Archive of Our Own

Ever since their righteous win of the Winter Cup and Kagami and Kuroko unveiled their very obvious not so subtle relationship with a grand kiss right after the final basket, Seirin had guessed that they would be exposed to some form of display of affection between the two. 

Well more than usual at least. 

The two were inseparable after all, with all the light and shadow talk and whatnot. Even before they affirmed their relationship, the duo were already pretty close. Being seen together everywhere they went, whether it be during practice or outside of school.    

They just didn’t realize how… sweet they could really be. 

—

Soon enough the cold weather of winter bloomed into the refreshing feel of spring, which all of Seirin were grateful for. Training outside was always much harder when they had to fight the struggle of staying on top of practice while also making sure they wouldn’t get sick.

Furihata smiles as he steps into Manji Burger, simply happy that they had the opportunity to go out right after practice. Right behind him, Fukuwa and Kawahara saunter in tow, both also housing carefree smiles of their own.  

Coach was nothing but ruthless (when is she not), but lately the trio have been in a good place. Though it’s not really noticeable, they have been slowly but surely breezing through their regiments without breaking a sweat. 

Compared to their past selves just a few months ago, they have definitely improved. It might not look like it but it definitely showed when they could keep up with some of the second years sometimes. 

Seeing how far they have grown, Furihata suggested that they go have a little celebration at Manji Burger. Of course inviting his partners in crime whom he’s been with since the beginning. 

Quickly taking a seat near the open windows, Fukuwa grins as he sets down his tray holding his meal. 

“Its been a while since we’ve been here! I miss their fries!” He takes one from his tray and gobbles it up with a satisfied look. 

Kawahara starts to unwrap his burger, “It can’t be helped, Coach put us on a strict diet- and we can’t exactly defy her when it comes to that.” Finally unveiling his lunch, the boy graciously takes a big bite. He chews for a bit before smiling and letting out a content hum. 

“But it’s nice to treat yourself once in a while!”

Furihata joins with a smile of his own, though it is a bit contemplative. 

“Man, maybe we should have brought Kagami and Kuroko too- they also improved a lot too..” 

Hiroshi sighs, “Well they are always in their own world- who knows what they are doing right now-”

“Hello.”

The trio suddenly yell in various amounts of shock, turning to the end of their table to find one of the very people they were talking about earlier standing with his usual nonchalant face. 

“UWAH!?”

“K-KUROKO?!

“HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN HERE??!”

Kuroko, always quite unemotional, just responds with; “We just got here, I saw all of you here and thought to say hello.” 

They all sigh at that. It’s been a while since they experienced the effects of Kuroko’s fragile presence. 

“Wait ‘We’-?”

“Oh!? What are you all doing here?” 

Turning to the new call, the first years are met with their ace holding a tray filled with what could be called a mountain of burgers on one hand and a single drink on the other. One common thought flies between the three as they watch Kagami make his way to his petite boyfriend. 

‘Right- these two are always together. If you find one, the other is likely around…’  

Taking the initiative, Koki beckons the two over as they start walking away to probably find a table of their own. 

“Ah- Wait! Why don’t you sit with us- we're just celebrating how far we've come in the club! Right!?” He turns to his two other companions with a look, nudging them to follow suit. 

“Y-Yea you guys evolved too you know, you deserve the cheer!”

“Evolve- what are they Pokemon-”

“Oh shut up you know what I mean!”

Kagami gives the group a grin, turning to his smaller counterpart with sparkling eyes. Kuroko also holds a fond expression as they begin to fill the last empty seats on the table. 

“Then thank you for the invite.” The smaller boy lets out a subtle smile as he sits next to Furihata, while Kagami sits across from him, taking the place next to Kawahara. As he puts down his tray, the redhead softly puts the small drink he was holding right in front of Kuroko. 

“Thank you Kagami-kun.”

The said teen just hums, already digging into his pile of burgers. Furihata watches the small interaction with interested eyes before turning his attention back to Hiroshi and Kochi, who have somehow migrated to talking about kangaroos of all things. 

But the poor boy couldn’t help but constantly be distracted by the duo, admittedly a bit curious about their dynamic outside the court. From an outsider's perspective Kuroko and Kagami could be seen as two very different individuals. Aside from the blatant physical features, both boys had such differing personalities at first glance that many could never assume that they were much closer than friends. 

The duo were technically the only solid couple in their club (Well if you don’t count their captain and coach dancing around each other). He wondered if he would witness something pretty surprising.  

It’s fairly normal though, with Kagami munching on what seems to be his tenth burger while Kuroko just watches with the straw of his drink caught in his mouth. Small talk going in and out between them. Koki is about to let go of his previous thoughts and look elsewhere until Kagami starts speaking. 

“Oi.”

“Slurrrrrp-”    

A lone two pointed eyebrow is raised. “Oi!”

“Slurrrrrrrrp-”

Now annoyed, Taiga smashes his palm onto blue locks roughing them up with vigor. 

“Jeez- you and that vanilla shake-” With fast motions, he snatches the said drink out of the other’s hand. Kuroko just huffs and looks at the thief with what could almost be considered to be a pout. 

“Please give back my shake Kagami-kun.” Tetsuya asks politely while extending his hand to snag it back but failing against Kagami’s fast reflexes.  

“Nuh-uh, not until you eat something, you need to eat something other than these you know.” 

He shakes the drink lightly with a determined frown. Kuroko, unfettered by the other’s rather intense look, goes to reach for the drink again with a pinched face. He obviously fails when Kagami uses his lanky stature and extends his hand out of the other’s reach towards his end of the table. With no other options, Kuroko relents with a huff, turning away with rather annoyed eyes. 

Furi can’t help but sweat drop at the scene, while also letting out a quiet laugh. It seems that Kagami always has a way to bring out Kuroko’s childish side, which was quite rare as he’s usually seen as somewhat mature. It could also be said vice versa, with Kuroko having the ability to bring out Kagami’s surprisingly sweet side despite his rather intense appearance, which he has only seen a few times as well. His musings are interrupted when he hears a deep sigh. 

Brown eyes watch as Kagami proceeds to take one of the many burgers from his tray, unwrap it, take a fairly little bite, and finally thrust it into Kuroko’s hands. 

“Here you can have this, so it’s a fair trade.”

Scratching the back of his head, Kagami sits back on his seat and looks away with a pout of his own, as if suddenly embarrassed.

“You don’t have to eat all of it… It's just that- seeing you eat would make me much happier you know…”

The smaller just stares at the sandwich in his hand with a look Koki can’t really decipher. He is silent for a few more seconds before his blue eyes look towards the red ones across from him, notably much softer than a few minutes earlier. 

“If Kagami-kun says that, then who am I to refuse?”

With a hum the taller teen then takes the straw of Kuroko’s shake into his mouth and takes a sip, all while intently watching the other start to take small bites of the gifted burger with such a soft look Furihata has never seen on Kagami before. 

The said redhead observes with his chin resting on his propped hand, a tiny smile on his face that seems to grow every time Kuroko takes a bite. When he notices a few crumbs that stick onto the sides of the other’s mouth, he lets his large hand go to lightly caress the other’s cheek, wiping the specks of food with a winded laugh. 

“Hah… What am I gonna do about you…”

Kuroko stares back seemingly unbothered by the action, continuously chewing on his food. But if he looked hard enough, Furihata could see the small twinge of red on the apples of his friend’s cheeks. 

Feeling his own face heat up at the rawness of what he just witnessed, the first year takes a handful of fries and promptly stuffs it into his mouth. It leads to the poor boy almost choking from his reckless eating. His hacking alerts the rest of the group who misinterpret his struggle as eagerness. 

“Woah Furi! You must really love their fries too huh!” Fukuda exclaims, unknowing to his fellow friend’s flustered nature.  

*Cough* “N-No… I just needed something to eat something salty after seeing all that.”

“Huh? After seeing what?”

Sparing a quick glance at the couple, he finds them still staring at each other in their own little bubble. It was if the two forgot that they weren’t alone and were in their own little world made up of themselves only. Koki can’t help but clear his throat, a bit perturbed at how terrifyingly sweet they are. 

“N-Nothing…” 

—

A horde of sweaty bodies are all in different positions on the floor of their locker room. Seirin had just completed an intense home practice game with one of their rivaling schools. While the opposing team had no crazy player on the similar level to a miracle, they were still pretty difficult. Clearly they had done their research on all the Seirin members and used everything they knew to their advantage. 

Fortunately even with all the struggle, the team managed to win by a small margin. Though this had left all the players down right exhausted. Riko sighs as she stands by the locker room door, on the ground next to her feet are her belongings as well as a few bags of empty water bottles. 

‘The last time they were this tired was after facing To’o…’ She thinks, looking into the frosty glass with a worried glare. She could faintly see the blurred outline of multiple bodies all laid out on the floor unmoving. If they get tired that easily, maybe it’s time to switch up training a bit…

“Coach?”

Riko turns to the call to find Kawahara already ready to leave with his bag slinged over his shoulder. The first year takes one look at the girl’s face and immediately understands her small turmoil. 

“If you’d like, Coach can come with us to get food while we let them rest. Furi, Fukuda, Tsuchida-senpai and I are still up and running after all. We can just come back and wake them up if they aren’t already once we are done.”

After a few seconds of contemplating Aida decided to take up the offer with a shrug and a delighted smile. It was better than waiting outside doing nothing, plus she could also get a head start in thinking of a new vigorous regime. 

“I guess I’ll take you up on that offer Kawahara-kun.” She states while gathering her bags. Luckily today’s game was in Seirin’s gym, so they had the privilege of leaving the sleepy team in the locker room without the time crunch and bothering another school. 

With one final look towards the closed door, the two turn and leave.

-.-

In the dim locker room the only sounds that could be heard were the feather-light puffs of the sleeping teens all scattered in different positions on the floor and the benches. 

Kiyoshi, Izuki, Mitobe, and Koganei were all situated on the floor; with the infamously named Iron Heart leaning onto the wall for support and Mitobe and Koganei curled up near the lockers. While Izuki was lying on his side, sort of next to the benches, very much content.   

As for the people on the benches, Hyuuga had settled with greedily taking a whole bench for himself, stretching his whole body along the length of the chair and snoring away. This left the last bench to the light and shadow duo, who were leaning against each other as they slept.

They stay like that for awhile, sleeping soundly for who knows how long after all the cardio they endured to win that practice match. 

Eventually after a few solid minutes goes by, a certain black haired point guard starts to stir from his slumber. 

Izuki wakes up slowly and silently, blinking his sharp eyes multiple times as his mind starts to catch up to where he is. Very much still sore and tired, he doesn’t make an effort to exert himself any more, it’s not like he’s one to jump out of bed anyway. The teen always prided himself for being a quiet sleeper, never snoring unlike his father and a certain captain of his. 

He may be obnoxiously loud when he has puns to say, but when it comes to sleep the eagle eye user is pretty reserved. Usually when he wakes up from a nap, Shun lets himself just stay in his current position before suddenly doing any movements. His last experience of almost getting a concussion after getting too excited and slipping on his own bedsheets after waking up is something he would rather not experience again. 

So he always just lets himself catch his surroundings before getting up, much like a baby deer when encountering a threat. He didn’t want to be fawn’d over after all. With a small smile, definitely due to his own pun, the second year slowly opens his eyes after letting them finally adjust to the dim lighting. Though awake, he stays situated on the floor in favor of letting his gaze wander. 

He notes how most of the team are on the floor, similar to himself, and catches Hyuuga snoring away on one of the benches. He could definitely be a dino-snore with how monstrous his wheezes sound. Internally laughing, Izuki then turns to the other bench and promptly blue screens. 

On said bench was a very much awake Kuroko hunched over with Kagami’s head laying on his lap, the other is definitely asleep if the slow rise of his chest is any indication. The first year has not noticed his awakened senpai, giving all his attention to the boy who is using his thighs as a pillow.

Shun watches with surprised eyes as Kuroko treads his hand into Kagami’s dark red locks with slow gentle motions, alternating between caressing his head and the contours of the taller’s face from time to time. All while maintaining a very noticeable smile, a rare one that is so clearly enamored that it makes Izuki flustered at the pure love he sees in it. 

Weighing his unfavorable options with moving of any sort and risk being found, Izuki chooses to just stay silent; squinting his eyes so that it would look like he was asleep. He couldn’t possibly expose himself, it would be embarrassing for both ends, so he relinquished himself to just observing. 

So he continues to act as if he was sleeping the whole time, faking a slow momentum of breathing even though internally his mind was kind of going crazy at the situation he managed to get himself in. 

‘Ugh it must be nice being oblivious to it all’ The point guard thinks as he longingly watches the rest of his teammates doze in dreamland without a care in the world while he is stuck witnessing something he is not sure he is meant to see. 

“Hm~”

The small sound breaks the second year’s inner turmoil, prompting him to look back at where the two love birds lay. There he finds Kuroko continuing his fragile touches, now with the addition of him humming.  

Humming and Kuroko. 

Two things Shun never thought would be associated together. 

“Kagami-kun sure is amazing…” The blue boy whispers, loudly enough that his senpai on the floor could clearly hear. 

A muffled giggle sounds out from his kohai and Shun watches as Kuroko goes to put a gentle kiss at the top of Kagami’s temple. 

“I have to do my best too…” Is all the smaller says before continuing to pet his boyfriend’s head, unknowing of how his actions are affecting the only other awake person in the room. 

Then a small grumble could be heard from the body on Kuroko’s lap as he nuzzles his head into the other’s stomach, it was as if Kagami heard his boyfriend’s call and was responding out of instinct. It makes Kuroko let out a small laugh in soft puffs, happy that even when asleep his other half seems to know exactly what he is saying.

It was something so bare and intimate that it made Izuki internally cringe at how effortlessly cute the two were. 

‘Uwah… I can't do it… These two are un-bare-able…’

Seeing enough, the poor second year shut his eyes with the sole mission of falling back asleep so that wouldn’t witness anymore of the sugary moments between the two. Luckily the gods seem to take pity on his pleas and he manages to fall back asleep in just a few seconds.

—

The pitter patter of the flurries of rain were the only sound they could hear as an unfortunate Kiyoshi Teppei and Hyuuga Junpei stood under the school’s metal awning. The two had come to school obvious to the weather forecast for today and managed to both forget to bring umbrellas, making them stuck on the school grounds until the heavy rain let up. 

Hyuuga just stares at the rain with his usual glare, annoyed that the rain had put him in this rather undesirable situation. Sure he can just wing it and run home, but as one of the people that live farthest from campus, he would definitely get sick if he tried. 

“This is kinda nice don’t you think?”

Suddenly a tick mark appears on the captain’s face as he turns to his fellow stranded friend with furrowed brows. 

“Only you would think like that. Who knows how long we’ll be here.”     

Kiyoshi just laughs, already used to Hyuuga’s snarkyness. He lets his large hand go out to touch the ongoing droplets, watching as they hit his skin with a lax smile.

“I dunno, I just think it’s a nice change of pace ya know?”

The other just gives him a strange look. “... You really are an enigma.”

“Really?!”

“Don’t sound happy about it!”

The Iron Heart just happily laughs again while his captain just sighs in resignation. When it came to Kiyoshi, Junpei would never know what was in store for him.   

“Ah- Isn’t that Kagami and Kuroko?” Teppei then points to a certain section of the awning quite close to them, where two blobs of red and light blue could be seen under the cover, similarly to how the second years were. Seeing that they were just standing in place watching the sky, Hyuuga assumed that they might be in the same predicament as them. Stranded till the rain let up. 

With his usual big brother smile, Kiyoshi turns to Hyuuga suggesting, “Let’s go say hi!”

“Hell no!”

“Ehh~ Why not!?”

“We should be focusing on a way to get home! Not dilly-dallying!” He resists the taller’s grip as Teppei starts to unwillingly drag his body towards their kohais’ direction. Unfortunately his attempts to combat Kiyoshi are futile as he is forcibly dragged away. 

‘Damn this big oaf and his strong grip-!’

Suddenly with a bout of energy, Hyuuga manages to escape Teppei’s hold and turns to him ready to talk some sense into him. 

“Listen here, you-”

His nagging is cut short when Kiyoshi then pushes him towards an open wall away from the first year’s peripherals. Now even more annoyed, Hyuuga is ready to explode at the other but is stopped when Teppei puts a hand on his mouth and lets out a tense yet soft ‘SHHH’. 

Raising his eyebrow confused and very much annoyed, the Seirin captain removes the offending hand off his face and is about to speak again despite the warning, but is then again interrupted by another voice. 

“Kagami-kun… I don’t think the rain is going to let up anytime soon.”

The two second years silently stare at each other for a few seconds before coming to a silent agreement. They then situate themselves against the wall and crane their heads to snoop without being caught. After making sure they are securely hidden, they look beyond the wall to see Kuroko look on with a deadpan expression while Kagami glances away sheepishly. 

“Did you really think we could outrun this weather…?”

The taller flinches at that, fidgeting at the fact that was definitely what he was thinking. 

Kuroko watches the blatant internal struggle and lets out a sigh, capturing the other’s attention. 

“Kagami-kun really is an idiot.”

“OI!”

“I thought Kagami-kun had a plan when he said ‘leave it to me!’ when I realized I forgot my umbrella.” 

“It didn't look that bad earlier…”

The blue teen lets out another sigh, watching as the rain water accumulates into a small puddle near his feet. 

“Now I don’t know what to do.”

Kagami pauses at that and studies his face for a few moments, noting how melancholy the smaller looks as he observes the grey clouds. The sound of rain echoes between the two good while, with both boys just looking on as their own thoughts swirl in their respective minds. 

The second year duo then watch as Kagami slowly brings his hand into Kuroko’s stagnant one, tangling only their pinkies together. 

“...I won’t leave.” The Seirin ace mumbles, facing ahead. It was almost hard for the second years to fully pick up but they could definitely depict the sincerity in that small statement. 

“You are my shadow and I am your light…”

“I promise you that I…”

There is a slight pause, as hesitation captures Kagami’s being for a split second; unsure on how to express his feelings. It soon leaves him the moment he looks back at Kuroko's face though. Probably finding an expression they cannot quite see due to how the said boy is facing forward. 

They’ve then gone from locking their pinkies to fully holding hands. The taller starts to make small circles with the pad of his thumb on the back of Kuroko’s hand, comforting the hidden anguish that only Kagami could see.  

“I’m staying.”

Slowly he takes the small pale hand and lifts it to his face, tenderly kissing his knuckles and securing his statement. Kagami’s dark red eyes are locked onto Kuroko’s sky blue ones, his devoted conviction so easily seen in his gaze. 

“I belong to you… I could never forget you or your passes if I tried!”

“...”

Kuroko seems to wilt at that, wordlessly letting his body lean on Kagami’s arm and resting his head on his shoulder while still holding hands. It was a small gesture, but they could tell he was thankful for what was said. 

Both the captain and center look at their ace in bewilderment, they never would have thought Kagami could make such an expression before. Not to mention say all those cheesy things he just said. Usually it’s Kuroko who says all that, and it’s Kagami who complains about how sappy it is. 

Kiyoshi remembers Kuroko’s rather sad vibe from earlier, though he had a lot of trouble even deciphering it in the first place, and concludes that there might be more here that they don’t know about. Probably qualms from the past that his kohai just can’t shake away; Kagami managed to realize that and was comforting him.

‘How surprisingly gentlemanly of you Kagami…’ Teppei muses. The second year then turns to his partner in crime to find him making a scandalized face, causing the Iron heart to let out a choked laugh. 

“PFFT.. H-Hyuuga why are you acting as if Riko told you to do a hundred laps?” He wheezes out, hoping that his voice is low enough so they are not discovered. 

“I knew we were about to see some lovey-dovey shit if we said hello- I should beat the shit out of you for dragging me into this.” Junpei whispers as he looks back with a miffed expression; but even the glare behind his glasses does nothing to hide the embarrassed flush that adorns his face. 

A startled yelp makes them turn back just in time to see Kagami pulling Kuroko into the rain with a now exuberant smile. The redhead takes his boyfriend in his arms and starts to twirl around in the rain while letting out excited hollers as the boy in his arms half-heartedly tries to escape with the complaints about getting sick. 

Eventually the protests turn into bouts of laughter and giggles, helpless to Kagami’s joyfulness. They stop their spinning after a while and Kuroko buries his head into Kagami’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around the other’s neck; finding comfort in his warmth even if by now they are both drenched. 

Taiga’s voice sounds out, happy and winded. 

“Let’s go home, yea?”

“...Yeah.”

With that Kagami sprints away from the awning and to his apartment, a merry grin on his face as he holds a bundle of his blue boyfriend in his arms. When they are sure the two are out of sight, the eavesdroppers leave their hiding place. Looking at where the couple were just a few seconds prior, Kiyoshi can’t help but let out an adoring sigh.

“Ah~ young love, so refreshing don’t you think?!”

“You sound like an old man.”

“Hehe…”

“...”

“... So when are you and Riko-”

Teppei laughs, narrowly avoiding Hyuuga’s slap with a happy grin. 

—

Koganei sucks in a breath as he finally stops to rest after doing his thirtieth lap around the open field. He puts his hands on his knees, hunching over with a clear sheen of fresh sweat on his brows. The coach had decided that they would train outside today since the sun was out with little to no clouds obstructing its view.  

So they were assigned to run across the school’s field till they basically ran out of steam. Koganei, while having pretty good stamina, was completely at his limit. Behind him, Miitobe looks at his sagging body with silent concern. 

Before he starts a new lap and subject himself more to some killer cardio, the sound of Riko’s whistle echoes out. 

*Phwwwwht* “Alright! Let’s take a twenty minute break!”

The announcement makes the second year sigh in relief, letting his body flop down haphazardly onto the green grass. Now on his back, the only thing he sees is the cloudless blue sky. 

“Oh thank goodness, I was about to die if I had to do one more lap!”

“...?” Kind coal eyes look down at his friend in mild concern. 

“Yeah I’m fine! Just a bit tired and sweaty- you know the deal. What about you Miitobe?”

“...”

“Hehe that sounds about right.”

Brown eyes stare at the open sky in wonder. Basketball really does consume your life at one point. Training and sweat really become your best friends. It makes him wonder if he’ll ever get a deep relationship like the one he has with sports. Suddenly a hand is put into his peripheral vision, where he finds Miitobe crouching above him with a small smile. Koganei responds with a smile of his own as he accepts the pull to get up. 

“...” The power forward points to a couple of benches under the canopy of trees, where the team’s belongings lay. 

“Yea! Let’s go get some water too!”

The two jog back into the shade where their water bottles await them and where they can swipe off all their sweat to prepare for more training later. Koga drapes a towel over his shoulders as he chugs down another cup of cold crisp water, making a sound of contentment after he finishes the last drop. 

“Pwah~ Cold water really is the best, don’t you think Miitobe!?” The brown haired boy turns to his right, fully expecting his mute friend to be there, but instead finds nothing but open air. 

“Eh-!? Miitobe? Where did you go?!”

Circling around the water station bench, Koganei eventually finds his friend standing a few feet away from where he just was, looking at a rather peculiar yet normal scene amongst the Seirin team. 

“K-Kuroko- get him away from me-!”

“But Kagami-kun… He wants to play with you!”

“Woof!”

“GEH-”

Kuroko and Kagami were squatting close to the floor, probably also taking advantage of the small break to rest their bodies. In Kuroko’s hands is Nigou, who is wiggling excitedly towards Kagami’s direction with small yips and pants. Kagami, of course, is looking at the small dog with shaky eyes; terrified of getting any closer to the canine. 

The first years haven’t seemed to notice the small audience they have gained, more focused on the dog in between them.

Shinji jogs up to Miitobe’s side, who was watching the whole scene with amused eyes. 

“I can never get how Kagami can get so scared of Nigou of all things, he’s just a little puppy.”

“...”

“I guess you’re right, we can’t do anything if he’s scared of dogs in general…”  

The two observe as Kuroko guides the pup towards Kagami’s direction with his usual blank expression, though anyone could see the small glint of amusement in his eyes. In response, Kagami shakes his head while putting his face in his hands, truly distressed at the concept of being within the same vicinity as the puppy. 

“Kagami-kun, Nigou wants a kiss.”

“HELL NO- I’M NOT KISSING ANY DOG!”

“But-”

“NO!”

“...Here, how about this then.”

Kuroko huffs, but it’s not out of anger- rather Koganei could practically hear the fondness radiating from it. From that Koga turns to Miitobe with confused eyes, finding that his friend is just as lost as he is. What could Kuroko possibly do in this situation? They both collectively shrug as they glance back to continue watching.

They follow as Kuroko brings Nigou close to his face and boops their noses together for a few seconds. Nigou, being the affectionate dog he is, indulges in the contact with happy pants; wiggling to be let go once he feels satisfied. 

Granting his dog freedom, Kuroko lets Nigou run free and turns to the still cowering Kagami with a certain glint in his eyes. 

“Kagami-kun.”  

“W-What?” The redhead hesitantly lifts his head, fully expecting to see a handful of dark fur come into his vision. When he finds nothing of the sort awaiting him, he sighs in relief and lets his shoulders untense. 

“Oh he’s gone, thank god-”

His relief is cut short as he abruptly feels hands gripping onto the collar of his shirt before he is pulled forward and his view is suddenly filled with blue. After blinking away the surprise, Kagami finds that Kuroko has closed the small distance between them and is giving him an eskimo kiss. 

Sky blue pupils are the only thing Taiga sees as he lets the other continue to nuzzle their noses together. After a few more seconds Kuroko finally leans away from a dazed Kagami with a satisfied look. 

“There, Kagami-kun kissed Nigou.”

“H-Huh?! How?!”

“Nigou kissed me-,” He puts his pointer finger on his nose to the supposed spot where his dog ‘kissed’ him. “...and then I kissed Kagami-kun.” Kuroko then lightly boops the other teen’s nose, where he just ‘kissed’ him a few minutes earlier.

Taiga was a bit lost on the logic of it all, but wasn’t complaining. If the small mutt made Kuroko do things like this, then who is he to grumble about it? So with pink adorning his ears, Kagami ruffles the other’s blue locks with a pout, not so successful in hiding the blatant giddyness in his eyes.

“W-Whatever…”

Tetsuya just hums in response, leaning into the touch like it was second nature. 

Suddenly the rather cute scene Koganei was observing turns into blades of green as he is spun and forcibly dragged away to another desolate area of the field. 

“A-Ah?!”

Turning to the culprit as he continues to follow, Shinji notices the red tips of Miitobe’s ears as he leads them back to the water station. He can’t help but laugh at his friend’s shyness. 

“Hehe, Miitobe’s embarrassed!”

“...!” Rinnosuke does a firm shake of his head, tousling black locks desperately. 

“No- no I get it! I support them too! They really are a nice match after all!”

“...”

“Yep! And I know one thing for sure… Those two are so sweet together, they somehow make my teeth hurt…”

Miitobe can’t help but agree with that. 

—

“Alright boys! Take off your shirts!”

Riko excitedly yells to the lined up group of teens before her. Frankly she was pretty eager to see each boy’s figure, of course not for any sexual means- heaven’s no, but to see how they improved physically. They’ve done a lot the past few months, especially after their WInter Cup win, they had to maintain their bodies if they wanted to stay at the top after all. 

“Hmm…”

Her eyes wander towards their chests, the ghost numbers only privy to her eyes constantly changing with every glance and blink. 

‘Hyuuga and Teppei seemed to have improved their upper body strength a ton.’

‘Maybe I should give Izuki more drills for his legs… they seem to have less power compared to his arms…’

As she continues to walk down the line a stray beam of light gleams from the corner of her eye. Turning to the source she finds it straying from the tiny golden chain dangling from Kuroko’s neck. 

‘Huh… I’ve never seen him wear that before.’ She offhandly observes before going back to her task at hand. She never pegged Kuroko to be into wearing accessories, but then again- they always manage to learn something unexpected about the boy every now and then.

After a bit more staring and filing mental notes for later, the basketball coach finally gets to the first years. Mainly noting with pride how Kawahara-kun, Furihata-kun, and Fukuda-kun look to be in a good place. Then she turns to the last person on the line, their ace. 

‘Good… Kagami-kun's stats have been growing larger and larger with each check up.’

Scoping his body from head to toe, Aida finds that the redhead has grown immensely from when she last checked on his stats, and he has been thankfully maintaining them in a healthy manner. When she is almost done evaluating, the coach can’t help but do a second take when she takes another look at the teen’s upper body.

It’s pretty well known the history Kagami has with his only visible accessory, his black ring held up by a silver chain. From what she remembers it was a symbol of brotherhood between him and Yosen’s shooting guard Himuro Tatsuya. What caught her eye was not that, but the smaller more petite silver necklace that laid under it. 

It was a much smaller chain and was seemingly new since it wasn’t there the last time she did her check ups, and she usually does them every month or so. On top of all that, Riko had a weird nagging feeling that she had seen something similar to that chain before, even though it was her first time seeing it on Kagami’s person. 

‘Oh whatever… It’s not that big of a deal anyways…’

With a huff, she clears her throat and dismisses everyone for the day.

“OK, it seems that everyone’s in good shape! You can put on your shirts and pack up for the day!”  

Yells of agreement sound out in response, signaling the end of practice. 

Watching the team dress themselves back up, her eyes naturally wander and catch Kagami walking up to Kuroko still shirtless. His presence distracts the other, making the blue boy focus on conversing with his light in favor of putting his shirt back on. 

It is then when her gaze falls to both their necks, where their new jewelry lies. Thinking back, the two necklaces look pretty similar, the only thing being different is their type of material. They were just bare chains, one was silver and one was gold. It was almost as if they were matching- 

Oh.   

Riko lets out an exasperated sigh. She should have known she was looking at a couple set the moment she noticed the particular pair donning the jewelry were the only two here currently in an active relationship.

‘I can admit that’s pretty cute though…’ She confesses, picking up how Kagami owned the silver one, while Kuroko had the gold one. Very much true to their light and shadow motif they seem to love so much.

“Huh… somehow I feel a bit irritated now…”

“Coach?”

Letting out a small eep of surprise, Aida turns to find a sheepish Tsuchida. 

“Oh- sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you…”

“It's ok, I should get used to it anyway… we have Kuroko after all.”

Tsuchida laughs, then turns to the gym’s doors where most of the team were lingering. 

“They’re a nice pair, they make me want to get matching bracelets for my girlfriend.”

Aida turns to the power forward with wide eyes, “You noticed?”

“Of course I did, it was pretty obvious anyway. Kuroko kept on fidgeting with his so much-how could I not? He’s probably not used to wearing stuff like that.”

They both turn to each other with fond grins, happy to be smart enough to know the inner meanings of small things like that. Surprisingly the two don’t mind the clear display of affection probably because they themselves understand the couple in some way.  

Their love, both direct and indirect, was so sugary it was almost sickening when they managed to catch them in their pure loving state. But to be honest, they all wouldn’t have it any other way. 

It was much better and less annoying compared to before they started dating, and were dancing around each other unsure of the other person’s feelings when it was totally obvious. 

Those were painful times indeed. 

Smiling at the silliness of it all, Riko lets out a small huff as she catches the light and shadow duo leaving the gym with mushy grins of their own.

‘How sweet…’