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Kuroko is currently putting his favourite books into one of the many boxes scattered on his bedroom floor. Starting from next week, he's going to move into an apartment together with Aomine for college, since renting a place together is less expensive. Aomine is also here with him, helping Kuroko to pack his stuff. That is, until Aomine finds a pair of LeBron James basketball shoes, stored neatly in a box inside Kuroko’s closet, that's definitely not Kuroko's size. The colour and the model are also not ones Kuroko usually owns.
"Tetsu? Are these yours?" he curiously asked, opening the lid of the box and showing the shoes, black in colour, to Kuroko.
"Hm?" Kuroko turns his attention towards the tanned male and stares at the shoes for some while before looking back at Aomine to answer, "Yes, but actually no."
Aomine frowns in confusion. "These shoes look slightly bigger in size to be yours."
"As I said earlier, Aomine-kun. These are mine, but actually, are not," Kuroko stands up and proceeds to sit on the side of his bed, "How about we take a little break and I will tell you about the shoes?" he asks, tapping the empty seat beside him.
Aomine shrugs but stands up to sit on the bed beside Kuroko, putting the shoe box on his lap. "If I recall correctly, this model was released way back in middle school, and these can't be your old shoes since they look unused, and, y'know, your shoe size was even much smaller then."
Kuroko looks like he’s contemplating something before answering, "Do you remember the Riddle Club's stamp collecting competition during the school festival in our second year of middle school, Aomine-kun?"
Aomine nods and says, "Yeah, I teamed up with Kise because you chose Satsuki over me.”
Kuroko lets out a small chuckle, "I already asked Momoi-san to become my partner in the competition before you asked me, Aomine-kun. It would have been unfair to change partners. I thought you knew it already."
"We would have won if we were on the same team, Tetsu," Aomine rolls his eyes, "but, you and Satsuki didn't win, so these can't be the prize, right?"
"These are not, and you were right about another thing, these are not my size either. The shoes are actually… your size, back in middle school, though."
"My size? Why would you have a pair of shoes my size, Tetsu?"
Kuroko lets out a sigh, "Isn't it obvious? I was planning to give it to you," Kuroko explains, "you can ask Momoi-san, I told her back then that I entered the competition because I wanted to give the shoes to you if I won, as my gratitude for convincing me to stay in the basketball club; for believing in me when I was about to give up. That’s also why I tried to not be on the same team as you; because I wanted to win the shoes with my own effort.”
Aomine is taken aback by Kuroko’s answer and proceeds to ask, “H-hold up, Tetsu. You and Satsuki didn’t win, so how the hell did you get these shoes?”
“Well… I already had a few savings prior to the school festival, and after saving a little bit more, I had enough money to buy the shoes myself,” Kuroko turns his head to look anywhere but at Aomine’s face, “but in the end, I never really got the chance to give them to you, or rather, I didn’t know how to, because… we had already started to drift apart by then,” he continues with a little smile, a sad one that, maybe, not many can tell, but Aomine certainly can.
Aomine feels his eyes about to get watery, he feels really bad yet really happy at the same time; bad because he remembers once again the sadness Kuroko had gone through because of him, but also happy because Kuroko would go such lengths for him, the stupid him whom ended up causing Kuroko so much pain. Aomine places the box on the floor before quickly circling his arms around Kuroko, giving the latter a hug. “Tetsu, I’m so sorry I was a big jerk to you then. But, I’m really happy about the shoes, thank you.”
Kuroko feels his cheeks redden when Aomine hugs him, but returns the hug nonetheless, “It’s all good, Aomine-kun. I’m glad we could talk about this.”
Aomine tightens his hug, resting his head on Kuroko’s shoulder, “I can’t say for sure that the years ahead are gonna be good, but I promise you, Tetsu, I will make you happy.”
“I will try my best to make you happy, too, Aomine-kun.”
Aomine releases his hands from the hug but keeps the distance small. He puts his hand on Kuroko’s right cheek and says, “I love you so much, Tetsu,” before closing the distance with a short yet sweet kiss on Kuroko’s lip.
Kuroko’s face becomes so flushed as he gives Aomine a happy smile, “I love you, too, Aomine-kun.”
Aomine gives Kuroko his usual wide grin, caressing his cheek once again, before letting go of it to pick up the shoe box, “So… can I still have this?”
Kuroko looks a bit confused, “I don’t think the shoes will fit, Aomine-kun.”
“Like hell I would just let the shoes sit in your closet again, I’m going to display these along with my favourite shoes that I brought to our place, Tetsu.”
Kuroko laughs, “Well, it’s not that different from what I’ve been doing before.”
“What? Tetsu, of course it’s totally different! Well, not totally, but it is different, I'm telling you!”
“Alright, at least let me give them to you properly,” Kuroko says as he takes the box from Aomine’s hands and then proceeds to offer them back to Aomine, “happy very belated fourteenth birthday, Aomine-kun. I’m sorry I didn’t have time to wrap them, but I hope you wouldn’t mind. Thank you for believing in me back then, I don’t know where I would be right now if you weren’t there then.”
Aomine, once again, is taken aback. He takes the box from Kuroko’s hand and says, “Thank you for the gift, Tetsu, and for everything... for making me realize once again how much I love basketball, how much I love you. I really appreciate it.”
Kuroko smiles at him before standing up from his bed to say, “Now, let’s continue with the packing. It’s almost lunchtime, my mom would expect us to be finished by then,” he says as he continues to pack the rest of his books from the bookshelf.
“‘Kay, Tetsu!”