Waiting

Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke

Rating: T/Pg-15

Genre: Drama/Romance/Friendship

Pairing: Kagami/Kuroko

Summary: In which Kagami is sent back home to Japan because of health condition. He sees the GoM match and falls for the most invisible guy's play on court. He just can't wait to play basketball again, so he can stand in the same court as that amazing blue haired boy.

Disclaimer: Fujimaki Tadatoshi owns Kuroko no Basuke

Warning: shounen ai (soft yaoi), AU and AR, language, possible spelling mistakes and grammar errors, etc.

A/N: Okay, I'm just dying because of the lack of KagaKuro dose. I really wish that more people would make story (or doujin) for this pair T_T. Alright, so… this story takes place during Teikou days, and Kagami actually knows about the GoM. I can't give you the detail here, so… please just take a sip of this story.

Chapter 1: First Meeting

"I'm sorry, Taiga. But your leg injury is just too severe. You have to stop playing basketball, at least for the time being until it heals completely. Can you do that for me?"

Kagami stared blankly at the puffs of white clouds through the small window of the airplane that was taking him away from his family and his home. Even though he was supposed to go home to his birthplace in Japan, America… Los Angeles had been his home since he was 7.

"Don't worry. There will be a caretaker there that will tend to your need. All you have to do is ask."

But that wasn't what worried Kagami. He didn't really give a damn about money or the essential needs since he knew perfectly well how loaded his parents were; and he was sure they wouldn't let him starve in an unfamiliar place, away from them. What did really upset him was the fact that none of his family and friends would be there with him.

Kagami hated being alone. It was lonely.

The red-corn haired boy sniffed and grunted, frowning slightly as he felt a twinge of pain, not only on his injured leg, but also in his heart. He still didn't get why he had to leave America at all. Wasn't it okay if he stayed? He only had to lay low for the time being…

Kagami remembered his friends, especially the ones he used to hang out most… in the street ball court together with Himuro Tatsuya, his sworn brother. Those guys would be all over him and-…

A bead of sweat trickled down his cheek. Well, maybe it wasn't such a good idea. After all, Kagami would be tempted to break his promise if he stayed. He loved basketball too much to take a break from it, especially if he was surrounded by those amazing guys.

And something like that happened with Tatsuya as well…

"How could you?! You are the worst!"

Kagami involuntarily held his chest at the particular sharp pain he felt in there, along with the remembrance of a hard punch to his left cheek. Really, it even hurt more than his leg injury. Tatsuya's angry and hateful words… Kagami just wished that Tatsuya could forgive him for acting stupid. Kagami was an idiot and he knew that perfectly well.

Kagami just didn't understand why Tatsuya was betting on their brotherhood on the court. He just didn't want to lose his kind and reliable big brother. That's why he played half-heartedly in that match. He was serious, but he just couldn't pull all his power out when it was against Tatsuya and the dark haired teen was so furious and disappointed in him because of that.

Kagami slouched, feeling strength leaving his body as his shoulder slumped as well, and then he crouched slightly on his seat as he thought about all the depressing things. He wished he could turn the time backwards just for a couple of days and repeated the match. He wished he had been trying his hardest in that match and won it and asked Tatsuya to still be brothers with him whatever the result was. He wished he hadn't passed that road that night. Then, he wouldn't have been in this state.

Kagami sighed heavily and suddenly, he heard a voice. "Are you alright?"

Kagami blinked once before turning his head to face the owner of that voice. He blinked twice more before his eyes caught a sight of a light-blue haired man with clear aquamarine colored eyes, probably on his thirties, as he smiled faintly at Kagami from his seat, which was just beside him.

…

…

Wait, since when has he sat here?—Kagami couldn't recall if he had seen the man when the plane took off earlier. He must have been sitting there the whole time, right? How come Kagami didn't realize he was there at all in the first place?

"You are a Japanese boy, right?" the man spoke again in fluent Japanese, sounding mildly concerned.

"Ah? Y-yeah, I mean, 'yes'…" Kagami answered slowly and rather stutteringly since he was trying to familiarize himself once again with Japanese language.

Kagami still remembered how to speak Japanese since he used it at his American home when he talked to his parents, and sometimes with Tatsuya, but he almost overlooked that there was a hierarchy system in the language and it had been awhile since he spoke formal Japanese. Moreover, he completely forgot how to read and write Kanji while he was abroad, so he made note to learn all over again as soon as he arrived later.

"I see… a returnee, huh?" the blue haired man smiled again, a little bit distinctive this time, seeming to read Kagami's body language. "Going home for a summer break?" he asked again.

"Uh… well, not exactly," Kagami chuckled slightly, feeling somehow uncomfortable with the topic because he really didn't want to sound like a sour loser for retreating back to hometown after losing a 'big' match.

That man seemed to be very observant though, because he quickly changed the topic. "Well, are you okay? Your face is rather pale," he pointed out, once again showing a worried look.

Kagami was grateful for it. This blue eyed-blue haired stranger took the trouble to actually ask how he was. There were nice people in this world and Kagami felt a lot better when he knew that personally.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for asking," Kagami said in English because he didn't recall how to say that politely in Japan.

The man blinked once in a surprised look before he chuckled. "You are welcome," and he replied with fluent English as well.

Kagami didn't know if the man was Japanese or not because of his strange hair and eye color. His complexion was also very pale. But, he did know that the man had a very nice smile. A kind of smile that lit his eyes and warmed you heart when you saw it.

Their conversation was quite short though, and the man didn't say anything else when Kagami closed his eyes, trying to catch some sleep since he would be hours in that plane. Might as well make himself comfortable. However, when Kagami woke up a few hours later, the man wasn't there anymore. Kagami figured that he was probably taking a stroll or was in the rest room.

Strangely, Kagami actually forgot the man when the plane landed and didn't think much about him when he didn't see him at all in the rest of the flight.

~Kagami x Kuroko~

"I'm going to enroll to Shōei Middle School?" Kagami looked at the paper on the table. His caretaker said his father already contacted the public middle school and the application was immediately sent to his home for Kagami to fill out. His caretaker would send it back immediately to the school before Kagami would take a test three days before the new semester started again in autumn.

Kagami groaned. He hadn't yet learned to read Kanji the right way again. How would he take the test if he couldn't even read the letters?

"I believed the school would provide the test in English, Taiga. Your father specifically asked the principal for it. Oh, right, and there will be interview as well. You should learn the formal Japanese language and review your study just to make sure you don't screw up," Yamamoto added and Kagami couldn't help groaning again, thumping the side of his head on the table.

Kagami missed playing basketball. Rather than reviewing all his past school lessons, he really just wanted to pick up the orange ball and threw it into the basket. It was only a week after the summer vacation began, and three weeks after his surgery, but Kagami had already itched to play basketball again.

"Can I at least touch my ball?" Kagami whined.

…

…

There was a really long silence before- "Taiga… that kind of thing shouldn't be asked to other people in such vulgar manner," Yamamoto replied while averting his gaze and coughing slightly, looking very-very uncomfortable.

"Haa?" Kagami frowned, feeling confused. "What do you mean by that kind of thing? I just want to play with my—," suddenly, a realization dawned on Kagami and he flushed. "Oh."

Yamamoto coughed again. "Yes. Oh."

Kagami felt like wanting to die of embarrassment as he hid his face behind his arms on the table. "That's not what I meant! I meant basketball! Basketball!" He knew his loud voice was muffled by his own skin, but he still couldn't show his face because it felt like a furnace and it must have been very red because damn it! He couldn't believe that his speech could come out oh so very wrong.

Kagami hated innuendos. Very. Much.

Yamamoto snorted lightly, sounding very amused and full of humor. "It's language."

Kagami also hated his caretaker. Not so much, but he resented him, alright.

~Kagami x Kuroko~

"Aah, this is so boring…" Kagami stretched his body up while yawning, momentarily leaving his Japanese History textbook to take a glance outside the window of his room. His gaze caught a sight of a street ball court near the park which located just in front of his house.

Kagami stared at the court longingly. "I wanna play…" He sighed and thumped his forehead on the glass window. It was hot. The heat of the summer day increased its temperature that Kagami couldn't feel earlier because of the air conditioner in his room, but now he could feel it directly on his skin, the hot glass, despite the cool breeze inside.

"Wanna eat ice cream too," Kagami whined to himself, completely aware that he sounded pitiful at that moment, but he couldn't help it. He really was fed up with all the stupid strange letters that he had to decipher in the textbook.

That's it. He had enough of it. Kagami abandoned the textbook and the dictionary in favor to go to the kitchen to grab some cold drink. He tentatively walked, minding his injury even though he no longer needed a crutch to walk around. As long as he kept the movement light and minimum, it didn't really hurt that much.

Kagami opened the fridge and took out a bottle of lemon soda before unscrewing the cap and then drinking the chilly beverage directly from the bottle.

"Phew~ how refreshing." Kagami smiled in relief before closing the fridge and walked back towards the study room. He stopped in front of the door and looked around when he noticed the silence in the house.

Yamamoto-jii isn't home, huh? Shopping for dinner, maybe?—Kagami wondered thoughtfully before an idea struck him in the head. Chance!

Kagami grinned. He could sneak out of the house before his caretaker came back from grocery shopping! It would be alright. He wouldn't wander off that far… maybe only to the street ball court at the park in front of his house, to see if there were people playing there.

Kagami wouldn't play. He knew he couldn't with his injury. He would just watch, just to get rid of the boredom, and then he would come back before Yamamoto knew that he went out. It was perfect.

Kagami turned around and pranced slowly and tentatively towards the front door. He opened the door and stepped outside before closing it again and locked it with the master key. Yamamoto always left the key in the cupboard at the living room. Kagami would return it after he got home later.

~Kagami x Kuroko~

Surprisingly, Kagami needed more time to arrive to the street ball court. Even if it looked really close to his house, the court was inside a park, and to get inside the court, he had to enter the park from its entrance.

Normally, Kagami would just jump the bushes that separated the park with the road, but because of his leg injury, it was impossible to perform without making him cringe in pain. The safest route was to take a detour and to enter normally using the official entrance.

Still, Kagami's effort was totally worth it because he could see some people playing in the court now. He grinned behind the rail, watching the game. Looking from their height and school uniform, Kagami believed that those guys were at least in high school. It was fascinating unlike what he thought at first when he set his foot the first time in Japan after six years.

Kagami had thought Japanese's basketball was lame, the level too low for his standard because he grew up watching basketball players in LA. However, after watching some senior games, it was actually pretty cool in its own way.

Unfortunately, the game didn't last very long. As soon as the match was done, those high school students were gone to do their business, leaving the court vacant with only a basketball rolling on the side court.

Kagami entered the court hesitantly. He wouldn't play. He would just take the ball and do some light dribbling without moving. That way his injured leg wouldn't get burdened. However, before he could approach the ball on the other side of the court, someone already beat him to it.

Kagami yelped slightly because he didn't see anyone enter the court earlier. It surprised him that he almost jumped. He blinked several times and narrowed his eyes to focus on the person who lifted the ball and held it close to his stomach.

A light-blue haired boy with sky-blue colored round eyes stared at his direction. Kagami blinked again, making sure that he really saw the boy there because he could have sworn the boy's skin was so pale he almost looked translucent.

"Do you want to play basketball?" the smaller boy asked, snapping Kagami out of his muse about the boy's weird appearance. Blue eyes, blue hair… Was it normal color for Japanese?

"Ah?" Kagami looked upward, blinking again almost feeling stupid for he was actually gaping, trying to comprehend what he saw. "Uh… no? Err…" he looked away slightly, not wanting to say that he got leg injury so he couldn't play. "Not in the mood… I just wanted to see around," he replied instead.

"I see…" the boy nodded evenly, not showing any expression at all that it was rather disturbing. "Then is it okay if I play with this ball?" he asked a short time later, lifting the orange ball up slightly to show Kagami.

"Oh, sure, wasn't mine anyway. I'll just…" Kagami trailed while flailing his hand to the general direction of the bench. "You don't mind if I watch, do you?" he asked before turning around, just to make sure that he wasn't intruding.

"Be my guest," the pale boy answered flatly, not looking at Kagami as he started to dribble the ball to the ring.

Kagami shrugged as he slowly walked to the bench and sat down, silently watching the sky-blue haired boy dribbling, making a lone move of pivoting and turning, a small smile tugging at his face and he actually looked happy as he played by himself.

Unconsciously, Kagami smiled as well. He instantly knew that that odd boy also loved basketball, just like Kagami did. Kagami continued watching in calm quietness, feeling content just by hearing the repeated thumping sound of the ball hitting the ground, not exactly finding it strange that the boy didn't even try to shoot the ball to the ring. Not even once.

When Kagami realized it, the sun had almost set and he cursed lightly as he remembered that he was supposed to go home before Yamamoto. But looking at the time, it was probably too late and he would definitely get lectured at after this.

Kagami let out a long sigh in resignation. Well, at least he could be near basketball again, even though he couldn't play by himself. He stood and slowly made a beeline to the court entrance before turning once more to face the other boy who didn't even notice him leaving, too absorb in his own play.

"See you tomorrow," Kagami whispered lightly, not really wanting to disturb his good time.

However, when Kagami turned around to leave, he could have sworn he heard the equally quiet reply.

"See you again."

End of Chapter 1

Tbc…

A/N: Just a light AU story I want to make. I hope you guys enjoy it. Feed back? Always encouraged! XD