Greeting, everyone!
I think I have fallen deeply in love with AoKaga shipping. They are just so adorable together! Why can they be real so I stalk them kissing and hugging each other?
Ahem, anyway, allow me to introduce my first attempt of writing an angsty story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basket for it belongs to Fujimaka Tadatoshi.
Enjoy the story. R&R, plz!
Chapter 1: Cold
Unable to have a shallow dream, I grieve eternally.
.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.
Christmas night. A holy night when everyone would be indulging themselves in the festive atmosphere, hand in hand with their loved ones. A night when people would gladly snuggle in their beloved's warmth and exchange glances of affection.
Cold but warm. That was the spirit of the holiday.
Yet, one person couldn't bring himself to feel the joyful festivity offered by Christmas. The numbing cold of December air had seeped through his thick layers of clothes, chilling his skin and then, freezing his already broken heart.
A tall redhead wearily dragged his feet through the street, the only thing on his mind being to get home as soon as possible. He occasionally bumped into some passengers but didn't spare any thought to apologize to them, thus receiving a few complaints and disapproving looks from others.
However, he paid no heed to any of them.
After all, those people could never change what had happened to him nor fix his broken heart. Those people could never provide him with the warmth he desperately yearned for.
He shifted his gaze towards the dark indigo sky, mindlessly marveling at the little white snow flowers descending slowly onto the ground without a single care to the world. The redhead then looked down and let out a sigh, which quickly turned into white puff of smoke dissipating into thin air.
The teenager smiled. His eyes lightened up at the small sliver of happiness.
"It's gonna be OK.. It's gonna be OK…"
Yet he still couldn't shake the despair off his heart.
He felt cold.
-.-.-.-.-.-o0o-.-.-.-.-.-
"What do you mean you don't know where he is, Tetsu? He studies in the same school as yours, right?"
"We've searched everywhere, Aomine-kun. His apartment is vacant. We even asked Himuro-san about Kagami-kun but even he didn't know the whereabouts of Kagami-kun."
"But…but…never mind."
"Don't worry. We'll find him soon."
However, much as they tried, they could never find a single trace of Kagami, who seemed to have vanished into thin air. He left quietly without any notice, leaving everyone behind in confusion and sadness.
Nevertheless, slowly, everyone managed to overcome the sad feelings and got on with their life. Except one person…
-.-.-.-.-.-o0o-.-.-.-.-.-
10 years later
"OK, Seijurou-kun. I'll be there at 5 p.m. See you later."
….
Kuroko looked around to make sure there was nobody around before continuing. "Smooch. Love you, too, Seijurou-kun. Bye."
Kuroko let out a sigh and put away his cell phone. Though they had been dating since high school, Kuroko sometimes couldn't get used to Akashi's whimsical demands, most of which were made in very inconvenient time. Take this for an example: Kuroko was currently in supermarket, in public for god's sake, yet Akashi still wanted him to give a kiss and profess his love through the phone. Really, despite his mature and authoritative demeanor, Akashi could be so childish sometimes.
At the moment, Kuroko was checking the shelves for stuffs he intended to buy for the Christmas party held at his boyfriend's mansion in the evening. It was one of few occasions in the year when his middle school friends and he could gather and have a nice long chat with each other. After they graduated from their high school, all of them separated to pursue their chosen paths: Kise went to aviation university to become a pilot; Aomine joined police academy; Midorima chose to study Medical profession to become a doctor; Murasakibara went to a bakery to study to become a pastry chef; Akashi went abroad for further study to take over family business in the future; Kuroko took up Kindergarten Teaching and later became a kindergarten teacher at a school near his house. Busy as they were with their own work, they still managed to keep in touch with each other through emails and random phone calls once in a while to keep tab on other's well-being and life. And as soon as Christmas came, Akashi and he would call everyone to gather at one of the redhead's mansion to have a reunion party of which the cost would be covered by Akashi. As for Kuroko, he would willingly help his boyfriend preparing for the occasion by ordering the food, buying some snack and drinks and decorating the party room with some assistance of Momoi.
At the Beverage section, Kuroko put a few cans of beer, soft drinks and red bean soup (exclusively for Midorima) into the trolley which already contained some bags of cookies, snacks and decoration accessories. Eyeing carefully at the goods in the cart to check if he had got everything in the list, the bluenette hummed satisfactorily before pushing the vehicle down the aisle towards the counter to make payments. He couldn't wait to reunite with his friends again.
As he made his way to the counter with his mind occupied with the thought of his friends, he failed to notice a tall red-haired man pushing a trolley with a small blue-haired child in it in opposite direction. The man stopped at the spice corner, taking the bottle of chili sauce off the shelf and put it in the basket and then proceeding to another place.
"Daddy, I want teriyaki burger tonight. Could you please make it for me?", the child gave his father his best puppy-eye looks in hope of persuading the older adult.
"Okay, anything for you, baby", the man laughed and ruffled his son's hair.
-.-.-.-.-.-o0o-.-.-.-.-.-
Kuroko stepped out of the supermarket, feeling the cold winter air caressing his pale cheeks and freezing every breath he exhaled. Holding the grocery in both arms, he walked down the street leading to his house, which was about 10-minute walk from the supermarket. The small bluenette was humming an advertisement melody when he was stopped by a familiar voice.
"Yo, Tetsu".
Kuroko turned around to find his dark blue-haired ex-light, Aomine, poking his head out of the car's window and waving his hand enthusiastically. The small bluenette smiled gently at his friend, who were driving slowly to him.
"Good afternoon, Aomine-kun. Long time no see."
"Yeah, long time no see. Where are you going?", Aomine asked, his arms leaning on the window frame.
"I'm heading back to my house. What about you, Aomine-kun?"
"Just finished work. I'm heading to Maji Murger to grab some lunch. Wanna join me?"
"No thanks, I think I'll…"
"I'll treat you to your favorite milkshake", Aomine interrupted, internally smirking because he knew his best friend would never back down from this offer.
"Well, if you insist, then I suppose I can go", Kuroko said calmly, eyes obviously shining at the prospect of a free treat.
"Then, hop in. I'll give you a lift", Aomine opened the door, letting the smaller teen in.
-.-.-.-.-.-o0o-.-.-.-.-.-
"So, Aomine-kun". Kuroko took a sip of the milkshake, savoring every bit of the cold sweet taste on his tasting bud before continuing, "How has your life been?"
The tanned teen dipped one fry into the ketchup and put it into his mouth. "Busy, busy, busy. Cases just keep coming and headache is a common shit in my life. Sometimes I just had to stop to wonder myself why the world is filled with so many illegal troubles."
"But you still enjoy your job, right?", Kuroko, with his usual blank look, stared knowingly at his ex-teammate.
"Of course. I do appreciate the thrill and excitement every time I'm on a mission, looking for clues and making deduction to find the culprits. Life has never been boring since I joined the police force. However…" Aomine stopped, apparently thinking about something before he continued, "There are times I just couldn't bring myself to understand the logic behind their motive. Really! Spraying acid at another woman because your husband sneaked out to fuck with her! There are better ways to settle things, you know!". Aomine chomped down another teriyaki burger in frustration.
"Remember this, Aomine-kun, we are humans, not saint. Humans can sometimes be very stupid. They are prone to making mistakes with various reasons, some of which can be very ridiculous. However, when our feelings get the better of us, all of our rationality disappears, resulting that we end up doing something stupid that may make us regret in the future". After the speech, Kuroko took another gulp of his milkshake while looking at Aomine, who seemed to not have paid attention to what he jus said.
The taller male instead looked outside the window with a faraway look, seemingly contemplating something.
"Yeah… we can sometimes be stupid….", Aomine trailed off.
-.-.-.-.-.-o0o-.-.-.-.-.-
Christmas had come again to Tokyo, bestowing people there with the ever glowing white snow wrapped in cold air and the merry atmosphere that compelled people to celebrate this once-a-year holiday. People, clad in thick jackets, mittens and scarves, were hurriedly jostling on the streets decorated with beautiful flashing lights and pine trees and filled with Christmas melodies, each trying to finish their own business quickly in order to enjoy themselves in the festive mood. Shops and stores were packed with people with different intentions of going there: some were searching for appropriate Christmas presents, some were shopping for groceries and some were simply strolling around just to feel fun.
Somewhere at the corner of the shopping street in Tokyo, between two multi-storey brightly-lit boutiques stood a humble bento shop with the signboard stating its name "Red and Blue" in bold. Two customers, one male and one female, walked out of the store and shivered a bit due to the sudden change of temperature; however, once they laid their gaze on each other, a smile bloomed on their faces. The young couple laced their fingers together and went across the street.
Not very far from those two, a tall redhead with a child in his arm was walking towards the store, his other hand occupied with grocery bag. The man took a brief glance of the couple, seemingly pondering something before he opened the shop door, making the bell at the top jingle signaling his entrance.
"Welcome to the "Red and Blue" bento shop. Oh, welcome back, Kagami!", a black-haired guy at the cashier counter greeted smilingly.
"Hello, Morino", Kagami greeted back and put the grocery bag on the table.
"Hello, Uncle Morino", the child, still in Kagami's arm, chirped teasingly at the man, successfully earning him a frown from the adult.
"Daichi, don't call me uncle. It sounds too old", the guy named Morino whined.
"But you're old", the kid giggled.
"Hey, I'm the same age as your father."
"Daddy is always young to me, and also the coolest and most handsome man in the world", Daichi hugged his father, snuggling up closer to him and rubbing his face against the man's chest. Kagami couldn't help but tighten the hold and kiss the kid's head.
"Jeez, you little brat! Kagami, this is what you get for spoiling him too much", Morino folded his arms, pouting at the sight in front of him.
"Now now, calm down, Morino. It's not my fault that I'm such a cool dad."
"And now we have a dad with a blown-up ego", Morino dramatically put his hand on his forehead, inducing a laugh from the parent and son.
At the time, a young woman with short brown hair came into room while carrying a plastic bag that contained three large boxes of different sizes that had the shop's name printed on. Upon seeing Kagami, she smiled and approached the two men. Noticing the bag she was carrying, Kagami promply asked.
"Hey there, Harada. What's up with that bag?"
"Oh, while you're out shopping, a customer has called in and made an order for Toufu soup, Karaage and Sushi to be delivered at his house. Morino-san, deliver it", Harada shoved the bag into Morino's hand.
"What! But I have to be home early tonight. There's gonna be a party at my house that requires my assistance!", the black-haired man whined, not wanting to do job in the cold weather.
"Please, the only assistance you may provide to your family is monkeying around, doing nothing! So get your lazy butt moving. Customer is waiting, you know", the brunette gave a stern look, implying there would be something nasty for him if he didn't go soon.
"But…but…damn it!"
Sensing his friend's discomfort, Kagami, as generous as ever, couldn't bear seeing someone in trouble, thus deciding to step in.
"How about me doing the delivery?", Kagami offered.
Morino and Harada turned around to look at Kagami, each donning on their faces different expressions. While Harada was flashing the redhead a disbelieving look, Morino looked as if he had just seen an angel descending from the sky, a saviour coming to his rescue.
"No way, Kagami-san. You've done the cooking and grocery shopping for today; you don't have to trouble yourself doing this for this stupid lazy ass. Besides, delivery is Morino's task, not yours. It's Christmas and you need some rest", Harada reasoned while giving a glare to the raven, threatening him to take the job.
"It's OK, Harada. Besides, Daichi has been wanting to ride on the motorbike with me for a while now, so I'll take him with me on this delivery."
At hearing the chance to ride the motorbike with his father, the young boy perked his head up interestedly. "Motorcycle? Yippie, I'm gonna ride the bike with Daddy!". The child bounced in his older man's arm, unable to hide his excitement.
At this point, the brunette had no choice but to hand over the delivery bag along with the address instruction to the redhead, of course, not after throwing a death glare the happily smiling Morino.
"Sorry to bother you, Kagami-san. Then, I'll do the accounting of the day and close the shop later. Morino will do the cleaning up (the black-haired man whined in the background). Have a safe trip, Kagami-san and Merry Christmas", Harada made a peace sign as the redhead grabbed key, ready to leave.
"Merry Christmas, Kagami and Daichi", Morino winked playfully.
"Merry Chrismas to you two, too." Kagami grinned in return and made his way to the door.
As soon as they reached the motorcycle, Daichi immediately jumped down to the ground and ran to the vehicle. The little boy enthusiastically climbed up the bike, making himself comfortable on the behind seat and then, waving to his father.
"Daddy, hurry!"
"Okay, okay, first let me check the address. 2XX, Beika Street… Pretty far from here. Daichi, put your helmet on."
Kagami buttoned the helmet, which his son mirrored him, put the food into the small container at the back and hopped onto the vehicle.
And soon after that, two people were speeding down the road, the redhead grinning excitedly, the small bluenette hugging his father tightly and screaming at the top of his lung, feeling chilling wind dashing against their skin.
"Getting scared, huh, Daichi?", Kagami called out, his eyes not leaving the road.
"No way! This is the best. Faster, Daddy. Faster!", the child shouted back, adrenaline pumping through his vein.
"Very well. Then brace yourself."
Kagami accelerated the motorcycle more and after that, he and his son were going at full throttle, so fast that other passengers could only catch a glimpse of blurry red and blue dashing down the street.
-.-.-.-.-.-o0o-.-.-.-.-.-
"Merry Christmas!"
Everyone clapped their hands as confetti was raining down and covering people with colorful strings and glitter. The annual Christmas party slash reunion of Generation of Miracle had begun at Akashi's mansion and everybody was enjoying themselves to the fullest. Although it was originally for only the Miracles to gather together, there were still some outsiders- or boyfriends of the Miracles- participating the party at the insistence of their respective teammate. Kise always managed to drag Kasamatsu, much to the latter's dismay, to every gathering while claiming that Kasamatsu had duty as Kise's fiancé to accompany the blond in every event. Despite not being (formally) invited by Midorima, Takao never failed to make his appearance with the tall greenette, adding to the gathering with his non-stop chirping about his boyfriend's (embarrassing) daily life and how tsundere he was, to the taller one's annoyance. However, as for Himuro- Murasakibara's boyfriend, the raven rarely joined the Christmas party- though he did at the other gathering- with the excuse that he had to spend Christmas with his family. Nobody pried in further.
After the exchange of Christmas greetings, everybody started digging in the food served on beautiful plates on long tables covered with white cloth. Murasakibara, as always, proceeded to feed himself on sweet delicacies and paid no attention to any other food, which triggered Midorima's lecture mode about how unhealthy the giant's diet was and the dire consequences of doing so. Kise was being his usual cheerful talkative self, demanding his boyfriend to feed him and Kasamatsu wasted no time to ruthlessly stuff many cupcakes into the blond's mouth in order to shut his trap up. Takao and Momoi were chatting about their respective jobs: the ex-Shuutoku player, after a series of failure in getting accepted into the white-collared workforce, decided to open a cybercafé near his house, which quickly became famous among students; Momoi unsurprisingly followed Aomine to the Police Academy and later became the tanned man's assistant, who proved to be of great help due to her gifted information gathering and analyzing skill. Everyone was deep in the mood of celebrating the Christmas reunion.
Sitting not very faraway, head leaning on his boyfriend's shoulder, Kuroko let his eyes roam around the room, feeling both happy and nostalgic at the sight of his friends talking and laughing carefreely. It brought the small bluenette back to those old Teiko days when they were still young and together without a single care to the world.
"Just like old time, huh, Tetsuya?", Akashi whispered, his hand slowly moving to hold the other's one.
"Yeah… like old time.", Kuroko replied, his eyes shutting down to feel the warmth of his boyfriend more.
"Akashi-kun."
"Mmm?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For holding these kinds of event. Moments like these… I'll always treasure them."
"As long as you're happy, then it'll be OK to me."
After that, the ex-captain of Teiko and the shadow let their lips connect for a moment. It was a simple chaste kiss, a moment of intimate closure that expressed fully their feeling for each other.
Unknown to the couple, Aomine had been watching those two getting lovie-dovie with each other since the beginning. Although his expression was a perfect mask of his usual self: bored and disinterested, his inside was all twisted with different feelings. He was happy that his best friend had finally been with the one he loved; he sincerely wished that the two of them would enjoy a happy life together through every thick and thin. Yet what was left for him? Now all of his friends had found the other half of their life and lived contentedly with them, yet he still hadn't settled with anyone. Aomine had forgotten how many girlfriend he had dated ever since his graduation but one thing he was certain was that none of his relationship lasted more than 3 months. His recent breakup happened a month ago when his ex-girlfriend dumped him after their last making-out, claiming that his heart had never been with her ever since they started dating.
Aomine sighed. He was slightly jealous of Kuroko and the others, of how they came to find the one they truly loved and would willingly spend the life with. At those particular moments of weakness, one thing that unfailingly came quickly to Aomine mind was a shade of red, passionately and fierily burning and fading away.
Aomine Daiki was lonely.
-.-.-.-.-.-o0o-.-.-.-.-.-
"This house is so beautiful, Daddy! I want to live in the house like this one day!". Daichi followed his father, eyes darting around in awe of the mansion's intricate interior and stunning décor and furnishings. Kagami couldn't help but silently agree with his son.
"Just wait, Daichi. Once I save enough money, I'll rebuild our house and it will be as beautiful as this."
"Yay, Daddy is the best!". The small kind squealed in glee as he tackled to hug his father's leg.
The tall redhead chuckled at his son's antic.
Currently, both father and son were following a man who introduced himself as the head butler of the this mansion to the customer who ordered the delivery. After Kagami rang the doorbell, he soon found himself standing in front of this serious-looking elegantly-dressed butler who told him to go into the mansion in order to meet the owner as well as the customer of the delivered bentos for payment. Now that the redhead thought about this, the owner of this house had to be very rich judging from the luxurious mansion. Kagami suddenly felt very nervous and conscious of his appearance. He used his hand to comb his hair, smoothed wrinkles on his clothes in order to make himself look at least presentable to the owner. With this kind of customer, manner and appearance of the deliverer were as important as the quality of the food if he wanted them to come back and buy his food again.
"We have arrived at the room, Mister!"
Kagami immediately straightened his posture, schooling his features back to his usual professional mode. A good impression was always equivalent to more profit in business after all.
"Daichi, could you wait here for a while? Daddy's gonna deliver this to the customer", Kagami patted his son's head.
"Okay."
The butler pushed the door open, letting both of them in. At that time, Kagami's eyes were assaulted by the bright light radiating from the chandelier, sparkling spotless marble floor and flashy ornaments. The world of the rich was truly a far cry from that of commoners, Kagami mentally sighed.
"Akashi-sama, your order has arrived."
Rainbow. It was Kagami's impression as soon as his eyes adjusted to the blinding light.
Ha gasped. Other people in the room gasped, too.
Among those unique colors, Kagami noticed indigo. The very color that altered his wheel of destiny. The very color that dyed his fate in pain and despair.
Kagami could feel the cold of ten years ago rushing back once more. The color of indigo became darker.
And the wheel of fate, which had been silent for many years, began spinning again.
TBC
Any guess who Daichi is XD?
Every constructive review will be appreciated :3