Once Taiga thought he had gotten himself under control, all hell had broken loose.

In his dream, he was walking into the pool area, where just last week the team had gone through the intense training that Aida had deemed necessary. The light through the windows marked the time at about four in the afternoon, which was normal, because in the waking world practice normally came after his last class of the day.

In his dreams, he had only seen Kuroko once, much to his relief. He could remember the dreams he'd gotten back in junior high, when he could barely control himself, and he'd be lying if he said they had been appropriate. One particular summer, he had had two growth spurts, and it had done strange things to his head- he could barely look at any girl in the eye for months. Luckily, his only dream with the boy had been innocent enough, though it had left him strangely out of place, more so than the old dreams ever would have.

He had been back in the states during that one dream, staring outside the window during class. He was daydreaming about summer. To his right, Kuroko sat patiently, his chair pulled over to Taiga's desk. He was smiling, and this time, it reached his eyes. His hair was a little longer. He was wearing casual clothes, since it wasn't Seirin, and he was speaking perfectly accented English, which was ridiculous. He spoke about summer vacation and how he wanted to go to a Celtics game. These things weren't normal, but they were easy enough to digest, and so Taiga came to cherish it when he was awake. When he finally looked at his vision of Kuroko in the eye, he had instantly woken up, and was cursed with the inability to face Kuroko in real life for days. But this he had predicted; it was only a matter of time before he would start incorporating his annoying emotional attachment to the boy into his day to day dreams.

What wasn't a predictable dream was the one he was having now; the practice pool sloshing violently from his team's practice, with Kise and Aomine there, silently sitting on a bench overlooking Seirin's infamous basketball team.

At that moment, he could remember thinking to himself, This is a dream. They're not really here and they wouldn't be if I was awake, either, and-

But even in a dream Aomine pissed him off. Just the way the other man was sitting was enough to switch on any adverse feelings Taiga had for him, and he quickly forgot how out of place the whole thing was. For a moment, he thought of challenging him again, to make up for his less than stellar one-on-one from a few days ago, because in the dream his knees didn't hurt anymore and he felt up to it.

He moved forward in the dreamworld, flexing his fingers to make sure he wouldn't have impaired movement from his unconscious. He moved about freely; the only thing he stopped himself from doing was looking at the pool, because he knew Kuroko would be there- no, Tetsuya would be there- and he knew that if he looked, even once, he would wake up and miss his chance.

Taiga looked down, away from the pool, and saw that he was in clothes that he knew no longer fit him - the clothes he had bought when he lived in America- and, luckily enough, they had magically grown . His shoes were his old Nikes. He was already dressed to play, but in the distance, Aomine lounged in a shirt and jeans, his feet propped awkwardly on the stacks of water bottle pallets Aida had brought.

Taiga forced himself forward, watching as Aomine laughed along with Kise. Now was his chance. He'd switch the dream to a court if he could, beat him within an inch of his life, and force himself to wake up before anything else could happen.

The only thing was, as soon as he opened his mouth, Aomine sat back on the bench and spoke up, the words muffled, and Taiga knew that it wouldn't matter if he himself spoke; no one would be able to hear him here.

"Kuroko, shouldn't you be working harder?"

Taiga paused, the name strange coming from Aomine. Hadn't he called the boy Tetsu the other day on the court?

He could hardly remember the rage from hearing the nickname that day, when Aomine had dared him to play against him. When Kuroko had told him he'd been called Tetsu at one point, that night at Maji Burger, he had figured it had been Kise, or his mother, or someone else- and the shock had been enough for him to dig his nails into his palm.

What was even more unsettling was the way Aomine had said it, his face lighting up, his tone friendly. He had sounded... nice. Genuine, even.

Kise frowned. "He already works hard, Kagami-chii."

Kagam- why me? That idiot is mixing up names.

"I know he does. I'm just messing with him."

It was wrong. So wrong to hear Aomine like that, with a light tone in his voice, that strange teasing that was only common among friends. It sounded so familiar to his ears.

Taiga nearly turned his head to see Kuroko's reaction to it, just to make sense of it all- was this a messed up dream of the past? Was he seriously so delusional that his brain made up these ridiculous stories?

Above his dream, he could feel himself nearly waking up, that strange suction that forces someone to slowly wake without opening their eyes. In a quick motion he looked around, and in the corner of his eye Kuroko stood there, speaking with Aomine-

Except it wasn't Aomine, it really was him, and Kise hadn't got the names mixed up after all, and Oh God, God, I don't want to be like him-

When he woke up he frantically grabbed his shirt to make sure it didn't read Gakuen.

He found he was wearing his plain white sleeping shirt, his blankets thrown over the bed and all the lights off. He had fallen asleep watching TV, a basketball game still playing on low volume. His homework lay forgotten, spilling out of his opened backpack and onto the floor. In his mind the dream was still fresh. He could see a sickening montage of himself, then Aomine, then himself again.

He quickly changed his clothes to get away from the acrid sweat of the dream. He had been unable to stay in them, fearing that somehow they were ingrained to the dream now, inescapable. When he finally laid back down in a fresh set of clothes, he stared at the ceiling for what seemed like an eternity, unable to stop the replay of his game with Aomine in his mind.

He hadn't gotten enough sleep for days after that. If he had never met Aomine, if he had never taken him on that day, then maybe he could have dreamt what he had and it wouldn't have bothered him. But the way Kuroko had spoke about him; the way Taiga knew, just knew the man had hurt his shadow, well- he was deathly afraid to even take a nap.

He experimented a few days later, sleeping in his livingroom instead of his own bedroom. Perhaps it was cursed now. But in what seemed like mere seconds in falling asleep, he saw himself dribbling a ball with such a disgusted look on his face that he forced himself to wake back up, and he played out the rest of the night watching Japanese Drama reruns on mute.

Taiga thought it had been complicated when he had found out his feelings for his partner. In retrospect, he thought he'd give an arm and a leg just to have those simple complications back in his life. Two weeks ago, when Kuroko had dragged him along to the coffee shop with Kise, it had been manageable. Hard, but manageable. It was nigh impossible to not imagine himself, alone, with Kuroko- tucked in the comfy chairs and drinking together, (even if he didn't know what the hell he had been drinking) but he had fared all right and had made it home without raising suspicion from Kise.

Surprisingly, Kuroko had been more talkative than usual, and with the strange public background, it had made him slightly more attractive. Kise hadn't been as loud as usual, and though he seemed irked to have Taiga show up, he had taken it in stride and had insisted on ordering the most ridiculous drink for the tall boy he could make up.

But this wasn't last week- this was hell week. With the lack of sleep and paranoia, Taiga found himself invited again to the coffee shop, standing in front of the menu and not understanding a damn thing on it, but trying desperately to pick a drink Aomine wouldn't.

He could feel Kuroko behind him, as he always could. It was distracting him from trying to find out the difference between a macchiato and a cappuccino.

"Hey, Kuroko-"

The boy gave him that look that had become so familiar in the past weeks. He nearly glared up at Taiga until he remembered.

"Right...Tetsuya, what the hell did you order?"

It seemed that Kuroko sighed a bit, momentarily enjoying the name before becoming disgruntled at Taiga's lack of manners.

"Something with caramel in it. Honestly, Kise orders them for me."

The confused look on his face was too close to endearing, so Taiga pulled his gaze away and slapped money on the counter. He pointed at the boy behind him.

"What he got. That. ...Please."

Without looking back or waiting for his change, he swiftly tried to locate Kise, who was off in a corner saving them chairs.

He had picked a good spot, at least. The chairs were more like booths that faced the windows, and that way Taiga could make sure no one... threatening could walk into the shop. In the clean windows he could see Kuroko behind him, his usual messenger bag thrown over his shoulders.

"Did you order the special I made you, Kagami?"

Kise had dropped the ridiculous chii ending recently, in accordance with Kuroko's quite public statement that Taiga hated him for it. His strained smile displayed how difficult an effort it was to bite the chii off.

"I ordered whatever he got."

"Wha? But the caramel white mocha is- and you're supposed to have an upside down machi-"

Kuroko sat between them before Kise could ramble on.

With a face of a wronged child, Kise took his own seat and rested his chin on both propped up hands. His bright blue hood hid most of his face, but Taiga didn't need to see him to know he probably looked like a puffer fish, his cheeks ballooned out in defiance.

Taiga was surprised at the guilty pang he felt for not ordering his tailored drink. He'd gotten too used to Kise.

In between, Kuroko swiveled on his chair, his feet barely making the second rung. He looked at Taiga patiently, waiting for him to sit. In the background, Kise mumbled that he was lucky enough to share Kuroko, at least.

Taiga sat with an air of annoyance, the calm atmosphere of the shop enough to set him on edge. Recently, he couldn't be in a place with no noise or activity; his mind tended to wander. He could already hear the things he was stopping himself from saying-

He realized Kise had asked him a question and was staring awkwardly past Kuroko at him.

"Well?"

"What?"

Kise blinked, as if his question had been impossible to ignore.

"What did you think of Aomine? You'll have to face him sooner or later."

The question threw Taiga off so much that his mind had to reel itself back in. What did he think of Aomine? Other than him being an incorrigible bastard? Now he'd have to deal with the subject outside of his dreams. Wonderful.

Kuroko was staring at him with the same expectant stare on his face.

"I... "

In all honesty, he couldn't answer the question. The name had already unnerved him enough; images of himself with that black jersey came to mind, his disgusted face, dribbling a basketball. He thought of Kuroko, alone in junior high, constantly defining himself as a shadow, useless without any light around. It even sounded like the dramas he'd become so tired of recently.

But.

But what if Kuroko still had a soft spot for the guy? Would he be creating bruises he wouldn't be able to take back? For the first time in his life, he was actually considering censoring his speech in fear of an unwanted reaction. I really am watching too many of those damn shows.

"I don't like him." That was an understatement.

Kise's eyes widened and he laughed a bit.

"You don't like him," he said incredulously.

Taiga lifted his upper lip in defiance and shrugged.

"What? Is he a saint or something? I didn't know anything about him 'til then. And even then he just showed up. Am I supposed to say I'm his best friend?"
He could tell he sounded more bitter than usual.

Kuroko's eyes widened a fraction of an inch. It was nearly indistinguishable, but Taiga caught it before he looked away.

Kise was shaking his head as he thought about it to himself.

"If you said that to his face, I'm sure I could sell tickets here for the fight. But c'mon, Kagami-chii- Kagami! Kagami- you can't be that brutish...!"

Taiga's ears couldn't help picking out the word 'brutish' and amplifying it tenfold. It was Kise's new word of the week, it seemed. He let the chii ending slide.

"I still don't get 'brute.' I didn't break anything."

Kuroko looked like he was ready to roll his eyes before he pushed away from the counter.

"They're probably ready," he announced, "the drinks." He walked away and Taiga swore for not using the excuse himself.

Taiga took the moment to catch his breath. He hadn't realized he'd been warily watching Kuroko from the corner of his eye, fearing he'd slip and say something stupid.

In the issuing silence, Kise leaned over and stared at him, his rings glittering from the sun outside. His casual hoodie and sunglasses sat precariously on his head, comfort being sacrificed for fashion.

His eyes twinkled for a second before turning stone cold.

"You like him."

Taiga was glad to not have had his drink yet. He would have spit it out onto the window if he had. It was past his control to stop his eyebrows from lifting up and his face flushing.

"Huh?"

If Kise thought, in some sick, delusional way, that he liked Aomine-

But, no. Wait.

The blood rushed from his face in a wild torrent.

Kise rolled his eyes and sat upright.

"It was bound to happen. I'm not blind."

Taiga felt the strain of shock on his face and he forced himself to cool his features. He failed miserably.

"No, I- I don't... that is-"

"Hmph. You expect me to believe that? It happens to everyone, anyway."

Taiga sat there with his mouth gaping. He was certain everyone in the shop was staring at him.

Kise watched him silently. It was scary how quickly he had switched to such a serious face.

"Don't you dare ask for my approval."

"Like hell I would!"

Taiga quickly shut his mouth, but Kise's face had already ripped into a smile of triumph.

Taiga stared at him with equal fervor- he had been stupid. Regardless of his attempts to dump the Kuroko thing, it had come to this. Having it out in the open made it even more realistic. But Kise finding out? Christ! That was just carelessness! He'd just figured out about it himself but a month ago.

"It's almost like I'm having déjà vu. You really are like him."

Kise turned casually to the window, trying to cut the conversation off. He seemed delightfully pleased. For a moment Taiga sat there, confused, thinking Kise had been drawing similarities between himself and Kuroko, but...

Aomine. He had to mean Aomine this time. In a fleeting rush, he saw red.

"I'm nothing like him. I don't care if-"

"Nothing like him? Nothing like him? You even play basketball the same way. If Kuroko is following you around, why the hell would you picture yourself any different than Aomine?"

That really stung. Taiga felt an odd twisting in his gut, a strange drop followed by the weightless sensation of a horrible reckoning.

Kise looked at him in surprise.

"I... I didn't mean to come across like that. Really, Kagami, I didn't. I just- I'm bitter about it. About him. Aomine. I don't want Kuroko to..."

The look on Kise's face stopped Taiga from shouting out anything else. He looked sad; beaten down, even. But in seconds it was gone, replaced with something that Taiga would have run from if he wasn't stuck here waiting for Kuroko.

"But by the way you're allowed to call him Tetsuya, I'd say things are progressing pretty fa-"

"Shut your-"

Taiga thanked the Gods that his ability to spot his partner had been perfected so well. Kuroko was a mere handful of feet away, desperately trying to get the three drinks to their booth. If he had opened his mouth, just one more time, the cat would have been out of the bag, and he didn't like to think of what could have happened next.

Kise jumped up first, his face reverting back to his doting hen-like expression that was in special reserve for Kuroko. He took his own drink but let Kuroko give Taiga's his, waggling his eyebrows from behind the shorter boy as it happened. Taiga glared and swiveled on his chair to face back at the window.

It was easy enough for the three of them to fall into silence, just as soon as Kise seemed to drop the whole thing. It took about five minutes for him to stop darting his gaze between Taiga and Kuroko, and once or twice he seemed like he wanted to tell the boy, but he kept his mouth shut and only occasionally commented on passerbys. Taiga prayed he'd be tired enough that evening to have no dreams.

Kuroko, on the other hand, hardly ever had dreams. He will wake up and remember darkness, but not much else. He supposes that is how it should be; a shadow can dream, but never of anything significant.

He has never had a nightmare, either, so he is shocked to discover himself in one; Aomine is sitting in his classroom, his feet on a desk, his head propped against the back wall. Kagami is writing something on the whiteboard and is thoroughly embarrassed to be doing so. Kuroko can see the red on his ears and finds it unsettling that he finds it so becoming on him.

Kuroko has never dreamed of Aomine, has never so much as really thought about him since the old days; but its shocking to see him, in a tidy school uniform, his eyes slowly raking the classroom. It is off-putting because Kuroko doesn't want him here; not in this new place- not when he's finally gotten rid of the memory of him.

Aomine yawns and in the front of the classroom Kagami stops his writing. He doesn't look at the class, but his hand shakes a bit, and it takes him a few moments to continue writing. Kuroko can feel the sweat on his neck from across the classroom.

He knows its ridiculous to feel so uncomfortable. Aomine was a passionate person, he knew that- but he could tell that his dream was painting him in such a way that he seemed ominous. But I know the type of person he is, and he really is harmless. Sort of.

Nothing else happens, and for the longest time, Aomine yawns, Kagami pauses, and the dream continues. Kuroko has no idea what to make of it, but he can hardly dismiss it.

He knew that at one point, he would have to deal with it. He prided himself on staying relatively objective when it came to making decisions like this, but-
He didn't know how he'd deal with his feelings for Kagami when his and Aomine's old memories were sitting in the background. Bored and tired and outdated, but still there.