. "You said that about getting drunk too and now what do you know." he teased, earning disbelieving stares from the four aces present while Akashi just glared. "Is that true, Tetsuya?" and Kuroko glared at Hanamiya, eyes promising the wrath of all hell once they were alone, but nodded at Akashi. Makoto smirked, looking forward to it; an agitated Kuroko was the easiest and most hilarious to tease.

 "In that case, I must know; tell me, Tetsuya, what is the nature of this relationship of yours?" Akashi demanded, and Kuroko sighed, but Hanamiya smirked, slow and seductive and draped himself over the bluenette, arms wrapping around his neck loosely, chin propped on his shoulder. He sent Akashi a dirty look, his grin showing teeth. "We're fucking." he announced, revelling in the shocked stares of the other teens. Kuroko scowled at him and Hanamiya felt a sharp pain in his foot; the little shit had stamped on his toes! The bluenette turned to him, an annoyed look in his eyes. "Don't be so crude, Makoto." before he addressed his old teammates who stood gaping. "Ignore him. Makoto-kun is a close friend of mine, and has also agreed to coach me as of recently, but that's it. That's the extent of our relationship, Akashi-kun." he explained, inwardly wondering how many times he'd have to clarify the same thing before people would get the hint. "You've gotten violent, Tetsu." Aomine remarked, grinning. Kuroko reciprocated with a small smile of his own, but shook his head. "No, Aomine-kun. It's merely the fact that some people," he shot a meaningful look at Hanamiya who was still reclining on his shoulder, "don't appear to understand when you tell them 'no' with words." Aomine threw his head back and laughed, and something like a small smile pulled on Midorima's lips; Akashi remained nonplussed, staring disdainfully at Hanamiya till Kuroko's gaze fell on him and he frowned.

"You should know that I still disapprove of this friendship of yours, Tetsuya. I recommend you end it before you get hurt." he advised, though not unkindly, earning a surprised look from his old teammates and a snarl from Hanamiya. But the most surprising of all was Kuroko; a quiet, amused chuckle escaped the bluenette, and there was an almost fond exasperation in his gaze. "I'm sorry, Akashi-kun, but I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request; I happen to rather enjoy Makoto-kun's company. I'm afraid not even you can make me give up on it." Akashi blinked, shocked, not having expected a rejection to his advice, much less such a soft, but confident rebuttal. He'd known Kuroko had become stronger, both mentally and physically since the Winter Cup, but he didn't think the bluenette's naturally submissive disposition had also changed. Or, rather, he thought as he regarded the pleased look on Hanamiya face and the soft but determined expression in Kuroko's eyes, that he'd found someone for whom he was willing to discard that submissiveness and fight. Just as he was about to reply, there was a commotion by the way into the courts and Hanamiya snorted. "For fucks sake," He grumbled, and a fond smile  graced Kuroko's face as a cheery "Tet-chan!" rang out, and to the surprise of the Kiseki no Sedai, a lilac haired teen bounded up to Kuroko, chewing gum ever present, pulling Hanamiya off and draping an arm around the bluenette, grinning at the amused "Hello, Kazuya-kun." he received in greeting. Soon after, the rest of the Kirisaki regulars trickled in, Seto and Furuhashi sensing the tension in the air and taking one look at the scene before they moved to stand between Kuroko and Hanamiya and the Generation of Miracles, and Akashi didn't miss the protective way in which Furuhashi's dead eyes were staring them down before they flickered to Kuroko, the brunette's eyes scanning the smaller teen over, then doing the same to his captain, as if making sure they weren't injured. Yamazaki, who had ended up beside Hanamiya, was a lot less subtle in his distaste, glaring at the rainbow haired players with open hostility. Seto, who'd been standing quietly opposite Furuhashi had walked up to Kuroko, laying a surprisingly gentle hand on his shoulder. "You alright?" he asked quietly, gaze flickering from the bluenette to Hanamiya. The raven nodded mutely while Kuroko smiled. "Hai, thank you, Kentaro-kun." he replied equally as softly. The sleepy Center smiled and ruffled Kuroko's hair before moving to stand beside his captain. "Oh yeah, Kuroko, Hara had some ridiculous amount of candy on the way here so have fun escaping his clutches." Yamazaki pointed out, grinning at the bluenette who still had Hara's arm slung possessively around his shoulder, causing the shorter teen to send him an exasperated look.

 "As if Tet-chan would even want to escape my grasp, Yama-chan." the lilac haired teen shot back, popping a bubble obnoxiously as he stuck out his tongue. "Stop talking about me as if I'm not here, Kazuya-kun." Kuroko frowned, but there was a fond look in his eyes, one that Kise occasionally had directed at him back in middle school when he was being clingy and the bluenette was in a good mood. Something uncomfortable settled in the pit of the blond's stomach upon seeing it directed at another. "C'mon Furu, there's an arcade nearby, I'll wreck you at DDR!" Hara proclaimed, dragging Kuroko over to the impassive brunette, attempting to give the slightly shorter teen a noogie.

"I'm not playing DDR with you, Kazuya, go pester Yamazaki." the dead-eyed teen denied, using the moment Hara was pouting to retrieve the bluenette from his grasp. "Fine, fine, be like that you big killjoy." Hara relented, skipping over to Yamazaki to nag the redheaded teen to play with him, Hanamiya and Seto watching in exasperation but with a hint of amusement in their eyes. "Do you think that, if we go, he'll shut up?" Seto inquired lazily, grinning at the smaller raven. Hanamiya sighed, shaking his head, but nodded. "Hara," he called, grabbing the hyper teen's attention. "lead the way." he instructed, snorting at the excited woop the other let out, dragging the exasperated shooting guard along, the two geniuses following behind while Kuroko and Furuhashi made up the back. 

 "I see you've replaced us, Kuroko."  Midorima's voice halted the bluenette in his tracks, and he was suddenly grateful for the comforting hand Furuhashi placed on the small of his back when he felt him tense up. "'Replaced'?" the brunette echoed, a hint of disbelief colouring his dispassionate tone. "Don't kid yourself. We're nothing like you." he admonished, a frown pulling at his lips. "Koujiro-kun is right, Midorima-kun. I have not, nor do I plan on replacing you. I consider all of you as my dear friends, and I'm very glad we managed to see past our differences at the Winter Cup and rekindle our friendship. I treasure all the memories we have together, and look forward to making new ones." Kuroko assured, giving a small smile to the surprised shooting guard. "However, despite that, I still enjoy making new friends, and whether or not you agree with my choice of them is none of my concern; I happen to like Makoto-kun's teammates and enjoy hanging out with them. It's a very gratifying, liberating friendship and, unfortunately for you perhaps, nothing you can say or do can make me let go of it." Kuroko announced, the same steely resolve in his eyes as they had all countlessly witnessed on court. Midorima nodded in response, surprised by the declaration, but something like a small smile bloomed on his face. "Very well." he acknowledged, reaching up to adjust his glasses. "I shall see you at the Winter Cup then. Do not lose until I beat you." he removed, at which Kuroko smiled, hearing the grudging tone of respect in the other's voice as what it was. "Naturally, Midorima-kun." he agreed, smiling.

 "Oi, Tetsu, your old teammates giving you trouble?" Seto called, and and Kuroko saw Aomine freeze at the nickname, eyes going wide. "Not at all, Kentaro-kun." he replied, then turned to his friends. "Apologies for missing the meeting. Thank you for your concern towards my safety, Akashi-kun, although I assure you that it's misplaced." he bowed, a faint smile on his face. "And it's like Midorima-kun said; I shall see you all at the Winter Cup. See you soon, Murasakibara-kun, Midorima-kun, Aomine-kun, Kise-kun, Akashi-kun. Take care." and with that, he walked away, Furuhashi's hand falling from the small of his back to his hip as he led the bluenette out of the courts and after his teammates.

 "You sounded jealous, Midorimacchi." Kise pointed out, grinning at Midorima's glare even as the tips of his ears reddened. "I did no such thing." he denied, adjusting his glasses again. 

 "Of course you did, you damn tsundere, and you can stop denying, 'cause we all felt that." Aomine grouched, snorting at the shooting guard. "Mine-chin is just angry ‘cause the other guy called Kuro-chin by Mine-chin's nickname." Murasakibara mumbled between bites of his pocky.

 "Fuck off, Murasakibara!!" the ace yelled, scowling. "What about you, Akashi, you seemed bothered by that bastard as well!" he accused the redhead, anger winning over his self-preservation instincts.

To their great surprise, Akashi merely nodded. "Indeed." he acknowledged. "I am not a fan of Kuroko's newest circle of friends; they've brought out something in him that I have no control over and it's rather unsettling." the redhead admitted thoughtfully, a frown pulling at his brows.

 "Is it because he refused to listen to your advice, Akashicchi?" Kise asked, oddly perceptive. Akashi hummed noncommittally, then elaborated. "He's denied me countless times in the past, and even spoke back to me in Maji Burger when he defended you, but..." there was still something that unsettled him during their conversation, but he could not put a name to it.

 "It's his eyes, isn't it?" Aomine inquired, and just like that, Akashi knew that the Touou ace was right. "Tetsu was never a person who enjoyed conflict. But just then, if you hadn't backed off when you did with your advice, his eyes showed that he looked ready to fight you for it."

 "I guess it really does come down to the Winter Cup, doesn't it?" Kise mused, unable to fully mask his excitement.

 "We will either be proven right on our dark thoughts about this partnership, or Tetsuya will surprise us yet again." Akashi declared.

 "You seem a lot more open minded towards the notion now than you did a few minutes ago, Akashi." Midorima pointed out, a curious eyebrow raised.

Akashi gave something that could almost be called a shrug. "Despite what I like to tell myself sometimes, we're not in Teiko and I'm not your captain anymore; I no longer have absolute control over you or your actions." it was getting marginally easier to acknowledge that he wasn't as absolute as he'd have liked as time went past (that, and Reo's kind but insistent reassurance that it was alright if he didn't have all the answers always; he's 'only human', after all. He would seriously have to consider buying his teammate a yearly supply of cabbage rolls for his seemingly infallible patience.) "Also," he continued, ignoring Kise's gaping jaw or Aomine's widened eyes and the fact that Murasakibara had temporarily stopped chewing in favour of staring at him curiously, choosing instead to shoot them a smile like the ones he used to give out back in middle school before everything went wrong. "I trust Tetsuya to make the right decision. I trust all of you." Kise looked about ready to cry at his admission, but was stopped by Murasakibara. "You've changed, Aka-chin." the giant observed, staring at Akashi with an oddly contemplative look in his eyes.

"That's right, Atsushi," Akashi acknowledged with the smile he only reserved for Murasakibara. "I have."

 "We all have." Midorima dismissed, as if irritated by the display. "I guess we can't really begrudge Kuroko for doing the same."

 Something a lot like hope settled in the pits of their stomachs, forever grateful to the petite bluenette for setting them on the path that allowed them to have this easy understanding between them. Not quite friends, not yet, but gradually getting there. 

Unlike the previous times Kuroko had revealed his friendship with Hanamiya, the Generation of Miracles knowing about it had absolutely no backlash. If anything, he was rather surprised by the increase in frequency of Midorima's messages informing him of his Oha-Asa horoscope for the day, imploring, emoji-loaded texts from Kise asking him out for coffee dates, random deliveries of vanilla flavoured sweets from Murasakibara and quirky, irregular messages from Akashi that ranged from inquiries about his day to his opinion on democracy as opposed to capitalism and his views on both. When he'd shared his befuddlement with Hanamiya, the other had thrown his head back and laughed and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling the bluenette into his side as he divulged, "Jealousy, Tetsuya, is a beautiful thing." he murmured quietly and Kuroko's confusion only grew. "What do they have to be jealous of, Makoto-kun?" he asked, unconsciously leaning into the raven. "The fact that you don't know just makes it all the more amusing." Hanamiya replied, making it clear that he wasn't going to be of any help in figuring it out. Normally, Kuroko would've grumbled or insisted he explain, but Riko's two-days-pre-Winter-Cup-training had drained all the energy out of him so he rested his head on Makoto's shoulder and drifted off.

 (And if Hanamiya waited till the other had fallen asleep and snuck out the bluenette’s phone to jot down a certain redhead's number, then proceeded to take a picture of the snoozing teen on his chest, the raven's arm wrapped possessively around his waist as he smirked at the camera and hit send, well, what Kuroko didn't know wouldn't hurt him.)

 Somewhere in Kyoto, said certain redhead glared at his phone, knowing that his secret has been found out, hoping, for once, that Rakuzan would get to play with Kirisaki Daiichi because he had a lesson he needed to teach their captain.

A rather enthusiastic knock interrupted the calming silence that had settled around the two teens getting ready, followed by a teasing, "C'mon Hana-chan, no matter what you do ‘bout your face and clothes, your charming personality will always be the best chick-repellent!" that made Kuroko snicker and caused Hanamiya to shoot the bluenette an exasperated look as he finished tying his shoelaces. "Kazuya-kun's just tripled his training schedule, hasn't he?" the shadow player grinned, a knowing eyebrow raised. "Quadrupled." the raven corrected, smirking menacingly, before he appraised the teen before him. "You ready, Tetsuya?" he asked, at which Kuroko nodded, making a last ditch attempt at fixing his hair before he joined the genius. 

 The Winter Cup would be staring tomorrow, and the Kirisaki Daiichi regulars, forever ignorant of the rules, had decided to hit the bars in a 'go hard or go home' fashion, so determined that even Hanamiya, who viciously vetoed the idea at the start, could do nothing but give in by the end. That was how Kuroko found himself tagging along, because even though Hanamiya gave the go-ahead for drinking, he himself, as captain and coach, had to be in tip-top condition, and that, unfortunately meant that he had to be sober. The raven had bemoaned that fact quite a lot in the privacy of his own home, much to Kuroko's amusement, and had immediately declared that if he had to suffer, 'annoying little shits with no respect for good alcohol' had to suffer too. Kuroko had not minded, personally rather flattered, but had offered one obligatory inquiry of "Won't they mind?" at which Hanamiya had shot him a look he'd not seen for quite a while, the one that appeared torn between ‘are you really that dumb?’, ‘Oh my god I'm surrounded by idiots’ and ‘I wanna kill everyone’ that Kuroko had last seen at the very start of their friendship when they were both still clinging to how they saw each other after their game. Finally, Makoto spoke, "Have you seriously not noticed you've been almost adopted by my team?" he asked incredulously. At Kuroko's wide eyes, he snorted. "Oh my god you're fucking stupid, I was right all along." he shook his head, still not over Kuroko's apparent idiocy. "You're like Seto's little brother, he's that weirdly protective of you, Furuhashi has decided to take on the role of overbearing mother hen since you've been around, Yamazaki actually listens when you tell him to calm his shit, and Hara has very clearly said multiple times that you're his walking wet-dream. Are you fucking blind or something? Honestly, what the fuck, Tetsuya?"

 Kuroko stared at the raven oddly, contemplative. To be perfectly honest, when he'd first started interacting with Hanamiya's team, he'd been surprised that, contrary to what many may believe, their teamwork and dynamics were not based on Makoto's tyranny. They were all good friends, doing what was required of them on court and respectful of Hanamiya during games and practices with the looming threat of tripled practice over their heads, but off court they were full of jokes, games and teasing remarks and had accepted Kuroko almost from the first meeting. He'd been honestly surprised, but grateful, and, "I thought that they were always like that." he admitted quietly, at which Hanamiya snorted. "Well yeah, obviously, but the point is, Tetsuya, that they'd never been like that around someone other than us. They were even thinking of pestering you to transfer to Kirisaki." he admitted, at which Kuroko couldn't help the marginal widening of his eyes. "I'd never agree." he murmured, and Hanamiya scoffed. "Well, obviously not, you're too much of a goodie-goodie-" he started mockingly, but Kuroko cut him off. "No, I wouldn't agree because what would be the point, if you'll all be gone by the end of this year?" he asked, visibly stumping the raven. "You wouldn't refuse because of our delinquent reputation? Our penchant for 'dirty play'?" he asked curiously, assessing Kuroko with narrowed eyes. "I can acknowledge that there's a certain level of skill needed to pull off what you do," the bluenette began, choosing his words carefully. "And, if I hadn't met Kagami-kun, hadn't gone to Seirin, perhaps if I had been scouted by Kirisaki Daiichi or heard of you when choosing high schools, as angry as I was at my teammates, who knows. I might have gone to your school and I might have even enjoyed it." he finished his honest assessment, not quite liking the delighted expression on Hanamiya's face. "Is everything alright, Makoto-kun?" he asked worriedly. The raven kept grinning as he walked up to Kuroko and wrapped his arm around his shoulders in a now familiar hold. "I never thought I'd see the day." he murmured almost reverently. "The day Kuroko fucking Tetsuya, Good Boy Extraordinaire, would acknowledge that, had he been given the right push, he could've become as much of a god-awful person as yours truly." he laughed, the sound for once sounding rather joyous. "How does self-awareness feel, Tetsuya?" he asked teasingly, grinning at the stunned bluenette. Kuroko blinked, seeming to take the question seriously. "Rather good, actually." he admitted, then added, "But not as good as seeing your face will be when you'll be watching your teammates get smashed and having to contend yourself with a soda." he teased right back, revelling in the annoyed narrowing of the other's eyes. "Shut your mouth, you'll be right there with me." and Kuroko couldn't help the evil grin. "Mou, I don't know... Kazuya-kun is always more than willing to share his alcohol with me." he mused, chuckling at Makoto's betrayed look. "Yes, but his idea of sharing constitutes mouth-to-mouth sharing, you idiot." Hanamiya snapped, blanching at the knowing look on Kuroko's face. "You wouldn't fucking dare." he hissed, but the bluenette had already sauntered out of his house, greeted by Hara's cheery wolf-whistle, and Hanamiya was faced with a very similar realisation to what Imayoshi must've gone through after middle school with him:

 I've created a monster.

V. The Support Group (formed by Kasamatsu Yukio) for ex-captains with the Generation of Pains in the Ass on their Teams.

The Kirisaki Daiichi regulars, plus Kuroko, had made themselves comfortable in what was now known as their booth, Hara and Yamazaki immediately jumping into their usual 'who can drink the other under the table first' competition, while Seto and Furuhashi showed a little more restraint, both nursing their drinks and smirking (in Seto's case) at Hanamiya who was doing his best (which was not that great) at not sulking angrily, for once annoyed by the responsibility demanded by being coach and captain. Kuroko was trying to (also unsuccessfully) hide his grin at the other's irritation, having been correct in his prediction that he'd get offered alcohol by one of Hanamiya's teammates (Furuhashi's eyes had looked a little less dead when the bluenette agreed to share his piña colada). Kuroko frowned when Hara swung a punch at Yamazaki, reprimanding the bubblegum-loving teen that they all needed to be in top form if they wanted to do well in the qualifiers, and that included not having a black eye the day before the tournament. Kazuya had grinned, slow and lecherous, and had announced that if Kuroko really wanted to stop him from injuring Yamazaki, he'd have to restrain him himself. The bluenette thought about voicing his request that Hara come up with more original pick-up lines, but his gaze fell on Makoto who, already high-strung, was glaring at Hara with clear annoyance, and, well, he was feeling a little vindictive. Careful not to knock over any drinks, he vaulted over the table and settled himself smack dab in the lilac haired teen's lap, his arm pressed along the length of Hara's chest and his head resting against the other teen's shoulder. "Is this what you had in mind, Kazuya-kun?" he asked innocently, laughing inwardly at the teen's flabbergasted expression and Makoto's 'are you fucking kidding me' glare. To Hara's credit, he recovered quickly, wrapping his arms around the bluenette's waist and settling back in his seat. "Just about." he drawled teasingly. "In my imagination you were also shirtless." Seto snorted at the other's cheek, while Yamazaki went beet red and grumbled at Hara's shameless nature. "Hey, Tet-chan, why does Hana-chan look like he's had an aneurysm?" the lilac haired teen inquired, grinning at the bluenette's amused snort. There was something to what the other was saying though, as Hanamiya had now taken to tensing his jaw and apparently screwing the self-imposed 'no-alcohol' policy as he stole the rest of Seto's drink and downed it in one go. "I think you have a death wish, Kazuya-kun." the bluenette replied stoically, inwardly amused at the other's pout. But before anyone could say much else, a noisy, oddly familiar group entered the bar with a loud "And then he just said 'pass me all the balls this quarter' and I swear Miyaji looked ready to kill the brat!" There was a group snort of laughter at the story, followed by, "At least you didn't have to deal with the gazillions of fanatics that wanted the idiot's autograph and screamed like banshees every time he scored a point, not only annoying, but it distracted Moriyama as well!!" which was topped by a familiar voice that made the bluenette in Hara's arms freeze. "You all are chicken-shit; I had to deal with six of them at one point. Seven, if you count the goddamn almost-miracle. Imagine dealing with pre-pubescent Midorima, or telling Ahomine for the nth time that no, he can't go at full speed 'cause his body is not ready yet, damn it, or handling an overgrown toddler with a serious sugar addiction who could make a serial killer sweat if denied his high, or a fucking disappearing kid with the build of a ballerina, and don't even get me started on Akashi-! Kuroko?"

 "Hello, Nijimura-senpai." The teen in question greeted, gazing up at his old captain, whom he had not seen since his second year at Teiko. The other's group had passed their table and gaped at the Kirisaki Daiichi players, for once not missing Kuroko since he was still perched on Hara's lap. Kasamatsu's face had gone an interesting shade of red at the sight while the others just stared uncomprehendingly between the passing specialist and the Kirisaki regulars, and Nijimura looked about ready to faint.

 "Don't you idiots know the Winter Cup starts tomorrow?! This is not the time for drinking!" Kasamatsu demanded, apparently recovered from his earlier fluster. Hara shrugged, though careful enough not to jostle the teen perched on his lap. "Not everyone can play with a stick up their ass." he replied, causing an interesting tick to develop in the ex-captain's brow. "And you," the ex-Kaijo captain glared, turning on Hanamiya. "What kind of captain are you to allow your teammates to get drunk before an important tournament? And you're all minors?!" the tick had developed into a rather impressive twitch, but Hanamiya didn't rise to the jab at his captaincy.

Nijimura, it seemed, was rather preoccupied with staring at Kuroko in a mix of awe and horror, while the bluenette met his gaze curiously, letting the other mull over whatever it was that had stumped him so.

 "I thought they said you'd gone to Seirin?" he finally asked, drawing the attention of entire the table on the duo. "I had." Kuroko nodded, and Nijimura scowled at the other's continued habit of not giving up more than asked for. "Then," he dug deeper, "what are you doing with them?" he asked, then frowned at the drink held in the bluenette's hand. "And I thought you didn't drink?"

 Kuroko shrugged at the last part, but answered the questions nonetheless. "I rather like their company, Nijimura-senpai." he admitted easily. "And I'd rather you didn't display such hostility without getting to know them first." he admonished, which earned a pleased look from Hanamiya and Seto, and made his old captain gawk at him, not having expected to be scolded by the docile teen.

 A surprised 'sorry' escaped him, which only made him gawk more because since was the bluenette's gaze able to pressure him so? He shook his head. "I heard you defeated Akashi in the finals last year." he quickly changed the subject to something he thought to be harmless. "How?"

Kuroko seemed to consider, then settled on a quiet, "I saw his future," he murmured, "and proved that he is not absolute. Once that psychological damage was done, the battlefield was finally even enough to play normal basketball, and the skillset of my team proved to be infinitesimally greater than his, and allowed us to take the game." Kuroko explained, not understanding why his old captain was staring at him in horror, or why the Kirisaki regulars had such pleased looks on their faces. He realised belatedly that the choking noise he'd heard half way through his story was Kimura, because he'd unconsciously raised the glass in his grasp to Kazuya's lips when the teen had nudged him lightly, and he guessed that his unperturbed face while performing such an action had been the cause of the ex-captain's distress. "What the hell happened to you?" Nijimura demanded, but he sounded more shell-shocked than angry. Kuroko blinked, uncomprehending, but Hanamiya had a knowing smirk on his face that unsettled him. "You were supposed to be the normal one!" his ex-captain despaired. "The counterbalance to their crazy! You weren't supposed to start spouting Akashi-worthy nonsense about psychological damage! Honestly, I leave for two years and Akashi goes from psychopath to puppy and you go from the biggest goodie-goodie to a scheming mastermind?" Hara had laughed then, disrupting the other's monologue with his easy chuckles.

 "Ne, did you really have Tet-chan on your team for so long? You don't know him at all!" he mocked, genuinely curious behind the teasing words. "Kazuya-kun." Kuroko admonished, a frown settling between his brows. "That's not fair. People change. I'm sure that you were a different person in middle school, too." he pointed out, surprised at the words that came from Furuhashi in response. "Honestly, he wasn't. Kazuya's always been an idiot." the impassive teen denied, earning an amused look from Kuroko and a scowl from the lilac haired teen.

 "In any case, Nijimura-senpai," the bluenette addressed the teen who had taken to propping himself up on their table, apparently unable to stand, much to Makoto's displeasure. "I'm rather saddened you think so lowly of me. If you're free, I wouldn't mind going out for coffee after the Winter Cup to catch up, and so you can properly reform your opinion of me." Kuroko offered graciously, but there was an underlying note of something bitter in his words that implied that 'saddened' was not quite the right word to describe how he was feeling. He felt Kazuya's arm tighten around him in response and he relaxed a little, grateful for the silent comfort.

"I- of course. Yeah, sure, Kuroko, definitely." The older teen stumbled, seeming to have realised his blunder. "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions, it was just a shock is all." he apologised, and Kuroko smiled. "It is quite alright, Nijimura-senpai. I realise this might've come as quite a shock. I'm sorry for my harsh words." he somehow managed to still bow while sitting, and Nijimura relaxed. This was the Kuroko he was used to, and he was relieved that this personality was still there, even if slightly deeper down than it used to be.

 "Yeah, it did. Anyway, I'll come watch the games if I'm free, and we can agree a date then." he replied, falling into the easy pattern he'd always had around the bluenette. Kuroko nodded, smiling, and Nijimura felt it was his cue to finally go take his seat, the other ex-captains trailing behind.

 Kuroko finally relaxed, slumping into Hara's arms, exhausted by the exchange. "Well, if there's one thing we can never say about Kuroko is that he's boring. That was funny as hell, if a bit frustrating." Yamazaki commented, and Furuhashi nodded in agreement.

 "Are you really sorry for your 'harsh words'?" Seto asked curiously, air quoting.

 "Not really." Kuroko replied, startling a chuckle out of the lazy teen. "It was rather obnoxious of him to talk about you all as if you're not here."

 "When you've got a reputation as dirty playing delinquents, you get used to it." Furuhashi admitted, not seeming too bothered by the situation.

Kuroko's frown merely deepened as he appraised each of the teens before him whom he'd been lucky to get to know over the last few months. "That's why it bothers me so much;" he began, eyes finally resting on Hanamiya who'd been oddly quiet since the start of the exchange. "You shouldn't have to 'get used to it'." and the startled, pleased smile on Makoto's face somehow made the rather distasteful show he'd just given with his old captain worth it.

And he had a feeling he already knew the reason why.

As much as Hanamiya may laugh at Furuhashi for being a ‘protective mother hen’, he was no better, especially when intoxicated. When they had finally decided to leave the bar, mindful of the early morning tomorrow, the raven had insisted that Kuroko stay over at someone’s house, regardless of the fact that the bluenette had drank the least out of all of them. The pale teen had firmly rebuked all his attempts, saying that he’d rather make the commute to his house tonight than risk being late for the opening ceremony the next morning. Plus, he argued, he had all the basketball stuff he needed for the games at his house, at which Hanamiya replied that he had left his overnight bag at his house. Nonplussed, Kuroko merely said that the raven can give him back the overnight bag at the arena, since it’s nonessential for his games. Grudgingly, Makoto had caved, glaring at Hara when the other laughed about a ‘lovers’ spat’, and even though Kuroko was grinning at the victory, he couldn’t quite supress the shiver that wracked his small frame at the unexpected chill of the evening. It was a gross oversight on his part to not bring a jacket and, dressed in a simple teal button-up and black skinny jeans, he was not the best equipped to deal with the winter chill. Hanamiya’s eyes narrowed, a vicious ‘I told you so’ shining loud and clear in the hazel pools. Wordlessly, the older teen reached into his bag and pulled out a bundle of cloth, tossing it at Kuroko, gaze turned expectant. Further inspection on the bluenette’s part revealed that the cloth was Hanamiya’s varsity jacket, the forest green material soft and invitingly warm to the touch. Kuroko raised his widened eyes to meet the annoyed ones of Hanamiya, the raven dismissing his surprise with a scoff and a “it won’t be fun if we win because you had a fucking cold, idiot.” Kuroko nodded, smiling gratefully, and put on the offered garment, the jacket being at least two sizes too big for him, and comfortably so. He turned to the group and murmured a thank you to Hanamiya and a ‘see you all tomorrow’ to the others, before he turned on his heel and walked to the train station.

(and if Makoto noticed when Hara pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of the bluenette’s retreating back, he didn’t comment. He wasn’t surprised, really; the green and navy of his jacked suited the passing specialist particularly well, if he did say so himself. He suddenly couldn’t wait til the next day, couldn’t wait to see the shocked looks on Kuroko’s teammates’ faces when they see the bluenette returning him his jacket. There was a reason he brought this particular one, after all. Messing with people is just too much fun.)

But something even better had happened. Seirin had played Shuutoku for their first game, and won, to Seto’s surprise; Kuroko’s steals and ability to read the game proving lethal against the trust-play of Shuutoku’s light and shadow. What nobody counted on was that the second game, against Touou, would be held less than three hours after that; since the special bracket was no longer, the long breaks that had been there last year were no more, and Hanamiya could see the effect on Tetsuya’s body. His misdirection had been considerably less effective, even if he had shocked the Touou players with the Vanishing Drive once or twice, but Makoto noted that he had wisely kept what he’d taught him a secret. With their already high fatigue level, lack of Misdirection and no Kiyoshi under the basket, Seirin’s loss had been given, but the reality was surprisingly not as brutal as one would have expected. The final score had been 101-89 in Touou’s favour, but the exhaustion of Seirin’s players had been obvious since the start of the second quarter, and by the time the game ended, they were more resembling of zombies than teenagers. Kuroko particularly, looked about ready to faint as he collapsed on the bench and dug into his bag for a jacket to keep himself warm, draping the material over himself and burrowing into it in his exhaustion –

Hanamiya laughed. Seto and Yamazaki snorted, while Hara wolf-whistled, all amused at the horrified stares of the people around them and the bluenette’s own teammates.

In his fatigued state, Kuroko had not noticed that the jacket he’d pulled out of his bag was not the white and red of Seirin, but the unmistakable teal and navy of Kirisaki Daiichi, and had all but buried himself in the material, the sleeves long enough for him to wrap them over his hands and make sweater-paws, an act that Hanamiya might’ve even called cute had he been feeling particularly sappy. Naturally, the image of the Seirin player in the obviously borrowed jacket of a rival school prompted raised eyebrows and wide eyes til Imayoshi approached the exhausted teen and murmured something that made him snap alert, blush noticeable even from the stands, and shed the jacket, digging in his bag for the right one, yet still taking great care to fold the material before he placed it back in his bag.

But the damage had been done, and Hanamiya was gleeful, not at all mindful of the glares and wide eyes that were directed at him after Seririn had filed out of the arena, no doubt to their respective lockers. He was the only one out of the Kirisaki Daiichi regulars not clad in his varsity jacket. Even an idiot could figure it out.

To his great amusement, they had.

But the real cherry on top came in the form of the Kirisaki Daiichi vs Seirin game.                                   

Both teams had won a game and lost a game, and this was the decisive match of who would go through to the quarter-finals, otherwise it would come down to point differences in the games they played. Touou would definitely qualify, having won their games against Shuutoku and Seirin (but surprisingly lost to Kirisaki; the Uncrowned King wasting no time in identifying Aomine’s weaker elbow from his injury last year, and Kuroko was certain that despite his stubbornness, the ace’s court-time would be greatly reduced in the quarter-finals.)

 It was the third quarter, Kuroko finally being subbed back in, and it was Kirisaki’s ball. To the bluenette’s surprise, he’d been left with marking Furuhashi, the other teen announcing at the very start that ‘just because I like you, does not mean I will play any different than usual’ which made the bluenette smile and nod gratefully at the dispassionate teen. He was suddenly hit with a screen, but as he went to chase after his mark, he found that he couldn't move his foot; the screener, no other than Hanamiya, had stepped on it, preventing the bluenette from moving. "Sorry, Tetsuya," he murmured, completely unapologetic as he lifted his foot and received the ball, swishing his infamous tear drop shot, "I don't play fair." he finished as he passed by Kuroko on his way to defence, his grin wild and bloodthirsty in a way that made the bluenette excited rather than disgusted unlike last year. As he ran on offense, Hanamiya on him like a moth to a flame, he allowed the same competitive grin he'd showed the raven during their shogi games to come to surface. "That's alright, Makoto-kun." he replied, tone surprisingly forgiving even as he caught the ball and started to shift into a form that had his teammates and opponents alike on edge; up in the stands, the Generation of Miracles collectively frowned; this was not Kuroko's Phantom Shot - their eyes zeroed in on the bluenette as he uttered the most unlikely words they'd ever thought would come from his mouth. Akashi's eyes widened when he realised just what he was seeing

 "Because, when it comes to you," Kuroko began, a competitive grin pulling at his lips and eyes that held a challenge as he continued. "Neither do I!" gasps left the audience as the small, unassuming Number 11 successfully jumped back and used Hanamiya's own shot against him.

 “The fuck?” seemed to be the most popular reaction, shared amongst the onlookers, Kuroko’s own teammates, and Hanamiya’s team, though the latter was more amused than outraged.

 Hanamiya himself was angry, but not surprised; had he been in the same position, knowing the other like he did, looking for an opening to exploit or a psychological advantage, he only knew one thing for certain: he'd have done exactly the same.

 Birds of a feather flock together, after all.

 The match had ended in a draw, 94-94, yet neither Seirin nor Kirisaki Daiichi could blame their secret aces for holding back; they had both played their best, better than they had seen in a while, both coming off the court dropping with sweat, panting and covered in bruises in Kuroko's case, yet both looking almost cheerful. Kuroko still hated Hanamiya's penchant for underhanded play, and Hanamiya still hated Kuroko's idealistic views on basketball, but both could grudgingly admit that it had been fun to play each other, now that they knew the other's ticks, quirks, and the exact buttons to push. It was the same as their shogi games, the same push and pull in their interactions, the same snide remarks and deadpan comebacks.

 (and if Seirin became a little more tolerant of Kuroko's odd friendship with the little psychopath after seeing the confidence Kuroko suddenly had in himself not just his teammates, they didn't say anything.)

They did not manage to defend their title as the best in Japan.

Kuroko adamantly refused to cry when the buzzer rang out, announcing the end of the final match, with 105 points for Rakuzan and 103 for Seirin, choosing instead to congratulate the redhead and his teammates just like he had last year, and patiently waited til the official awards ceremony was over, a smile plastered on his face throughout.

 And then he disappeared.

 Seirin, too preoccupied with their loss, and the well-wishes and congratulations they were still on the receiving end of, despite having lost the game, did not notice the shadow’s absence until it was too late.

 But a certain raven had, and he followed the bluenette, furiously convincing himself that it was more out of curiosity than concern. He found the teen by sound, just as he was about to give up on his search, a loud thud followed by a frustrated scream led him to one of the last lockers in the arena, and as he opened the door, he came across a sight that rendered even him speechless.

 Kuroko, tears streaming down his face even as his eyes held the steely glint of disappointed ambition, his mouth set in a quivering scowl, his fist resting beside a sizeable dent in the metal door of the locker, shoulders heaving with the deep, erratic breaths he was taking, hair tousled and muscles tense, but not in despair. The sight had led Hanamiya to a startling realisation:

 Kuroko’s anger was beautiful.

 The teen in question froze, having realised the intrusion, and his shoulders sagged. “Come to mock, Makoto?” he hissed, and Hanamiya revelled in the anger, frustration, the sheer hopelessness in the tone. In almost a year of friendship, he had never managed to elicit such a passionate response from the demure boy, and he had tried multiple times. He found it rather ironic, really, that Kuroko’s love for basketball would lead to this beautiful, bitter, broken sight before him. He sauntered up to the teen, standing close but not quite touching, captivated by the scene.

 “My, it hurts that you still think I’d do that, even after so long.” He crooned, faux hurt and gleeful pleasure at the other teen’s loss of composure at odds with each other in his tone. But when the jab didn’t provoke the reaction he had expected, he dropped the act. “Quite the opposite, actually.” He spoke, back to his normal tone, and the sudden change made Kuroko’s shoulders tense, attentive. “I knew. Your devotion to the game, to the dreams of your darling senpais, to their dreams, all that aside, you craved that victory perhaps more than the one last year. You loved the top, loved crushing your old teammates under the heel of your boot, loved the one, sure way to get them all to understand that your basketball is the strongest. It was only natural that you would break when denied that, not to mention after fighting so valiantly. And I was selfish enough to want to witness the crumbling of this impeccable façade of yours, and willing enough to offer words of wisdom on how to deal with the disappointed ambition that’s eating away at your insides right at this moment.” He murmured, feeling victorious when the other finally turned to face him, the fire in his eyes not quite relinquished but not all-consuming as it had been. The bluenette took a long look at the teen before him, Makoto using all his considerable will power to stay still during the assessment, before the smaller teen’s shoulders relaxed fully and his head landed with a soft thump in the junction between Hanamiya’s shoulder and neck.

 “I’m glad it was you.” The bluenette finally admitted, breath puffing gently over Hanamiya’s neck. “You understand.”

At that, the raven couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, Tetsuya, you idiot.” He remarked, but the insult and the tone were affectionate rather than biting, his voice soft. “I’ve understood since the start.” He murmured, hand carding thoughtlessly through the pale locks. “Why do you think we get along so well?” and as he used the grip on Kuroko’s hair to pull his face away from his neck, the bluenette was subjected to the same fire burning away in the other’s emerald eyes as were no doubt raging in his own, the flames of jealousy, failure, and ambition shining fierce and clear, destroying everything else.

 His lips twitched up at the sight, and he sighed, forcibly pushing the tension out of his muscles. “You know, Makoto-kun,” he began, back to his usual collected manner, but there was a teasing lilt in his voice that alerted the raven that their little game was back on track. “Shouichi-kun once told me that, before he introduced us, he thought we’d either try to kill each other,” Hanamiya snorted as he thought back to how tempting that had been after his game with the bluenette, but a playful glint in the other’s eyes stopped him from commenting, anticipating what would follow. “or… that we’d fuck.” His eyes widened marginally at the calm, contemplative way the other admitted the fact, caught up in the way his lips looked shaping the profanity and a smirk pulled at his lips, expectant.

 “So, Makoto-kun,” Tetsuya continued almost lazily, toying with the collar of his shirt. “What do you say about the latter?”

Chapter Text

A year ago, if someone had told Hanamiya that he and Kuroko Tetsuya, Seirin's shadow and Good Boy Extraordinaire would become best friends, he would've laughed them in the face.

A year later found him sitting in Kuroko's living room, having tea with his grandmother while he waited for the bluenette to get out of the shower.

Irony is a bitch. he decided with wry amusement.

Tetsuya's grandmother was sat on a sofa nearby, slowly sipping from her cup, and Hanamiya decided to busy himself by looking around the various keepsakes hanging on the walls. Wordlessly, he got up, walking to the nearest one; it was a picture of two young boys, chubby cheeks squished together and blinding grins on their faces.

"That's Ogiwara-kun." Kuroko's grandmother informed offhandedly, and Hanamiya nodded, moving onto the next picture. There were a few of Ogiwara, two of Kuroko with his grandmother, one of him with his parents, (though the Kuroko in that picture looked no older than seven years old, a fact Makoto found rather curious) but he kept silent, eyes growing wide when they fell on the next photo. His arm rose, almost against his will, and his fingers fluttered over the cracks in the glass of the frame, the broken glass distorting the faces on the picture it was meant to protect. Distorting, but not erasing, and Hanamiya was treated to the sight of a younger Generation of Miracles, happy grins on their faces and a trophy clutched victoriously in the middle. Just as he opened his mouth to ask about the condition of the frame, his eyes fell on the one beside it, of Kuroko squished between Kise and Aomine, a fond, exasperated smile on his face as the tanned teen ruffled his hair and Kise grinned for the camera, forever the model. The glass in this frame was also broken, and Hanamiya was staring to see a pattern; sure enough, all the other photos that depicted the Miracles also had their glass broken, and Makoto huffed, torn between amusement and concern.

"Ah, I've been meaning to change those frames for a while." Kuroko's grandmother announced, but she didn't sound too concerned, which annoyed Hanamiya to no end.

"Why are they broken?" he asked, gesturing to the frames in question, "Kuroko-sama?" he added as an afterthought, not trying to come off as impolite.

The elder chuckled, but the look she gave him was sad. "This is probably not my story to tell, but you have wormed your way into his life even more determinedly than that Kagami boy, and I'm worried that he's going to keep some things from you because, somewhere deep down, Tetsuya is still afraid that you will turn and leave like them." this was the first time Hanamiya had heard anything like contempt come from the woman, and for once, he didn't need clarification on who they were. It seemed that he was not the only one still harbouring a grudge against the rainbow-haired miracles. "But you deserve to know." she declared, and Hanamiya snapped to attention.

"Are you aware of what happened to Ogiwara-kun's team during the second year of middle school?" she asked, and Hanamiya frowned.

"They got bulldozed by Teiko. And I heard that they also manipulated the score." Kuroko's grandma nodded sagely, and sighed.

"After what his team had done to Ogiwara-kun, Tetsuya broke." the woman announced, and Hanamiya froze. "He felt betrayed. He told me, after that game, that, being unable to participate due to injury, he'd asked his captain to play seriously, because he knew that his friend would be disappointed if Teiko went easy on his team." she paused, letting Makoto take her words in and he almost snapped at her to keep going, damn it, he could take it in as she went! "What that redhead did instead was unforgivable, and it destroyed Ogiwara-kun. He cut all ties with Tetsuya, saying that he was afraid of him, of his eyes. And my little grandson, who spent hours a day training, who loved the game, loved the people involved, grew to hate the sport." somehow, Kuroko and hating basketball was not computing well in Hanamiya's mind. "He said that he'd quit, that he wanted nothing to do with the sport, with his teammates, but there was still something stewing in those broken eyes of his. This," she gestured at the photos, "happened a few days after, when he'd officially quit the basketball team."

Hanamiya paled, scowling. Kuroko had quit?

Despite having gradually come to realise that Kuroko's desire to beat his teammates had stemmed from something other than just friendly competition, it seemed that he'd still not managed to grasp the full extent of the bluenette's unfaltering motivation, Hanamiya mused, mulling over the information, while his eyes never left the unnerving blue ones before him.

"He didn't strike me as the type to break things." he snorted, stalling as he tried to wrap his mind around the news.

Kuroko's grandma laughed. "Don't look so shocked, Hanamiya-kun. We Kurokos are mild-mannered by nature, but our anger, when provoked, should never be underestimated." she teased, and Hanamiya briefly wondered if he was the one who'd chosen to stick with the crazy, as opposed to the bluenette. The woman sobered quickly, and Makoto tensed.

"I say anger, but, really, it was more despair than anything; he said that he had no idea what to do, and the doubt in his eyes broke my heart. He'd quit before he got to ask the others what high schools they were choosing, but he'd said that he was almost certain he knew which ones they would not even consider, and he came to me with all the brochures, unsure. One of them was for your school, by the way." she paused, smiling at Hanamiya's attentive expression. "I gave him a few days to make up his mind, and in that time, I think, he went to Ogiwara-kun's school and although he was not there, something happened that brought back that spark of determination into his eyes, and he slowly rekindled his love for the sport, and said he had decided to join Seirin. The way he was behaving you'd think his life depended on it, or something." she chuckled , then looked at Hanamiya with warm eyes. "The rest, as they say, is history. But those few weeks after the tournament, he looked so torn, so doubtful, so broken. Have you ever hated something you loved, Hanamiya-kun?" she asked rhetorically, and Makoto frowned. "But worst of all, was that Tetsuya doubted himself."

Hanamiya was still mulling over the words, but startled when the elder woman glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "Ah, it seems like Tetsuya is finally done with-" but before she could even finish the sentence, Hanamiya was already on his feet and he stalked over to the petite teen, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and all but dragging him to his bedroom, pushing the other so that he lost his balance and sat on the bed while Makoto paced in front of him.

"Makoto-kun?" the bluenette inquired, puzzled, but Hanamiya held up a hand to silence the teen, sorting out the last few things before he stopped pacing and stood in front of the sitting teen.

"You're a fucking idiot, Tetsuya." he announced bluntly, startling the other. "Honestly, I don't even understand why I bother with you sometimes." he hissed, scowling when the bluenette looked down so his still damp hair obscured his eyes, and his shoulders tensed at the unexpected criticism. He balled his hands when Makoto sighed, expecting the tirade to continue with more insults. What he most certainly did not expect was for the bed to dip suddenly with the added weight and for Makoto's arms to wrap around him in a hug?

Kuroko froze, eyes wide and uncomprehending under the cover of his fringe. Sure, over the months there'd been the arm wrapped around his shoulders, sometimes his waist, the occasional bed sharing or a teasing smack to his behind and what had transpired in the locker rooms after the Winter Cup, but they had never hugged. Makoto rarely initiated physical contact, and Kuroko never asked for it. Yet, he found himself relaxing under the raven's touch, sagging into his chest, at least until the other teen spoke.

"If there's ever a case where-" he cut himself off, as if the words were painful to get past his lips. "Ah, where it's like it was during that game-" he paused again, and Kuroko was oddly reminded of the way Aomine used to struggle with expressing gratitude, yet he knew that while the Miracle had been prone to get embarrassed and flustered, Hanamiya's frustration at himself manifested in the form of anger, so he just waited. "If there's ever a case when you doubt yourself- fuck, no, I can't do this, I'm not some fucking therapist for fuck's sake!" he jumped up, terminating the hug and jostling Kuroko to the point where the bluenette nearly lost his balance and returned to pacing. Tetsuya blinked, thrown off by the raven's words more than the sudden outburst, and, on the fifth pace he made by the bed, he reached out a hand to stop his movement.

Hanamiya startled at the hand wrapping around his wrist, the gentle pressure somehow enough to stop him in his tracks. He looked down, the bluenette's eyes so earnest and enquiring that he scoffed, looking away. "Your grandma told me about what happened during your third year of middle school." even when looking away, he still sensed how the other froze at his words, the gentle pressure on his wrist increasing til almost painful for a second before it relaxed. "And, I wanted to tell you," he took a deep breath, gritting his teeth as he turned to face the other before he slowly exhaled. "that if you ever doubt yourself like that, you will come to me and we will work through it like adults, not supress it into some secondhand guilt." he hissed, eyes not meeting the bluenette's for fear of what the other would see. "Understood?" he grumbled, chancing a look at Kuroko and almost groaning at the surprise in the other's eyes at his declaration. This was why he let people think he was an asshole through and through - it was so much easier to deal with their disappointment than surprise.

"I'm grateful, Makoto-kun, but I can't agree. It's too much to ask a friend to shoulder." Kuroko replied, his initial shock fading as a small frown creased his forehead.

"'Friend'?" Hanamiya scoffed, snorting at the other. "I thought we got past that shit after making out in the locker room for an hour." he pointed out, smirking at the other's surprised face, before he groaned when the surprise didn't fade. "For fuck's sake, Tetsuya, don't tell me you were expecting a bouquet of flowers and an offer of courtship at the top of a Ferris wheel or some shit." he whined, unable to believe how clueless the bluenette could be sometimes.

"I thought that was more of a 'no-strings-attached' event for you." Kuroko pointed out, and Makoto winced at how ridiculous the phrase sounded coming from him, and braced himself for what would no doubt be the most emotional shit he had ever spouted in his life. "Tetsuya." he called, gaining the other's attention as he massaged his temples in annoyance. "Do you really think I would have bothered with this emotional shit if I didn't want to pursue this thing between us?" he asked, scowling.

Kuroko blinked, staring owlishly at the raven before a tiny smile bloomed on his face. "No, you wouldn't have." he acknowledged, the smile growing. "So... are you going to ask me to be your boyfriend, Makoto-kun?" he asked casually, and Hanamiya gaped.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Tetsuya, take a fucking hint!" he yelled, exasperated, hand running through his hair in frustration.

"But in all the books I read, such declarations are always cemented by actions." the bluenette pointed out innocently. "You haven't even kissed me yet." Hanamiya openly gaped this time, eyes narrowing at the teasing glint in the other's eyes and the way his mouth kept twitching, fighting to supress a smile.

"You little shit." he hissed, even as he reached down to grab Kuroko's collar and pull the bluenette towards him and into a bruising kiss that left them both gasping for breath. Yet the victorious smile on Kuroko's face was unmistakable and Hanamiya felt perfectly justified to pull the other back to him and attack his mouth with kisses that lacked any sort of finesse or technique but left their lips almost burning with their intensity.

He only did it to wipe that annoying grin from Kuroko's face. Naturally.

Contrary to what Kuroko may have thought, being in a romantic relationship with Hanamiya didn't change many things about their routines. In fact, it changed so little that Hanamiya claimed that even Seto hadn't caught on, and the teen prided himself on being able to read his captain like an open book.

In fact, the three things that changed were only ever done behind closed doors anyway, and it wasn't like either of them was prone to public displays of affection, so it seemed as if Kuroko wouldn't even have to worry about how to break the news of their relationship to his teammates.

One of the things that did change was that Hanamiya now had his own drawer at Kuroko's house, and the bluenette occasionally found the raven's laundry had gotten mixed up amongst his own, particularly when he was looking for something to lounge around the house in or scavenging his wardrobe for some sleeping clothes (and if Hanamiya smirked and was a little more touchy-feely every time he caught the bluenette wearing his clothes, well, Kuroko would not be the one to complain.)

Another thing that changed were their bets after their shogi games. It seemed that no matter whether enemies or friends or lovers, their little habit of board games and wagers would continue. But the change in their bets really started when Hanamiya had smirked after his win one evening and demanded that Tetsuya sit on his lap for the duration of the second game; the bluenette had sensed a challenge, and, as he took the win in the second game, he remarked that Hanamiya looked rather uncomfortable in his shirt and recommended he remove it, and the raven had to endure their third game shirtless, scowling at Tetsuya throughout, but with the fire of competition burning steadily in his eyes. It had become a habit for their bets to take a slightly more private manner; Kuroko rather enjoyed asking Hanamiya for the 'simple things' but ones that neither of them would normally initiate, like cuddling on a couch during a movie or requesting that Hanamiya cook them dinner for the night. The raven, on the other hand, appeared to be particularly fond of making the bluenette wear his clothes. His Kirisaki Daiichi varsity jacket had taken up permanent residence in Kuroko's wardrobe, and Hanamiya would occasionally demand for the shadow to wear his top to basketball practice, or his jacket when they went outside. (Kuroko would make a fuss every time, but they both knew he wasn't half as irritated as he pretended to be.)

And the last, and probably the most satisfying thing that Kuroko had discovered, was that the one, failsafe way to calm Hanamiya's temper tantrums and lashouts was if he was the assertive one and he initiated the make-out sessions. Kuroko's rare displays of dominance never failed to shut Makotoup. They had both decided, with no small degree of amusement, that it was a rather beneficial solution for both ends.

Kuroko smiled slightly as he studied Hanamiyawhile the raven made notes for the entrance exams which were slowly but surely coming up for the third years. Initially, he'd thought that with Hanamiya's genius status, the teen wouldn't bother to study or revise, but was rather glad to have been proven wrong; if anything, the raven's abnormally high IQ just made him more meticulous and determined in his studies, and Kuroko could always ask the other for help if he struggled with something himself.

Deciding to voice his previous (oddly melancholy) thoughts and the feelings that they dredged up, he shut his books and made sure to carefully put them away before he turned to face the raven. "Ano, Makoto-kun," he began, the other letting out a grunt to let him know he was listening, but not taking his eyes off his notes. "I'm really glad Shouichi-kun introduced us." He mused, and blinked in surprise when the other startled, eyes snapping to meet his, as if needing to check that Kuroko was being serious.

It seemed that, same as Kagami, Hanamiya could never quite get over Kuroko's lack of hesitance to say what was on his mind, regardless how 'sappy' it may seem. He scoffed, looking away, a hint of red colouring the tips of his ears. "Stop making it seem like all of this is thanks to that megane bastard." He scowled, gesturing between them as if to indicate the easy comfort that always settled around them, and Kuroko smiled at how flustered he seemed.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I was just thinking about the fact that I never thought I'd get to have something like this and how happy I am to realise I was wrong." He explained, not quite managing to hide the small smile on his face as the raven's blush spread to his cheeks; for someone so icy and scathing, Hanamiya blushed really easily.

Makoto spluttered momentarily, but quickly calmed himself and sighed, snapping his books shut with an air of finality before he turned to the bluenette with a smirk on his face that spelled trouble. "I think we've both had quite enough of studying, wouldn't you agree?" he asked, but Kuroko didn't even have a chance to reply before he was being quite literally thrown on his bed and suddenly found himself with an armful of a smirking raven, and a shiver of anticipation running down his spine.

(he'd quickly discovered that Hanamiya was not good with voicing his feelings, but he'd be lying if he said he had any qualms against the other's policy of returning Kuroko's confessions with actions; it was rather quite pleasant, if he did say so himself.)

12th of January was upon them, and Kuroko had gone to Riko and politely requested to be excused from practice that day, pulling his best Nigou-inspired puppy eyes that, after Hanamiya's tutelage have gotten even more impossible to say 'no' to, secretly smug when the third year had caved almost immediately and didn't even ask any questions. With his coach's approval, he had no qualms against heading home as soon as the final bell rang, and he quickly changed, grabbed Hanamiya's present as well as his wallet and phone, and headed to the station, the Kirisaki varsity jacket slung over his shoulder. (Since it was Hanamiya's birthday, he might as well humour the teen with his inexplicable fancy of seeing Tetsuya in his clothes.)

He arrived at Kirisaki Daiichi in the middle of practice and snorted upon seeing that all the regulars had little paper birthday hats on their heads and smirks on their faces; Hanamiya, on the other hand, looked exasperated, but Kuroko could detect a hint of amusement and fondness underneath. He smiled, grateful for being able to see this side of the Uncrowned King and his 'delinquent' team. He dutifully sat on the balcony til practice ended, and then made his way downstairs, unnoticed til he perched himself on the bleachers, knowing that all he had to do was wait a little and – "Tet-chan!"

Hara barrelled towards him, and Kuroko didn't bother dodging, knowing that, unlike Kise, the bubblegum lover would not stop til he literally nearly hugged the daylights out of the bluenette. "Hello, Kazuya-kun." He greeted when he felt like he could breathe again. "I almost didn't recognise you because of that jacket!" Hara confessed, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Then his eyes widened and he gazed at Kuroko with a teasing smile on his face. "I wonder if that's one of Hana-chan's kinks?" he mused, but the bluenette was saved from answering by Hanamiya making his presence known.

"If you have enough energy left to wonder about such stupid things, how about you run five extra laps, hm, Kazuya?" he asked, smirking, and Kuroko sent a sympathetic glance at the lilac-haired teen, but didn't attempt to otherwise defend him. Frankly, he was startled at the question, worried that Hara'd somehow found out about his and Makoto's relationship.

"Ah, I'd rather not, Hana-chan." Hara replied, trying and failing to look apologetic, but Hanamiya was undeterred. "That wasn't a question, Kazuya. Unless you want to run fifteen?" but the taller teen had taken off before he could even finish the sentence. Smirking triumphantly, the raven turned to face Kuroko.

"I didn't expect you to come. I thought you didn't like skipping practice?" he asked as way of greeting.

"I don't." Kuroko agreed, then smiled slightly. "But it's your nineteenth birthday after all. Last year as a teen, Makoto-kun." He smirked then, drawing a raised eyebrow from the raven. "I had to come. You're getting old, I don't know how many more birthdays I'll be able to witness." He teased mercilessly, startling the other so much he narrowed his eyes.

"You calling me old, Tetsuya?" Hanamiya sneered, but there was no real heat behind it – if anything, he looked rather amused. Playing along, Kuroko pulled the same face as he did with Riko; "I never said that, Makoto-kun." He replied innocently, startling a laugh out of the other.

"Damn, Tetsu, you look like a puppy!" Seto walked up to stand beside Hanamiya, grinning lazily at the bluenette. "You've been hanging around with that dog of yours too much."

"I thought it's the animal that takes after its owner, not the other way round, Kentaro-kun." Kuroko frowned in response, dragging a chuckle from the geniuses and an annoyed; "Oi, let's go change; Hara's nearly done with his laps then we can go eat!" from Yamazaki as he turned to head towards the lockers after waving at Kuroko.

"Hm? You're not changed yet?" Furuhashi chose to make his presence known then, and Kuroko did a slight double-take at how different (but good) the teen looked, dressed in a crisp burgundy shirt and pale blue jeans, with a jacket slung over his arm.

"Eh? How the hell are you already dressed?" Yamazaki demanded, gesturing between his sweaty, flushed self and the other teen's showered, pristine form.

Kuroko was certain that if Furuhashi was the type to roll his eyes, he would've, but as it was, his deadpan didn't change even as he answered; "Because I don't loiter around to bother people when I know I've got something to do?" he replied with a question, the 'unlike you' ringing loud and clear even though it went unsaid. Yamazaki scowled and stomped off towards the lockers, Hanamiya and Seto following suit with a somehow still high-spirited Hara dragging behind. Furuhashii settled down beside Kuroko, a comfortable silence settling between them. Tetsuya had always found the other's presence oddly calming as neither was a fan of small talk, and, unlike with Hara or Yamazaki, they had no qualms against silence. This time, though, it seemed as if Furuhashi had other plans.

"You and Hanamiya have started dating recently, haven't you?" he asked quietly, but Kuroko could sense no judgement in the other's tone, and he knew that he couldn't lie to Furuhashi even if he tried – being versed in the art of deadpan, he knew the other would know immediately. He wouldn't call him out, oh no, he was too polite by half, but the bluenette didn't feel like straining the trust they'd somehow established between the two of them.

So he just sighed and nodded, smiling slightly at the bruenette. "Almost a month ago." He admitted just as quietly, then sent him a look that he hoped said please don't tell the others. Furuhashi nodded, his eyes softening slightly. "It's been good for him. For both of you." And it took Kuroko a second to connect that the 'it' was referring to their relationship.

He shook his head, smiling fondly. "He still made Kazuya-kun run though." He pointed out, earning a small huff a laugh from the brunette.

"Yes, but Kazuya deserved it; the idiot needs to learn to keep his mouth shut sometimes. And it was only five laps." He justified, and Kuroko chuckled, murmuring a quiet 'if you say so', and settling his head on the brunette's shoulder to pass the time, feeling a small pressure on his head as Furuhashi did the same. He didn't realise he'd dosed off until Hara's teasing, "My, don't you two look cute?" reached his ears, and he opened his eyes to see the lilac-haired teen putting his phone away, the rest of the regulars gathered around him. Kuroko met Hanamiya's eyes and the other shot him an amused look, eyes flickering from his to his hair in a meaningful way, smirking when Kuroko rolled his eyes; I wasn't even in bed. How can I get a bedhead? He grouched inwardly, so much so that he almost missed Furuhashi's slightly groggy "Be quiet. You were taking a while." directed at Hara.

Shaking himself off, Kuroko stood up and didn't protest being pulled into Hara's side as they walked out of the sports hall. "You look like one of us with that jacket and the messy hair, Tet-chan." Hara teased, and Kuroko felt something warm bloom in his chest at the words, the 'one of us' echoing in his mind. "It's a good look." He smiled then, wondering how his middle school self would react to the knowledge that he'd one day come to feel at home amongst a bunch of delinquents. As his eyes met Hanamiya's appreciative gaze, he decided that, no, his thirteen year old self would (probably) be able to handle growing up to feel at home amongst delinquents, but he'd no doubt have a heart attack upon learning that he'd be dating one of said delinquents. His smile grew.

Life was good.

They'd ended up in a pretty high-up restaurant, none of the Kirisaki students being exactly poor, and even if, even they could shell out for birthdays occasionally. After they'd all eaten, the group dumped their gifts in front of Hanamiya, and it was only after nearly fifteen minutes of Hara's childish insistence and teasing that the raven agreed to opening the gifts in front of him, a slightly awkward air around him that Kuroko found nothing short of adorable.

The gifts were almost perfect representations of their owners' personalities; Yamazaki had gotten Makoto vouchers to a kimchi restaurant ("He loves the stuff. Stop giving me that look, Furu!"), Hara had, predictably, gifted the raven with bubblegum, and Kuroko was rather disgusted to discover that it was chocolate gum ("It's HERSHEY'S!" Hara had defended. "Bubble Yum? That's, like, god of gum! I had it shipped from America, c'mon!"), Furuhashi had given Hanamiya a list of recommended books and vouchers to a bookstore ("I heard they have a particularly good criminology section." At which Makoto had nodded, his fondness for the detective/crime solving novels being no secret. Kuroko knew the real reason for this 'fondness' was that the raven liked to see if he could guess who the murderer was before the protagonists. He'd also found out quite quickly that it was almost impossible to play Cluedo with Makoto).

But what was probably the most surprising was Seto's gift; "Condoms, Kentaro? Are you serious?" Hanamiya asked, pulling out a packet with distaste, scowling at the other's satisfied smirk. "Condoms, lube; all the essential stuff you'll definitely need at some point." the lazy center replied with a shrug (but when his eyes flickered to Kuroko, a knowing smirk on his face, the bluenette was struck with the realisation that he knew, had probably known from the start, and he nearly facepalmed when he remembered that both he and Hanamiya had thought the lazy teen was none the wiser to their relationship.) Hanamiya scoffed, grudgingly amused at the explanation, and then moved on to unwrapping Kuroko's present, and his hands stilled when he glimpsed the contents.

"Where the fuck did you get this?" he asked quietly, and Kuroko smiled.

What he'd gotten Hanamiya wasn't as luxurious as what he perhaps could've gotten, but the raven's wide eyes told him that it was more than appreciated. It had been an innocuous thing, something he was sure Hanamiya thought he wouldn't remember - they'd been sitting in Makoto's bedroom, relaxing after a long week full of practices and preparation for exams; the raven was on his laptop, a frown pulling at his brows before he angrily slammed the lid of his PC down and threw it on the bed, glaring at it as if he wished it would spontaneously combust. "Is everything alright, Makoto-kun?" he had asked quietly. Hanamiya turned and glared at him, his anger not yet gone and he scowled, "It's sold out. The fucking seminar that I'd been waiting for for a year is fucking sold out. All the whitecoats and idiots who know nothing about biochemistry called dibs and that's that. I fucking hate everything right now." a little more wheedling had revealed that it was a seminar led by an internationally renowned biochemist and, since that was the path that Hanamiya was planning to pursue at university, he'd been looking forward to it. He didn't mention it afterwards, but once he got home be searched and searched and pestered and wheeled and pleaded but he got one of the 'whitecoats' to surrender his ticket to the event, and he felt almost as pleased with himself as he did when Seirinhad won the Winter Cup, certain that this was the one thing Hanamiya would not expect of him.

And he'd been right.

As such, he grinned at the raven and shot him a pleased look. "I can be very persuasive if I want to be." he finally replied, and he saw clear surprise in Hanamiya's eyes before it was replaced by concern. "You didn't kill anyone, did you?" he asked. And there was a time when Kuroko would've been outraged, frowning and denying the sheer notion, but after a year, he was hardly fazed, taking it in stride. "Not this time, no." he replied in his classic deadpan, and Hanamiya snorted.

Hara leaned over to read over the raven's shoulder, "A biochemistry seminar with Dr. Tachibana for the - that sounds so dull, what the hell, Tet-chan? I thought you would've been more creative." the lilac haired teen whined, but there was a surprised look on Furuhashi's face that told Kuroko the brunette had thought of the same thing and was equally as stumped as Hanamiya as to how he'd obtained it.

"Perhaps it's dull for you, Kazuya-kun, but I think Makoto-kun might appreciate it." he replied absentmindedly, and the all but gleeful look Hanamiya was still sporting did more than confirm his words.

(and if Hanamiya jumped on him as soon as the door to his house closed, and if he was the one to initiate the cuddling on the sofa after the making out, and if Kuroko woke up on said sofa the next day, the smell of cooked fish and rice teasing his senses, and if Hanamiya was clad in an apron (only an apron and boxers) and turned to him with a smirk and a tray of food, well, he would not complain. And he felt more than justified to decide that his gift was appreciated.)

Kuroko was just coming back from his walk with Nigou, making plans to maybe finish his homework and then work on the shot Makoto had taught him, when his phone buzzed and he frowned, not having expected anyone to contact him since it was Saturday and off-season.

-Hey, Tet-chan, can you come to the park where the streetball tournament was taking place? Seto was an idiot and twisted his ankle and now we're one short ;(

The bluenette frowned at his phone, concern for the center's well-being and curiosity at the forefront of his mind.

-What's this for, Kazuya-kun? He texted back almost immediately.

-Ah, there's a tournament of course! Me and Hiro-chan wanted to have a last game with the third years before uni!

Kuroko snorted at the notion of the fierce-looking Yamazaki being referred to as 'Hiro-chan'.

-'Hiro-chan and I', Kazuya-kun. And are you sure the others won't mind me being there?

Because there was a difference between 'hanging out' and playing basketball on the same side of the court. There were set offenses that he would not know, he refused to injure anyone, he wasn't sure how they'd react to being on the receiving end of his passes –

-Don't be silly, Tet-chan! Hana-chan practically ordered me to call you :P and wow, you're even more picky with grammar than Furu-chan ._.

A smile pulled at the corners of his lips and he felt as if a weight was being lifted off his shoulders.

-Alright. I'll be there in half an hour.

-Score! :DD

True to his word, Kuroko turned up at the park in thirty minutes, dressed in a pair of black shorts and a white shirt – which he suspected originally belonged to Hanamiyaas it was far larger than his own shirts – his usual bag containinghis sweatbands, a water bottle, his shoes and a ball slung over his shoulder.

He scanned the courts til his eyes found the Kirisaki regulars, huddled noticeably closer than the other teams gathered in the park. He made his way over to the group, also spotting Kasuga and the ex-Seiho captain as well as Miyaji and Otsubo in the crowd; seemed like some of the games would be interesting. Furuhashi spotted him first, his height and the way he was facing letting him see the bluenette approach, and Kuroko reciprocated the small smile that pulled at the brunette's lips as greeting.

"Ah, Tet-chan, you came!" Hara's cheerful voice rang out, and Tetsuya didn't bother dodging the arm that wrapped around his shoulders, merely shooting the taller teen an exasperated look.

"I did say I would come, Kazuya-kun." He admonished, before his gaze fell on the incapacitated centre player who was perched on the bench, his ankle wrapped up with an icepack on top. "How are you feeling, Kentaro-kun?" he asked worriedly, but the brunette waved him off.

"I'm fine, it was just a slight sprain. Anyway, Hanamiya already played nurse on me so I'll be just fine." He replied, eyes sliding teasingly to the raven who swatted him on the back of the head.

"Don't be an idiot, Seto. That's Hara's job." He scowled before his eyes fell on Kuroko, and the scowl morphed into a smirk when he realised what shirt the slighter teen was wearing.

"Ano, Makoto-kun, are you sure it will be fine if I play?" Tetsuya asked quietly, anxiously, unwilling to let his friends (and boyfriend) down.

But Hanamiy merely wrapped an arm around his waist and led him to the courts as their next match was called out, a confident smirk on his face.

"You should know by now not to doubt me, Tetsuya."

There were no issues.

More than that, Kuroko thought dazedly as they made their way off the court to wait for their next game to be called out, the match had gone smoother than most of Seirin's matches, and he realised that it made little difference whether he sent a Cyclone Pass to Kazuya or to Kagami. But what he'd found more surprising was that, after he'd requested that the Kirisaki regulars forego their usual rough play since it was not an official match, he settled into the flow of the game, the style and the pace of the offense almost naturally. It seemed odd, but between Hanamiya's steals, Yamazaki's three-pointers, Hara's dunks, Furuhashi's 'unsettling' demeanour, and Kuroko's passing, they'd formed a rather well-rounded team. Although, probably most importantly;

The game had been fun.

"Tetsuya," Hanamiya called, drawing the bluenette's attention as they waited for their next game to be announced. "in the next match, if you're marking a wing player again, sag off them slightly, so you're almost in the 'help' position. I want to try something." Kuroko merely nodded, weeks of being coached by the raven allowing him to trust his judgement easily, and he made sure to put Makoto's words in practice in their game, a pleased smile forming on his face when Hanamiya swooped in for a steal, sending a pass to Hara who was already running towards the basket, chuckling at the taller teen's delighted woop.

(Seto's eyes widened from where he sat, not missing the bluenette's position nor Hanamiya's smirk when he went for the steal. It was too rough around the edges to be called the original, but, he thought as the duo settled into the same position again, the intention and end result were definitely the same. Yet, instead of feeling replaced, he was amused, sending a wordless kudos to thebluenette for accomplishing such a feat; after all, learning how to cooperate with Hanamiya in the Spider's Web had taken Seto most of their first year rather than the first hour.)

The games had gone on till it was dark outside, and Kuroko, worried about making the others travel so far at night, invited the Kirisaki regulars to stay at his house instead. Hara had jumped on board almost immediately, but there were a few objections, mainly from Seto and Yamazaki who were worried about the space and what Kuroko's parents would feel about housing five extra teens. Kuroko had quickly dismissed their concerns, saying that there were guest rooms at his house and his parents were both away on business trips so there was no reason to worry, and he promptly ignored the almost concerned look directed at him by Furuhashi. When they finally got to his house, he showed the others to their rooms (his apology for requesting that two share a room since there were only two guest rooms was met with an incredulous gaze from Hara and a "Did you forget about the dogpile we slept in at 'Hashi's place?" from Seto) and when all were finally in their rooms - Hara with Furuhashi and Seto with Yamazaki - he joined Hanamiya in his room, the other already washed up and changed into his pyjamas. By the time Kuroko had settled in bed beside the raven, it was already close to midnight, and a tired, comfortable silence settled between them.

Just as he was about to drift off, Makoto's quiet voice broke the tranquil atmosphere;"It was good to play with you today." and Kuroko almost jumped at the words, not having expected such a confession. Mulling over the words and thankful for the cover of the night, he shared his own thoughts on the day's events.

"I agree. Although, I must admit that, when Kazuya-kun initially texted me, I was reluctant. I didn't think I'd enjoy playing with you as much as I did, considering the differences in our styles." he paused, collecting his thoughts, half grateful, half worried about Makoto's continued silence. "But I'm glad I went. And, actually... I'd love to play with you again."

Hanamiya, forever the realist, nodded amicably. "That can be arranged, you know. There are other amateur tournaments or friendlies or one on ones that we could play together." he assured, but there was a certain hesitance in his words that made Kuroko think the raven knew that that wasn't what he'd meant.

"I'm glad, but... What I meant was slightly different, Makoto-kun." he sighed, resigning himself to baring his feelings to the other. "I meant play competitively. Together. In a team that goes to official tournaments and has official games."

Even without looking at the raven, Tetsuya knew the other was frowning. "I'm going to university in April." he stated matter-of-factly, and Kuroko sighed again and struggled to swallow against the sudden lump in his throat. "I know, Makoto-kun." he replied wearily. "And I wish you all the best. It's just that..." he trailed off, unable to finish the sentence after feeling the sudden weight of Makoto's scrutinising gaze on him. It was silent for a long time. Kuroko lay on his back and stubbornly didn't take his eyes off of the ceiling, and tried to will the unexpected burn of tears away, while Makoto rested on his side, a contemplative look on his face as his eyes assessed the bluenette in the dark room.

"You don't want me to leave." he finally surmised, and Kuroko almost didn't manage to catch the sob that threatened to leave him at the words. Why was he being so emotional all of a sudden? Yet all he managed was a shaky 'hai' and then he threw his arm over his eyes and turned so his back was towards Hanamiya, ashamed. Who was he to place his comfort and selfish wishes over the bright future standing before the raven? He had no claim, no influence over the other's actions.

When it seemed like Hanamiya was not going to reply, Kuroko sighed, some of the tension leaving his shoulders and he swiped angrily at the few tears that had escaped him. "I'm sorry, Mako-" but an arm wrapped around his waist, cutting him off, and he startled slightly as he felt Makoto's chest against his back, but the other's quiet, "Go to sleep, Tetsuya." had him relaxing and almost melting back into the other teen's embrace. This gentle, patient side of Hanamiya was something that made it even harder for the bluenette to deal with the other's looming departure. But, as he felt the arm around his waist tighten and Makoto's steady breaths deepen and slow down, he chased those thoughts away and welcomed the temporary escape of sleep, Hanamiya's warmth and comfort lulling him better than any lullaby his grandmother had ever sang him.

(If he thought the issue would be forgotten, and Hanamiya would let his sudden confession slide, well. He was wrong. Badly so.)

In the days that followed, Kuroko discovered one more thing; Hanamiya was one hell of a possessive asshole.

Hara was the one to enlighten him to that fact, after he'd discovered Kuroko in Hanamiya's shirt with an enormous, clearly visible hickey on his neck. His expression had been rather comical, but he quickly got himself together and went on to tell the bluenette how 'leaving love-bites and all but demanding your partner wear your clothes' are signs of possessiveness. "But it gets better." he murmured in Kuroko's ear, grinning madly. "Watch Hana-chan's face." he instructed, and proceeded to wrap an arm around the bluenette's waist. Kuroko obediently trained his eyes on Hanamiya, and the raven, who had been discussing something with Seto while Furuhashi and Yamazaki played video games, immediately turned around and scowled, shooting Hara an annoyed look, much to Tetsuya's surprise. The lilac-haired teen threw his head back and laughed, but didn't relinquish his hold on the bluenette. "It's like he does this almost subconsciously, it's great." he remarked, reaching up beneath his fringe to dry his eyes of invisible tears.

But it wasn't great.

Not for Kuroko, at least, less than a week later.

Makoto was his first relationship of the non-platonic nature; that was no secret. As such, although happy to explore and try new things, he was still rather clueless to some things, one of the main ones being how much force exactly (when taking into account his easily-bruisable skin) was necessary to create a tell-tale mark that showed. So he did not complain when Makoto, on one of his rare affectionate days, was peppering lightly-biting kisses wherever he could reach, while Kuroko absentmindedly stroked the other's hair much like he would Nigou's.

At the incident that took place the next day after practice, he grudgingly realised that he most definitely should have complained.

Practice was over, and everyone was exhausted, the drills and routines being particularly ruthless that day as the stress of entrance exams was getting even to Riko, and it was no secret she tended to release her stress through making them run. As such, when Kuroko finally dragged himself to the lockers and under the shower, it took him a while to realise that all of the quiet chatter that was filling the lockers before he'd walked in had suddenly cut off when he'd taken off his shirt. Unaware of the fact that everybody's attention was suddenly focused on him, he let out an appreciative noise when the hot water hit his tired, sore muscles and enjoyed the few minutes of bliss.

At least, until he was shoved back into the cold tile wall by a very flustered Kagami, who for some reason refused to look at him. "What the hell's all that?!" the redhead all but shrieked, gesturing towards Kuroko's torso (no easy feat considering the taller teen still had his gaze trained resolutely on the lockers).

"Got yourself a feisty girlfriend, Kuroko-kun?" Izuki's teasing voice rang through the silent lockers, and the point-guard earned a smack to the back of the head from the blushing captain. Confused, the bluenette cocked his head at his seniors, and it took the raven's meaningful glance down at his chest for him to look down at his body and-

Oh.

Dozens of small, shockingly purple bruises dotted his torso, from his collarbones all the way down to his hips, and when he craned his neck slightly, he realised that the same was happening at his back, and he had a sudden flashback to yesterday's night and Makoto's 'oddly affectionate' behaviour. He grit his teeth. Knowing the raven, he probably already knew exactly how much pressure he had to exert for the marks to show. That possessive little-

He wasn't sure what exactly his face was showing, but it must've been bad because Koganei next to him paled and nudged him carefully, "Hey, Kuroko, you alright?" the cat-like teen questioned curiously.

"Ah, hai," Kuroko replied distractedly, shutting off the water even though he had not finished washing and wrapping a towel round his waist, ignoring his senior's confused call. "I just- I need to text someone." Without further explanation, he dug into his bag, pulled out his phone and-

-I hate you.

The reply was almost immediate.

-Don't tell me you didn't enjoy the attention ;)

The emoji tacked at the end made Kuroko's grip on his phone tighten til the device gave a pitiful crack, and he carefully loosened his grip, even as he imagined doing an Ignite Pass on Hanamiya's stomach.

-I didn't.

-Well, what's done is done. I'm afraid there's nothing you can do about it now, Tetsuya.

And the bluenette could perfectly imagine the smug satisfaction that was undoubtedly on the other's face as he typed that message. He opted not to grace him with the response.

Then, as he changed into his uniform again and walked out of the changing rooms, an idea struck him; Makoto was wrong, there was something he could do. It was a blow below the belt, but as he remembered the awkwardness and embarrassment the raven caused him, he declared it a more than fair comeback.

An eye for an eye, Makoto-kun. He thought as he fished his phone out of his pocket and dialled a number he never thought he'd need to use.

"Ah, Hanamiya-san, I'm Kuroko Tetsuya, Makoto-kun's friend, sorry for interrupting…"

When he finally got home, shucking off his shoes and dropping his bag down in the hallway, he didn't get much further than the sofa when he was unceremoniously pushed into the wall, his cheek pressing uncomfortably against the cool wallpaper, grunting when he felt his arms being twisted behind his back and held in place with a strong hand.

"Did you think that was funny, Tetsuya?" Makoto's voice drawled in his ear, tone carefully bland so that Kuroko could not discern the raven's true emotions. "Did you think you were clever, that you'd one-upped me?" Hanamiya was hissing now, and the grip around Kuroko's wrists tightened imperceptibly.

"I don't see what's so bad about what I did, Makoto-kun." Tetsuya replied innocently, with a calmness he didn't fully feel; despite being used to the other's unpredictable mood-swings and knowing that what he'd done would no doubt provoke a strong reaction, he hadn't expected the other to get so angry to actually manhandle him.

"You called my mother, Tetsuya." Makoto sneered, using his grip on the bluenette's arms to flip him around so he could get right into the other's space. "You called my mother to tell her I'd caused you 'public embarrassment' with my 'non-consensual kink exploration'." He hissed indignantly, one hand going to Kuroko's collarbone to keep him pinned to the wall while the other clutched at his hip, fingers digging into the pale flesh one step away from painfully.

Kuroko regarded the raven with his usual deadpan carefully in place. "I do not mind you marking me when we're in the privacy of the bedroom or in places where they're not easily seen. However, you knew those would be seen when you made them, and you chose not to tell me. I did not appreciate that. So I chose to remind you as to why trying to trick me is a bad idea."

Hanamiya considered him for a moment before he looked away with a snort and a smirk on his lips, the anger slowly leaving him. "Damn, Tetsuya, you've gotten ruthless." He muttered, turning so his gaze met the bluenette's and the hand on his hip moved to squeeze his behind, making Kuroko jump. "I'd be impressed if I wasn't so mad at you." He admitted, and Kuroko smiled, feeling the angry tension dissipate and be replaced with their usual comfortable silence, til he broke it.

"I'm sorry, Makoto-kun." He murmured as he rose on his tip-toes to press a soft kiss to the raven's chapped lips. Yet as he went to pull away, the hand that had been on his collarbone moved to the back of his neck, holding him in place. Makoto stared at him with his usual, teasing, slightly predatory smirk and half-lidded eyes. "'In places where they're not easily seen', did you say?" he hummed, smirk widening. He bent his knees til his face was level with Kuroko's and moved his lips to the spot just behind his ear, kissing it lightly before he bit it, sucking the flesh into his mouth as Kuroko gasped, then soothing it with his tongue. "So here's okay?" he whispered into Tetsuya's ear, but the bluenette knew he wasn't actually asking for permission. Still, unwilling to fully give up that particular battle, he wormed one of his hands which was still trapped behind his back free and tangled it in Makoto's hair. He tugged til their faces were level, then leaned forward until there was barely an inch between them and whispered, "I'd prefer here." And surged forward and smashed his lips against the raven's.

(The surprised grunt that quickly morphed into a pleased moan that escaped Hanamiya was almost worth Seirin's faces the next day, when he took off his shirt after practise to reveal even more marks interspersed amongst the fading ones from the previous day. Almost.)

Kuroko had never really understood the fuss behind birthdays.

If he was really honest with himself, he'd say that it was because he rarely had people to celebrate his birthday with. His parents were almost always away on business trips, his grandma had an on-and-off relationship with the hospital, and although Ogiwara was his first true friend, a two-man party was hardly a glamorous event. The Generation of Miracles was the first real friendship group he'd belonged in, but by that time he was much too shy and they much too serious for sleepovers and home-hosted birthday parties; they ended up either giving presents quietly before or after practice or going out for ice-cream or burgers on the day. So Kuroko was not expecting Hanamiya to tug him into bed at a very respectable 9pm on a Friday, the night before his birthday; when asked why, the raven stared at him for a moment before he sighed and made himself comfortable on Kuroko's bed. "Because," he began, as if Tetsuya was stupid for asking the question. "my team will show up early tomorrow morning, and with all the hassle Kazuya makes about birthday parties, I reckon you'll need a good night's sleep to deal with it." At that, Kuroko stared at the older teen with a blank look on his face, one word in particular echoing inside his mind. When he finally regained his voice, he choked out, "Party, Makoto-kun?" and did a double-take at the raven's almost confused look.

"It's your eighteenth birthday tomorrow, Tetsuya." He stated, as if the bluenette didn't know. "Most countries recognise that as the official age of majority, do they not?" but when Kuroko continued to look like Makoto had just told him he was considering switching from basketball to ballet, he scowled. "Don't tell me you've never had a birthday party thrown for you, Tetsuya."

Kuroko's silence seemed answer enough.

Hanamiya sighed and pulled the bluenette into his chest, wrapping his arm around the petit teen's waist, effectively assuming the position of the 'big spoon'. "Just don't tell that to Kazuya. He'll go insane." He snorted, then seemed to consider something. "I thought for sure that, given how 'team-obsessed' Seirin is, and with the fact that you have that idiot Kiyoshi on your team, they'd have overwhelmed you with birthday wishes and parties."

Kuroko sighed. "I doubt they know." He admitted, and smiled inwardly when Makoto stiffened, his wordless 'why?' clear in the air – Tetsuya shrugged as best as he could in his position. "They never asked when it was, so I never told them." Hanamiya sighed and buried his face in Kuroko's hair. "Definitely don't tell Kazuya." He mumbled into the pale tresses, his arm tightening. "Now sleep. You'll need the energy to deal with my idiot teammates."

It turned out that the Kirisaki regulars throwing him a party was not the only surprise fate had in store for Kuroko the next day. The bluenette was awoken to the sound of energetic knocking on his door, and he crawled out of bed, absentmindedly noting that Hanamiya must've already gotten up a while ago since his side of the bed had gone cold, and didn't even bother to tame his bedhead as he made his way downstairs. He momentarily froze in his tracks at what he saw; his entire living room was suddenly… colourful. Banners declaring 'Happy 18th Birthday!' decorated the walls and balloons of all colours of the rainbow were littered around the floor, and as he made his way further into the living room, he noted Yamazaki pinning up the last corner of the biggest banner, one that looked hand-made despite bearing the same message as the other ones. A further assessment of his house proved that all of the Kirisaki regulars were already there; Hara was busying himself by the stove, Seto was spread on the couch, his trademark eye-mask on his face, and Furuhashi was perched by the sleeping centre's feet, reading.

Hara appeared to have just finished cooking when he walked in, and he bounded up to him, a plate in hand, "Wakeywakey eggs and bakey, birthday boy!" he greeted, much too cheerily for such an early time. Kuroko rubbed the sleep from his eyes and shot a grateful but apologetic look at the lilac-haired teen, "Thank you, Kazuya-kun, but I don't eat bacon." He apologised, at which there came a grunt from the sofa and Seto's arm shot up, brandishing a plate with steamed vegetables and rice.

"Wakeywakey vegetables and sadness." he grumbled from his position on the couch, and Kuroko giggled quietly at the words even as he took the plate, then watched as the center propped himself up on his elbow and wiggled his fingers in Hara's general direction.

"C'mon, Kazuya, you dragged me out of bed at half past eight on a Saturday, the least you could do is feed me." he whined, finally reaching up to pull off his eye-mask, levelling the lilac haired teen with a look that reminded Kuroko strongly of Nigou when he wanted to be fed. Amused, the bluenette watched as Hara whined but surrendered the plate, then he glanced around to where Yamazaki was now scavenging for food in his fridge, and frowned when he realised there was one person missing.

"Where's Makoto-kun?" he asked nobody in particular, stifling a yawn.

"He went to get the door." Furuhashi answered, reminding Kuroko of his original reason for getting up before he shut his book as he looked up at the bluenette with a soft smile. "Happy birthday, Kuroko." he added almost as an afterthought, and Tetsuya smiled, murmuring a quiet 'thank you' as he made his way to the front door to retrieve his boyfriend.

Meanwhile, Makoto was scowling at the sight before him.

He didn't mind the interruption, or the knock itself; Kuroko's neighbours were rather friendly people as he had dealt with them a couple of times in the past, and he had already been awake for a couple hours, so that was no problem. What was a problem, however, was who was actuallywaiting beyond the door; majority, if not the entirety of Seirin's basketball club, complete with their coach were all outside, all dressed in training attire with their sports bags slung over their shoulders. The moment he opened the door, he saw the redhead was about to speak, but upon recognising him, he fell silent, and his teammates just stared at Hanamiya with their eyes wide and jaws gaping and hanging somewhere by their knees.

"A-Are you sure this is the right house, Kagami?" the one Makoto recognised as the captain stuttered, clearly the first one to regain his wits. "Of course!" the redhead defended, indignant. "God knows I've walked past this place nearly everyday for the past two years!"

"Well, in that case," the female coach began, narrowing her eyes at Hanamiya who merely shot her a disinterested look. "What on earth are you doing at Kuroko-kun's house, Hanamiya?" she demanded, earning a few 'yeah!'s from the others.

The raven shrugged, smirking inwardly. "I practically live here." he admitted nonchalantly, revelling in the flabbergasted looks the confession earned. "And Tetsuya is still in bed, so I'd appreciate it if you kept your voices down." he admonished, not missing the effect his choice of words had on the group. Ah, the power of implication...

Before he could remark that they should close their mouths because the 'gaping fish' look is not the most flattering expression, he felt thin arms wrap around his middle and a forehead rest on the back of his neck. "Stop terrorising my neighbours and come back inside, Makoto-kun." Kuroko murmured, and Hanamiya openly smirked at the shocked faces before him. Unfortunately, the stupid redhead had to go and ruin the moment.

"K-Kuroko?!" he shrieked, startling the bluenette. "What the hell?!" Kuroko jumped at the volume and quickly detached himself from Makoto, squeezing past him to face his team.

"K-Kagami-kun!" he greeted shakily and bowed apologetically. "What are you all doing here?" he asked.

"There's a tournament in the park and we thought we could all go like last year!" Furihata explained, and Hanamiya saw how Kuroko's shoulders tensed at the words. "Ah, I didn't know..." he trailed off, looking to the side as he bit his lip, a habit that told Hanamiya he was conflicted.

"That's why we came to fetch you, baka!" Kagami teased, grinning at his shadow. "So hurry and get changed and we can go!" it was only because Hanamiya had kept his gaze on the bluenette through the entire exchange that he didn't miss the pleading look Kuroko sent his way. He cleared his throat and wrapped an arm around the smaller teen's waist. "I'm afraid Tetsuya can't do that. He's otherwise occupied today."

"Oh yeah?" Kagami demanded, giving the raven the stink eye. "What's more important than basketball with his team?" he snarled, and Hanamiya sighed, but was silenced before he could reply by a cheery; "It's Tet-chan's birthday, of course!" Hara exclaimed, picking the bluenette up and throwing him over his shoulder, ignoring his affronted squeak.

Seirin appeared to be in so much shock at the teen's sudden appearance that it took them a while to register his words. "B-birthday?" the pointguard finally asked, eyes wide. "Is that true, Kuroko?" the teen in question was still slung over Hara's shoulder, with the power forward's hand resting teasingly on his behind, but he paused in his attempts to get free long enough to utter an affirmative noise. There was a sudden grunt of pain from the lilac haired teen as Furuhashi appeared in Seirin's line of sight, and the brunette led Kuroko to stand next to Hanamiya, settling behind him with a hand on the small of the bluenette's back in a now-familiar hold.

"Why did you never tell us?" Hyuga asked, scowling behind his glasses, but was answered by Furuhashi's condescending deadpan instead. "Isn't it your job as his teammates to find that out?" he questioned, not missing the flash of guilt that passed through the captain's face. Kuroko tilted his head up to frown at the brunette, a quiet "Koujiro-kun." falling from his lips in admonishment, to which Furuhashi replied by running his hand gently up and down his back in a gesture that Kuroko interpreted as apologetic. The bluenette turned to face his team and a tiny frown settled between his brows, "I don't regard my birthday as particularly important, so I didn't feel the need to share it. My apologies, Hyuga-senpai, Riko-san, everyone, but I will not be able to participate in today's tournament." he bowed again, the position allowing his teammates to see the possessive hand Furuhashi still had on his back.

"That's alright, Kuroko-kun," Riko responded, when it seemed like nobody else was going to. "Just please tell me; why is the Kirisaki Daiichi team at your house?"

Again, Hara beat everyone to the explanation; "We're throwing Tet-chan his first birthday party!" he announced and popped a party-popper over Kagami's head, which drew a startled chuckle from the bluenette. "Can you believe it? Living eighteen years on this earth without a decent birthday bash?" he reached over Furuhashi to pat the bluenette on the head, then turned on his heel with a chuckle and strutted back to the kitchen. The looks on most of the faces of Seirin's basketball team were those of surprise, but some had an unquestionable 'why would you bother?' air around them. Furuhashi, apparently reading that air, glared. "We may not be the team he ended up with," he started quietly, but the cold anger in his voice still drew all eyes to him, "But we're the team he deserves." and with those words, he wrapped his arm around Kuroko's waist and led him away from the door, shooting a meaningful look at Hanamiya as he went.

Makoto regarded the group with a cool gaze, before his eyes settled on Kagami. "I'd be careful if I were you." he warned, and he could see how the redhead's shackles rose at the direct address. "I've already taught that stupid ex-captain of his what happens when you don't appreciate what's right in front of you. I won't hesitate to do the same to you." and with those words, he shut the door in their faces and headed back to the living room.

On the other side, Izuki chuckled. "I think I figured out who Kuroko's feisty girlfriend is." he announced, grinning.

(Seirin still headed to the courts, and Kagami's sense of unease only grew when they handed their team list to one of the organisers, and the man clucked his tongue, pointing at Kuroko's name. "I'm afraid that one's already signed up with a team." he declared, and Kagami paled. At the question of 'whose team', the man dug around until he produced a sheet of paper with six names on it. "Ah, a team called 'KiriDai'? I don't know much about them other than the fact that they've won the last tournament a few weeks ago." and Taiga saw exactly what Hanamiya had meant by 'I won't hesitate to do the same to you'; what he'd forgotten to mention though, was that he'd already started to do so.)

Kuroko's first official 'birthday bash' was as chaotic as the name suggested. On top of the balloons, banners, loud music, party hats, and birthday cake, a food-fight had broken out, and they were all sticky with molten ice-cream, icing, cake in their hair (Kuroko was disturbed to discover some had even gotten in his boxers; ew) and then Hara had brought out the alcohol and by the time evening rolled around, Kuroko's living room looked like a battlefield, and they were all in varying degrees of intoxication, though he reckoned that him, Makoto and Furuhashi were the least drunk, although all were pleasantly buzzed.

"Present time~!" Hara declared suddenly, and plopped himself and a poorly-wrapped lump in-front of the bluenette, vaguely waving at the others to do the same. "Ah," Kuroko gasped as the others settled around the kotatsu, not having expected presents in the slightest. "You didn't have to, Kazuya-kun." He murmured and startled at the heavy hand that landed on his head, gazing up at the taller teen in confusion. "Maybe I didn't." he hiccoughed. "But I wanted to! So you have to open it!" and Kuroko nodded, and began the painstaking job of unravelling Hara's present (it seemed that whatever the lilac-haired teen lacked in terms of wrapping talent he compensated for with sticky tape) and when he finally managed to pull out the contents, he was surprised by finding soft, navy-and-green wool, and further inspection revealed a knitted hat, scarf and gloves. "Did you make this, Kazuya-kun?" he asked curiously, gently tracing his fingers over the stitching. He was rather stunned when he raised his eyes and saw a pink blush dusting Hara's cheeks, which wasn't there before, despite his obvious intoxication.

The power-forward grunted an affirmative and looked away, mouth twisting down at Yamazaki's amused chortle. "Hana-chan told me you always get cold easily and you look good in our colours and it was stupid I know but-!" his rambling was cut off when Kuroko leaned across the kotatsu and planted a small kiss on his cheek, murmuring a; "Thank you, Kazuya-kun. I think it's lovely." Because he genuinely did – the quality of the stitching was near immaculate, and the gesture itself warmed something deep in his stomach. But when he moved to pull away, there were suddenly hands on his hips and he was yanked unceremoniously across the table and into Hara's lap and crushed against the taller teen's chest in a bone-crushing hug. "You're so cute, Tet-chan!" Kazuya cooed, and added. "If you weren't dating Hana-chan, I'd totally ask you out!" and he laughed at Makoto's annoyed warning of 'Kazuya' before loosening his grip. "I'm not going to, obviously, you can chill out, Hana-chan." He teased the raven, then reached over the table and pressed another present into Kuroko's hands. "Next one!"

The rest of the gifts Kuroko received were just as cute and thoughtful as Hara's had been – he'd gotten a boxful of books from Furuhashi, vouchers for vanilla shakes in Maji Burgers from Yamazaki, and a basketball designed specifically for outdoor use from Seto. "So you give him a basketball but I got condoms? Fuck off, Seto." Hanamiya grumbled, and when Kuroko turned to face him with a soft smile on his face, the raven met his eyes and handed him an envelope. Tetsuya frowned; it was large and heavy, and he gently unsealed it, pulling out what looked like photocopies of emails and official letters. Kuroko glanced up at Hanamiya, but the raven's face was carefully blank, so he turned his gaze to the first page, eyes widening with every word he read.

This is to confirm that Hanamiya Makoto has been accepted to Keio University's one-year post-graduate physiotherapy course that will take the role of a gap-year before he chooses a full-time university, and will give him a professionally approved qualification as a physiotherapist should he wish to pursue that path. The details of the course are listed below:

Kuroko's eyes skimmed over the details then moved onto the next letter, and his mouth dropped into a small 'o'.

In regards to your inquiry about your application to Tohoku University,

Should you get the grades you are predicted, and should you manage to accomplish what you claim to be able to in regards to basketbal, there is no reason as to why you should not be able to start your courses in the Biochemistry Department at our school starting next year. Know, however, that should your grades drop, this arrangement will be terminated and your entrance denied immediately. Our prestige as an internationally recognised university takes precedence, and we do not accept any slacking, especially in potential students.

Kind regards,

Susumu Satomi, Headmaster

With his heart feeling like it was about to jump out of his chest and the tell-tale burn of tears in his eyes, he moved onto the last sheet of paper; a hand-written letter;

Tetsuya,

I know you are aware by now of what this is about; you're not stupid, which is one of the few reasons why I'm still around you.

A tiny snort escaped the bluenette; that beginning was so Makoto-esque that he nearly rolled his eyes, but he continued reading regardless.

Neither of us is prone to frequent displays of emotion, or affection for that matter, so I will admit to being slightly thrown by that confession of yours a few weeks back; it prompted some rather serious reflection on my part. As loathe as I am to admit this, I do not really want to leave you either. Therefore, I won't. But I also won't let you stand between what I want to do in the future. I will go to Tohoku, and I will study Biochemistry, and you will come with me. They have an ancient literature department too, so fret not. I will continue coaching you through your third year, but know this; Tohoku is a prestigious university – I am willing to tutor you so you will get the required grades, but I refuse to do everything for you; start slipping, and I'll leave you behind. The physiotherapy course is merely to kill time while you're at school – I care little for the actual qualification, but it will help when we play together in university, should you get injured.

I hope that you find this a satisfactory present.

Happy 18th Birthday, Tetsuya.

"Hey, Tetsu, are you crying?"

But Kuroko ignored the question and all but threw himself from Hara's lap into Hanamiya's arms, crushing their mouths together as he wrapped his arms around the stunned raven's neck. Makoto's arms quickly came up and wrapped around his waist and he reciprocated the kiss til they were both breathless, and Kuroko pulled away and rested his forehead against Hanamiya's.

"It is so much more than 'satisfactory', Makoto-kun." He murmured, breath puffing against Makoto's chin. "Thank you so much. I love it." Something else was on the tip of his tongue, but he stopped himself, not quite feeling like they were ready to cross that particular line just yet. Instead, he pressed his lips to Hanamiya's and did his best to convey the unspoken words through the push and pull of their mouths, the tight grip of his arms around Makoto's shoulders and the smile that refused to fade from his face. Suddenly, the raven's hand tangled in his hair and pulled, and a quiet moan escaped Kuroko before he could bite it back, the mix of pleasure and pain at the action sending a shiver down his spine.

"Ehem." Someone cleared their throat beside them, and Kuroko pulled away from Hanamiya, a blush rising to his cheeks when he realised all the other Kirisaki regulars were staring at them, expressions a mix between amusement and surprise. "Save the rest for the bedroom, would you?" Seto commented, a smirk on his face.

"Honestly, Tet-chan, not that that wasn't hot as fuck, but you might wanna listen to the ape for once." Hara teased, and Kuroko found himself being pulled into the lilac-haired teen's lap for the second time that day, and Kazuya leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Otherwise I'm not promising that I won't get jealous." Hara's proximity and whispered implication sent a not-exactly-unpleasant shiver down Kuroko's spine, yet before he could really think on that, he was pulled from Kazuya's lap and sat beside Furuhashi (he huffed at being manhandled again), and the brunette sent an exasperated look at his childhood friend.

"Honestly, Kazuya, you're worse than a bitch in heat." He scowled, and Kuroko stifled a snort while Hara pouted.

"So mean, Kou-chan!" he whined, making grabby hands at Koujiro.

Yamazaki watched the spectacle unfold and facepalmed, raising long enough to grab the unopened bottles of alcohol and bring them to the kotatsu. "If this is gonna keep up then I need more alcohol." He sighed, pouring himself a generous serving. Hanamiya mirrored his sigh and held out his own glass. "That's the most reasonable thing anyone's said all night, Hiroshi." He grumbled, throwing back his head and downing his drink the moment Yamazaki finished pouring it.

Kuroko sat quietly, observing, a pleasant warmth pooling in his stomach as a surprising realisation settled in; he really, really, loved these people. A fond smile on his face, he held out his own glass, snorting quietly at Hara's wink as he downed his drink.

The rest of the night passed in much the same way - at one point, the alcohol he'd ingested had gotten even to Kazuya, and they all drifted off, one by one, ending up in a heap that was rather similar to the one they'd found themselves in the very first time. By around one in the morning, the only ones awake were Kuroko and Hanamiya, and the bluenette was leaning on the raven whose back was propped up against the front of the couch, legs stretched out on the floor before them. In the near darkness of the room, Kuroko cuddled a bit closer to Makoto's side, resting his head on the teen's shoulder, the other's am wrapped around his back, hand resting on his hip.

"Thank you, Makoto-kun." he murmured, breaking the comfortable silence between them. Hanamiya didn't verbalise his response, but he hummed and the hand on Kuroko's hip squeezed lightly and the shadow didn't have to be a genius to know the other was silently asking 'what for?'
Sighing, he relaxed even further info the raven's embrace and closed his eyes. "For the best birthday I've ever had."

It was silent for a moment, then Makoto snorted and rested his head on top of the bluenette's, "Don't be an idiot, Tetsuya." he admonished, "I hardly did anything; you've just got pathetically low standards." But even Kuroko could hear the satisfied smile in Hanamiya's voice, and he found himself mirroring it.

They were going to be okay.

The Generation of Miracles had invited Kuroko out to Maji Burger a week after his birthday as their way of celebration.

"We wanted to go out on the day, but you weren't picking up your phone." Aomine explained, grinning at his old shadow. "Found someone more important than us?" he teased, and Kuroko blushed.

"No, Aomine-kun," he denied, scowling at the taller teen when he laughed. "My friends just threw me a surprise birthday party so I didn't even get a chance to check my phone." Kuroko explained patiently, but was not expecting Kise to turn his big puppy eyes on him and tilt his head in confusion.

"What friends, Kurokocchi? We weren't there, and Kagamicchi said that all of Seirin went to the streetball tournament!" he questioned, and the bluenette barely masked a wince; the implication stung. Aomine glared at the copy-cat and Midorima scowled and smacked the blonde around the head, ignoring his pitiful whining as he scolded, "Don't be obtuse, Kise, Kuroko is entitled to have friends other than us." Kuroko directed a grateful nod at the shooting guard, but the taller teen just scoffed and looked away, adjusting his glasses.

"So mean, Midorimacchi!" Kise cried, rubbing the back of his head before he trained his eyes on the petite bluenette. "But who were they, Kurokocchi? I don't recall you mentioning anyone else you hang out with." Kuroko frowned, not feeling particularly inclined to answer, the blond's previous words still fresh in his mind, adding to the already raging fire of insecurities. What friends? Who cares about you enough to throw you a birthday party? You're not good with people, who would bother? But he chased those thoughts away and sighed. "It's not important, Kise-kun. I just wanted to apologise for missing-!"

"It was the Kirisaki Daiichi team, wasn't it?" Akashi interrupted, and Kuroko paused, not appreciating Kise's wide eyes and Aomine's startled jump. He trained his eyes on his ex-captain and nodded mutely, bristling inwardly at the unadulterated disgust that passed through the redhead's face.

"Hai," he acknowledged, unwilling to stand down. "When Kazuya-kun learned that I had never had a proper birthday party, he insisted that he had to rectify that. He, along with Koujiro-kun, Kentaro-kun, and Hiroshi-kun came over to my house and threw me a 'birthday bash', to quote Kazuya-kun. It was, surprisingly, rather enjoyable."

Aomine sent him a proud grin that reminded Tetsuya of their good days back in middle school and he smiled fondly as the taller teen moved to ruffle his hair, but Akashi's voice froze them both in their tracks.

"I take it Hanamiyawas otherwise occupied?" the redhead inquired coolly, and Kuroko briefly understood the raven's distaste of his ex-captain; his habit of assuming was rather irksome. He moved away from Aomine's hand and faced his old captain, a small frown pulling at his brows. "The reason Makoto-kun did not come over, if that's what you're implying, Akashi-kun, was because he'd stayed over the night before." he clarified, not fully understanding why he felt such an overwhelming need to justify Hanamiya, only registering the quick jolt of satisfaction that shot through him when Akashi's eyes widened marginally at the news. But the redhead's expression was soon schooled back into his aloof mask of indifference as he raised a condescending eyebrow (the look made Kuroko feel sick to his stomach; it reminded him too much of what Akashi used to be like before his defeat in their first year Winter Cup.)

"I didn't know you were in the habit of inviting strangers to your house, Tetsuya." he remarked scathingly, and Kuroko suddenly wished he had Aomine's quick temper, or Makoto's inborn defensiveness, for that would provide him with a reasonable justification as to why the redhead's words made him want to Ignite Pass him in the stomach. As it was, he was who he was, and he stuck to who he was; he quietly adjusted the bag on his shoulder, made sure his face portrayed his usual polite disinterest, and regarded Akashi with what he hoped was the same level of impassiveness as Furuhashi was renowned for. Then, he spoke.

"To tell you the truth, Akashi-kun," he addressed dully, but each word was weighted down with acid and carefully controlled fury, "you're more of a stranger to me right now than he's ever been." and with those words, he nodded at his stunned ex-teammates and left the restaurant, feeling the bitter burn of tears and a lump forming in his throat, and he briefly wondered why all the different friends he made could never get along. And why, oh why was Akashi so scathing towards Hanamiya? Despite his anger at the redhead, the thought send a chill down his spine and he whispered a quick prayer to whoever was listening up there, hoping, begging'please don't let him revert to how he was after middle school. Please. I won't be able to bear it.'

(when he got home, he had enough energy left to crawl to bed and bury himself under his blankets, teetering between the oblivion of sleep and the pain of consciousness, unable to fall either way. That was how Hanamiya had found him, and the raven took one look at him and sighed; he refrained from his usual remarks or snide commentary - instead, he grabbed a book from Kuroko's bookshelf and settled himself down beside the dozing bluenette, crossed legs thrown over Tetsuya's, his free hand running up and down the slighter teen's back.

No words were said.

None needed to be said.

And with the quiet, strong presence of the raven at his side, Kuroko fell asleep, but with a small, pleased smile pulling at his lips.)

"Kuroko!" Nijimura leapt up from his seat at the cafe as the bluenette approached him, a genuinely pleased smile on his face. "I wasn't sure you'd come considering the unsightly impression I'd made before the Winter Cup! I'm very glad you did, though." his ex-captain greeted, and Kuroko felt the corners of his lips pull up into a hesitant smile.

"You requested a second chance, and I agreed, Nijimura-senpai. Of course I came." he responded quietly as he sat himself down opposite the older teen, eyes flickering left and right as he took in his surroundings. "How have you been, senpai?" he asked instead, gaze finally settling on the raven.

Nijimura waved him off, "Fine, honestly, better than I had expected, to be perfectly honest." his grin faded into a slightly more reassuring, genuine smile, and Kuroko felt the last of the tension leave his body. "But I'm more interested in you; are you still hanging around that bunch of delinquents?" he questioned, but the teasing lilt to his words alerted Kuroko to the fact that he didn't mean the words as scathing.

And somehow, Tetsuya found himself relaxing enough to reply with more than monosyllabic answers and actually share some of the stories, pulling surprised laughs, wide eyes, and amused snorts from his ex-captain, and they had a very pleasant back-and-forth until the topic of conversation drifted to the Generation of Miracles.

"Uh-oh," Nijimura murmured as he noticed the frown that pulled at Kuroko's brows at the mention of his old teammates. "Is something wrong, Kuroko-kun?" he could see the bluenette was considering whether to tell him or not, and he made sure his face was as unassuming as he could manage and waited. Finally, Kuroko spoke, and the words that left his mouth made Nijimura freeze.

Seijuuro, you idiot. He chided internally as he thought of the redhead and his complete ignorance of how his words and actions were misinterpreted by the bluenette.

"I just don't understand what Akashi-kun's problem with Makoto-kun is." Kuroko finally admitted, and the sigh that left his lips was so weary that Nijimura promised himself he'd thoroughly chew Akashi out during their next Skype call.

He debated just outwardly telling Kuroko what exactly Akashi's problem was, but he thought that the redhead would no doubt never forgive him if he spilled his biggest secret, regardless of whether it was for his own good. Instead, he tried a more subtle approach.

"Honestly, from what you've said, Kuroko-kun, it just sounds like he's jealous." He admitted, watching the bluenette carefully for any reaction. What he got was confusion, and he sighed. Damn.

"Jealous? What does Akashi-kun have to be jealous of?" he asked rhetorically, and at Nijimura's raised eyebrow, he frowned. "Me? What do I have that he doesn't?" and Shuuzo groaned inwardly at how his junior had misinterpreted his question.

"Have you ever thought that maybe he's jealous of your relationship with Hanamiya?" he asked, all thoughts of subtlety forgotten.

Still, the only response his words earned him were wide aquamarine eyes and a disbelieving, "But he despises Makoto-kun. Why would he be jealous of me spending time with him?" this time, Nijimura really did groan out loud and facepalmed.

"I can't believe that of all the qualities that could've stayed the same since middle school, it had to be your absolute cluelessness." He whined, voice muffled by his palm. He wagered that even Murasakibara would've gotten the hint by now. Still, when he raised his eyes, Kuroko looked just as confused as he did at the start of the conversation. "Nevermind." Nijimura groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'll tell Seijuuro to stop being an asshole, but I'm not getting in the middle of this otherwise." He grumbled, then quickly realised the need for a distraction when Kuroko's brows furrowed and he assessed him with the gaze that made Shuuzo feel like the bluenette could see straight through him. "Anyway, have you thought about which university you want to go to after high school?" he quickly changed the subject and almost startled when Kuroko brightened.

"I'm going to Tohokudai." The bluenette announced, and Nijimura paled.

"That's… ambitious." He finally choked out, more than aware of the university's prestigious status and he stared at Kuroko curiously, unaware that the other had such high goals.

"I will do it." Kuroko declared, and Nijimura found himself nodding along, convinced by the sheer conviction and determination shining in the bluenette's eyes. He wondered briefly how people still claimed that Kuroko had a 'weak presence' – just then, staring at his old captain with an expression that dared him to disagree, the shadow's presence was even more intense than Akashi's, and Nijimura felt he knew the exact reason for that change; after all, even he, in his short time with the teen, had realised that all that Kuroko needed to excel was someone who believed in him.

And he had a feeling that Hanamiya Makoto did so wholeheartedly, and Kuroko knew it.

It took Kagami an entire month and a half since Kuroko's birthday to ask about his relationship with Hanamiya, which was two weeks longer than Makoto had given him, and Kuroko mentally congratulated his light for his willpower. Still, the day before spring break found him all but cornered by Kagami in the locker rooms, the redhead staring at him with a mix between embarrassment and determination, and the bluenette sighed and stared at the taller teen expectantly.

"Yes, Kagami-kun?" he prompted when it seemed as if Kagami was not planning on speaking any time soon.

Shaking himself out of whatever stupor he was in, the redhead frowned, the corners of his lips downturned slightly. "Are you dating Hanamiya?" he asked in a much more coherent fashion that Kuroko had expected, and he would've almost said that Kagami was unaffected if not for the fact that less than three seconds after the words left his mouth, a bright red blush spread over his face, covering his entire neck and even the tips of his ears.

"Hai, Kagami-kun, I am." Kuroko admitted easily, inwardly amused at how the red seemed to darken and the redhead let out a noise that was a mix between a relieved sigh and a distressed groan, and covered his face with his hands and mumbled something unintelligible.

"I'm sorry?" the bluenette inquired, unable to make out the string of words that left the redhead's mouth.

"I said," Kagami began and he seemed almost mortified, "that the other two seemed rather possessive. I mean, the one with the bubblegum all but fondled you, and the dead-fish guy just. Kept. Touching. You." He choked out, and he reminded Kuroko more of a beetroot that a human by that point, and the bluenette smiled at how adorable his light was, despite his rather intimidating appearance.

He shrugged. "They're all rather affectionate, that's all." He explained, not understanding why the redhead suddenly blanched.

"'All'?" he echoed, all the colour draining from his face. "You're with them all?"

"Yes. I spend almost every weekend with them. Why?" Kuroko asked, confused. Why did Kagami look so mortified all of a sudden?

"But- How does that… work?" he questioned suddenly, his earlier distress overwhelmed by what appeared to be a sort of disturbed curiosity.

"Work? I go over after Friday's practise, we tend to go out for the evening, then stay over at Makoto-kun's place, then at night we-"

"Nevermind!" Kagami suddenly interrupted, face back to its worrying shade of red. "I-I just remembered I need to go home and, uh, walk my neighbour's dog!" he exclaimed, and before Kuroko could question that with a 'I thought you disliked dogs?' the redhead was already gone, and the bluenette was left alone in the locker rooms, wondering what it was in their conversation that had made Kagami run away like the devil himself was on his tail. He carefully reviewed their exchange in their mind, and –

Oh.

Well.

He slowly took out his phone, staring at the blank screen for a few minutes, before carefully typing the message.

-I think I broke Kagami-kun.

The reply was almost instantaneous:

-What did you do?

-I think… I think he assumed I was dating all five of you. He typed, eyebrows near his hairline even as a light blush dusted the bridge of his nose. This time, Makoto took a little longer to reply.

-Please, by all means do explain what on earth you could have said to make him think that?

Kuroko sighed and began typing, setting on the meticulous journey of retelling his conversation with his light, even as his fingers started to ache half-way through the message. Quickly reviewing what he wrote, he hit send and waited with baited breath for Hanamiya to reply.

-I'm coming over tomorrow during your practice and I'll straighten things out. You're mine.

Tetsuya could physically feel the blood rushing to his head at the declaration, his cheeks feeling hotter than they had any right to be. Before he could even begin the attempt at stringing together a coherent sentence in response, his phone buzzed again.

-And I forwarded the message to the others; Kazuya is ecstatic, Furuhashi claims he's not possessive (as if) and Seto wanted me to tell you he's laughing at you. Yamazaki is being a bore; he says you should just text your idiot teammate and straighten things out. He'll even vouch that he's not dating you if that's required.

Kuroko smiled and sent a quick 'Thank you!:)' to the shooting guard, receiving a 'np; this team needs some1 sane. glad to help.' Before he set to replying to Makoto.

-You need to study; your exams are in less than a week – I can clear things up with Kagami-kun myself. Or I'll just sic Nigou on him if he doesn't believe me. Also, please ask Kentaro-kun how he'd like it if his hair wax was to mysteriously disappear before his next game. I'm sure that could be arranged if he persists with this attitude.

There was a long pause in which he could almost see the amused smirk that no doubt graced Hanamiya's face as he read his message, but when the reply came, he almost dropped his phone.

-Fuck, Tetsuya, I fucking love you XD

Kuroko froze.

On the other end, Hanamiya did the same, eyes wide as he stared at the words he'd written not a moment ago, heart hammering madly in a mix of embarrassment and frustration. Fuck the fact that the cliché 'first love confession' was done over text, he also, of all possible emojis, just had to tack on the goddamn 'XD' – he regretted all his life's choices that had led up to this moment, where he was sat in advanced calculus, notes long forgotten, heart in his throat as he awaited a reply, for the first time understanding why Furuhashi had described him all those months ago as a 'preteen schoolgirl with a crush'. Suddenly, his phone buzzed, and he almost dropped it in his haste to see the bluenette's response.

-I love you, too, Makoto-kun. Although I hope you forgive me for forgoing the profanity.

And Hanamiya snorted, openly and loudly, completely ignoring his teacher's disapproving glare and the curious looks of his classmates as he pocketed his phone, a new, not entirely annoying warmth pooling somewhere in his chest.

Birds of a feather flock together.

"Tetsuya." Akashi greeted when Kuroko appeared at the redhead's agreed meeting point, sighing inwardly at the bluenette's puzzled look. "I'm glad you could make it."

"What is this about, Akashi-kun?" Kuroko greeted, forever blunt, even as he inclined his head in acknowledgement of Akashi's greeting.

The redhead in question shook his head, mildly exasperated, but then, Kuroko was never the type to beat around the bush. "I've asked you here to... apologise, in a sense." he admitted, unable to stifle a quiet chuckle at the bluenette's startled jump.

Kuroko would admit to being mildly apprehensive of meeting with the redhead, especially after their last group outing for his birthday; the impression Akashi had left had been far from favourable. Yet, hearing those words from his old captain, despite having wanted an apology after his distasteful show and scathing attitude towards Makoto, he couldn't quite believe his ears. Wordlessly, he stared at the redhead inquiringly, daring him to elaborate.

"I've been informed by a, ah, reliable source, that I need to be more forward in my intentions towards you, Tetsuya." Akashi declared, waiting for the spark of comprehension top dawn in Kuroko's eyes.

That spark never came.

"'Intentions', Akashi-kun?" the bluenette parrotted, oblivious to his friend's building frustration.

Gritting his teeth, Akashi willed the desire to flee and preserve his dignity away, knowing he would not survive the incessant teasing Nijimura would dish out onto his person upon learning he'd chickened out. He could already imagine the taunts; 'I thought Akashis didn't get cold feet?' or ' aren't you supposed to be an heir or some shit?' and most likely 'it's just Kuroko, what's the worst he could do, stare you to death?'

Yeah, no, he wasn't going to put himself through that.

"I like you, Tetsuya." he announced, loud and clear, despite wanting nothing more than to flee the scene at such an infantile declaration.

"I like you, too, Akashi-kun, although it wouldn't hurt if you were a bit more hospitable towards my other friends." Kuroko replied, blinking curiously, not understanding the reason for the sudden tension in the air.

(Akashi low-key wanted to bang his head against the table between them, and that was saying something about how disastrous the situation was because the redhead went out of his way to make sure he never did anything low-key.)

"No, Tetsuya." he forced out, unable to quite resist pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration as he decided to just spell it out, abandoning all sense of subtlety or tact. "I am romantically interested in you. I would like to court you, should you allow it."

After more than a minute of silence, the redhead chanced a glance at his partner, groaning out loud at what appeared to be Kuroko's brain disconnecting from the rest of his body; the bluenette's face was blank , the only hint that he even heard Akashi's words being the ridiculous widening of his eyes and his mouth agape in a tiny 'o'. Despite being the picture of frozen shock outwardly, inwardly, Kuroko was, for lack of a better word, freaking the fuck out.

Suddenly, all those taunts and jokes by Hanamiya about how "beautiful jealousy was" and how "Kuroko not having a clue just made it more fun" and Nijimura's not so subtle "It sounds like he's jealous" made sense. Yet, the only thought that was circuiting in Kuroko's mind was a half-awed half-disturbed Akashi-kun has feelings for me Akashi-kun has feelings for me. Me. Akashi-kun. and if he were to write the emotions surrounding that revelation, the only thing he could come up with would probably be '?¿?!'

He wasn't aware how much time passed, but it must've been a while since Akashi finally cleared his throat making Kuroko's eyes snap towards him, and, almost sheepishly, inquired, "Your answer, Tetsuya?"

And Kuroko forcefully calmed the freakout and focused on piecing together a coherent sentence. "Despite the fact that I'm very, um, flattered, Akashi-kun," he paused, averting his eyes from the redhead's expectant expression, "I must decline." guilt stabbed at his stomach when Akashi's face fell slightly, but he recovered in record time.

"Very well." he murmured, an odd tone to his usually even voice. "I suppose that was to be expected. May I just ask," and Kuroko snapped to attention, curious. "Why? Are you not yet ready for a serious relationship, or do you not find my company pleasant, or...?" for the first time since he'd met him, Kuroko heard Akashi sound almost insecure, so he was quick to reassure.

"It's nothing like that, Akashi-kun, I'm just... already involved with someone else." he did not miss how Akashi's eyes widened at the news, and Kuroko briefly cursed his luck that the first person from the Generation of Miracles to find out about his relationship with Hanamiya just had to be his old captain.

"Who?" Akashi asked bluntly, and Kuroko had a feeling the question had slipped out before he could quite stop it, and he smiled slightly at this rarely seen, unguarded Akashi.

"Makoto-kun, actually." he replied, the admission coming much easier than he'd expected, and the redhead stared at him, as if trying to figure out if he was saying he truth, before a short chuckle escaped him.

"That's why you were so defensive." he murmured, and Kuroko frowned, but Akashi waved him off. "I apologise; I did not know the extent of your relationship and I think my displeasure at how much time you were spending with Hanamiya showed a bit more than I planned for it to. I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me again, Tetsuya, and I hope that despite my confession, we can still continue as friends."

A bright grin split Kuroko's face. "I'll forgive you as soon as you promise to be a bit more pleasant towards Makoto-kun and his team." he cautioned, at which Akashi nodded, making his grin widen. Realising they still haven't ordered, he pushed his luck, "Then, in honour of our friendship, will you let me buy you coffee?" he teased, but his smile faded when Akashi's relaxed expression turned sour.

"Don't be foolish, Tetsuya." he scolded harshly, and Kuroko cowered. "I invited you out, of course I'm paying. You can pay for milkshakes afterwards." he elaborated, and Kuroko's eyes widened before his grin returned. "Hai, Akashi-kun!"

The rest of the day passed pleasantly, and when Kuroko returned home and told Hanamiya of the day's events, the raven had laughed until there were tears in his eyes and kissed Kuroko until they were both breathless, and the evening was spent lazily making out on the sofa while trying (and failing) to pay attention to some movie Hanamiya had recommended they watch, though neither was too bothered by the fact that when the ending credits rolled about, neither Hanamiya nor Kuroko could tell you more about the movie than the name of the main character.

Kuroko's third year of high school passed much too quickly for his taste.

Hanamiya was, as promised, right there by his side throughout, an unmovable, undeterred support, though a force to be reckoned with if he thought Kuroko was overworking himself or not working hard enough. Their combined stubbornness ("Determination." Makoto had corrected) had resulted in Seirin winning the Winter Cup again in their third year, and Kuroko had aced all the mock exams and tests and quizzes his teachers had thrown at the third years, yet, even with that comfort, he could not stop his nails from digging into his palms as he awaited the moment the results were published, sat nervously in front of his PC, refreshing the national results page every few minutes, the rest of the old Kirisaki Daichi team gathered around him, as they had insisted on being there to 'support their darling kouhai on doomsday'. Hanamiya was sat beside him on his chair, elbowing him once in a while when he dug his nails too deeply or gnawed too hard on his lip. Finally, the PC pinged and Kuroko pressed F5 so quickly he almost missed the key, the others leaning toward the screen as they found his name.

Kuroko Tetsuya:

Ancient Japanese: 97
Biology: 84
Calligraphy: 91
Chemistry: 87
Earth Science: 89
English: 86
Ethics: 88
Government/Economics: 90
History: 92
Home Economics: 91
Japanese Literature: 96
Mathematics: 85
Modern Japanese: 94
Physical Education: 72
Physics: 83

Overall: 88.33 (A)

A stunned silence settled around them, and Kuroko stared at the screen as if to make sure what he was seeing was actually there. He couldn't quite believe the bright and bold '97' that stared back at him, nor the fact that he didn't score anything below 70, even on his most dreaded subjects.

"Holy shit." Hara finally whispered, for once too shocked too chew his ever-present gum, even going so far as to brush his fringe back to squint at Kuroko's results, as if he too couldn't quite believe them.

"This- What the fuck did you do, Makoto?" Seto gaped, and it was the first time Kuroko had heard the center stutter.

Hanamiya was oddly calm, though there was a proud smirk on his lips, as if he'd expected nothing less. "You beat me in Ancient Japanese. Congratulations, Tetsuya." He murmured, pressing a light kiss to the bluenette's temple, but he drew back when Kuroko's phone vibrated around ten times in quick succession. He picked up the device and passed it over to the shadow, a curious look on his face, and he settled behind him along with the rest of his old team to read over his shoulder.

From: Kise-kun

-Uwaaa, Kurokocchi! O.O Your score is incredible! It's higher than Midorimacchi's! _ I had no idea you were so smart! Wooo! WELL DONE KUROKOCCHI! I'M SO PROUD!

Kuroko quickly scrolled past the embarrassing message, but the next one was no better;

From: Aomine-kun

-88.33. whadda fuck? what the actual fuck, tetsu? are you secretly a robot? that would explain the lack of expression hmm. but srsly, wtf? even midorima scored lower.

The one from Kagami was not much different.

From: Kagami-kun

-I don't know whether to be awed or terrified. I thought Tatsuya was a monster for getting 84.

He groaned, but opened the other messages regardless.

From: Nijimura-senpai

-Congratulations! Tohokudai really is in sight for you; I apologise for doubting you. Meet for coffee soon? My treat?

Something warm bloomed in his chest at the supportive message, and he saw the corner of Hanamiya's mouth curl up, and he realised that with a few words, Nijimura had fixed the less than favourable first impression he'd made on the raven.

From: Midorima-kun

-Yoo well done shadow-boy! Shin-chan is sulking in the corner so I stole his phone! He's not likely to forget the 0.7% anytime soon, so you might wanna watch out!;P

The next one had Hanamiya scowling.

From: Shouichi-kun

-I wonder what motivation Makoto-chan used… hmm… Maybe I should've offered to tutor you instead – I'm sure we both would've enjoyed my methods ;)

"Tch." Makoto scoffed. "As if." Kuroko shared an exasperated glance with Furuhashi, and moved onto the next message, fingers freezing over the cursor.

From: Akashi-kun

-Congratulations, Tetsuya. Although I still do think you could have scored higher had I been the one to tutor you.

Despite having fixed his relationship with his old captain, the self-assuredness still annoyed Kuroko; before he had really registered what he was doing, his fingers had already hit send, and he suddenly registered the silence that settled around the room as they all stared at his response.

-Thank you, although I sincerely doubt that would have been the case, Akashi-kun.

He scrolled back to the top of the page til his eyes fell on the name he was searching for: Akashi Seijuuro: overall: 89.6

"What did you get, Hanamiya?" Seto questioned and Kuroko turned to face his boyfriend who had a confident smirk on his face.

"91.2." he admitted easily, eyes meeting Tetsuya's. "Shouichi got 94, but we've already established that he's a nerd." Kuroko snorted and he felt the last of the tension leave his shoulders. Then, just as he was about to shut off his computer, a quiet ping that signified an e-mail drew his attention back to the screen. He opened his messenger and his heart skipped a beat at the subject of the email;

Congratulations on your acceptance to Tohoku University.

The look on Hanamiya's face when he turned to smile at Kuroko was worth all the stress and arguments and late-night cramming they'd gone through in the past year. And Makoto's enthusiasm in bed that evening after all the old Kirisaki regulars left only reassured Kuroko that his decision really was the right one; and that loving Hanamiya was not a mistake.

…

Eight months later

Rumours had reached Kise about some university up north with a basketball team that had disappearing passes and unexplainable steals as their M.O. As soon as his brain processed the words and his heart skipped a beat, he didn't hang around and instead, without any further ado, sent a mass text to all the people he could think of, the words simple enough:

-I know where Kurokocchi is!

The response had been immediate.

They were all starved from information from their favourite shadow, as the bluenette had pulled the same disappearing act as he had at the end of middle school; after the university entrance exams, he'd attended the farewell party thrown by Seirin's basketball club, where even the old members like Hyuga and Izuki had come, then he'd called the Generation of Miracles down to the courts for a three-on-three before they all split for the spring break. His ex-teammates didn't question him, enjoying the games, the competitive air, and the ability to play together without restraint. They'd said their goodbyes, their 'till next time!'s, and left with grins on their faces.

The next day, Kuroko had disappeared.

When Akashi, uncharacteristically but justifiably worried, had dug around till he had found the bluenette's address, the other Miracles tagged along with him because this was Kuroko, damn it, they owed it to him. When they arrived at the house Akashi's address had pointed them to, the door had been opened by an elderly lady who had introduced herself as Tetsuya's grandmother, and had invited them in, albeit with poorly hidden sadness in her eyes that had perplexed them all.

That confusion cleared quite quickly after she sat them down and told them the same story she had told Hanamiya nearly two years earlier, and the five teens were startled to realise how much their ignorance had cost their shadow. The thing she'd said afterwards had nearly made Kise cry.

"He said that he's not leaving forever; he'll plant his roots elsewhere, and when he's ready, he'll come back. He does love you, even after everything. Trust in him."

But after eight months of no Kurokocchi, Kise felt justified to take matters into his own hands and go guns blazing in pursuit of the bluenette.

The train ride to Kuroko's university had taken two hours, and during that time, the Generation of Miracles, plus all of Seirin who had been able to gather, old and new members alike, were wondering why their shadow had gone to such lengths to keep his destination secret from them. Upon arriving though, as their gazes fell on the university grounds and Kise finally registered why the name Tohokudai had rang a bell, their jaws dropped.

"Wasn't this the school you were trying to get into, Midorimacchi?" the blonde asked quietly, staring in awe at the grand establishment. Midorima nodded mutely, equally surprised.

"Kuroko got in here?!" Hyuga exclaimed, Izuki by his side seeming equally flabbergasted. "Don't get me wrong, he never seemed stupid, but god damn."

"He did score something like 89 on his entrance exams, too, didn't he?" Koganei questioned rhetorically.

"Oi, Seijuuro!"

All heads swivelled over to the source of the voice, and Seirin was surprised to find a fairly normal-looking raven make his way in their direction, but what was even more surprising were the reactions of the Miracles.

"Nijimura-chin." Murasakibara grunted, clearly surprised – the expression looked almost cute on the giant's face; the childish disbelief and excitement providing a great contrast to his usual indifference.

"Nijimura-senpai?" Midorima looked equally shocked, and it was the first time anyone had heard the shooting guard address anyone with the 'senpai' honorific.

"Shuuzo." Akashi greeted, eyebrow raised. "I didn't think you'd actually come."

The raven snorted. "Of course I came. You think I'd leave Kuroko-kun to fend for himself when all of you no doubt try to all but assault him?"

Kagami frowned. "Who are you though?" he asked bluntly, which earned him a prompt smack to the head from Riko and an admonishment of 'Manners, Kagami!'

Nijimura seemed almost amused. "I'm Nijimura Shuuzo. I was in charge of babysitting these brats," he gestured at the Miracles, "in my second year at Teiko. Pleased to meet you."

(all of Seirin, both old and new members sighed or facepalmed when Riko all but swooned at the charming introduction)

At Kagami's still-blank face, Midorima sighed. "Nijimura-senpai was Teiko's captain through most of his first and second year." He explained.

"Yeah, so if any of you," Nijimura gestured at the teens gathered around him, the look in his eyes daring. "ever complain about how hard it is having one 'miracle' on your team, imagine having six of them."

And Seirin felt a sense of respect for the young man before them, til Aomine startled them from their awed silence. "Are we actually gonna try and find Tetsu or are we just gonna stand here and reminisce like old farts?"

Nijimura snorted. "As always, you have no tact." He shook his head, then moved to walk in front of Akashi. "Let's go."

Finding the sports hall was not too difficult. What was difficult, however, was finding a spot on the bleachers.

"But it's a Saturday!" Kise wailed. "All I was expecting was a practise, not a real match!"

"It's playoff season up here, idiot." Nijimura admonished, looking around. "Kuroko did say they were going to be playing the qualifiers soon, so I guess that justifies the crowd." he mused, earning startled glances from the others.

"You've been in touch with him?" Midorima inquired, but Nijimura waved him off. "I knew where he was going, so when he stopped messaging me, I did a similar thing to you and just invaded one of his training sessions and lectured him about proper respect for his senpais."

(Riko had permanent hearts in her eyes as she gazed at the Rainbow Captain)

"There's an empty spot there!" Koganei announced, pointing a few metres to their left, at standing places by the banister where they might all manage to fit and have a clear view of the court. "Has the game started yet?" he asked rhetorically.

It turned out that the half-time break was just coming to an end, and as they all took their places, they were surprised to find the score being 66-62 in Tohokudai's favour. "That's quite an intense game." Hyuuga remarked, eyebrows raised in surprise.

Just then, the refree called both teams back on court, and the Miracles and Seirin both were shocked at what they saw; "Kuroko's vice-captain?"

The number 5 on Kuroko's jersey was unmistakable, the navy contrasting pleasantly with the white material made the numbers clearly visible.

"More importantly; Hanamiya is the Captain?"

Hanamiya and Kuroko walked on court side-by-side, 4&5 emblazoned proudly on their chests, the rest of their team surrounding them, all a good head or more taller (Seirin was surprised to find large, relaxed smiles on their faces - the game was far from over, and could easily tip in favour of the other team; how could they be so relaxed?) Somewhere beside them, someone laughed. "So they're putting in the genius first year duo. Damn, Tohokudai is getting serious."

The Generation of Miracles exchanged curious looks - surely, they didn't mean-?

"Excuse me," Riko inquired quietly, a frown creasing her brows. "Who do you mean?"

The man who'd made the comment grinned. "That number 4 and 5 - apparently, the number 4 turned up to training and immediately challenged the at-the-time captain for his position." he explained, and Seirin rolled their eyes, exasperated. Of-fucking-course Hanamiya would do something like that, his ego knew no- "The best thing was, my buddy told me, that he proposed a match between the first string regulars against him with the tiny number five. If the regulars won, those two would never show their face there again, but if they lost, he'd become captain and both him and the lil blue kid would become first stringers. Funniest thing was, they bulldozed over the regulars with some crazy disappearing passes and impossible steals." He laughed. "I called bullshit on the story - passes can't disappear. But damn, since I've seen them play, there's no other way I'd describe it."

There was a sudden commotion down in the court and they realised that the game was back in play and in Hanamiya's possession. The man they'd been talking with settled comfortably against the banister, chin in his hand and a grin on his face. "This is gonna be good."

Just as he finished speaking, three things happened in almost too-quick-to-follow succession: the ball left Hanamiya's hands and travelled to the right wing, the defense moving with it; Hanamiya raised his hand and snapped his fingers; the ball was sent to the center, the defense ended up collapsing right under the basket, then suddenly, the ball was in the left wing player's hands and swishing through the net in a graceful three-pointer.

Cheers broke out in the bleachers, and Tohokudai's team had smug grins on their faces, crowding around the petite bluenette and patting him on the back- where did he come from?!

"I didn't even see him move." Kagami breathed, disbelieving. Aomine merely nodded, stunned and staring at his shadow in a mixture of confusion and determination.

"Akashi?" Midorima asked, hoping the redhead would shed some light on the situation, but the teen was staring at the court in a mix of surprise and awe. "I... don't know what to tell you, Shintaro." he eventually admitted.

The other team had missed the shot, and the ball was back in Tohokudai's possession; Akashi's eyes were wary, tracking Kuroko's every move, to the point where he didn't even realise Hanamiya had simply dribbled the ball through the defense and scored an easy lay-up til the referee had blown his whistle. Mildly startled, his eyes zeroed in on the smug smirk on Hanamiya's face as he bumped fists with the bluenette.

"He didn't seem to disappear that time." Riko murmured, a frown creasing her brows.

In the next few minutes, Kuroko's team had managed to draw ahead by 16 points, and the other team was slowly losing their composure, their anger and frustration turning their defense aggressive, while their offense became more dynamic. While the referee called the fouls, by the end of the third quarter, the gap had gradually dwindled back to 6 points, and the Generation of Miracles turned to regard Hanamiya and their old shadow, fully expecting them to be just as frustrated as the other team had been. They did not expect to find the entire Tohokudai team sporting confident smirks and relaxed postures.

"What the hell?" Kagami demanded, seeming to voice the thoughts of most of Seirin present. The tiger-like redhead leaned over the barrister and raised his voice, "Oi, Kuroko, what the fu-!" but he was interrupted by an even louder; "Show 'em who's boss here, Tet-chan!" from somewhere to their left. Kuroko's eyes snapped to the caller, and a fond, exasperated smile graced his face, though he nodded and nudged Hanamiya, who, even without looking, flipped the bird at whoever had shouted the encouragement. "So rude, Hana-chan!" but the rest of the complaint was drowned out by the referee's whistle, calling both teams back on court. Kuroko's team was the first to go on defense, and the way the bluenette positioned himself had Hyuuga drawing in a startled breath, though at Koganei's concerned look, he shook his head dismissively. After all, it couldn't be.

...Right?

When Hanamiya dove to steal the ball and sent it flying to their already sprinting centre for an easy lay-up, he dismissed it as lucky coincidence.

But after the next dozen points scored in the same way, he couldn't ignore it any longer. Kuroko was cooperating with Hanamiya on the Spider's Web.

"They aren't going to score any more points this game." the man whom they had been talking to before uttered, peeling himself from the banister and stretching lazily. "This game is over." Kagami looked ready to protest, or demand an explanation, but Akashi stopped him.

"Imayoshi said that during your game with Hanamiya's team, Tetsu's unpredictable passes freed Hyuuga, and he broke out the others. The team Tetsu is playing now has no pass specialist, and, probably, no one crafty enough to come up with a similar solution. This game is done. The only question is, whether they will bulldoze over their opponents, or toy with them." he cast a meaningful look at the scoreboard which now read 98-76 and smirked.

"I didn't know Kuroko-kun was capable of-"

"Yeah, well, apparently there were a lot of things you didn't know Tetsu could do." a bored voice cut Riko off, and the Miracles plus Seirin turned to face a familiar centre.

"Nijimura." the teen nodded at the ex-captain.

"Seto." the raven responded in kind.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Kagami demanded, always quick to accuse.

Seto raised a bemused eyebrow. "Supporting my friends, of course. How about you?"

Kagami gaped at the teen, struggling to come up with a response. "I think the words you're looking for, tiger-chan, are 'stalking my old friend'." A cheery voice supplied from behind Seto just before the obnoxious sound of chewed bubblegum reached their ears.

"You too?" Aomine gaped this time, eyes narrowing at the lilac-haired teen.

"Of course." Kazuya responded, nonplussed. "What sort of family would we be if we didn't support our babies?" he asked rhetorically, and whined when a hand connected with the back of his head.

"Stop spouting nonsense, Kazuya." Furuhashi scolded, though his face was as inexpressive as ever when he turned to regard Seirin and the Miracles. "I recommend you make your way down now if you want to avoid getting trampled; the game is almost over." When Akashi chanced a glance at the shot-clock, he found that the brunette was right – only 15 seconds remained of the game, and the score was a brutal 114-76 in Kuroko's favour.

"There's only a few seconds left." Akashi announced. "Do you not wish to see the last play?" he asked the ex-Kirisaki players, and was surprised at the tiny smirk that graced Furuhashi's face.

"No, thank you." He replied, though the mysterious glint in his eyes remained. "They always do the same thing anyway."

Alarmed, Seirin and the Miracles turned back to observe the game, just in time to witness Hanamiya tip the ball for the nth time, and it sailed gracefully straight into Kuroko's waiting hands; their opponents too weary and angry to chase them in the final seconds. A laugh sprang from Kuroko's lips as he passed the ball back to Hanamiya, both running parallel to each other towards their basket, and then, just a few steps away, he pushed off the ground, momentum carrying him up, up, and still climbing higher, til he received the ball just as the elbow of his outstretched arm was level with the rim, and he guided the ball through the rim and net just as the buzzer rang out, then dropping lightly to land beside the now still ball, sharing an excited grin with the raven as they both turned to regard the scoreboard; 116-76.

"Kuroko-"

"Dunked?!"

They soon made their way down to the courts, the crowd around them slowly trickling out of the sports hall, some still cheering or sending loud congratulations. Kuroko and Hanamiya were surrounded by the old Kirisaki squad, but the bluenette soon spotted them, and froze.

To their surprise, he only sighed and levelled Nijimura with an exasperated look. "You could've been a little less vague, senpai." He chastised, drawing a laugh from the raven.

"You could've stopped with the disappearing act after middle school, Kuroko, seriously, I'm starting to think you like making people look for you."

A frown pulled at the bluenette's brows. "You know it was nothing like that." He denied, not seeming to notice the hand that Makoto placed on his back to ground him, despite the fact that its presence was making Aomine turn greener and greener by the minute.

"I know." Nijimura shot back. "They don't."

"I don't appreciate being referred to as if I'm not here, nanodayo." Midorima interrupted, drawing a peculiar expression from Kuroko; he looked half surprised, half as if he were about to keel over laughing.

Alas, he composed himself and responded in his usual manner. "Ah, my apologies, Midorima-kun. Perhaps Nijimura-senpai is right and I do owe you an explanation." But he didn't appear too apologetic; in fact –

"Why are you so giddy, Kuro-chin?" Murasakibara mumbled around some pocky, purple eyes shining with open curiosity.

"Giddy?" Kuroko echoed, ignoring Makoto's snort. He shot a puzzled look at the Kirisaki players, but all seemed to be hiding their laughter (apart from Kazuya, who was already leaning on Furuhashi and shaking with the force of his laugh). "I'm not sure I understand what you're referring to; I'm always like this, Murasakibara-kun." Hanamiya propped his chin on Kuroko's shoulder and murmured something in his ear (at this point it wasn't only Aomine who was going green). "Ah, right – I do still owe you an explanation." His eyes fell on Akashi. "Would you like to come to dinner? Makoto-kun and I live nearby, and we were already going to cook for the others" – he gestured at the old Kirisaki regulars behind him – "so if you want, you can come along." He offered.

Kise frowned. "Why were you going to cook for them?" he asked, at the same time as Furihata blurted, "You and Hanamiya live together?!" which drew a laugh from Kuroko.

It didn't seem that the rest of Seirin had paid much attention to that particular part of what he'd said, and they now stared at him in a mixture of shock and awe.

"Call it a tradition of sorts," Kuroko replied, addressing a shell-shocked Kise, before turning to Furihata. "and yes, we do. Considering the fact that he spent most of my third year of high school living at my apartment anyway, we decided that a shared apartment would not be much difference, especially since we both chose the same university." He smiled, finally linking his fingers with Makoto's insistent ones. "Anyway, are you coming, or not?"

An hour or two later, surrounded by the comfortable warmth of Kuroko's surprisingly cosy apartment, watching as the bluenette bustled around the kitchen, his movements in perfect sync with Hanamiya's as they stirred pots, added ingredients, and pulled dishes from the oven – occasionally pausing to reassure Riko that really, they're almost done, she doesn't need to help, they're sure – he realised that this was where Kuroko belonged. He had dismissed Murasakibara's accusation of being 'giddy', but Akashi had to admit, there was some truth to the giant's words: he was buzzing with a sort of energy that Akashi had only ever witnessed a few times on court, yet as Kuroko slapped Hara's hands away from the various pots with the spatula, handed finished dishes and cutlery to Furuhashi, and raised a bemused eyebrow at Hanamiya and Seto's argument over – if Akashi heard right – destroying the sanctity of rice by adding soy sauce, Akashi felt a rueful smile tug at his lips at the realisation that he and the other Miracles couldn't have provided the same level of comfort for the bluenette – their history was too much to just push aside.

He was almost ready to thank the old Kirisaki players for what they'd done for his old crush, when a shout from the kitchen drew his attention;

"Kazuya-kun, Kise-kun, stop fighting over the pie, you'll-!"

A sweet, crumbly substance collided with Akashi's face, followed by an even sweeter, sticky substance trickling all the way from his chin and undoubtedly staining the collar of his crisp white shirt.

"– send it flying."

Slowly, Akashi wiped away the remaining cream that was obscuring his vision, his monochromatic eyes falling on the paper-white faces of the two troublemakers.

Perhaps he really should reintroduce people to his scissors.

Chapter Text

Akashi was getting ready to murder, that much was clear. All the people gathered in the living room gradually inched away from where the redhead was sat, sending a mix of pitying and amused glances to the two responsible for the pie still covering Akashi's face, neck and collar.

All but Kuroko.

 The bluenette sighed, untied his apron, grabbed a handful of paper towels and handed them to Akashi to clean himself off, offering an apologetic glance to the redhead before he turned to Kise and Hara with a stern look.

 "Kazuya-kun." he started, and Hara appeared to shrink in on himself at the icy tone. "What did I say would happen if you continued fighting over the pie with Kise-kun?" he asked calmly.

 "Yousaiditwouldgoflying." Hara mumbled, head turned away from Kuroko, appearing to be intently studying the wallpaper.

 "Pardon?" Kuroko pressed, though the Miracles and Seirin were willing to bet he'd heard the teen perfectly. Hara seemed to be aware of that too, for he pouted petulantly, but then, to the surprise of nearly everyone gathered - save for the old Kirisaki Daiichi team - repeated, a lot clearer.

 "You said it would go flying, Tet-chan." he said, seemingly out of his funk when he realised the bluenette wasn't actually angry with him.

"Indeed, Kazuya-kun. But you continued nonetheless and it went all over Akashi-kun. So, what could you do to make up for it?" he asked amiably, as if he were talking about the weather.

 "I could... clean up the mess?" Hara offered, grin not fading.

 "Mmhm." Kuroko hummed noncommittally. "And?" he inquired.

 "Finish making dinner?" the lilac haired teen added, tone more questioning than before. Kuroko nodded, but he still looked like he was expecting something more, and Hara sighed, pouted and grumbled a little to himself but continued nonetheless. "And... I could maybe apologise to carrot-boy over there." he said grumpily, pointing at Akashi, but his funk disappeared when Kuroko grinned at him and beckoned him over. He bounded over to the petit bluenette and bent down easily, as if this were a familiar routine. To everyone's surprise, Kuroko stood on his tiptoes and planted a kiss on Hara's cheek, all his previous iciness gone as if it was never there to begin with.

 "Please do just that, Kazuya-kun." he acquiesced, smiling fondly at the lilac haired man. "But perhaps in reverse order, if you don't mind." Hara saluted, dropped a ridiculously loud and wet kiss on Kuroko's cheek, then sauntered over to Akashi to pull off the most ridiculous curtsey Kuroko had ever seen, but he just laughed before he turned to Kise, his stern expression back in place.

 "Kise-kun," he addressed the blond, but his words seemed to unlock a dam in the copycat and words started pouring out of him at an alarming velocity.

 "I'm so sorry Kurokocchi I didn't mean to it slipped out of my hands and that guy just let it go like he was doing it intentionally and Akashicchi is going to kill me -!"

 "Kise-kun." Kuroko cut the blond off, though his voice was even as always, and the corner of his lips was slightly raised as if he found the situation amusing. "Stop worrying. I'm assuming you heard everything I said to Kazuya-kun?"

Kuroko's words seemed to work like a balm on Kise's frayed nerves, and he nodded obediently at the question.

 "Good," Kuroko observed, allowing a tiny smile to surface. "then I'd like you to apologise to Akashi-kun, then clean up a little while Kazuya-kun finishes the dinner, and help him wash up while I go get Akashi-kun a spare shirt. Can you do that?" Kuroko's tone was gentle the whole time, his voice never raising above a pleasant decibel, yet his words sounded less like a query and more like an order, a notion which was only strengthened by Kise absentmindedly nodding along to the bluenette's every word then moving to exact them the second he finished.

Appearing not to notice that everyone's gazes were once again on him, Kuroko beckoned to Akashi and instructed him to follow him upstairs to try and find a shirt which would fit him. The second the two disappeared upstairs, the old Seirin team and the Miracles rounded on Hanamiya and his team, demanding explanations.

“Wanna explain how Tetsu just manage to singlehandedly prevent a double-homicide?” Aomine asked casually, lounging in the armchair though his eyes kept flickering from one Kirisaki member to another, a light frown pulling at his brows.

But Hanamiya just smirked while Seto and Yamazaki openly laughed. “He’s been dating Makoto and having regular shogi games with Imayoshi for the last two years and you’re wondering how he got the two idiots to listen to him?” Seto chortled, narrowly dodging the elbow to his side courtesy of Hanamiya.

“It’s not so much the reaction of the ‘idiots’ as you so eloquently dubbed them that concerns me; rather, as loathe as I am to side with Aomine, Akashi is never as easily deterred from his goal as just now. Those two got off easy.” Midorima cut in, earning a nod of approval from Aomine and a grunt from Murasakibara for his explanation.

At that, Hara’s laughter reached them from the kitchen, seconds before the man poked his head into the living room, a grin on his face. “Carrot-boy still has the hots for Tet-chan, duh! You really think he’d miss a chance to be alone with him in favour of killing me and blondie?” and he popped a bubble from the omnipresent chewing gum in his mouth and disappeared back into the kitchen, mindless of the havoc he left in his wake.

“Akashi has the WHAT?!”

Upstairs, Kuroko was diligently sorting through his wardrobe while Akashi sat on his bed, quietly studying the photographs that lined the walls. He was pleased to find that there were some dating back to their time at Teiko, interspersed with photos of Kuroko with Seirin, the boy Akashi had come to know as Ogiwara, and a lot of pictures of the old Kirisaki Daiichi team, and, to the redhead’s surprise, Imayoshi as well.

Four particular photos caught his eye, and he soundlessly got up to study them from up-close. One was of what seemed to be a dogpile over a meter high of bodies stacked over one single futon, and he easily found Kuroko’s light blue head towards the top, splayed on top of what looked to be bodies of Furuhashi, Yamazaki and Seto, with Hara’s head by his legs and Hanamiya draped over him like a blanket. It looked the oldest out of all the other photos of the bluenette with the Kirisaki group, and Akashi didn’t dwell on the familiar burn deep in his chest, moving onto the next one.

It took him a few seconds to realise what was wrong with the image; at first sight, it was only Kuroko’s retreating figure, light blue hair standing out against the darkness of the night and his equally black jeans, but it was what he wore on his upper half that eventually registered in Akashi’s mind with no small degree of indignation: Kuroko was wearing the Kirisaki Daichi varsity jacket. And he looked good in it. (the burn in his gut was becoming harder and harder to ignore)

The third one was vaguely familiar to Akashi, as he’d seen it before – in fact, he’d had it sent to him by Hanamiya of all people, and it was what had alerted him to the fact that the raven knew of his best-kept secret. The photo itself was of Hanamiya and Kuroko, the bluenette clearly asleep on Hanamiya’s lap while the raven had his arm wrapped possessively around his waist and a shit-eating smirk on his face.

The last picture was clearly a candid, and it showed Hanamiya and Kuroko in what was undoubtedly Tohokudai’s training uniform, on the basketball court, in the middle of a high-five with wide grins on both of their faces.

“Makoto-kun insisted on that one.” Kuroko’s voice rang out from beside him, startling Akashi. “It was just after we’d successfully performed the Spider Web together. Makoto-kun wanted it here because he said that he ‘likes to be reminded of his genius every morning he gets up’: I didn’t think we would be able to do it, you see, but he proved me wrong.” When Akashi turned to face him, Kuroko offered him a plain white shirt, a reminiscent look on his face.

“You don’t seem too upset by being proven wrong.” Akashi remarked, quickly shrugging out of the soiled shirt and changing into the offered one.

“That’s because I’m not.” Kuroko remarked, an easy grin appearing on his face. “Makoto’s proven me wrong about many things, yet I can’t find it in myself to mind.”

“You’re a lot more expressive.” Akashi remarked instead, unable to find a suitable response to the bluenette’s claim.

“Ah.” Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but Kuroko suddenly looked embarrassed. “This is… a bit silly, and definitely my fault.” he finally admitted. Intrigued, Akashi raised an eyebrow, busing himself with folding his dirty shirt while the bluenette found his words.

“Back in Teiko, even in Seirin, I didn’t really bother with expressing my emotions because, well, there was always a chance that nobody would see it.” Kuroko explained, not meeting Akashi’s eyes. “Even with Aomine-kun or Kagami-kun – they definitely saw the most of me, yet I was always able to sneak up on them, to disappear despite standing in plain sight.” He winced, as if the memories brought back a physical ache, but then he sighed and met Akashi’s eyes with his own, and the redhead was stunned by the depth of emotion he saw there. “I haven’t been able to ‘disappear’ from Makoto-kun, nor the rest of his old team for the last year. My misdirection still works, but even when I just walk into a room, or leave, they all see me. You have no idea how liberating that is for somebody who’s been invisible their whole life, Akashi-kun.”

Akashi stared at Kuroko with an unreadable mix of emotions in his eyes, before he, to Kuroko’s great shock, smiled. “Well,” he began. “in that case, I’m very glad you rejected me when I asked you out, Tetsuya.”

Kuroko couldn’t help himself – he spluttered. “I’m sorry?”

The redhead laughed at his expression before he explained. “I’m glad, because I’m not convinced I would have been able to offer you the same freedom, Tetsuya. Despite having known you longer, I startled just now when you walked up to me. Forgive me, for I only ever saw your lack of presence as something to take advantage of on court. I never really concerned myself with what it must be like to be invisible always. And as much as I dislike Hanamiya, he makes you genuinely happy, and for that, I can learn to tolerate his disgusting personality.”

Kuroko was floored.

Coming upstairs with Akashi, he’d expected many different things; a telling-off, an attack on his relationship with Makoto, a criticism of his performance during the game, perhaps even some awkward pining from the redhead’s side, but he did not expect for Akashi to sound like a father might when approving of his daughter’s boyfriend. Somehow, all that Kuroko’s brain seemed to be capable of controlling were his motor functions, so he decided to forgo words in favour of wrapping his arms around the redhead and burying his face in his neck, murmuring “thank you, Akashi-kun” over and over like a mantra.

Finally, he pulled away, and smiled up at his old captain, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I reckon we’ve made them wait long enough, hm?”

Once the chaos had calmed a bit, Riko’s eyes fell on Hanamiya, who, despite her expectations, looked the calmest out of everyone. In fact, all of the old Kirisaki Daiichi only looked awfully amused.

“I get the impression that this is somehow not news to you.” She observed, eyes narrowed, and Hanamiya’s smirk only grew.

“Trust me, this has already been brought to my attention and was sufficiently dealt with by Tetsuya himself.” At that, Kise, who’d finally finished cleaning up the remnants of the pie, choked.

“What’d he do?” Aomine inquired, while slapping the blond on the back to get his breath back.

“Crushed him, obviously.” Hanamiya replied, smirking gleefully while Seto chuckled.

“Yeah! He told Carrot-boy that his heart only belongs to me!” Hara announced, grinning, though at Hanamiya’s raised eyebrow, he smiled sheepishly. “And Hana-chan, obviously.”

“Whose heart, Kazuya-kun?”

All eyes snapped to the stairs, where Kuroko was coming down followed by Akashi. Hara bounded over and wrapped his arms around Kuroko’s waist, hauling him over his shoulder and teasingly smacking his behind. “Yours, Tet-chan, duh!”

Kuroko appeared to be used to this sort of treatment and merely made himself comfortable on Hara’s shoulder, resting his head on his folded arms despite hanging upside down. Kagami looked positively green, and, upon looking around, Riko found that only the old Kirisaki team and, to her surprise, Akashi looked nonplussed.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, and Kuroko pinched Hara’s side, murmuring “Door, Kazuya-kun.” his voice muffled by his arms, and the lilac-haired man was already moving in that direction, the blunette still slung over his shoulder. Riko shot Hanamiya an amused look. “Kuroko has him wrapped around his little finger, doesn’t he?”

Furuhashi smirked. “That’s not quite it.” He muttered, Yamazaki being more than happy to fill in, his mirth a lot more boisterous. “Hara’s been waiting for Kuroko to put out for the last two years.” He laughed.

Seto shot him a bemused look. “Ne, Hiro, don’t put it so crudely; Kazuya is merely pining, that’s all. I personally think it’s adorable.”

But before Yamazaki could reply, or Seirin could collect their fallen jaws off the carpet, the sound of a door opening followed by an amused; “Good afternoon, Tetsuya-kun’s bottom.”

Hanamiya groaned, long and deeply suffering. Curious, Seirin and the Miracles peeked into the kitchen, hoping to catch a glimpse of the corridor, but all they heard was a sound of shuffling then a grunt, followed by a surprised but pleased “Shouichi-kun!” which, upon hearing, made Aomine join in with Hanamiya, their put-upon groans harmonising into a cacophony which led the three from the corridor back to the living room.

Seirin blanched upon seeing Imayoshi, but the raven just grinned. “Ah, my two favourite kouhai, how lovely seeing you again, Makoto-chan, Aomine-kun.”

“Shut up, Shouichi, god, you’re so annoying.” Hanamiya whined, burying his face in one of the cushions on the sofa. Unbeknownst to Hanamiya, Imayoshi smirked and walked over, winking at Kuroko and bending down to stage-whisper in the raven’s ear, loud enough that everyone in the living room heard him perfectly. “That’s not what you were saying last time I came over, Makoto. I seem to recall a lot more-!” but he was cut off when Hanamiya shot up, his ears and back of his neck stained crimson with a blush, and he shoved his hand over the elder’s mouth, his eyes like daggers. Kuroko was laughing, loud and full-bodied, leaning on Hara while his body shook with the force of his chuckles.

“Bit of support here, Tetsuya?” Makoto hissed, his blush slowly fading in his anger, but Kuroko merely laughed harder.

“You walked right into that one, Makoto-kun.” He choked out, at the same time as Hanamiya ripped his hand away from Imayoshi’s mouth, cradling it against his chest. “Bastard bit me!”

Imayoshi, not in the slightest apologetic, grinned and walked over to Kuroko to plant a light kiss on his cheek. “Honestly, Tetsuya-kun, you need to put a leash on this boyfriend of yours.” Hyuga choked, but Kuroko seemed nonplussed. “We tried that last time, remember?” he shot a mischievous look at the still-indignant Makoto and added, innocent as can be. “All it did was make him talk more.”

It seemed as if Kise had finally caught on to what the real subject of the conversation was, and he too choked on the piece of tofu he’d stolen from the kitchen.

“Mou, I wouldn’t really call it talking, Tetsuya-kun. I’d say it was more-!”

“Ooooookay, you’re leaving!” Hanamiya announced loudly, drowning out the rest of Imayoshi’s words as he started pushing the raven back towards the door, furious blush back in place. “That’s it, you’ve overstayed your welcome!” all Imayoshi did was look even more amused, and Kuroko finally collected himself enough to stop leaning on Hara and stop Hanamiya from throwing the raven out.

Suddenly, Aomine burst out laughing, pointing shakily in the direction where Midorima stood, his other hand clutching at his stomach.

“Y-your face is the same colour as your hair!”

And indeed, despite the hand that rose to obscure his face from view, everyone could still see the green tint that had taken residence in Midorima’s skin, leading all others gathered to either snort at the sight or outright laugh, momentarily forgetting about the events from a few seconds ago.

“That was a lot more detail about Kuroko’s private life than I ever wanted to hear.” The teen in question choked out, then seemingly retched on air, adding a vehement “Ever.” for good measure.

Kuroko chose that moment to return to the living room, Imayoshi and Hanamiya in tow, the latter blushing furiously and refusing to meet anyone’s gaze while Imayoshi strolled in with all the satisfaction of a cat who’d finally caught the mouse.

“Kazuya-kun, Kise-kun, have you finished dinner?” the bluenette inquired, walking over to the various pots and pans and verifying their contents.

“Hai, Tet-chan/Kurokocchi!” came as his answer, and he smiled, urging everyone to take a seat at the kitchen table, which must’ve been set sometime during the Akashi-Kuroko fiasco and looked ready to fit a small army around it.

“Ne, Kuro-chin, do you usually have people over?” Murasakibara had, in some inexplicable way, managed to sneak up on Kuroko, as only that could explain why he didn’t react quick enough to stop him from stealing a piece of meat from the pot with ramen.

“Our basketball team sometimes comes over for dinner after games, and Makoto-kun’s old team is often around during weekends, why, Murasakibara-kun?” the bluenette replied, craning his neck to look up at the giant behind him.

Murasakibara chewed thoughtfully on the piece of bacon, then offered what could only be a small smirk. “You make good food.” He reached down to pat Kuroko on the head, taking advantage of the fact that he appeared to be momentarily stupefied by his words. “And your table is bigger than those in a dining hall.” And he walked off, taking a seat between Akashi and Aomine, leaving a shell-shocked Kuroko in his wake.

“Need a hand?” Came Furuhashi’s quiet voice, and Kuroko yet again startled, too hung up on Murasakibara’s bizarre compliment to notice the teen coming up to him until he felt a hand on the small of his back and his breath on his ear.

“A-ah, if you wouldn’t mind, Koujiro-kun, yes please.” He replied, shaking himself out of the stupor and delegating which dishes needed to be taken to the table to the rest of the old Kirisaki team, while his two old teams sat around the table, engaged in idle chit-chat while shooting longing or impressed glances at the food being brought in.

Finally, the last dish had been set down, and Kuroko finally sat at the table, sandwiched between Hanamiya and Kagami, staring round the table in obvious fondness:

Midorima looked to be in deep discussion with Furuhashi about some book they’d both read, gesturing rather animatedly (for Midorima, anyway) with the hand not holding his chopsticks. Seto and Murasakibara were lazily slurping on their ramen, while arguing about what time is best for a nap – pre-food or after having eaten. Hyuga, Yamazaki and Riko were discussing when is the best time for a three-pointer as well as its purpose – morale booster, as argued by Hyuga, or morale destroyer for the other team, according to Yamazaki, while Riko pointed out pros and cons of both. Hara, Kise, and Izuki were having a similar argument, but regarding dunks. The rest of Seirin would occasionally add their own comments to somebody’s conversation, but most were watching bemusedly as Kagami and Aomine consumed their body weight in food, receiving smacks and reprimands of ‘manners, bakas!’ from Nijimura who looked ready to tear his hair out.

Yet the most surprising of all was perhaps Hanamiya – he’d swapped seats at some point, so that Imayoshi now sat by Kuroko’s side, while Makoto sat next to Akashi, of all people. At first, Kuroko had been worried that he’d have to step in and prevent a bloodbath, but soon it became clear that the two had found a common ground; they were having a rather heated argument about the best shogi strategies.

“Enjoying yourself, Tetsuya-kun?” Kuroko didn’t even flinch, used as he was to Imayoshi’s sudden comments. As it was, he turned to face the older teen, a small smile on his face. “I’m glad everyone is getting along.” He murmured, curious when the other chuckled.

“All they needed to unite them was a shared interest. You provided that, Tetsuya-kun.” When Kuroko continued staring at him with a blank expression, Imayoshi elaborated, grin on his face. “Everybody who’s here is here because of you.”

“You think too highly of me, Shouichi-kun.” Kuroko waved the comment off, moving to pile some more rice on his plate.

“Or perhaps you still think too lowly of youself, hm, Tetsuya?” admittedly, the remark made him pause, and his hesitation was all that Imayoshi needed to smirk victoriously and lean down to peck his cheek. “You have everybody wrapped around your little finger and you don’t even realise it.” He breathed in the bluenette’s ear, and Kuroko blushed.

“Oi, Hana-chan!” Hara’s shout made Kuroko and Imayoshi look up, only to see almost everyone staring at them. “You might wanna stop being a nerd with carrot-boy and claim your boyfriend back, otherwise someone might just try and steal him!”

Before Kuroko even realised what was going on, Imayoshi was being yanked out of his seat and shoved in the direction of Akashi, laughing all the while, and Hanamiya was once again by his side, a possessive arm slung around his shoulders, glaring at everyone who dared meet eyes with him.

Kuroko sighed, aware that there was only one way to get Makoto to stop: he grabbed the raven by the back of his neck and brought their lips together, only letting go when he was satisfied that he’d gotten his point across and Makoto was rendered speechless.

He drew back and was greeted with laughs and cheers and cat-calls, a stark contrast to the stupefied looks and grimaces he’d gotten even earlier on in the day, and he was suddenly grateful he’d extended the dinner invitation to his two old teams: before Teiko, Kuroko’s family was only his grandma and Ogiwara. In middle school, the Generation of Miracles had semi-acquired that position. Then that had been destroyed, and Seirin had taken the place of Kuroko’s family, then Makoto and his team, and one-by-one he fought back the right to be able to call his old teammates his family again. On top of that, he could now also add his Tohokudai team to the group.

When he looked around, eyes falling on the faces of everyone gathered, drinking in the happiness, the comfort, the positive interaction, he momentarily met eyes with Akashi, who sent him a small smile, then Hanamiya, who was looking at him with a knowing look in his eyes and the closest he’d ever seen to a fond smile on the raven’s face.

Slowly, a similar smile broke out on Kuroko’s face.

He was home.