1 Memory Lane

"Kuroko-san, you look like you've seen a ghost!" Kuroko Tetsuya might as well have, because there was no way that Kagami Taiga stood less than six feet away from him.

"It's nothing Takahashi-kun," he said slowly, turning his back to give the young man beside him his full attention. "Are we ready to head to the booth?"

"R-right! Yes, we are all set." Mr. Takahashi checked his clipboard again and gave another affirmative nod, eager eyes sparkling. He swiveled on his heel and led the way toward the booth, Tetsuya gladly following. But Kagami's gaze dug into his back, causing goosebumps to ripple over his skin so intensely it was almost painful. Somewhere deep within his armpits, needles poked at his nerves, and sweat began to trickle down the back of his arm. His body remembered Kagami, even as his mind and heart fought to forget him.

"Who do you think is going to win, Kuroko-san?" Takahashi pulled out the booth door keys, making quick work of unlocking the door.

Tetsuya's breath materialized into puffs as he rushed into the announcement room. He hit the red button on the phone intercom system three times to call for water before switching on his lamp. Both he and Takahashi enjoyed the games better in the dark from how high up they were, but they still needed to be able to see whatever papers they prepared for the game beforehand. The booth faced the center of the court and its large windows gave an unobstructed view of all the action. Sometimes, Tetsuya felt like he was back on the court himself, sitting on the bench, waiting to be put in, the heat from exertion warming his skin.

"Kuroko-san?" Takahashi grabbed the shorter man's shoulders. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Tetsuya flinched. "I'm fine, I assure you. Let's get set up."

The silence between them freed Tetsuya's thoughts to wander and his eyes to stare at the court before him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[FLASHBACK]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... America?"

It was the only thing Kagami said after picking up the call from Alex, his childhood coach, but Tetsuya knew the only proposal of America that would make Kagami sound like that was if he were going back. Permanently.

As always, Tetsuya stayed silent and observed Kagami's reactions: the tensing of his shoulders, his plush lips pulled back ever so slightly in a smile, and a faint crimson sparkle in his eye. It told Tetsuya that Alex could only be offering the opportunity of a lifetime in America, and that Kagami was going to take it. His fingers started to shake at his sides and he slowly curled them into fists so Kagami wouldn't notice. He fought the natural tension one's shoulders do upon hearing news that rips one's heart out with pliers.

Kagami hung up slowly and held his phone underneath his chin. He squinted his eyes, lips pursing forward. Kuroko wondered if he was so deep in thought he became unaware of him again. He opened his mouth but then closed it. What could he say? Would his voice even come out?

"Let's skip today." His eyes were calm but intense when he met Tetsuya's gaze.

"Kagami-kun." Tetsuya stared at him unblinkingly.

Kagami sighed before looking away to stare straight ahead. "Come over after practice, then."

So he isn't going to tell me now. While Kuroko was happy to have more time to prepare a response, his eyebrows rose slightly at the lie of omission. If Kagami told him now, though, it would be real. As long as it remained an unproven phantom between them, Kuroko could pretend that it was a normal day, and pretend he hadn't heard or that he had misunderstood. What he couldn't shake was the pain growing in his stomach.

They entered the school building, and the new routine since winning the Winter Cup was girls from all years scrambled to bask in Kagami's light and swarmed him with questions, while Tetsuya remained largely ignored. If one of the admirers did notice him, which was rare, he swore he could see question marks in their pupils because they had no idea of his existence. As he and Kagami's relationship developed, displays like this chewed at his nerves. Today however, he gladly let the girls sweep Kagami away from their lockers.

I wonder how he'll tell the team. Kuroko changed shoes and grabbed his English workbook, faintly smiling at the photograph of him and the Generation of Miracles from his birthday. After playing until sunset, they followed Tetsuya to Kagami's place only to be surprised by the whole Seirin team and a few other guests. Tetsuya would never tell anyone this, but he smiled the whole evening to stop the misting in his eyes. What he told Kagami earlier that day was true: his birthday meant that people remembered him for once. Knowing the person that meant the most to him planned it all meant even more.

And when everyone left, Kagami paid him more than enough attention. Just the thought of Kagami's mouth suckling at his nipples made Tetsuya's whole face flush scarlet. To this day, Tetsuya had yet to cum as much as he did that night. He stuck his head in his locker and took a deep breath. Now wasn't the time to be remembering things like that, Kagami hadn't technically told him anything yet he had to remind himself. Even if he had, he was at school.

He could hear Kagami making more of a concentrated effort to escape the clawing girls and catch up to him, so Tetsuya quickly finished grabbing what he needed before shutting the locker door and heading down the hall. Tetsuya looked at his watch and saw that the bell would ring sooner than Kagami would be able to catch up, and he breathed a sigh of relief. They weren't in the same class, so they usually spent right up until the bell together, and then lunch.

Tetsuya still didn't have anything to say to the other young man, not even their usual topics of conversation, because his America-sized worry took up all the space in his mind. He dreaded practice now and considered faking coming down with a cold to avoid the team, and Kagami, and having to process the unwelcome news in front of them.

He hoped that class would be enough to distract him from facing what this news meant. Times like these made Tetsuya glad his desk was in the final row of the classroom. He sat down unnoticed by his classmates and gazed out the large window next to his desk. His classroom faced west, so the sun glowed softly and illuminated the cherry blossoms in bloom. Tetsuya heard the bell and sighed, leaning back into his seat. Suddenly, the sound of furious footsteps overpowered Yokozawa-sensei's morning greeting.

A disheveled and out of breath Kagami stood in the doorway. Tetsuya felt his mouth drop open slightly. "Kuroko! Coach said to meet for lunch."