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It all starts with Izuki saying, “Now the two of you are even more like a couple than usual,” as Kuroko accidentally stumbles into Kagami on their way to the locker room after a session of rough practice.
Their senior laughs it off as a great pun (it was not) and Hyuuga gets ready to smack him when everyone kind of stills at the colour rising on Kuroko’s cheeks. The captain stops with his hand in the air, takes a moment to readjust his thoughts and then yells out, “Are you serious?”
Kuroko who almost never fails to retort to anything with a silent pokerface and deadpan at his opponents averts his gaze and now everyone can see that even his ears are burning up. It’s just as embarrassing for everyone to watch as it must be for Kuroko to have so obviously revealed them. Coach throws Izuki a mean look as if it was his fault.
Kagami seems to be entirely oblivious as to what’s happening behind his back. He walks a few more steps to open the locker room door before he turns around and blinks at his whole team having stayed back. He takes a second look at Kuroko and concern rises on his face. “You okay, Kuroko?”
Everyone’s faces turn towards their ace. Kagami jumps at the disbelief he’s presented with. “What?” he snaps and moves on into the locker room as the rest shuffles along behind him. Inside the small room he feels confined and thinks that maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to go in just yet. His flight instinct is perking up dangerously.
Koganei is the one who finally gives him an answer – though it’s not one Kagami expects.
“How can you ask him if he’s okay when you won’t even react to him outing you guys as a… you know, a couple?”
Now it’s Kagami’s turn to flush bright red. He sputters for a few seconds before he blurts out, “We’re not a couple, who told you that?”
All eyes immediately switch over to Kuroko again who halts in taking off his jersey top. Seeing their team’s heads turn like that is a little like watching a tennis match.
Kuroko looks frozen on the spot before he collects himself and turns to Kagami with a smile on his face. More to the team than to Kagami he says, “Last week Kagami-kun told me that the moon was beautiful.”
“Well yeah, it was a full moon,” Kagami shrugs. What even is the point of all this, he wonders.
There’s a collective gasp and Kagami can’t help but feel he’s missing out on something – which, to be fair, he probably is. He turns even more red but he can’t if it’s from embarrassment over apparently having screwed up yet another Japanese custom or over the way everyone suddenly looks at Kuroko pityingly or over how Kuroko can’t seem to decide whether he wants to look at him or not.
It feels like an eternity passes before Coach drags him down by his ear and yells, “Why would you say that if you don’t mean it?” In reality It can’t have been more than a second but Kagami is so confused and his thoughts are running a mile a minute that everything else seems to move in slow-motion.
The locker room erupts in chaos as everyone starts talking or accusing him or trying to reason at the same time. Kagami searches for Furihata with a pleading look to just explain things to him but his cheeks have turned red as well. Kagami can’t help but feel that whatever he did must have been really, really embarrassing. He can catch a glimpse at Tsuchida and Kiyoshi nodding at each other, so with relief he awaits his seniors who finally, finally fill him in on just what he’s done.
“You know, Kagami,” Tsuchida starts while in the background Izuki mutters, “Kuroko will be mourning the moon because of this.” This time he does get smacked by Hyuuga. Kagami focuses back on the only two people willing to help him in this moment.
“As you know, here in Japan we’re very subtle about expressing feelings,” Kiyoshi continues. Kagami can’t do anything but nod. “And there’s one particular phrase that sounds innocent but is widely spread as a poetic way of a confession.”
The cogs in Kagami’s brain are starting to click in place. His hand subconsciously moves up to his face to cover it.
Tsuchida finishes him off with the final blow as if he still needed it. “Which is to say that you accidentally confessed to Kuroko and he may have thought you were serious.”
Kagami leans against the nearest wall and slides down. His hands just didn’t seem like they could cover up all the embarrassment he was feeling. Kuroko had thought he’d confessed and from his reaction earlier maybe he’d even thought they really were a couple now.
The cogs are starting to turn faster.
So, if Kuroko thought they were a couple he must’ve accepted the accidental confession which means he likes Kagami back. Right? He’s taken aback at his own thought. Liking back means that he has to like Kuroko in that way in the first place. A warm, fuzzy feeling spreads in his stomach and his cheeks feel hotter again.
Oh.
Kagami jerks his head up, “Kuroko!”
Almost a dozen pairs of eyes stare at him. It had been so quiet he almost forgot where he was. He tries to ignore his teammates’ eyes boring into him as he scans the room for Kuroko, but he can’t find him.
Then, Izuki nods in the direction of the shower rooms. “He sneaked off or should I say he fled the scene?”
“Damn you, Izuki-senpai,” Kuroko’s muffled voice says through the door and with a subtle smile Izuki ushers the remaining first years out of the room. Kiyoshi mirrors him with the rest of the team and Kagami is once again more than grateful about having enrolled in Seirin.
The door almost closes before Hyuuga pokes his head back in. “We’re not done talking about this,” he says but then he’s pulled back and replaced by their coach. “We’ll figure something out. But now you two talk this out. It better not affect your teamplay.” She closes the door behind her.
With that they’re alone.
“Kuroko?” Kagami calls out softly and he wants to groan at himself. He realises he’s only ever this soft with his partner. “They’re gone so can we talk about this?”
Kagami can hear the sigh before Kuroko emerges from the shower rooms. The tips of his ears still look pink but Kagami can tell he’s trying his best to look unfazed. He kind of hopes that Kuroko will speak up first but after a few seconds he realises that’s probably not going to happen.
Kagami takes a deep breath. He scratches his neck. He studies the ceiling. He takes another deep breath.
“The moon is beautiful tonight,” he eventually says and this time he does cringe at himself.
Kuroko looks up, finally looks at him again, and his eyebrows pull together. “It’s still bright outside, Kagami-kun,” he says and Kagami can’t believe that he actually has to explain this now. He thought he’d been pretty smooth.
“I know, I just… I mean, the senpai said…. I thought….” The words stumble over each other and it frustrates him so much. But even more so he’s frustrated at that tiny smirk that’s now tugging at Kuroko’s lips. Rude!
Kuroko takes a step closer and holds up his fist. It’s more a reflex than anything else when Kagami holds up his own hand and their knuckles pound against each other. It’s his turn again to look confused, but then Kuroko’s smile widens and he opens his hand.
He holds his palm out to Kagami and his body again reacts without a thought as if Kuroko knows a secret switch that Kagami will always respond to. He probably does. Their palms press against each other and this is new but it feels familiar. Kuroko’s fingers bend down to intertwine with his and Kagami’s own slot in place as if they’ve been doing this for years.
Kagami watches their hands with mesmerised eyes and almost doesn’t notice how Kuroko pulls him the slightest bit closer. When he looks back at his partner’s face there’s mere inches left separating them.
Kuroko whispers, “I like you, too.” Kagami’s heart flutters dangerously and he wonders how he never noticed this feeling before, because thinking back it’s definitely always been there.
Then, Kuroko closes his eyes and for a moment Kagami thinks it’s just a long blink. But they don’t open again and, oh, for once Kagami actually understands. He closes the distance between them and presses his lips against Kuroko’s. It only lasts for a second but his knees feel wobbly like after a tough game.
The desire to do it again is strong. But then there’s a small knock on the door and Fukuda pokes his head in. He has the decency to awkwardly scratch his cheek. “Uhm, if you guys are done now can we hit the showers?”
Kagami hides his face in his hands again, but Kuroko just calmly tells them, “Go ahead.” When Kagami takes a peek through his finger he thinks that Kuroko’s cheeks and eyes look like they’re glowing from joy. Until now he’d only known this look from after they had won matches and the knowledge that it might have been him putting that look on his partner’s face makes him really want to kiss him again.
He’ll have to wait until they’re alone again, however, as the locker room fills with more than half a dozen sweaty teenage boys.