Okay sooo I attempted to write an ordinary, run-of-the-mill oneshot but then it ended up being ridiculously long. I apologize. However, due to certain reasons (i.e. – personal whims lol) I didn't want to split it up into a multi-chaptered fic since it seemed to ruin the flow. Unlike my recent kurobasu updates, this is more plot-driven than character-driven, and thus will not be as "artistic" or "drabble-y" as I would've wished. It's not the best (I am aware), so I won't shower it with praises and brag or anything, honestly I just wanna be done with this plot bunny and get it out of my mind before it screws me over any further lol. There are very few parts here that I liked and a lot of others that I didn't but uhm idk I couldn't take them out because then the story needed them to make sense hahahuhu…In other words: SORRY I'm really bad with long stories

disclaimer: I don't own kurobasu

(tbh I wrote this 'cause I just really wanted to make something that was somewhat related to the sea ehhehe)

(also….TS ELIOT.)

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea

By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown

Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

=:::-:::-:::=

The moment Kagami Taiga dismounts the aircraft's vinyl flooring and steps onto the fresh island soil, he resists the urge to sigh and wipes away a frown from forming on his face.

Seriously, the plane ride hadn't been that bad. When they had received news of Himuro's grandfather's recent passing, his brother had gone ahead and booked a flight from Los Angeles to Shikoku without a moment's hesitation, under the intent that it was his responsibility to handle the preparations and see to the ceremony. Kagami followed suit two weeks later, only to be smothered with the whines of a certain bespectacled, blonde mentor. Why did Alex have to make such a fuss about him going, anyway?

He's not quite old enough; Kagami is young and on the cusp of seventeen – not yet an adult, though not quite a child. But to seize the day is to seize the world, and he has travelled alone countless times before, gaining enough experience to survive on his own. And though he vaguely remembers much of anything from his childhood – Kagami is a bundle of brawn rather than a credit for brains, and for all his strength and athletic prowess, his memory has never been that good – he knows he's been on this island many years ago when he had once been young. Perhaps raised here, for a short while even.

The sea is calm, he tells himself; its waters look clear. It's perfectly safe.

=:::=

The sand crunches underneath his feet; shades of azure and cyan hues lapping at the shore. The beach is lively, an open gathering for families and tourists and the splashes of saltwater as children squabble around them, high-pitched voices shrieking battle and waging the most miniscule of wars. He steps forward, one foot into the water, and closes his eyes. For a moment, the world is quiet.

But that moment is short-lived, however, when a stick meets his temple and his body is knocked over with a loud, resounding thwack. He hears barking, and his body stiffens; assumptions confirmed by the time he opens his eyes and catches sight of a wagging tail, black and white fur, and the deadly glimmer of teeth.

"I'm sorry," a voice says to him, and Kagami looks up to see a mop of hair and a pair of worried eyes – their colour the brightest of blues – and an outstretched hand reaching towards his direction. "The fault is mine, I threw the stick a little too far. Are you alright?"

Kagami looks at him wordlessly, dazed.

The boy assesses his condition, and scans him over with his eyes. There aren't any open wounds, he isn't bleeding; Kagami is lucky to have escaped the boy's killer passes with nothing more than a tiny bump on the side of his head. "Did I hit your head hard? Are you hurt?" the boy asks, then interrupts himself with a thoughtful pause. "Do you speak Japanese?"

The sky tilts in his vision and Kagami anchors himself still, pushing on his arms to stand on his feet. By then, he has regained his bearings, and so he mutters a response," Ah, yeah. I'm okay. Name's Kagami Taiga, nice to meet you. Or have we met before?"

The boy almost laughs at this, half a chuckle, half a smile. He doesn't deny it.

(But he also doesn't give him a direct yes either.)

"Kuroko," the blue-eyed boy replies warmly, pointing, "and that's Nigou. He's a stray."

He takes the boy's hand and shakes it politely. His hand is cool to touch, a refreshing contrast to the heated flush of virtually sunburnt skin. "Sorry 'bout that, Kuroko. I'm not very good… uh, I don't really get along with dogs."

"Hmm," he hums. Kuroko plasters on a smile, and Kagami can almost see a glint of amusement in his eyes. Almost. "But Nigou seems to be getting along pretty well with you."

Kagami stares down in horror at the ball of fur currently sniffing his feet, and very nearly does he scream. His feet plunge deeper, an inch into the water, and he tips aside – a cloud of sand washing over him, unannounced. Damn mutt.

"What are you doing, Kagami-kun?"

"Nothing," the redhead mutters, albeit a little shyly; crouched form hesitant to rise. His palm digs into the sand, and the water touches his fingertips briefly. He flinches, retracts his hand and backs away.

"Are you afraid?" the boy Kuroko asks, bending over to pat little Nigou, and the tenor of his voice is enough to demand the taller boy's attention. Kagami isn't sure what the boy is referring to – what he means exactly when he dabbles on the concept of fear and what he's afraid of – but he follows his gaze anyway, staring out at the vast expanse of waters in view of the never-ending sea.

Kuroko shakes his head. Don't worry, he assures Kagami, he doesn't bite.

=:::=

A mauve-haired man steps out of the convenience store with a box of popsicles in tow, nearly missing Kuroko's shoulder as he swivels the door open.

"Ehh, Kuro-chin?" the man languidly exclaims amidst a mouthful of candied ice. "Is that you? Wow, it's been a while."

"Indeed it has, Murasakibara-kun. I hope you're doing well. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to."

"Sorry, but if you wanted popsicles, I bought the last box. And I'm not sharing."

"That is alright, we will look for something else then," Kuroko says as he makes his way through the door and bids the taller boy goodbye before he gestures to the redhead. "Come inside, Kagami-kun. It's hot out there."

The store is simple, if not outdated. Shelves are stocked with bags of potato chips, sweets, and artificially flavored snacks; the refrigerator has been rigged empty besides a few pints of ice cream – two pistachio and one double dutch; a radio stands by the counter, playing a tune that does nothing to quell the melody of the cicadas from the path outside. The ceiling fan whirrs above them, dully.

"What was with that guy?" Kagami asks Kuroko as they enter the store and proceed to hover over the aisles. "He was huge, he almost hit you. But he didn't even bother to say sorry."

"It is fine, Kagami-kun. Murasakibara-kun and I often get along." Kuroko shrugs it off. "I am not a very noticeable person, so people have a tendency to overlook my presence if they aren't paying attention. I am used to it. There is no need to be angry—"

"Excuse me, but we don't cater to tours," the green-haired shopkeeper reproaches from the counter. He flays, "Sir, this is a store. Not a museum. If you aren't going to buy anything, I suggest you leave."

"Now, now, Shin-chan," a voice chides as the door tinkles open with a resplendent chime of dainty bells. "That's no way to treat your customers."

Shin-chan? Kagami stammers, the cute epithet a clear mismatch for the prissy and fastidious man that lurked in the counter before him.

"That is Midorima-kun," Kuroko explains, "Takao-san simply prefers to tease him with such nicknames. As you can see, he does not have the best tempers. It makes him an easy target for bullying."

"Takao," the shopkeeper addresses the raven-haired boy tersely, eyes narrowed and voice stern. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought that you would miss me is all," he answers a-matter-of-factly. He glazes his eyes over to his direction; they shine silver underneath the fluorescent light. "Why, Shin-chan…was I wrong?"

Midorima sighs. The shopkeeper adjusts his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose just a bit above the frame to ward off an impending headache. "No, no…it's just..." he denies; bites back his words, repressing the ones he'd initially meant to say, leaving them to linger on the tip of his tongue. He is not a man who gives in to such feeble whims, nor does he allow himself to idle in kinder, tender mercies. "Nevermind, you're fine."

The raven grins, first at him, then towards their direction. "Hello there, Kuroko. What will it be? A vanilla shake, as per usual?"

Midorima shoots him a side-glance and frowns. Takao ignores it.

"We don't even sell those. You can't make them here, we lack the right equipment."

"Maybe you can't, but I sure can." Takao counters back. He works with the machine, concocting his own blended mix of essences, creams, and milk, before he dispenses it into a small sixteen-ounce cup. "Here you go," he says, handing it Kuroko before he turns to face Kagami. "Would you like one, too?"

=:::=

Gunpowder blazes in the sky and dyes the evening with the brightest of lights, a dazzling array of violets and greens and pinks and yellows that shimmer in the skyline before they dissipate, crackling, trails of dust littered in the wakes of their midst. Another one resounds as it goes off, reds and blues, unparalleled brilliance illuminated in a single strike. Fireworks.

They attend the festival together that night.

Kagami wades through the crowd immersed in the event's cheer, talking to Kuroko about basketball, food, and all things in between – which, in reality, is not very much – while the shorter boy nods attentively and offers a few words of his opinion in return.

"Aomine-kun and Momoi-san are over there," Kuroko says to him in the middle of speaking, halting their conversation. Kagami catches sight of a young couple – or at least, what seems to be a couple – a yukata-clad girl with carnation pink tresses and a tall boy whose hair was a shade of dark navy. They were acquaintances of Himuro, if he remembered correctly, and they treated him nicely enough when they were kids that he was willing to stay friends. Still, it's been a long time since he's last been to the island. It's amazing how much can change – and how much can stay the same – within a span of two, three, a few years.

"Kagamin!" the woman calls out to him, her voice light and lilting, a gentle caress to the drums of his ears.

"It would be best that you go over to them and give them your greetings, Kagami-kun. Lest you seem rude," Kuroko tells him, blankly and unfeeling. Kagami concedes. "I'll take my leave now and go ahead."

"Are you sure you don't wanna go with me whe—…Kuroko?" What the hell. He redirects his gaze to find that the shorter boy is no longer to be found. Kagami falls victim to the ploys of misdirection as Kuroko's figure vanishes, absconds - lost in the sea of strangers and unfamiliar faces.

"Oi, Bakagami," hollers the other man; voice gruff but not at all calloused at the edges. Kagami settles for making use of the time to catch up with his old friends. "What is with you westerners and always turning up late? It took you long enough to get here, idiot."

=:::-:::=

The next day is the day of the burial. It's a little faster than usual, but Himuro can't afford to spend much time in Japan because of work and his recruitments with international leagues, so they had to pick up the pace a little. Kagami's missed out on most of the ceremonies beforehand due to his late arrival, but he's tried to make up for it by lighting incense sticks in the family altar back home. Ever since the news, he lights one everyday for all fourteen days before he'd gone to Japan. It's become a tradition.

(Himuro has been lighting one for a while now, even before the news came that his grandfather had died, and Alex does the same but she cries whenever she's doing so. It's probably for one of their possibly more distant relatives though – the ones Kagami doesn't know about or hasn't even met – so he never bothers to ask. But it's always been strange whenever they catch him doing it. Whereas Kagami lights one, Alex lights two. Then she'll look at him – now that he thinks about it, she's been doing that more often lately – and then she cries, more anguished, more painful, now harder than ever.

It's hard to see her like this, but Kagami doesn't want to pry, so he just sits in pensive silence by her side, rubbing soothing circles on her back for a while. Then, once she's calmed down, he'll let her go and they'll resume to their nightly routine: him and her, by the altar, a lone stick in the palms of his hands.)

People gather around the haka as the Buddhist priest begins to chant. (An incantation? A prayer? Kagami doesn't know, and he can't recall enough Japanese to be able to understand.) Still, he waits patiently until the crowd recedes and the guests take the opportunity to approach the grave one by one with his/her own individual prayers, before he quietly slips away.

He walks through the graveyard when he comes across a familiar mop of hair. It's blue.

"Kuroko?"

He is standing by a grave, eyes distant, expression forlorn. The boy in question looks at him back. "Kagami-kun?"

"What are you doing here?"

Kagami tells him that he's here to attend a ceremony for a burial, since Himuro's grandfather had recently passed away. He seats them together on the bench nearby, and to while away their time, he opts that they talk about anything and everything under the sun. (Also because Kuroko looked sad earlier, and he'd wanted to help the boy to take his mind off of things. Nobody's ever happy when they're in a cemetery in the first place.)

Sooner or later, after they've squirmed their way through a handful of topics – from books to weather to burgers to Kagami's irrational fear of dogs – they find themselves exchanging ghost stories and talking about spirits of folklore.

(In hindsight, that probably was not the ideal subject of conversation to be held in the middle of the graveyard. But boys will be boys, and Kagami is not one to hold a brain that will ever know any better.)

"So they say that if you chant her name while spinning around thirteen times facing the mirror, you'll see Bloody Mary appear right before your eyes!"

"That is nothing to the tale of Akagami-Aogami. This creature lurks in restrooms and asks you if you want red paper or blue paper. If you say red, it will drain your blood out; if you say blue, it will suffocate you; if you answer with neither, it will drag you to the underworld. What then, Kagami-kun? What would you do?"

"Have you heard, Kuroko? There's a challenge called Charlie-Charlie. You can contact spirits and ask them questions answered by yes or no. But then, you think they're just spirits when in reality, they're demons. And if you don't say goodbye properly, they'll curse and haunt you forever."

"Ah, but Kagami-kun, we also have ghosts who like to play games. There's the story of the toilet's Hanako-san. She appears in the fourth stall of school washrooms, always waiting to find a playmate."

"What is with you people and bathroom spirits?" Kagami exclaims, exasperated. He could never outdo the boy. "What do the Japanese have against water?"

Kuroko retaliates with a pout, "It's not only in Japan, you know. Many western countries also acknowledge creatures lurking near the seas."

"Like what? Mermaids?"

"Not just," Kuroko replies with a shake of his head, averting his gaze. "Tell me, Kagami-kun. What do you know of sirens?"

"They're those singing ladies who kill fishermen in the ocean, right?"

"Hm, true," Kuroko hums. "They are the creatures of the sea that command a voice with a charm that is unparalleled. They bewitch, they beguile, they allure – until those who are entranced, captivated by the songs of their sorrows, step deep into the tides and plunge deeper into their deaths," he says, and Kagami wonders if that alone could make them invincible. "Ah, but there was one brave soul who met a siren, and with his wit, he countered the lull of her resonant aria. But you see, Kagami-kun…sirens, when resisted, fall deeper into their loneliness. They long for a companion, and when that longing cannot be met, their fates meet a tragedy that is perhaps the most unfortunate of all."

"What happens to them?"

His irises flicker like the rainy sky, glass eyes shimmering in the pastel light. Pale lashes flutter close when he blinks, long enough for their tips to brush against the skin on his cheeks. Kuroko looks at him then, peers close and glims. "They drown."

Kagami shudders – whether it is from fear or concupiscence, he does not yet know.

"I win," the boy proclaims then, tone flat and expression deadpan.

"You what?!"

"I win."

"Win what, exactly? How could you win?"

"Why, Kagami-kun, I thought the whole purpose of this exchange was to see who could tell a better ghost story. Clearly your feelings are in a greater state of discomfort than mine, so that results in a victory on my part."

Kuroko explains then that it's about time for him to go; since his only reason for coming here was that he's come to visit a friend. Kagami offers to tag along and wonders if he should go there with him too, to pay his respects, but Kuroko tells him that no, it isn't necessary. He appreciates the sentiment but a) since this friend of his has always been shy, he might not want a friend of a friend, who is practically a stranger, to go to his grave b) he'll be sure to pass on Kagami's well wishes in his prayers c) Himuro-san is waiting for him and it looks like he'll leave him behind if he doesn't go sooner so let's save this chat for another time, shall we, Kagami-kun?

True enough, Kagami turns around to the sight of Tatsuya staring at him from far away, almost listlessly. "Come on, Taiga," he hollers from the crowd of people two blocks away. "We have to serve the guests."

Kuroko only looks at him and waves him off with a faint smile, "See you, Kagami-kun."

=:::-:::=

They head to the convenience store not long after that. It is a humid yet warm day, and the sweltering heat does not bode well for either of them – Kagami who is used to the cooler temperatures of the States, and Kuroko, who looks about ready to collapse from the onslaught of heatstroke.

When they reach the counter, Takao smiles at them wordlessly, already prepared with Kuroko's vanilla shake on hand. Midorima shoots him a glare, telling him off and scolding him with a you can't keep making those here, moron you'll screw up our sales. Takao ignores him as he hands the short boy his drink, which Kuroko accepts graciously with a murmured thanks.

"I suggest you try their Kakigōri, Kagami-kun." Kuroko offers, taking a sip. Kagami takes the bait and orders such – one Kakigōri please, cherry.

"It's the heat isn't it? Rest assured, Shin-chan makes the best Kakigōri topped with red beans," Takao attests in an attempt to evince him. "That's the real purpose of our machines, anyway."

Takao does not lie, Kagami thinks as he walks back home since he and Kuroko parted ways from the store; finishing the last bit of fluffed ice from the paper cup in his palms. It tastes a little like frozen wood, like the popsicles that he frequented in the midst of middle school summers, coated with the sweet syrupy mix of sugar and ice and strawberry red he'd suck on end, finishing only when what remained was the stick left behind and drawn dry to the bone.

"That boy," the shopkeeper maunders, watching his customers as figures egress from the store. "He was with him again today, no?"

"Mm, I believe so," Takao regards him. Today's lucky item is the maneki neko, which rests on the counter and continues incessantly, waving to the atmosphere seemingly forever, without an end. "Hey Shin-chan, how long do you think this will last?"

"Not long," he answers laggardly.

"When, do you think, will this be over?" his assistant probes for an answer. "This is getting hard to watch, even for me. I'm sure it's harder for Shin-chan."

"Oha Asa said that today would not bode well for those governed by the sun, and Aquarius placed last on today's fortune rankings. Perhaps soon," Midorima responds. "Perhaps it will be over soon, Takao."

=:::-:::=

They promise to meet again later at their usual spot by the beach, where the light meets the water and the sun sinks into the sea. The stars come out a little later in the night.

Kagami arrives on time, but the beach is still empty and the boy Kuroko is nowhere in sight. He wonders if perhaps he's come early, though the watch on his wrist tells him that that is not the case. Minutes pass, then an hour, then two, and very quickly does Kagami feel his patience begin to wane. It doesn't take long for the moon to shed its light.

The ocean calls to him, lulling, beckoning; a welcome change from the blistering temperatures of the summer heat. Still, Kagami remains unconvinced and instead he wanders, tanned frame sauntering off to the sea cave's precipice and the comforts of the cold.

He wonders where Kuroko could have gone. Why was he late? Did he have a curfew? Was he even coming to see him at all?

Why was this bothering him so much?

Then the realization hits him, just a moment too late. He climbs up the jagged cave's rocks when it comes crashing, surging through him like the ebbing tide.

He remembers blue, blue like his eyes, blue like his hair, blue the color that paints the morning sky and flecks of poppies and hydrangeas and the coolest of ice. But far too soon, far too quickly, does this blue fade away through the inkblots and blurred haze. And he loses himself, his mind perceivably rid of its memory, trapped by the waters in an embrace in which he does not want to be held.

His vision swims black. Then, he falls.

=:::=

When he wakes up, he sees blue. Not the familiar light tint of the phantom sixth man with the frosted sapphire eyes, but rather a darker one mirroring skies of midnight, a mimic of shades in indigo and cobalt.

"It's almost ten in the evening, in case you're wondering," Aomine remarks as soon as red eyes blink open and return his gaze. Aomine is angry, furious even – his face reddening at the cheeks and seething with rage. "What the fuck were you doing, Kagami, being in the water with a tide that high at night?"

"Dai-chan!" Momoi shushes him, "Kagamin's in a delicate state right now. Be nice."

"It's not like he's the only one who's hurting," Aomine hisses, as Momoi treats wounds – scrapes on knees and a nasty cut on his left arm from the corals – with dabs of antiseptic. "He didn't have to pull a stunt like that."

Kagami answers him evenly, a struggle to maintain his calm. "I was angry, so I needed to cool off."

"Angry? Just angry? Are you sure you weren't crazy? What kind of cooling off required a death wish? Jesus Christ Bakagami, I knew you were stupid, but not that stupid—"

"God damn it, get off my case, Ahomine!" Kagami retorts. "Look, I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess and making you worry but I was stood up alright? So yes, I was angry. "

"What the hell?" They're shouting now – the both of them, neither unable to contain nor suppress the boiling of their emotions and the threat of angry tears about to overflow. "Was some slutty chick enough reason for you to turn suicidal? Last time I checked, you weren't even into them anyway."

"It wasn't some chick, it was Ku—"

"Look. I don't really give a shit about your love life, Kagami. If this isn't some bitch that got tired of you, then maybe some crap came up so she had to reschedule your date or something. Do you even have her number? Maybe that's why you think she 'stood you up' when she really just couldn't contact you to change plans. But anyway, who you go out with isn't my business. All I care about is not having dead bodies turn up on my shores. No one's gonna want to clean that up, and nobody wants to go surfing if only to constantly be thwarted by some day-old corpse either."

"You know, Dai-chan, you have a point there," Momoi steps in, playing the role of the mediator. "But this is an especially hard time for Kagamin, as well as his family, so we have to do our part to help look out for him. I'm sure that he'd have done the sa—"

Aomine cuts her off, "Shut it, Satsuki. I get it already. I don't wanna talk about that, especially not now. Damn idiot's gonna get himself killed at this rate, though…"

"Yeah, you're right," and Momoi cuts him off too, returning the favor, teasing as she makes her exit. "He's an idiot, alright. But so are you, Dai-chan."

Kagami mumbles an apology at that, averting his gaze. "It was an accident, you know. I didn't mean to fall."

"Just take better care of yourself next time, all right?" Aomine just looks at him tiredly and sighs. "And go to sleep, Satsuki's already informed Himuro that you'll be staying over. We can sort the rest out by tomorrow."

Kagami settles for this, shifts in the futon, and very quickly closes his eyes. Aomine shuffles out the room five minutes later, sliding the shoji door behind him, greeting Momoi who is currently nursing her chignon whilst poised at the vanity. On the surface, a calendar rests, circles marking the ends of days. It reads, the thirteenth of June.

"Man, this day turned out to be a shitload of a mess, damn brat had to screw up shitloads for everyone—"

"He's lucky you had been there to save him. What were you doing in the ocean anyway?" the girl questions, inquires. Outside, the sleeping figure stirs, and the two silence themselves, lowering their voices so as not to wake the redhead. "Call it a woman's intuition, but I know everything about you, Dai-chan. This moment has strayed far from my expectations. Honestly, I'm surprised."

"I go to the ocean everyday, Satsuki. I surf. What's the deal?"

"But you went there today," she answers Aomine, as though it made all the difference. "Today of all days."

"Well, I normally don't have Mondays off, yeah. But the geezer was out sick so I couldn't do much to help at the docks. I got bored."

"Hm," Momoi hums, combing her hands through her hair; her voice like leaves, a rustle in the wind. "I see."

"Oi, Satsuki," the tall boy utters, his voice unnaturally small for a man of his character. "Do you think he's gone to see Tetsu yet?"

Her fingers stop in their tracks as the woman replies to him with a soft and mumbled, "Tetsu-kun?" She smiles sadly. "Maybe, but…" Momoi shakes her head then resumes to fixing her hair, "but I think that out of all of us, Kagamin was the one who was affected the most."

=:::-:::=

"You weren't there," Kagami says to him when he chances upon Kuroko the next day by the beach. "Why'd you disappear on me like that?"

"What are you talking about?" the blue-eyed boy replies coolly. "Kagami-kun is drawing false accusations. I was there the whole time, but you just didn't notice."

Kagami ripostes. "Liar."

"I do my best to play my traits well to my advantage," comes Kuroko's rebuttal, his expression coy – a stake to his claim. Kagami perceives that the boy throws him a smirk, judging by how his mouth curves upwards; a momentary tug on the corners of his lips. "I had been preoccupied with some business at that time. I am sorry I could not meet you then, Kagami-kun."

"He got mad you know," Kagami tells him, red hair blazing like crimson in the moonlight.

"Who did?"

"Aomine."

"Aomine-kun is a good person," Kuroko answers; his lithe frame hunched over and seemingly oblivious to the redhead's presence as he continued to busy himself by playing with Nigou. "Perhaps Kagami-kun was simply not being careful enough, which caused Aomine-kun to become angry. He may sound rough most times, but in truth, he is gentle."

He lets Nigou go and the puppy struts its way towards Kagami. He recoils and inches away, as Kuroko laughs, telling him not to worry, he's harmless and clearly you haven't changed at all, though still agreeing to keep the canine at bay and sending him off far in the end.

"You're impossible," the redhead sighs in defeat. The tall man plops down on the sand with Kuroko next to him, and stares at the view before them, at the vast of the ocean and the scope of the sea.

"Do you want to go in the water, Kagami-kun?" the smaller boy asks. "It is hot, and you've been staring at it for quite a while."

Kagami shakes his head. "No thanks. I swim in pools, but if it's the ocean or something, I just…"

"Is it the saltwater?" Kuroko asks. "I heard it is bad for the hair. I didn't expect Kagami-kun to be such a girl."

"What the hell, no." Kagami refutes, blushing. He leans back and rests on his arms, hands buried in the grains of fine white. "I used to have aquaphobia. Something happened when I was a kid, I kinda forgot about it, but I got trauma or something like that. Then I got over it. I learned how to swim and all, but I'm still stuck with only pools. When I find myself faced with something as large as the ocean…there's the possibility of sinking, of drowning, and the fear that bubbles in your stomach when you no longer feel anything underneath your feet, and I freeze. It's kind of overwhelming, you know?"

"I understand," the boy voices out to him calmly, ever patient. "I understand, Kagami-kun. I, too, am the same."

Really? comes his antiphon, as Kuroko toys with the shells littered in the sand, picks up a nautilus – pastel violet and beige, cracked, a little chipped at the edge. "How much longer does Kagami-kun have here before he returns to America?"

"I'm leaving tomorrow," he says.

"I see," Kuroko answers. "I am quite sad. It will be lonely without Kagami-kun around."

"You could call me," he mutters under his breath. "Don't you have a phone?"

Kuroko shrugs. "It's a small island," he reasons. "Everyone knows everyone here, Kagami-kun. There is no need for me to keep a phone. It would be an unnecessary expense."

The boy pouts, and after a while, his frown runs even deeper. "So, I guess… this is goodbye?"

"Hey, don't look like that," Kagami stretches to reach Kuroko, ruffling his hair in an attempt to console him. "I could come around next summer, don't worry."

"That will be too late, Kagami-kun," Kuroko replies. His face crumples though he refuses to yield for his emotions to give way. "I will not be here by then."

"Why?" Kagami wonders out loud, "where are you going?"

The blue-eyed boy shakes his head; regards him only in silence and looks at him sadly. "You don't remember me, do you Kagami-kun?"

Kagami hitches his breath when the boy moves closer without a sound, pale hands tracing his skin, touch burning as he stills; annulling the gap as their noses press near. Then he clinches the distance and releases the nautilus from his grasp, commanding his gaze before closing his eyes. Like how a shadow ceaselessly clings on to its light, Kuroko captures his lips; and in this moment, Kagami thinks, he has never felt more alive.

The boy kisses like starlight.

=:::-:::=

Himuro finds him later – alone in the sunset, his solitary figure a ripple by the shore.

"Taiga," he calls when he reaches the beach, reminding the boy of their flight and that they need to pack and there's no more time left for him to spare. A dog scuttles over to his side and he shoos it away, as Kagami sits in the sand, toying with the nautilus wordlessly as he watches.

"Is everything alright?" Himuro asks, and Kagami shakes off his worries with a shrug for an answer. Water runs down his face, but that is only sweat – not tears.

(Never tears.)

He rises to brush the sand off his legs, pocketing the shell as he cups it carefully in his hands. Dusk falls upon them, the ocean looming over him with an air of brisk ice and a frigid sense of permanence. Amidst the still waters, the tides hang loosely - just barely dipping into the swirling currents; low, but not ebbing. Waves crash against the rocks, merciless and unrelenting. The sun peers over the horizon, seagulls in the sky, and Kagami looks up; thinks of Kuroko, then thinks of the sea.

He remembers blue.

=:::-:::-:::=

I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me.

.

T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Author's Notes:

Long story short – Kuroko is dead and Kagami is/was in denial.

I never mentioned anything explicitly but I hope you guys were able to catch that as I tried to incorporate foreshadowing and hints throughout the fic. :( Kagami has aquaphobia because he nearly drowned as a kid but then Kuroko saved him and died in his stead (as reflected by when Kuroko assured Kagami by telling him that he was the same/had gone through a similar experience). When people go through super horrible experiences and trauma, there is a tendency for them to suppress their memories and that serves as a coping mechanism; thus, Kagami has forgotten about Kuroko's significance to him in the past. I tried to play up Kuroko's vanishing acts from canon and tendency to be ignored by equating his usual phantom sixth man title into something that is actually phantom-like and so I turned him into a ghost/spirit/wandering soul who haunted the one whose life he saved (can be summed up with this description: like how a shadow ceaselessly clings on to his light.)

The grave Kuroko visited gloomily was his own (not Ogiwara's or whatever if that's who you assumed it would be) and the reason why Kuroko didn't show up to the beach on the promised day is because it was his death anniversary - that's the only reason why I bothered to mention the date tho it doesn't make much sense probs huhu sorry (Also lol sorry totally out of place but I know mentioning Charlie Charlie thing probs ruined the mood or whatever but uh I couldn't think of anything else wahaha)

Himuro and Alex have been grieving over Kuroko's death for a while (since he kinda sacrificed himself for Kagami) but then since Kagami repressed his memories, he only expressed his mourning/grieving for one soul and that was Himuro's grandfather. Whenever Alex saw him lighting the incense stick she would be immensely saddened by that fact, since it pains her to know that Kagami doesn't even remember the boy who loved, saved, and cared for him.

Some people have the sixth sense though (and so do dogs lol). There was quite a few limitations that I imposed on Kuroko and how he would interact with the world. Nigou could see and play with him, yes, but Kuroko has never been able to carry him around. Kuroko never paid/had money with him when he went to the shop, but Takao still made him vanilla shakes; think of it like some sort of peace offering that he could give to the dead. Takao has a hawk eye/vision and has been pretty perceptive of Kuroko's presence in canon, so I incorporated that here by giving him something like a third eye. Midorima is superstitious so I gave him the ability to sense otherworldly things but he cannot see Kuroko like Takao does (which was why he never interacted with/talked to Kuroko directly and kept giving Takao looks whenever the hawk eyed boy mentions the phantom man's name/presence)

Aomine and Momoi could not see Kuroko. I'd like to think it was because he was close to them before and didn't want the pain to resurface if they knew, so he did his best to distance himself away from them (thus, he ran away during the fireworks event)

Murasakibara could see Kuroko but since he kinda has an eccentric side to him I felt it was more appropriate for him to treat Kuroko like how he would treat anyone else. He isn't the type of guy to get freaked out over ghosts, or maybe he is, but definitely not when it comes to Kuroko (and if anyone asked I'm sure his reasoning would be something along the lines of "Kuro-chin is Kuro-chin" or smt hehe)

Please leave a review if you found this story to be good/bad/just okay. lol

I REALLY HOPE THIS STORY MADE SENSE TO YOU huhu