#knbfic

so he smiles, taps him on the shoulder, tells him that’s great news.

‘but leaving means…’ kagami starts, troubled frown still marring his features, even as his shoulders seem to relax a fraction.

‘leaving,’ tetsuya starts, because as always, he has to be kagami’s voice of reason, even when the words are thorns up his throat and on his tongue, ‘just means you’ll take advantage of an amazing opportunity, kagami-kun.’

kagami looks at the ground as they walk, a pensive hum escaping him, but doesn’t say anything else for a while. just before they reach the school gates, his step falters, slows. stops.

tetsuya stops a few steps ahead, turns to look at him, heart still pounding in his ears.

‘kagami-kun?’ he asks.

‘hey, kuroko…’ kagami says, hesitant, ‘what do you think i should do? do you really think i should go?’ he’s still looking at the ground.

tetsuya swallows past the lump in his throat. ‘i think that that’s kagami-kun’s decision alone. like i said, it’s an amazing opportunity, and you should think about it carefully, but that, ultimately, it’s a matter of whether you want to do it or not.’

‘kuroko…’

‘and if your hesitating because of the team, then quite frankly, you’re an idiot.’

‘hey!’ comes the indignant protest which forces a tiny, rueful smile from tetsuya. the tense atmosphere around them breaks.

‘you still have a few days to decide, right?’ he asks, and kagami just nods. ‘then think about what you want, and when you decide, tell me. i’m sure he others will support you in this, kagami-kun, so you don’t have to worry about them. if you do decide to go, i’ll be there for you when you tell them, if you need.’

kagami looks at him, an indecipherable look in his eyes that does something weird to tetsuya’s insides, and tetsuya squares his shoulders and meets the gaze head-on. then, after a long moment, kagami sighs. shakes his head.

‘thanks, kuroko,’ he says.

‘you’re welcome,’ kuroko answers simply, pushes down the knot that still clogs throat. then, just as the bells ring, he says, ‘now lets go before we’re late for class,’ and turns away from kagami.

The bite on his right hand is painful and Kagami swears loudly. He starts with a simple ‘fuck’ and upgrades to ‘holy flying motherfucking shit fuck this fucking hurts’. It produces enough of a commotion that the entire room stops to watch Kagami flail his hand around as he tries to swallow the curses down but fails miserably and ends up just yelling them into the air.

The spider on the floor is at least four inches long and it is possibly the scariest thing Kagami has ever seen in his life. He is sure that it will become a recurring character in his nightmares for the next, oh, maybe seven years. Truly terrifying. The creature skitters around on the floor, clearly confused, and why wouldn’t it be with all the students screaming and scrambling on chairs and desks.

In a matter of seconds, the teacher quickly dispels the spider and the magic wears off, leaving a rusty old goblet sitting on the floor. The students calm down and the teacher orders them to return to their work before approaching a dying Kagami and a guilty-looking Kuroko.

“To the nurse,” the teacher says quickly. “Kuroko, take him.”

Kuroko nods quickly before grabbing Kagami by the elbow and dragging him. The venom is starting to circulate through Kagami’s veins and he feels queasy and dizzy. He’s pretty sure that he’s going to pass out right about now and his legs give out, resulting in him falling to the floor with a loud thud.

“Kagami-kun, are you okay?” Kuroko asks but there are two of him and Kagami isn’t sure which one he should answer.

So instead he just says, “Fuck,” before passing out.

//

When he wakes up, he has no idea what time it is. His entire right side aches terribly and he tries to take stock of himself. He’s in the infirmary and it’s night time, this much he can tell. There are only a couple of students in the infirmary – one girl who's in the far corner and a boy a little bit closer. The boy is completely knocked out and the girl is quietly reading a book. Beside his own bed are two small novels, some extra bandages, a bottle of some sort of antidote that’s thick and dark and looks disgusting.

Kagami finds it hard to move his right arm but he manages to raise it enough to inspect the spider bite near his thumb. At the moment he’s wrapped up in bandages and can’t really take a look at the wound but his hand is roughly two times its original size. His entire body aches like he hasn’t moved in days and he wonders how long he’s been asleep for.

“How are you feeling, Kagami-kun?”

Kagami jumps. Lost in thought, he hadn’t seen Kuroko come in. But here Kuroko is, another novel tucked into the crook of his elbow and a bag hanging from his other hand. He’s not wearing his school robes, opting for a blue-and-white striped t-shirt and jeans.

“Kuroko can you stop freaking me out like that?” Kagami says, propping himself up to a sitting position. He watches as Kuroko places the bag by his feet and pulls a chair over to sit in by the bed.

Ignoring him, Kuroko decides to fill him in on helpful details. “You’ve been asleep for two days straight. Apparently it should only take a few more days to heal completely.”

“That’s good, I guess. We’ve got a quidditch match coming up next week. Kinda need this to play,” Kagami holds up his arm and waves it about a little before deciding that hurts and letting it rest on his stomach instead.

“Um, Kagami-kun?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry about the spider. I wanted it to be a rat instead but– well, it didn’t work out.”

Kagami looks at Kuroko. The look on Kuroko’s face is one of guilt and his bangs dangle in front of his downcast eyes as he hangs his head. Kuroko is mostly deadpan, save for when he’s playing quidditch and when Kagami has him grasping at the sheets and biting his lip from waking up their roommates with his cries. There are few times Kagami gets to see this lost-puppy side of Kuroko and although Kuroko is upset, it kind of makes him happy. Kuroko only really gets like this after a lost quidditch match, so he must feel bad. Granted, he should feel bad because that spider bite could have killed him.

But Kagami only feels that for a second before he softens and reaches forward to ruffle Kuroko’s hair with his good hand. “You look like you’ve been defeated,” Kagami chuckles. “It’s fine. I’m not dead.”

Kuroko lets out a sigh and removes a fresh shirt from the bag he’d brought. It’s clean and already much more appealing than the sweaty hospital shirt he feels like he’s definitely slept in for two days. “I brought a new shirt for you because the one you’re wearing smells awful.”

“You’re right, I smell terrible,” Kagami says, blushing a little because Kuroko had noticed. He accepts the shirt and goes to change but discovers that it’s quite difficult with one very useless arm. He tries to unbutton the shirt with his good hand but it’s taking forever. Kuroko sees Kagami’s suffering and decides to help, mostly because he still feels bad about the whole thing.

Kuroko moves to the edge of the bed, sitting beside Kagami’s hip. He leans forward and starts working away at Kagami’s buttons.

Kuroko has his ways of unknowingly making Kagami crumble. Sometimes it’s the way he reads with the back of his pale neck exposed or it’s the way he sweats heavily at practice and his skin shines under the bright sun as he flies through the air. Right now it’s the way he’s so focused on undressing Kagami, butt pressing into his hip as he leans over. He’s leaning far enough forward that Kagami can see his chest and his collarbones and that’s always a good way to get Kagami hard. Kuroko is quick with his work, though, and the moment ends.

For the next few days, Kuroko comes to visit, but mostly just sits by Kagami’s bed and reads novels. After a few dirty jokes by Kagami, Kuroko no longer feels the need to worry. Instead, he goes back to his normal deadpan, matter-of-fact self, which Kagami likes best. He likes how unaffected Kuroko is, likes the challenge of getting Kuroko to offer him a smile or open his heart enough that he’ll rely on Kagami.

“The nurse said one more night,” Kagami says around a chocolate frog. “To celebrate my release, why don’t we do something together?”

“Did she say one night? Or did you say one night?”

“She said one night. Kuroko, after all this time you still don’t trust me?”

Kuroko doesn’t answer, flipping the page of his book. Kagami settles back into his pillow and closes his eyes, lets the sound of Kuroko’s even breathing lull him to sleep.

//

Kuroko isn’t there when Kagami is released from the hospital wing. To be precise, no one is there. The halls are empty, save for the few students milling around, and Kagami searches for a head of pale blue hair, half-expecting Kuroko to show up behind him unannounced.

Kagami sees no sign of Kuroko, however, and heads back to the Gryffindor tower. Kuroko had mentioned the changed password, and it takes him a minute to remember exactly what it was. When he gets it and enters the common room, he finds no one there. He goes up the stairs and into the boy's dormitory, finds no one there either. Sighing, he flops down on his bed and looks at the ceiling.

“Kagami-kun.”

Kagami jumps and almost falls off the bed. “Fuck, Kuroko, since when were you here?”

Kuroko is standing next to his bed, wearing a plain white polo and khakis. A novel lies forgotten on his bed. “How do you feel?”

Kagami lets out a long sigh and knots his fingers behind his head, closing his eyes. “I could use a refresher.”

A moment of silence passes, and Kagami is about to ask for a blow job or something, knowing that he’d be asking in vain, but then Kuroko is pushing hard at his side. Kuroko isn’t strong enough to really move him but he (knowingly) hits the sensitive spot just below Kagami’s ribs which sends Kagami flinching away. The space made on the twin bed is apparently enough for Kuroko to fit. Kuroko crawls into Kagami’s side and pushes his forehead into his chest, hiding his face.

“Kuroko?” Kagami says. It’s rare for Kuroko to be so affectionate. Sure, he’s straightforward and has no problem voicing his feelings for Kagami, but he’s not so touchy.

“I haven’t properly apologized,” he mutters, voice muffled in Kagami’s shirt.

“What if someone walks in?”

“Everyone’s in Hogsmeade all day,” Kuroko answers. Kagami should have guessed that, but apparently the lack of students everywhere wasn’t enough of a clue for him. He makes a small ah noise at the realization.

“That makes sense, I guess.” Kagami’s thankful for the luck anyhow.

They lay in a comfortable silence as their feet tangle and Kagami threads fingers through blue hair, his other hand moving to rest on Kuroko’s waist. Kuroko smells good, like a sea breeze on a sunny day.