He had been waiting.

He waited for the redhead tiger to drift off to slumber land to creep in the other flat owner's bedroom. After he made sure that Kagami was sleeping (judging by his awfully loud snores), Aomine gently exits the room in tiptoes.

He takes a quick look around the common room. He wasn't able to do so earlier since he had to be pretend-drunk and pretend-asleep. And it took a while. It took Kagami some time to get him in his room since he had to be cautious of Kuroko's presence (like he could lack any more of that). And as soon as the two were in Kagami's room, Aomine had to silently put up with Kagami literally throwing him on the floor. Well at least he had the decency to give him a blanket.

The room's pretty normal, he thought. There's a TV on one side, a couch in front of it, a small kitchen, and a small narrow hallway with two doors adjacent to each other—one which he believes leads to the comfort room, and the other to the outside.

Aomine turns his attention to another door which was just around five steps to the right from Kagami's. He stands in front of the door with his heart racing with emotions. He feels happy, excited, and devious, knowing who was just on the other side of it.

FINALLY FINALLY FINALL FINALLY!

These words run around in his head. Right now, he wants to rush and barge in the room and hold his very precious person in arms but, he knows he shouldn't. He wants to knock on the door, shout out his name, in hopes the bluenette would open the door with eyes like a puppy, but he knows he wouldn't. There is just so much contradictions with Aomine's thoughts that he feels like choking.

He doesn't want me here, but I want to be with him.

For a long time, these words clung to him. And he knew the implications of it. It would mean disregarding Tetsu's feelings, his happiness, and everything he had built up these past few years. But…

That just doesn't matter.

An evil grin spreads across Aomine's face. His eyes grow wide with a conniving sparkle to them.

He reaches his hand on the door knob and twists it slowly. To his surprise, it wasn't locked. Maybe it was both Kagami and Tetsu's living arrangement, or just a mistake on Tetsu's part, but whatever this lack of security meant, it just means that tonight's Aomine's lucky tonight.

The moment a small gap opens from the door, Aomine could swear memories of middle school were flooding him as the scent of Kuroko's room, which was the man's essence, rushes through him. He fantasizes sleeping in class, walking down the halls with Satsuki, the basketball gym, a group of boys with different colored hairs, and a small bluenette's smile… then everything fades. His consciousness takes him back to a room full of darkness, with a small portion lit up with the moon's luminescence.

And underneath that moonlight, that faint small light, laid Kuroko Tetsuya, his (ex-)partner, the object of his obsessions (and theirs), and his time-keeper. As if he had been baited to come closer, Aomine slowly enters the room, closes the door gently, and approaches Kuroko's bedside all the while making a strange ecstatic look. And as soon as he is by Kuroko's side, he slowly leans down his face near Kuroko's and takes a whiff of his scent.

This is really Kuroko, right in front him. The real Kuroko.

Aomine tries to hold his instincts to grab and pull the fragile body so close to his own big and sturdy one. He feels like an animal chained by an invisible chain tied to his company far away. He isn't sure but he swears that he faintly hears himself breathing through his mouth, like a hungry wolf ready to jump on his prey.

Kuroko's body that faced away from Aomine's starts to shift a little. Aomine prepares a stance to flee and slowly walks backwards toward the door. Kuroko halts his movements, affirming Aomine that the boy was still asleep. The tall man takes careful steps and walks towards the sleeping beauty in front of him.

It's really been a while since I've seen this angelic boy…

If Aomine was only the type of person to admit that he had regrets, he would claim right on the spot that he did have one: messing up his relationship with Kuroko.

More than just a classmate, more than just someone he played basketball with, Kuroko held the most special place in Aomine's heart. For Aomine, Kuroko owned his everything and vice versa.

Aomine reaches his hand out, gently moving in closer towards the unaware Kuroko. His body naturally bends closer towards the boy's bedside and kneels next to him. He softly touches Kuroko's soft hair and traces his left cheek. Kuroko moans ever so quietly, making Aomine wish that he could say his name then and there.

He tries to memorize every detail he could of the grown up Kuroko Tetsuya lying so beautifully on the bed. His hair, that seems so light as ever; his lashes that seem to have grown and accentuate his features even more; and his lips, something he never thought he would ever desire in his lifetime—all of him, all of Kuroko just seems to tempt him, to resurrect the him he left behind years ago.

As Aomine tries to lean in closer, to sample and taste the lips of his beloved person, a big hand reaches out from behind him and cover his puckered lips. The startled man grunts a little, and turns around to the owner of those hands that had stopped him.

"Bastard, you're not supposed to be here!"

Pulling Kagami's hand away, Aomine holds in his anger and whispers, "You can't blame me for wanting to seem him. You know how bad I've been waiting to see him!"

"Fucker," Kagami growls under his breath, "If he wakes up now, everything—all that you've worked for—will for nothing! Think about the others, will ya?"

Aomine hesitates to listen to Kagami for a second with furrowed brows, but eventually retreats after processing all he had said.

Aomine grunts, discarding the thought that Kuroko might hear him, and storms out of the room. Kagami's eyes follows him, and eventually turns to the room's owner. Still asleep...

Kagami sighs in relief and swiftly exits the room unnoticed, closing the door behind him… incompletely.

Or so he thought.

Through the small crevice of the door that Kagami left, Kuroko's cold, skyblue eyes emit an icy and blank glare. Just when he thought that the cogs of his frozen time had already started, every other cog started to run faster. And faster. And much, much faster.

They've come.

A/N: You guys just can't believe how long this chapter has been waiting for me to finish it. I just checked my mail today (it's an old account, so I'm not on it a lot), and saw that I was still receiving reviews for this fic. I fished around my files and found chapter 10, and guess what? It was made on September 9, 2016 (almost a year now)! Soooo lots and lots of apologies to people who have wanted to read on. I'm not gonna add anymore, but I hope you guys will continue supporting this!