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i.
“It is freezing in here!” Kagami complained, rubbing his forearms bitterly. He frowned up at the air conditioner outlets installed on the bus ceiling with disdain.
“You should have brought your jacket with you, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko said.
“It’s 98 degrees outside,” Kagami deadpanned.
“Which meant it would be likely for the air conditioners to be turned up extra high.”
Kagami merely scoffed in response.
“What’s the matter, Bakagami? Can’t handle a little cold?” Aomine, who was seated to Kuroko’s left, shot Kagami a teasing glance.
“Kuroko, remind me why we have to share a bus with Touou again?” Kagami asked, pointedly not dignifying Aomine’s remark with a response as he glared out the window. It sure looked much warmer outside than inside, if the bright sunlight was any indication.
“Why not?” The phantom player took a sip from his vanilla shake. “We’re both going the same way.”
“Even so, Ahomine could have sat elsewhere, right?” Kagami retorted. “If I’m going to be spending the next two hours on this bus freezing to death, I should at least be allowed to do it without a certain bastard within radius.”
“Hey, I just wanted to catch up a bit with Tetsu,” Aomine defended. “We haven’t seen each other in a while. It just so happened that you were sitting next to him.”
“Well maybe he doesn’t want to play catch up with you,” Kagami spat back. Yesterday, he had suffered through yet another night of insomnia and he was currently not in a good mood.
“Aomine-kun, Kagami-kun, please leave me out of your childish disputes,” Kuroko said.
The ride continued with insults being thrown back and forth between Aomine and Kagami. Occasionally, Kuroko would chip in a comment on how ridiculous they were acting for their age. Halfway to their trip destination, Kagami found himself dozing off due to his sleep-deprived state. He was in the middle of a rather pleasant dream when somebody shook him awake. Kagami’s eyelids slowly slid open to see Kuroko peering down at him blankly.
“Kagami-kun, we’re here. It’s time to get off.”
Kagami instantly jolted from his slouched position. He winced a bit when he felt a muscle being pulled the wrong way. His grogginess faded quickly as soon as he saw that the bus was mostly empty.
“I fell asleep, didn’t I?” he muttered.
“Yes.”
“Hold on, just let me—hey, what…is this?” The redhead glanced down. Draped over him was a blue jacket. As he straightened, the material slid down his chest, crumpling in his lap. He lifted it in confusion.
“Aomine-kun lent it to you.”
Kagami’s eyebrows rose to his hairline in record time. He held the piece of clothing far away as if it had personally offended him. “What?! But why would-“
“Isn’t that great, Kagami-kun, how you two are so close you can share clothes like that unabashedly in public.”
“Kuroko, if this is your idea of a sick joke, I am—“
“Kagami-kun! Stop gawking at your boyfriend’s jacket and hurry up! We don’t have all day!” Riko interrupted from the front of the bus.
Riko’s shout sent Kagami into a sputtering fit, the red rushing to his face instantly. “He’s not—this is—“ But his protests were drowned out and ignored when Riko moved to holler directions at the rest of the team.
Kagami was positively fuming when he hopped off the bus, Kuroko nonchalantly following behind him. As soon as he spotted Aomine, who was standing casually to the side with Momoi and Sakurai, he stomped over with an intensity usually reserved for the courts. Kagami wasted no time screaming at the other for making fun of him, deliberately giving people the wrong idea, and several other variations of the same two accusations.
Aomine’s only response was to shoot him a bored look and say, “Yeah, yeah. If you’re done throwing a tantrum can you give me my jacket back?”
Kagami threw it at him angrily.
ii.
“Why is there a dog in here?!” Kagami’s scream was loud enough to shatter the Earth twice over.
Aomine flinched from his end of the locker room, one palm reflexively shooting up to cup an ear. “Damn it, Kagami. Are you trying to kill my eardrums?”
Kagami did not respond to the comment, instead remaining stoned by the doorway. His jaw hung wide open in a display of utter terror.
To recap, Seirin had just arrived at Touou’s for a practice game. And because Aomine was taking such a long time showing up to the gym, Kagami was eventually sent to fetch him. It seemed like a simple enough task, only Kagami wasn’t expecting to be greeted with one of the banes of his existence the moment he pushed the door to the locker room open.
Kagami sputtered uselessly. The hairs on his neck were standing on end. He gestured at the offending creature a few feet away.
Aomine looked at the furry animal under discussion. “Oh, she’s Coach’s dog. He needs to take her to the vet after the game.”
Kagami was no longer paying attention, his eyes instead zeroing in on the dog in panic. That thing was twice Nigou’s size, for crying out loud. And, oh god, was it coming closer?
Aomine closed the door to his locker and turned to face the redhead.
“Oi, Kagami-”
Aomine stopped, blue eyes absorbing the scene before him. Kagami had scrambled away to a random corner of the room, where he was now apparently trying to fuse himself with the wall. He looked absolutely terrified.
A short lapse of silence ensued, before it was broken by the sound of Aomine’s snort.
“Kagami…”
“Shut up!” Kagami attempted to glare at the other, but ended up yelping instead when the dog continued to advance towards him cheerfully. And then, right when it was barely half a foot apart from him, it barked loudly and proceeded to nuzzle its head into his thigh.
Kagami was certain he’d just heard the sound of death’s call. He wished to scream, but even that froze in his throat.
At this point, Aomine wasn’t even trying to hide his amusement anymore. The blunet was bent over, clutching his stomach and guffawing through his tears as he observed Kagami’s obvious state of distress. “Are you for real?! You're like, three times her size!"
A high-pitched, feeble noise that no self-respecting basketball ace should make escaped Kagami’s lips. The redhead remained perfectly still, trying to keep his tremors under control while the dog rubbed against his shorts. At the sight, Aomine only laughed harder, and Kagami had no choice but to let the other do so unscathed because he currently had a freaking dog using his stomach for a makeshift pillow. Any wrong moves could very well result in his flesh trapped between a pair of canine teeth.
“Wow, you really do learn something new everyday,” Aomine wheezed, shaking his head. “I wonder how many ways I can use this information for blackmail.”
Kagami sputtered something incoherent.
“Hmm? What was that?” Aomine asked, placing both hands on his waist.
The redhead opened his mouth to convey his intended thoughts more clearly, but another set of choked, muffled sounds came out instead because the dog suddenly stood up and started licking his face.
“I see. You want to spend some alone time with the dog, is that right?” Aomine said. He deliberately made a slow beeline towards the door. “Sounds good.”
Kagami shot him a look of desperation, and Aomine had to bite the inside of his mouth to stop himself from bursting into a second round of uncontrollable laughter.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” he said through a poorly stifled chuckle.
As soon as Aomine removed the cursed fiend from his lap, Kagami instantly deflated in relief. He could breathe freely again. His peace of mind did not last very long, however, due to Aomine's next remark.
"Now I know what to use against you if I ever need you to do me a favor."
iii.
One cloudy evening found Kagami and Aomine sitting at Maji Burger’s across from each other, digging into what was supposed to be their dinners for the day. The three straight hours of 1-on-1 they’d engaged in had resulted again in victory for a smug Aomine and defeat for an incredibly frustrated Kagami. After going through the usuals of Aomine making jabs at Kagami’s playing skills, and Kagami insisting that the next time they play, things would be different, the two mutually decided that dinner was in order.
Kagami was halfway down his twelfth burger when he felt the familiar tickle in his nostrils for probably the tenth time that day. His head instantly jerked sideways to release a sneeze.
“You sure you’re not coming down with something?”
“Mmm?” Kagami peered up from his pyramid of food. As per usual, the redhead’s appetite was insatiable.
“I’m talking about your sneezing. You were doing that a lot during our 1-on-1 too.”
Kagami frowned. “No, I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t feel like anything’s off. I rarely get sick anyway.”
Apparently Aomine found his last sentence humorous enough to warrant a chuckle. “So I guess the saying that idiots don’t catch colds is true.”
Kagami scowled. “I said rarely, not never. And who are you to call me an idiot when you’re one yourself?”
Their meals were consumed quickly and soon they were grabbing their bags to leave.
Kagami hissed in surprise when he set foot outside, immediately backpedaling to take shelter under the roof of the restaurant once more. “Damn, it’s raining!”
Aomine brandished his umbrella, walking out passed Kagami. “Yeah, they said it would this morning.” After a few more steps, the blunet realized the redhead wasn’t following. He turned around, unable to keep the amusement off his face. “Don’t tell me: you didn’t bring an umbrella with you?”
“Why would I if I didn’t know it would be raining?” Kagami muttered. “Whatever. I’ll just wait here until it clears. You go on ahead.” He waved his hand to shoo Aomine away.
What Kagami wasn’t expecting next was a splash of water to land on his face as Aomine maneuvered the umbrella towards him. “Ahomine, what the hell?!” he exclaimed.
Aomine responded by waving the umbrella at his face again.
Kagami was seconds away from exploding in unadulterated rage when the other finally said, “Here. The umbrella. I’ll let you borrow it.”
Kagami looked moderately surprised for a second, though he was quick to force back on a scowl. “I don’t want it.”
“I’m not asking if you want it or not. I’m telling you to take it,” said Aomine.
“And I’m telling you I don’t need it!” Kagami insisted. “I’ll just wait here.”
“The forecast says it’s going to be raining all night. Unless you want to camp outside Maji’s until the early hours of the morning, just take it!”
“Why are you so insistent? And besides, if I take it, you’re going to have to camp outside Maji’s.”
“Of course I won’t. I can just run back to my place, Bakagami. It’s just a little rain.”
“And I can’t?!”
“You’re sick!”
The last declaration seemed to have done its job paralyzing Kagami.
“Err…or about to get sick, anyway,” Aomine coughed, looking away.
“A couple of sneezes don’t immediately mean I’m getting sick,” Kagami said.
“Could you shut it and take the umbrella already?” Aomine growled, thrusting said object at the redhead’s chest.
In spite of himself, Kagami felt the blood rush to his face and he was again rendered speechless. He snapped out of it quickly, however, when he observed a few bystanders looking at his and Aomine’s direction, and realized they were making a scene. “Fine! But if that’s how it’s going to be, we’re sharing it!”
Aomine seemed genuinely surprised by Kagami’s final outburst.
“Our homes are pretty much in the same direction anyway,” Kagami muttered, pointedly avoiding eye contact as he stepped closer next to the other.
It turned out the storm only grew worse, and the both of them were soon forced to take shelter at Kagami’s apartment, clothes more or less drenched despite the use of umbrella.
And because the rain continued to come down even harder, Aomine ended up staying the night.
iv.
Never in his 16 years of living had Kagami Taiga loathed food as much as he did at this very moment. Not even Coach’s cooking had trained him for what he was experiencing. The nausea was excruciating, and every breath he took, he felt as if his insides were about to expel through his mouth. In hindsight, perhaps he should have been more wary when he’d chosen to eat at that shady-looking buffet. Not only had the price of an all-you-can-eat session been so ridiculously cheap, but the lack of customers should have been an even bigger warning that something was amiss. His throat burned as he heaved over the trash bin, stomach screaming bloody murder. Kuroko’s sympathetic pats on his back did little to soothe the insufferable agony.
“Well, if it isn’t Tetsu and…hey, what’s up with Bakagami?”
The rhythmic pats on Kagami’s back stopped and Kuroko turned to greet his former Teikou teammate.
“Aomine-kun. What a surprise running into you here.”
“Yeah, had some errands to run,” Aomine nodded at Kagami’s hunched form. “So what’s the story?”
“Kagami-kun has an upset stomach from dining at the new all-you-can-eat buffet,” Kuroko said matter-of-factly. “I suspect it must be food poisoning or something similar.”
And then Aomine had the nerve to laugh, even as Kagami was blue in the face and hurling his entire soul in the trash bin.
“Aomine-kun, it’s rude to laugh at other people’s misfortune.”
“C’mon, even you have to admit it’s pretty damn hilarious, Tetsu. With how he eats all the time, it’s a miracle this hasn’t happened sooner!” Aomine said.
Kagami glowered, snapping his head up from his vomiting fest. “If all you’re going to do is make fun of me, get lost!” he barked. He soon regretted raising his voice, however, because just then a wave of queasiness and stomach pain larger than Aomine’s ego itself attacked him. Within seconds, Kagami was forced to adopt a fetal position right in the middle of the streets.
“Wow, it really is that bad, isn’t it?” remarked Aomine.
“He should probably be taken to the hospital,” Kuroko said.
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Seeing as he’s too big for me to carry, how about you do the honors, Aomine-kun?”
“Tch. Guess I have no choice.”
“W-Wait, just wait a minute!” Kagami protested when he was suddenly being pulled upwards by the arm. “I don’t need your help!” He struggled in earnest, but the desired effect was ruined by his physically weakened state.
“Shut up and get on my back,” Aomine ordered. “Unless you want to be carried like a princess instead, because that’s fine by me.”
Five minutes later, the three of them were on their way. And although Kagami was not being carried like a princess, it was safe to say that this moment would nonetheless be a mentally scarring memory for the Seirin ace. Apparently, a piggyback ride between two large, tall guys in the middle of a busy neighborhood was a rare enough sight that virtually everyone within distance was staring and pointing.
The humiliation couldn’t be worth it.
v.
“Kagami, it’s been an hour already. Let’s call it a day,” said Aomine, bristling to stretch his sore limbs.
“No, it’s gotta be here somewhere,” Kagami insisted. He dug through the bushes for the umpteenth time. “I remember I still had it on while we were playing!”
Kagami didn’t have many material possessions, but that meant the few things he did have, he treasured to a significant degree. So it was only natural that when the ring Himuro had given him suddenly went missing, he’d dive into some state of panic.
“Why are you freaking out so much over that thing anyway?” Aomine asked. “Didn’t you tell Tetsu to throw it away once?”
Kagami paused, pulling his bottom lip back defensively. “That’s…” he trailed off, struggling to piece together the right words. “It’s…complicated.”
Aomine snorted. “You make it sound like you two are dating or something.”
“Hey, don’t even joke like that, it’s not funny!” Kagami snapped. He winced at the mental image which just flashed through his mind courtesy of Aomine’s carelessly thrown remark. The mere thought of having a romantic relationship with the person he considered to be his brotherly figure did not sit right with him at all.
Kagami sighed, running a hand through his red locks. “Look, it’s…just important, all right? I’ve known him since I was a kid and…well you wouldn’t understand.”
Kagami expected Aomine to come back with another sardonic remark, but none came. A bit surprised at the silence, he craned his neck back to glance at Aomine. The blunet was giving him a strange look, one Kagami was unused to seeing on the other boy. An odd twinkle danced in Aomine’s eyes as he stared down at Kagami, his rough features pulled into an almost contemplative expression.
“…Aomine?”
Kagami’s questioning voice made Aomine blink out of his stupor, and the Touou ace clicked his teeth. “Ah, right. Important. Whatever,” he said curtly. “Well, it’s getting late so I’m heading back.” Aomine stalked over to the bench where his jacket and bag were lying and retrieved them.
Kagami frowned. “What are you getting all mad for?”
“I’m not mad,” said Aomine. “We’ve been searching for an hour. I’m sweaty, tired, and it’s hot. You can suit yourself and keep looking because I’m not going to help.”
Kagami could feel veins threatening to burst from his temple at the haughty tone Aomine was suddenly projecting towards him without any prior warning. “What the hell? For your information, I didn’t even ask for your help. You can leave anytime for all I care.”
“And that’s exactly what I’m gonna do,” Aomine replied flatly. He didn’t even spare Kagami a last glance before making his way off the courts, jacket slung over his shoulder. Kagami watched Aomine disappear from his line of vision, feeling very miffed.
“What is that guy’s problem?” he murmured to himself. Shaking his head, he resumed his task.
Despite his resolve, Kagami did not manage to find the ring that day. As soon as the sun went down, it inevitably became too dark to clearly make out what was what, and he was forced to throw in the towel. But even so, he’d already looked over every nook and cranny he could think of, and the ring was nowhere to be seen.
Truth be told, Kagami didn’t expect the loss to affect him as much as it eventually turned out to. In the end, the ring really was just a hunk of metal, and if anything it was his intangible relationship with Himuro which truly mattered. Though even as he told himself this, the missing weight his neck had grown attached to over the years was too distracting to ignore.
And of course, the emotion-driven conundrum occupying his mind would affect his physical performance during practice.
“Kagami-kun.”
“I know, I know. I’m going to get it together, geez!” Kagami exclaimed to the blank-faced Kuroko.
But saying was easier than doing. At times like these, Kagami really wished he was better at putting his emotions aside like Kuroko probably was. Because at this rate, he was certainly not going to be in top shape for the upcoming tournament, and Coach was going to have his head.
A week later, and still ring-less, Kagami found himself alone in the locker room retrieving his things when a blue head suddenly popped out of nowhere and effectively shocked the air straight out of his lungs.
“Gah, how many times do I have to tell you not to sneak up on me?! You must be doing that on purpose, I swear!”
“I was here first, Kagami-kun.”
“And stop using that same excuse every single time, it’s getting old!”
“More importantly, I believe you should be happier to see me.”
Kagami was about to question the meaning behind Kuroko’s words when suddenly something small and silver was being dangled in his line of vision.
“But that’s…” Kagami said, pointing at the object in disbelief.
“Be sure to thank Aomine-kun properly the next time you see him,” said Kuroko. “It seemed he really did spend a great deal of time finding it for your sake.”
vi.
Kagami stood in the hallway to Aomine’s room nursing a great deal of unease. He’d been standing there for almost 15 minutes now, stuck in fight-or-flight mode. The tray of food he was gripping was going to get cold soon, and there would be no point in serving it once it did. Kagami wanted to blame Kuroko for his current situation—blame Kuroko for casually informing him that a certain Touou ace was very sick, and that because Aomine’s parents had gone away for the weekend, Aomine was probably going to have to fend for himself even in sickness.
Dammit Kuroko, has anyone ever told you how manipulative you are?
Working up the resolve, Kagami finally traveled the last few steps to Aomine’s door. Before he could give himself a chance to second-think again, he kicked it open with his foot.
Aomine, upon hearing his door open, rolled over in his bed. At the sight of Kagami, his eyebrows immediately ascended from their default positions, and obvious surprise etched his features.
“Kagami?!” Aomine’s voice came out hoarse and clogged, but nonetheless still audible. “What are you doing here?”
Kagami stood in the doorway awkwardly. “Kuroko told me you were sick.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you're in my house,” said Aomine.
“It’s not like I’m here because I want to be!” Kagami snapped. Trust Aomine to get under his skin even when he was trying to be considerate. “Believe me, I have better things to do with my Saturday than deal with idiots like you.”
“This coming from the guy who just randomly broke into someone’s house,” Aomine said, rolling his eyes.
“Just eat the damn soup!” Kagami stomped over to the bed, setting the tray of food not so gently on the adjacent nightstand. The contents rattled a bit at his rough treatment, but fortunately nothing spilled.
The two of them inevitably dove into another mini arguing session. However, a truce soon needed to be called because Aomine was indeed very ill, and was really in no condition to prolong an intense quarrel.
“Oh, this is actually not that bad,” the blunet remarked, dragging the spoon out from his mouth. He peered down at the bowl of soup curiously. “I guess you’re not totally useless after all.”
Kagami contemplated grabbing the bowl from Aomine and hurling it straight at Aomine’s face, if not for the cruel reminder that he was here to pay back debts, not rack up more. As the soup was being consumed, the redhead shifted uncomfortably. If he was going to do this, he may as well get it over with as soon as possible.
He cleared his throat, temporarily drawing Aomine’s attention away from his meal. “So, uh…” Kagami began, trying to shove the budding urge to escape from Aomine’s bedside away. “…It has come to my conclusion that maybe you’re not the jerk I once thought you were. I mean, you’re definitely a jerk, but not a jerk of the highest order at least.”
“Wow, thanks. I feel so flattered,” Aomine replied, voice laced with sarcasm.
“Ahomine, can you just shut up for a minute and let me speak?”
Aomine placed the spoon down and directed his full attention at Kagami. “I’m listening.”
Somehow, having the other focus in more closely on him like that actually discouraged Kagami from resuming speech. He cleared his throat again, aiming his gaze at the foot of the bed. “A-Anyway, I just wanted to say…thanks. For, you know, helping me find my ring. I mean, at first I didn’t even believe it because you’re always so insensitive, not to mention how you stormed out on me that day for no reason whatsoever. But I guess even you can be considerate sometimes too. So...thanks.”
There was some shifting on the bed and the sound of dinnerware being deposited on the nightstand.
“That has got to be the lamest thank-you ever.”
Kagami scowled, darting his eyes to Aomine. “Yeah well, take it or leave it. Because that’s all you’re going to get.”
“Nah, I think you can do better.”
Kagami barely had time to question the meaning behind the other's words when he was suddenly being pulled down by the forearm so that his head was directly at level with Aomine’s.
A strangled noise of surprise escaped the redhead. “Aomine, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
“What does it look like I’m doing?”
Aomine’s hot breath ghosted the shell of Kagami’s ear in waves, causing the other to shiver involuntarily. Kagami then felt a sharp tug at the ring suspended from his neck, and that was all the warning he got before Aomine’s lips descended down on his own.