Restart (Aokuro)

Happy Spaces

KUROKO AND AOMINE SAT at a nearby river and the sound of water streaming seemed to calm them down. Aomine was still processing what Kuroko had just said, and Kuroko knew by watching how his eyebrows furrow and eyelids blink. Kuroko fiddled with his thumbs nervously. Maybe it was a bad time to confess such things. After all, it's only been a few weeks since they'd known each other. Was it that easy to develop feelings for someone?

"Can I ask you something, Kuroko?" The boy next to him finally asked, but his eyes were still glued on the scenery in front of him. His features have softened, the sunlight painting his face only made him look more handsome.

Kuroko swallowed the lump in his throat and mentally scolded himself for thinking such things. He gave Aomine an answer.

"You can."

Aomine breathed before laying out his question. "Why do you like me?"

Kuroko smiled a little, because he asked the same thing yesterday and was indirectly rejected. Aomine was probably thinking the same thing since he shut his eyes in embarrassment.

"Honestly, I don't know," Kuroko admitted. "I don't know if my feelings for you are real."

"Is that the reason why you were avoiding me?"

Kuroko stayed silent because Aomine was right. He found himself wanting to disappear whenever Aomine was nearby, even though he wasn't doing it on purpose. He wanted to understand what it was like to be away from his so-called crush and to test whether he actually had feelings for the tanned boy. If it wasn't because of the white van, Kuroko would've remained silent and hidden, knowing Aomine wouldn't notice his presence that morning.

"There's no use avoiding me, Kuroko," Aomine finally turned his head to make eye contact with him, but this time Kuroko was too afraid to do so. "Because I'll keep looking for you."

Kuroko felt his cheeks heat up. Funny how one simple sentence was good enough to make his heart race. He turned his head swiftly to face Aomine, who raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"Please give me a few days," Kuroko pleaded. "Give me a few days to figure this out. I want to find out why I like you, Aomine-kun."

Aomine laughed and it sounded like music to Kuroko's ears. He couldn't help but realise how romantic it actually was - just the two of them by the river with a beautiful sunset painting the sky orange. Kuroko only smiled innocently.

"Okay," Aomine sighed. "I'll give you some time. But that doesn't mean you can avoid me and practice."

Kuroko nodded with enthusiasm.

Aomine on the other hand, thanked the gods for this opportunity. Because he himself had a lot of thinking to do.

"Heh? You like someone?"

Aomine decided to give Momoi a call on his way back home, thinking she could give him some advice. Deep down in his heart he wished he could figure it out himself because now Momoi would tease him about it. He let out a soft groan in annoyance.

"No, I think I like someone."

"How can you think you like someone?" Aomine pictured Momoi rolling her eyes.

"Because I don't know if I do, that's why I called you."

"You want me to help you figure out if you got a crush?" Momoi laughed. "All these years of knowing you, this is a first. Never knew Aomine Daiki would have love issues."

Right, maybe it was a bad idea to ask Satsuki for advice.

Aomine let out a heavy sigh. "If you're not going to help -"

"Fine! I will, geez."

Aomine 1 - Satsuki 0

"Well, the easy question would be - does she make you happy?"

Aomine took a few seconds to properly think about it. Kuroko makes him happy whenever they play basketball together, and it definitely didn't make him happy when he was avoiding him.

"Yeah, sure." He answered without correcting the 'she' to 'he'. That was another topic to talk about later.

"Then do you enjoy spending time with her?"

Definitely. "Yeah."

"Does she make you nervous?"

Aomine couldn't recall a time where he was nervous around Kuroko. He did feel embarrassed at times but never nervous. Aomine was a confident guy in general. Even so, he decided to lie.

"I guess."

"Then, does your heart beat faster whenever you're with her?"

"Isn't that the same thing?" Aomine rolled his eyes. "Your heart beats faster when you're nervous too, Satsuki."

"Well, forgive me! It's not like I was busy with something else before you called me for some love advice."

"Come on, next question." Aomine ignored her sarcasm and rushed her to proceed. He really needed to know and so far all her questions were confirming his feelings for Kuroko. This thought made his stomach churn.

"If someone were to steal her away from you, how would you feel?"

Aomine found himself gripping his phone tighter and his blood started boiling for some reason. He stopped in his tracks to cool off. What does this mean?

"You're taking a long time there."

"I don't know." Lies.

"You gotta give me an answer, Ahomine."

"Tch," Aomine cursed but he was the one that asked Momoi for help in the first place. "Fine. I'll get mad."

"Really mad?"

"Really mad."

"Congratulations, Dai-chan. You're officially in love."

Aomine could hear her clapping in the background. His face heated up after hearing what she said and suddenly it felt like a weight has been lifted off his chest. Aomine's knees gave out and he squatted on the ground, face buried in his extended arms.

"Oi, Dai-chan! Don't ignore me."

"Yeah, yeah," Aomine mumbled in defeat, the red on his face growing by the second. "I'm in love with someone."