Kuroko blinked up at the tanned man repeatedly, his eyes wide and mouth agape. "You.. What?"

Aomine continued to grin like a fool, his fingers twitching excitedly by his side. "I found a way to make us human!"

"H-how?"

"I was at Kise's, and there was an apple, and- It's a long story!"

Akashi rolled his eyes, inserting himself into the conversation. "Then start from the beginning. You're not making any sense."

Aomine nodded, closing his eyes as he took a deep, calming breath. When he opened his eyes again, they were still excited, but not the wild eyes of a hungry panther finding its first victim.

"Okay, I was at Kise's, and I finally decided it was time to show myself. So I was standing there in his kitchen, talking to him like I used to, and I saw this apple on the counter."

Kuroko nodded. "What does the apple-"

"Shh, let me finish~" he sang, momentarily losing his cool as he bounced on his heels. He sighed before continuing. "Naturally, I got curious as to what an apple tastes like to a ghost."

"So you tried it," Akashi finished.

The bluenette nodded. "Yes, and it was the best apple I've ever tasted~ But that's not the point! I noticed that after maybe four bites, I felt different. Then I noticed Kise staring at me incredulously, so I asked him what's up."

"And?" Kuroko prompted, patience wearing thin.

"And~ He said he'd just watched me become solid. He said at first I was kind of transparent and fuzzy around the edges, and now he could see me perfectly!"

"But that just proves my theory, Aomine. Food equals strength; strength equals visibility."

"Yes, but then I tried coming here! And, I couldn't. No matter what I did, I couldn't leave Kise's apartment without walking out the front door!"

Kuroko blinked at him continuously for a long moment. He titled his head, examining his friend more closely. "You do look different…" His blue eyes widened drastically as he realized an important factor. "A-Aomine… I can't feel you."

Aomine's eyes grew even wider, though it had seemed impossible. "You can't? That proves it then!"

Akashi's brows knitted together as he looked between the two. "Feel him?"

Kuroko turned his stunned gaze to the redhead. "Yes, as a ghost, I can feel the energies of other ghosts. Each ghost has a slightly different feeling, and I've gotten very used to Aomine's since his death. But he's standing right here, and I can't feel anything."

Aomine let out an uncharacteristic squeak, fist pumping the air. "Tetsu! I'm human!"

Kuroko smiled up at his friend, the feeling of tears burning his eyes. Unknowingly, he shed a single one, another sign that he too was slowly becoming human again.

"S-So do you think, the human f-food?"

Aomine nodded. "I think that was the final straw." He beamed down at the smaller bluenette, his eyes alight with sheer life. "I think it's time you ate some real food, Tetsu."

XXX

Days passed, and Kuroko was still very much a ghost. Despite how much food he ate, from both realms, he simply couldn't live again. Akashi had insisted it was merely because he wasn't as strong as Aomine yet, but even the redhead was beginning to worry.

Kuroko was certainly becoming stronger, and saving up his strength well. So why wasn't he back in his own flesh again?

"Maybe I waited too long to try," Kuroko said one day, purposefully avoiding Akashi's panicked gaze. "I'm just dead forever."

Akashi shook his head, turning to firmly grasp Kuroko's shoulders as he forced their eyes to meet. "Tetsuya, don't say that. You can't give up. We're close, I can feel it."

Kuroko had forced a smile, grateful for the encouragement, even if he felt it was useless.

More long days stretched on, and whilst Aomine was out mingling with strangers- living, breathing strangers- Kuroko kept to himself in the confinement of Akashi's home.

The bluenette refused to even leave the bedroom unless it was to get more food from the kitchen. Then he would return to the bed, curling in on himself as he wondered what he'd done wrong.

Akashi had finally had enough of the bluenette's sulking, and he came home from school one day with the intent of getting Kuroko out of the house. And that, he did. At first he'd ordered Kuroko to leave with him, but the ghost had simply sighed, staring at the wall.

"Make me," he'd muttered.

Akashi had also sighed, knowing that he couldn't pick Kuroko up unless the ghost allowed him. "Please, Tetsuya?" he'd tried.

The bluenette shook his head before hiding his face in the redhead's pillows.

"… I miss playing basketball with you, Tetsuya… One on one, what do you say?"

There was a long stretch of silence before Kuroko slowly pulled himself up, looking to Akashi with his big blue eyes. And for the first time, his eyes really seemed dead. Akashi frowned internally, but offered a smile and a hand to hold.

Kuroko hesitantly placed his hand in the redhead's palm, and Akashi led him outside. Akashi had noticed how warm Kuroko's touch felt, but decided to bite his tongue on the matter.

It wasn't until the two were halfway through their game did it happen. Kise and Aomine came strutting onto the court, both wearing large smiles as the blonde waved.

"Akashi-cchi~ Can we play?"

Akashi glanced toward Kuroko before nodding, hesitant. "The more the merrier."

Kuroko instinctively curled into himself, wanting to disappear, but not wanting to leave his love. However, his ears perked up immediately at the blonde's next words.

"Ne, is that Kuroko-cchi?"

The bluenette turned back to find Akashi staring at him curiously.

"I thought you said you didn't flip the switch."

Kuroko's eyes were wide as he looked between the three of them. "I-I didn't. I'm s-so bad that it l-looks like you're playing y-yourself, I have no reason to!"

They stared at each other for a long while, until Akashi's lips quirked up the tiniest bit. He turned his crimson eyes back to Kise. "You can really see him?"

Kise, brows furrowed, nodded. "Of course I can, Akashi-cchi, he's right there."

Akashi grinned as he turned back to Kuroko, only to find tears streaming down the bluenette's face.

"Tetsuya…"

Kuroko laughed softly, swiping at his eyes. He didn't waste another moment before flinging himself into the redhead's arms, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck as he kissed him- the way he'd longed to kiss him, fully and completely, with as much passion as a human body could muster.

When the two finally separated, Kuroko continued to beam up at his beloved, his eyes still wet with tears. "I-I'm alive."

Akashi nodded, kissing his nose. "I know."

XXX

A year passed by quickly for Akashi and his friends, slowly for the former ghosts themselves. Though they were now officially human, not even able to summon the spirit realm in the slightest, they weren't allowed to leave their boyfriends' homes often. They could sometimes go out in the late evenings, when it was less likely to run into people from their past lives. If being dead was difficult, then being undead was almost downright impossible.

Luckily, it was senior year for the group of friends, and they'd all previously decided to move away from their childhood home, hoping to start anew. The fresh start was quite a literal affair for the newly resurrected human beings.

As graduation approached, Kuroko and Aomine conjured up a surprise- a congratulatory gift, if you may. And just before the opening ceremonies were to begin, they summoned their loves to the back of the school.

Akashi's brows furrowed as he subtly pulled out his phone, reading the text from Kuroko. Sighing, he looked to Kise, only a little ways down the row from him. The blonde looked up from his own phone then, meeting the redhead's gaze. Afraid for what may have happened, the two then quietly sneaked out of the room, heading to their rendezvous.

When they arrived, both young men released the breath they hadn't realized they'd been holding. Kuroko and Aomine were both leant against the wall, laughing to one another.

Akashi sighed under his breath, his lips quirking up a tiny, almost unnoticeable amount as he walked over to his bluenette. Kise followed his footsteps, stopping in front of Aomine.

"Alright," Akashi said coolly, "we're here. What is this about?"

"Aomine-cchi~ It's about to start~" Kise whined.

The bluenettes shared a look, smiles growing on their faces as they turned back to their respective loves.

"We're sorry for the timing," Kuroko said, "Aomine ran into a little trouble."

The tanned man rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it was my fault," he mumbled sarcastically. "Anyway, we were thinking. We know we can't exactly go through with it officially, since we're technically dead…"

"But we want to propose an offer to you."

Akashi and Kise shared a confused look before Aomine and Kuroko both sank to their knee, simultaneously pulling rings from their pockets.

"We'd like to propose an unofficial wedding," Aomine concluded.

Kise's golden eyes were wide as tears began to fill their corners, soon overflowing onto his flushed cheeks. "Aomine-cchi~!" he exclaimed, tackling the man in a tight embrace as he kissed him passionately.

For the other couple, Kuroko was the one to blush, and Akashi laughed softly as he too knelt before the bluenette.

"Some timing," he whispered, pulling his own ring from his pocket. "I was going to wait until after the ceremony."

Grinning like a fool, Kuroko kissed his redhead, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck. "I love you, Seijuro."

He chuckled, effortlessly slipping the rings onto both of their respective fingers. "I love you, Tetsuya."