Meddling Miracles.

"Meet me by the train station tomorrow at twelve near your school, Tatsuya! -Kagami" [Delivered on Friday, April 11th. 4:19 p.m.]

The sound of fingers hitting the keypad of the phone echoed across the empty locker-room. Deleting the message, he placed the phone where he'd found it, exhaling and patting Nigou before exiting the room.

The knowing smirk that graced his face was soon gone, wiped as Tiaga called out. "Oi, did you get my drink?"

"Meet me by the train station tomorrow at twelve near my school, Tiaga! -Himuro" [Delivered on Friday, April 11th. 6:37 p.m.]

He placed the phone down, a frown on his face as he wiped the sweat off his face. Annoying, that's what it was, to have to be the one to do it. However, he was promised to be treated to some sort of treat if this worked.

He walked toward the showers, yawning lazily as he passed the source of his recent headaches. "Muro-chin.. Let's go to that new bakery after this.."

"I thought it was just going to be us.." Hirumo seemed determined to stare Kuroko down until he truly vanished, which would not really have been anything unexpected..

"I could say the same exact thing.." However, the fact that Kagami was staring Murasakibara down with what seemed to be the same intention made everything just a bit more awkward.

"Ohayo minna.." Kuroko said after a stretched out minute, his gaze flitting from Kagami to the men in front of him. If one could even call them that, they were more like stubborn elementary school students..

"Kuro-chin." If there was one thing that was good about Murasakibara's childishness, it was his apparent innocence. He chewed on the chocolate covered stick in his mouth, patting his old teammate gently on the head, just once, so as not to annoy him.

"Oi.." Kagami muttered, not once looking at Hirumo as he grew increasingly annoyed. Kuroko glanced at Himuro as he fixed his hair, taking only a second to realize that he was becoming furious.

The blue haired shadow cleared his throat, returning his gaze to the milkshake in his grasp. He only wished he could demand more compensation from Kagami for this situation..

"Kuro-chin. I'm out of snacks." The center almost whined, not even looking at Kagami or Hirumo as he spoke. He knew who he wanted around him, especially with the moods certain idiots had worked themselves into. As Kagami opened his mouth to comment, Kuroko's lips twitched slightly upward and he nodded, silently thanking the gentle giant.

"Hai, I'll treat you." Without so much as a warning he walked off with Murasakibara, pausing a few feet later only to call back. "Have fun, you two.. We'll find you later."

Kagami gaped at the two members of the Generation of Miracles for a moment, before turning to find Himuro barely more composed than he was. His brother looked at him, blinking for a moment before smiling wryly. "We were just ditched.."

"Kuro-chin.." The giant's gentle hand again descended on his head, ruining his concentration for the second time in as many minutes. "Kuro-chin.. Don't you want any food?"

Kuroko exhaled silently, turning back to look at the taller man with a carefully blank expression. "I'm fine with my shake, Murasakibara-kun. Now let's follow them.. Quietly."

The purple-haired man simply nodded and followed Kuroko, quietly munching on his food. He knew why they were being this quiet, and stealthy, he just grew bored..

"Oh.. They're doing something." He commented offhandedly, seemingly unconsciously crouching beside the phantom and offering his a particularly good vanilla candy. It was with the same ease that Kuroko nodded and made a small noise of gratitude, taking the candy.

"Kuro-chin?" The giant whispered, blinking owlishly.

"Hai?" Came the automatic response as they followed the two into an arcade.

"Can we play some games another time..?" The innocent smile the center gave him almost forced the nod out of him.

"Of course, Atsushi-kun." Honestly, Kuroko thought as he found himself enveloped in a gentle hug, it was so easy to please him..

"What do you wanna do?" Tatsuya rattled off in English, glancing down the road as he shoved his hands in his pockets. It seemed as if Kuroko had lent some of his invisibility to Atsushi at the moment, as there was not a sign of either of them..

"I don't know. You live around here.." Came the decidedly grumpy reply from Kagami, the loss of his shadow set him further on edge around his newly recovered brother.

There was a moment of silence as the two looked around and avoided looking at each other. The heaviness that had settled when Kagami stepped out of the train had not left and neither of the brothers were quite mature enough to fix it..

"Tiaga, there's an arcade over there." Tatsuya pointed past a bakery, one he knew well, to a well lit sign that proclaimed 'Game Corner!' in big red lettering.

Kagami took one look at his brother and grinned, issuing the challenge as they both automatically started walking toward it. "Shooting games or hoops?"

"Kuro-chin, it's been.. Two? No, three hours..!" Murasakibara whined, having given up on this game of 'Let's get the brothers to get along' a while ago. He simply sighed and cracked his neck, tired of watching the two squabble over stupid things.

Kuroko sighed and nodded, finally giving in and looking toward his old teammate. "It's been long enough.. Let's go."

As Atsushi walked off, Kuroko took a moment to stretch and check the time. It was already four, and while the last train left at nine, he didn't know if five hours was enough for these two..

"Kuroko! Get over here! We need one more for this game!" Kagami called, drawing his shadow out of his rather darkening thoughts.

Three Hours Later.

There was a loud sigh as Murasakibara held the plastic cup of ice to his friend's neck. "Kuro-chin, never again."

The quiet response that sounded something remarkably similar to a 'hai' was muffled by the table Kuroko had buried his face in. He had given up, to an extent, on the brothers. It was astounding to him how they managed to argue after six hours..

He doubted even Kise and Aomine could match them.

"Tiaga, just give up!" Tatsuya said, rather loudly as he sat across from Atsushi.

"Hell, no!" The hand slamming on the table was rather unnecessary, Kuroko thought, flinching into a sitting position and staring at his equally loud partner. Did they know exactly how obnoxious they were acting?

Atsushi made a noise of disapproval, glad that the ice had not fallen when Kuroko had moved, yet still royally annoyed. "Shut up or I'll crush you both.."

Kuroko frowned at the usually gentle giant, about to deem such words unnecessary, before he found himself being cut off. That had happened a lot today, and it was starting to grate on his nerves..

"Atsushi, what are you talking about?"

"Ehh? Is the baby angry?"

At that particular moment, Kuroko realized two very important things. One, that he would never accompany Kagami and his brother anywhere ever again. Two, they, in their own messed up way, had just made up.

"Murasakibara-kun, you can crush them.." Kuroko said, leaning back as he closed his eyes and took the ice from the no longer gentle giant. It was at approximately 7:23 p.m. on a Saturday in April, that Kagami and Himuro finally made up..

Three Weeks Later.

"Ne, Tiaga? Why didn't you just call last time?"

Tiaga looked at his brother strangely, wrinkling his nose. "What are you talking about? You sent the text."

"No.. You did.."

It was nearly a full month before two of the quietest of the Miracles got caught red-handed.