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Taiga was rather indifferent to the whole moving back to Japan thing. He had kept in practice with his Japanese over the years he’d lived in America, and his kanji wasn’t awful. He knew he enjoyed the food as he had a grandmother in the countryside who knew he liked cooking and sent him traditional recipes via email every so often. His social skills were definitely not up to Japanese standards but that was something he could work on. Honestly, he didn’t even have any friends to tie him to America, seeing as Tatsuya had moved to Japan a year prior.The only thing he would miss about America was playing street ball. He knew that Japan’s top sport was baseball, which he wasn’t terrible at, but it didn’t get him going the way basketball did. The level of ball over there was nowhere near the NBA, which was his ultimate goal.His father picked the apartment they would be living in, although he traveled a lot for business so it would be Taiga on his own, most of the time, which he didn’t have a problem with. The district had four high schools to choose from, and he did his research carefully. Two of the schools didn’t have basketball clubs. The other two did but one of them was more of a basketball enthusiast’s club, which he wasn’t about. He wanted to play ball. He wanted to be the best. He wanted to play with team mates who would have his back right up until the buzzer sounded.So Taiga picked Seirin._Leaving partway through the school year was weird. A lot of Taiga's classmates bemoaned the fact that he got to skip his final exams and go straight to sophomore year (he’d corrected far too many people on the grading system in Japan and at this point he’d given up). Also, a lot of people seemed to think now was the perfect time to tell him that they’d had crushes on him for ages. The week before he officially dropped out so that he could pack for the upcoming move, Taiga received no less than six love notes split up between his regular locker, his gym locker, and his homeroom desk. Only two of them were signed, so he brought them back to the people who had sent them and tried to let them down easy. The girl, a junior whom he had never talked to before, cried a little but said she understood; long distance relationships were impossible to maintain, especially considering a twelve hour time difference.The other note was from a boy he’d met through Tatsuya, who was a social butterfly. James was a pretty cool guy and they’d played ball together many times, often ending up at the same street courts. He sat next to Taiga in their English class and helped him quite a bit with the language itself.They were working on an analysis of a scene from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (not that that’s important, but for some reason, Taiga remembers it really well), when there was a tearing sound and Taiga looked up to see James folding a piece of notebook paper. He then placed it on the corner of Taiga’s desk and whispered, “We’ll talk about it later.”Taiga frowned and picked up the paper, pocketing it. A few minutes later, the bell rang, signalling the end of class. During the break, he went to the washroom and pulled the paper out of his pocket. It was a short note, only a few lines. It read: I like you. I know you’re leaving soon but I’d really like to go out with you and maybe even try to make it work long distance. Please let me take you out tonight? I’ll wait at the court for your answer after class. He read and reread the note half a dozen times before the warning bell for the next period rang. Taiga folded the paper carefully and put it back in his pocket. His next class was math but he knew there was no way he was going to be able to concentrate. He entered the room and took a seat near the back rather than in the front, like he normally would. That way, he could think in peace.James was a good guy. They didn’t hang out a lot outside of games, but the times they had, he’d seemed like someone Taiga could get along with. He was also relatively attractive, with broad shoulders and sculpted muscles. He had a nice face, too, if Taiga felt so inclined to look. He put some more thought into it today and realized that, yeah, James was definitely his type.But was it really a good idea to go starting something with someone when he was going to be on the other side of the world for the better part of three years, in two weeks? Taiga knew long distance relationships were tough; that was part of the reason his parents hadn’t worked out. Being that far apart for that long had taken its toll on their relationship. They didn’t end on bad terms… well, they didn’t end on any terms, really. They went for about eight months without seeing or hearing from each other and, when they finally met up again, they came to a mutual and amicable agreement that it just wasn’t going to work between them and they got a divorce. His father had seen a few women since then and his mother had remarried, but Taiga didn’t see her very often as she lived on the east coast.Thinking about his parents like that really drove the point home for Taiga. He didn’t want to fall in love with someone only to spend so long apart from them that he just fell out of love with them again. What a tragedy that would be. With that in mind, Taiga finally returned his attention to the front of the room, where the teacher was writing down problems on the board for the class to copy down and solve. _James hadn’t cried when Taiga said he didn’t think it would be a good idea to do anything together. He had insisted on being allowed to take Taiga on a date, however, and that’s how he found himself at iHop at two in the morning, discussing the movie they had just watched.“You can’t tell me Ryan Reynolds enjoyed playing Green Lantern. I mean, he acted better in Just Friends, for chrissakes!”James threw his head back and laughed, and Taiga realized he had just outed himself as someone who liked rom-coms. He slapped a hand to his forehead, muttering under his breath, face heating up in embarrassment.“No, I agree,” James said, having gotten himself under control, “His acting was particularly bad just now. But that’s not what I care about, I’m just excited for the behind the scenes footage! Ryan Reynolds is an absolute gem.”Taiga rolled up a pancake and dipped it in syrup, then stuffed it in his mouth in one go. James watched this with a fascinated look and Taiga blushed a little, embarrassed at his own lack of manners. James didn’t seem to mind thought, just smirked a little and went back to eating with his fork and knife, like a civilized person.All of a sudden, Taiga came to the realization that he really liked James. He felt something crack in his chest and all the air whooshed out of him in one go, shoulders slumping and head dropping to look at that table.He was leaving in a week.He was moving to another country on the other side of the world in a week, and he was about three minutes away from falling in love with his friend. God, how shitty did that feel? What kind of idiot agrees to go on a date with someone they have actual chemistry with a week before they’re gone?Kagami Taiga, that’s who.“Hey James,” Taiga said quietly.“What’s up, Tai?”“I’m really sorry that I have to go,” He nearly whispered, picking at a piece of peeling varnish on the edge of the table.James was quiet for long enough that Taiga began to worry, so he raised his head. His friend had a small smile on his face and was stirring his straw through his milkshake absently. The look on his face didn’t change as he lifted out of his seat and put a hand to Taiga’s cheek, leaning forward to brush a light kiss across his lips.Taiga’s first kiss.“You’re such a good person, Tai,” James said and leaned his forehead against Taiga’s, “I’m so glad I met you.”James walked him home that night, holding his hand the whole way, and kissed him again, in the entryway to Taiga’s apartment building, holding him against the door, hand spread wide across his back. Taiga found himself getting lost in it, the slide of James’ tongue against his own, the warmth of his body where they were pressed up together, and especially the growing desire to just let James’s kisses carry him away so that he didn’t have to think of anything else.It ended too soon in Taiga’s opinion. James pulled away and kissed him once on his cheek and once on his forehead, then he whispered goodnight and was gone.He let himself into the lobby and sat down on one of the benches, head falling into his hands. That’s how his father found him fifteen minutes later when he got home from work.“You alright, buddy?” His dad asked, wrapping a comforting arm around his shoulders. “I know a move this big is tough, but you’ll make new friends in Tokyo, and your old ones will still be here when you get back.”Taiga didn’t say anything, just leaned into his father for a moment, accepting the affection given, and then stood up. When they got up to the apartment, Taiga made himself a grilled cheese sandwich and then went to bed.So it turned out he wasn’t quite so indifferent to the whole moving to another country thing._That was the last time he saw or spoke to James. They didn’t have each others phone numbers and the next week was devoted to packing up the apartment. Also, Taiga officially dropped out of his school. On Monday they boxed up all the books and photographs around the house. There were a surprising amount of pictures of Taiga’s and his mom but he also knew that she and his dad were still at least friends. The few times he’d been out to the east coast, he’d seen pictures of himself with his father, at his mother’s house, which was cool; it was just nice to know that divorces didn’t always ruin lives, sometimes they just changed them.On Tuesday they moved the boxes into a portable storage unit near the airport, so that it would be easy to transport when moving day came. In the early afternoon, Taiga made lunch for himself and his father, who sung his praises, as usual, over several helpings of chicken curry and rice. He had said more than one time, if Taiga didn’t make it to NBA pro ball, he could easily be a chef. Taiga had kind of scoffed at the time but he gave it some real thought. The NBA was full of insanely good players and who knew if he could ever be good enough to rank among them. Having a fallback career was a really good idea, and he enjoyed cooking, so why not keep it in mind? He’d done some research on cooking schools and there was a good one in California that he could attend, if he decided to leave Japan.On Wednesday, a crew of movers came to their (not really ‘their’ anymore) apartment and loaded the furniture into a truck, beds included. While they did that, Taiga packed the kitchen to his specifications, and his father packed up what little there was left around the house. There wasn’t much. They didn’t exactly live a spartan life, but neither had much use for material things; Taiga only really cared about basketball, and his father was away enough that he didn’t bother buying trinkets.Wednesday night found them at a hotel as close to the airport as possible. They didn’t leave until Thursday morning, and would arrive the next day some time after noon. Taiga found the concept of time zones exhausting; their flight was about twelve hours and they left just before noon, so logically, they should get to Narita for around midnight of the same day. But because of the huge time difference and the international date line, they would actually be arriving a day and twelve hours later.The whole thing made Taiga’s head spin.Around nine that night, called Tatsuya, just to hear a familiar voice.“Hello?” Tatsuya picked up on the third ring.“Hey, man, is this a bad time?” Taiga asked. He could hear voices on the other end, and then Tatsuya apologizing to someone in Japanese. A door opened and shut before he spoke again, “Taiga, is everything alright?” It took a moment for him to collect his thoughts. He hadn’t really called with a conversation topic in mind, he’d mostly just wanted to hear Tatsuya’s voice, but now that he had him, he had no idea what to say.After a moment of silence, Taiga blurted, “I went on a date with James, this past weekend.”“Oh really?” Tatsuya sounded amused, “How did that go?”Taiga sighed, “It was really nice. I’m going to miss him.”“You’ll adjust to Japan in no time, Taiga. And maybe you’ll even meet some nice guy or girl at your new high school. Hey, did you pick where you want to go, by the way?”“Yeah, I picked Seirin. Dad helped me get it all set up and I start there as soon as the new semester starts.”They talked for a little while about Japan. Tatsuya was going to be attending a high school in Akita, meaning they couldn’t play on the same team, but they might face each other in competitions, which was exciting. Seirin High School was new, opened within the last two years, and had had a basketball club for one year. He couldn’t find any information on whether or not they won any championships, but he did find a short article about one of the players being injured badly enough to be hospitalized. He hoped he didn’t have to play against a team shitty enough to do that to someone.Around eleven, Tatsuya got another call and had to go, so Taiga said his goodbyes and promised they’d catch up in person when he got to Japan. Despite the long drive from Tokyo to Akita, he was sure they’d see plenty of each other in the future.Taiga flopped back on the bed with a sigh and dropped his phone on the night stand. Honestly, he was finding it pretty cool that he was moving to Japan. Of course, he would miss Los Angeles, and James, and visiting his mom during the holidays, but Japan was pretty cool, and he was definitely excited to visit his grandmother more often. His dad would be gone most of the time but that was okay, Taiga was a pretty self-sufficient person, and not someone who needed attention or socializing to survive.He thought of James again and wished they’d had more time together, but then he realized that it probably would hurt even more. Maybe Tatsuya was right and he would meet someone in Japan who was worth his attention.That night, Taiga dreamed of white feathers and a pale blue sky._The airport was surprisingly uncrowded for a Thursday morning. Their flight left at twenty to twelve, so Taiga and his dad arrived at ten, to wait in line for their boarding passes. They checked in without issue and made their way quickly through the security line. Behind Taiga were three boys speaking in rapid fire Japanese about what schools they were planning on attending when the spring term started.“Have you heard of the Generation of Miracles?” One of them asked.“Oh yeah,” said the second, “Isn’t that the group of guys from Teiko who are all ridiculously good at basketball?”“Wait, what’s this about?” The third inserted.The first began to explain, “Well, Teiko middle school is suppose to have this insane basketball club, with these five starters who have never been beat. They say that the captain has a split personality and the other four are incredibly loyal to them. I even heard that their coach is a genius who can extrapolate a player’s potential just by looking at them. And apparently she’s also pretty hot.”“Ah man, of course that’s all you care about,” Number three said, shoving number one lightly.Taiga, who had been straining to listen in, was disappointed when their conversation turned to more banal things. He’d been hoping to learn more about this Generation of Miracles and maybe find out if any of them were going to be at Seirin the following year. Of course, he’d prefer to play against them, rather than with them, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.The line inched forward and before long, Taiga and his dad made it through security and were off toward their gate. The boarding area was practically empty, so they chose seats near the desk, so that when their zone was called, they would be able to get on faster. In the meantime, Taiga plugged his phone into a nearby outlet and connected to the wifi. He tried typing ‘generation of miracles’ into google, but didn’t come up with much, just an article about some model. There were a couple of pictures of the guy and Taiga supposed he was decent looking, but the article didn’t offer much information other than to say that he was part of this group of fantastic players and would be attending Kaijo High School starting in the spring. Taiga sighed and switched to his crossword app. He did about eight of them before his boarding was announced and he followed his dad onto the plane. The company he worked for had paid for their tickets and all of their moving expenses, so their seats were first class, with tons of leg room for Taiga. There was a TV and several outlets, so Taiga plugged his phone back in and settled in to wait.He was asleep in under fifteen minutes._Taiga came to about four hours later with the insistent need to pee. He took a minute to orient himself and then made his way to the bathroom. When he got back, the stewardess had been by and placed a tray of food on the fold out table in front of his seat. He realized his dad must have ordered it for him.He sat down and was in the process of unwrapping a sandwich when a tiny cough sounded by his left ear. Taiga whipped around, expecting to see a child peeking over the edge of the seat, but was greeted only with the sight of his dad, eating his own sandwich and watching something on the TV. He frowned and turned back to his meal.They’d given him chicken carbonara but the meal wasn’t nearly enough compared to what Taiga usually ate. As the stewardess passed by again, he asked for a second portion. She gave him a strange look and he grimaced, knowing that his voracious appetite made him seem like a monster.While she was gone, Taiga heard that tiny cough again, this time next to his right ear. He didn’t turn around this time, but he did crane his head back to look at his shoulder.Sitting there, nestled in the fabric of his hoodie, was a tiny, little man with white wings and sky blue hair. He was gazed up at Taiga with unreadable blue eyes and then said, “Hello, Kagami-kun.”Taiga did not shriek, but it was a very near thing. Instead, his mouth opened wide and he wheezed directly into the little blue haired man’s face. The little man’s nose wrinkled and he held a hand up to his face. Through the panic, the thought struck him that he must have terrible breath, having been asleep the last few hours. He quickly slapped a hand over his own mouth, blocking his breath and muffling the terrified screams that wanted to escape.While Taiga was losing his shit, the stewardess came back and placed his second meal on the table.“Is there anything else I can get you, sir?” She asked smiling politely.Taiga looked from her to the little man and back and then shook his head. She clearly couldn’t see him, or she would have said something, and the little man was quite visible, sitting there, pawing through the feathers of one of his wings, legs swinging back and forth over Taiga’s shoulder, bumping into his collarbone on every swing.The stewardess nodded, “Please press the call button if you need anything else, Mr. Kagami,” she said, and then left finally.Taiga waited a moment longer and then felt movement on his shoulder. He turned to see the little man standing up and stretching, and Taiga realized dimly that he was wearing black slacks and no shirt, but he had sweatbands on either wrist, and he was wearing what looked like basketball shoes.The little man walked to the edge of Taiga’s shoulder and sat down again, then slid down his arm, like one would slide down a railing. Finally, he stood on the table in front of Taiga, who now realized he was more of a boy, and couldn’t be any older than Taiga himself, going by how he looked.Finally, he broke the silence.“I must be dreaming.”The little man (boy?) didn’t say anything, he simply walked over to Taiga’s hand and aimed a hard kick at his index finger.“OW, fuck!” Taiga shouted, pulling his hand back and sticking his finger into his mouth.“You okay up there, buddy?” His dad called out from behind him.“Uh,” Taiga was stumped for a moment, until he saw the little person mime a cutting motion against his own hand, “Yeah, I’m fine, just a paper-cut on the wrapper of the sandwich.”“Oh, alright. Gotta be careful with that.”Taiga breathed out a sigh of relief.In front of him, the little person had reached over to his open sandwich, torn a tiny bit of bread off the corner and was happily munching on that. Taiga stared at him in disbelief.“Okay, I’m not dreaming. Am I high on plane air?”The little person (it was getting annoying not having a name or a species to call him) gave him the driest look Taiga had ever seen on anyone and took another bite of bread, chewing and swallowing slowly.“No, Kagami-kun. You are not high, or sleeping, or having a psychotic break, or any other rational explanation you can cook up. My name is Kuroko Tetsuya and I am your guardian angel.”
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Taiga took a surreptitious look around the first class cabin. Seeing that nobody else was looking his way and everyone directly around him was either asleep or had headphones in, Taiga felt it was safe to give himself a hard slap across the face.The little man (Kuroko, Taiga thought dimly) shot to his feet and cried out wordlessly.“Kagami-kun, don’t do that!” He exclaimed, wings fluttering nervously, “We already determined that your mind has in no way been altered, so please, settle down and allow me to explain.”Taiga was struck by how polite Kuroko’s speech was. He referred to himself with ‘boku’ and stuck strictly to the honorific he had chosen for Taiga. Despite the panic in his voice, he maintained a respectful distance from Taiga’s left arm, which was still resting on the table.Now that his initial trepidation had faded, Taiga was curious about the tiny angel. He didn’t actually look very angelic, other than the white, feathery wings on his back, which were longer than he was tall and brushed the table by his feet. His torso was crisscrossed with scars, like he’d seen one too many battles, and he had a belt around his waist with a tiny dagger in a leather sheath attached to it He wondered if angels were brutal creatures, but Kuroko didn’t seem like a brutal kind of guy.“Okay, then,” Taiga whispered, making up his mind, “Explain… yourself to me.”Kuroko sat down and resumed eating his piece of bread. When he was finished, he clasped his hands in his lap and turned an unreadable stare on Taiga.“Thank you for hearing me out,” As he said this, he pulled one wing into his lap and began carding his fingers through the feathers, flattening some and fluffing others.“I am Kuroko Tetsuya and I believe I am to be your guardian angel for the foreseeable future. No human but you can see me, unless I should choose to reveal myself, which I will not do, barring extenuating circumstances.”“Why appear now?” Taiga asked.Kuroko blinked and cocked his head to the side, “I’m not sure I understand.”“Well, I’ve been fine for this long, what’s changed? Is it just cause I’m moving to Japan? Does everybody in Japan get one of you? And can you see other angels? Can you communicate with them?”Kuroko’s expression didn’t change as far as Taiga could see (the guy was surprisingly stoic), but his feathers puffed up a bit with every question until they were concealing most of him. “Kagami-kun, please slow down,” He said through the downy mess. He began to smooth (preen?) them down again as he searched for the right words, “I don’t have the answers to most of your questions, to be honest. All I know is that I woke up this morning with a… compulsion to reveal myself to you.”“Does that mean you’ve been with me for a long time?”“Since five days after your birth, if memory serves,” Kuroko nodded, but stayed focussed on his wings. He looked the slightest bit embarrassed about that, though Taiga had no idea why.An angel. A tiny little angel had been watching over him for five days less than his whole life. His dad always did say he was a lucky guy.“Okay, so what are you here to do?” Taiga asked. Kuroko cocked his head to the side, “I mean, why reveal yourself now? If you’ve been watching over me for this long and not done anything, what terrible thing makes you think I need you now? N-not that I don’t appreciate the, um, help, or whatever,” he added when Kuroko’s wings seemed to droop.“I told you, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko said, returning to preening, “I have as much idea as you do. I woke up this morning in your jacket pocket with the compulsion to reveal myself to you, the moment we crossed the international date line. Now here I am.”Taiga thought for a moment that Kuroko seemed to shimmer, then he fluffed his wings and turned to look out the window. It struck Taiga, as the sun crossed the little angel’s face, that he was objectively pretty attractive, but the lack of emotion he displayed was unnerving. Taiga found him surprisingly easy to read, though.“Well,” Taiga said with a shrug, “there’s no sense worrying about it now, we’re still eight hours away from Japan. When we land, we’ll get settled into the apartment and see if we can’t figure out what’s going on.”Kuroko nodded, not looking away from the window. He seemed melancholy somehow, watching the clouds pass by and fluffing the white feathers of his right wing.“You’re staring at me, Kagami-kun.”His voice shook Taiga from his musings and he grumbled a little, crossing his arms and turning to stare out the window as well. It was a while before he could fall back into his restless sleep. He dreamed of scorched feathers. The smoke curled off of them and dissipated into the darkness._Taiga woke up uneasy, clutching at his airplane issue blanket. He didn’t know what had woken him until he saw the seatbelt sign flashing above his head. An announcement came over the PA system in Japanese first and then English, letting passengers know that they would be landing in approximately half an hour. He was surprised that he slept this long, but figured it was probably the best way to acclimate to the time zone. Last time he had been to Japan, two years ago, he had spent a week with his grandparents and the first three days were devoted to sleeping and napping at odd times. After that, so much time had been lost that he didn’t get to do half of the things he wanted to.Luckily, Taiga had two weeks before school started. He intended to use those for catching up on sleep and exploring the area.He hadn’t spent a lot of time in Tokyo in years past. His grandparents lived in the small town of Nikko and didn’t own a car, they simply biked everywhere. It was alright though, he enjoyed the exercise that came with visiting the many shrines in town, and if they really wanted to go to the city, his grandparents had a nearby neighbour who was always willing to lend them their car to borrow for the day. The few times he had visited Tokyo, the city had been overwhelming.Taiga knew he had no problem with leaving America, but he was anxious about living in Tokyo. It was huge, densely populated, and everyone there spoke a language he was only partly familiar with. Los Angeles had been much the same but at least he had grown up there and learned English as he went.Looking out the window now, he could see city lights and knew that they were approaching land. Taiga couldn’t wait to land at Narita; the first class plane seat was comfortable, but he was ready to stretch his legs. He stared out the window for a few more minutes, until the same stewardess from before came by with a plastic bag, asking if he had any garbage for her to take. He handed off the packaging from his lunch earlier that day and suddenly realized he was ravenous. Turning around in his seat, he realized that his dad was awake and staring out the window.“Hey, dad,” he said, capturing the man’s attention, “Can we get something to eat on the way to the apartment?”“Sure, son. We’ll stop at a McDonald’s, if we pass one. If not, we’ll just order something once we get there.”Taiga nodded and turned back around. For the remaining half hour or so, he fiddled with his phone, playing a puzzle game that was just stimulating enough to keep his attention. When they finally landed, it was another hour before they could disembark; a spring storm had just passed overhead and there were dozens of planes waiting to be unloaded.Finally, they got off the plane and into the lobby of the airport. Near one of the exits stood a man with a sign that had their family name written in kanji. Taiga’s dad said a hurried greeting as the man took their bags and loaded them into a car. They exchanged a few more short sentences that Taiga didn’t pay attention to, and then they were off.They didn’t end up passing a McDonald’s on the way to the apartment, but they did pass a place called Maji Burger, where Taiga was able to order a dozen cheeseburgers for only about a thousand yen. The woman at the ordering window looked at him like he was insane but made no comment other than to tell them to drive up to the next window.“You should order a vanilla shake, next time, Kagami-kun,” came a voice from inside his left pocket.Taiga shrieked and bashed his elbow against the door handle. It smarted enough that his eyes watered.“You okay, Tai?” His dad asked, not turning around from where he was emailing someone on his phone.“Yeah, just— just moved too fast and hit my elbow.” He replied, but his dad was already engrossed in his phone again.Taiga looked down at the little face peering up at him from out of his pocket and nearly had a heart attack all over again. How could he have forgotten about Kuroko? The tiny angel sent to protect him from whatever bad thing would happen in the near future? The little bastard had surprised him just the same when he had introduced himself and didn’t seem even the slightest bit remorseful.He crawled out of Taiga’s pocket and flitted up to land on his shoulder, and Taiga had to dig his nails into his own palm to keep from turning to watch him and drawing attention to himself. Kuroko seemed perfectly content to groom his wings the way he had on the plane (and how could Taiga forget that?) and watch the passing scenery. Taiga, however, was incredibly aware of every little movement he made, could feel each tap on his collarbone as Kuroko swung his legs back and forth, felt the brush of a wing against his neck as the car bumped along and they were jostled.They came to a stop outside a ten story building that looked clean and well cared for. Taiga hadn’t gotten to see pictures before his father had chosen the place, and he hadn’t particularly cared much what their new home would look like as long as it had a nice kitchen. He had been reassured that it did, and that was the entirety of his issues put to rest, so he hadn’t made any noise after that.Taiga’s dad fumbled with the lock a bit before getting the door open and Taiga was pleasantly surprised to find that the whole apartment was actually quite nice. It had a really open concept and was already furnished - there was a couch and a large TV taking up part of the living room, along with a coffee table and bookshelves that had yet to be filled - and Taiga could see a balcony through a set of wide sliding glass doors. It was dark, so he couldn’t tell if the view was nice or not but he still appreciated it. Taiga kicked his shoes off and was about to walk further into the apartment, when Kuroko’s voice from right next to his ear startled him once again.“You should place your shoes properly, Kagami-kun. It’s a sign of respect for your home.”Not wanting to answer while his father was still in the room, Taiga followed Kuroko’s instructions, just to appease the little guy, and gathered his shoes, placing them into one of the cubbies by the entrance. They hung off the edge just a little and Taiga noticed that the soles were starting to look a bit worn. He probably had a few more months of use left in them but looking for a new shoe store might have been a good idea. He knew that Japanese people were generally small (not that that stereotype fit everybody, of course; look at Tatsuya. Look at Taiga himself.) so he might have to do a bit of hunting and he didn’t want to be out of a pair of shoes while still looking for a place to buy new ones.A moment later, Taiga’s dad came back into the living room and stared at the couch for a moment. Then he sighed and turned.“You know, I think I'm more tired than hungry, Tai.” He said, stretching, “I’m gonna turn in and just get a big breakfast before work. You can have my portion, or put it away in the fridge for later.”“Sure.” Taiga replied, then said, “before you go to bed, which one is my room?”His dad made a gesture indicating a door on the left of the hallway, at the far end, then waved over his shoulder and entered a room on the right, closing it behind him.Taiga let out the breath he was holding and finally moved further into the apartment. The kitchen was really nice but it hadn’t been unpacked yet. Several boxes with Taiga’s illegible scrawl were stacked on the island in the centre and he opened the first, only to find a smashed plate on top.“Great,” he grumbled, and went to search for a washcloth.At the bottom of the stack of boxes, was a poorly taped wine box that was beginning to fall apart under the strain of the boxes on top of it. He went to heft it onto one of the counters and found that it was the lightest of all the boxes. Something like ‘linen’ was written on top and Taiga opened it to find all the old dish rags and tea towels from their kitchen in Los Angeles. He took out the first cloth he saw and turned back to the first box only to find the little blue haired angel picking through the broken shards of plate. He dropped the cloth in shock.“Jesus, Kuroko, don’t do that!” He hissed.Kuroko turned to look at him, blinking in confusion, “Do what, Kagami-kun?”Taiga didn’t know what to start with. Was he talking about the little man picking through sharp bits of porcelain? Or was he talking about the fact that he had managed to forget Kuroko’s existence again, almost as soon as he was out of sight? Or was he talking about how Kuroko always seemed to appear out of nowhere, as if he was doing it specifically spite Taiga?He wasn’t able to formulate a response in time so he grumbled as he held out a hand for Kuroko to climb into and then settled the angel on his shoulder. Then he turned back to the box and set the shards into the cloth, picking up the bigger pieces along the way. He turned to the sink only to stop short when he realized that he didn’t have a garbage bag. Sighing, for what felt like the millionth time that day, he wrapped the cloth around itself tightly, hoping that his dad wouldn’t try to use it to wash his face or something equally horrific. Spending their first full day in Japan in the emergency room did not sound like his idea of a good time.Taiga covered his mouth when a huge yawn shook him. He didn’t really feel tired, considering he slept almost ten hours on the plane, but his body clearly knew it was night time.“You should get some sleep, Kagami-kun.” Kuroko said, tugging on a lock of his hair to get his attention, “Tomorrow, while your dad is gone, we can get started on unpacking.”“Yeah, alright,” Taiga agreed, and closed up the boxes.It struck him as he returned to the living room how comfortable Kuroko sounded. Taiga had only known him for half a day but Kuroko had known him his whole life. He had seen Taiga grown and change and go through phases and figure himself out, while Taiga had none of that background knowledge. He couldn’t even say he knew how Kuroko’s basic bodily functions worked because he wasn’t human. What did he eat? Did he need to eat? What about hygiene? Did he need baths or showers or was he like a cat, cleaning himself? Did he even sleep? How could he possibly know these things? And how could he ask them without feeling like a fool?What it came down to was he had a history with Taiga that Taiga didn’t have with him, which was strange to think about. Kuroko had been around every day for almost his while life and it showed in the way he talked to him. He still used polite language, but he was comfortable with Taiga in a way even his dad wasn’t. It was incredibly unnerving to be the focus of someone’s attention in that way.“Kagami-kun,” Kuroko’s voice broke through the rising panic, “Whatever you’re thinking about, It’s probably not as bad as you fear.”That got his attention and he made his way to the couch to flop down on it. As he was falling, Kuroko took flight from his perch on Taiga’s shoulder, so as not to be squished by the fall. He landed on the table and folded his wings delicately behind himself, in a way that reminded Taiga of someone clasping their hands in a show of attentiveness. It made him chuckle a little bit and Kuroko cocked his head, but Taiga didn’t know how to explain without confusing him further.“Are you going to tell me what the issue is, or do I have to guess?” He questioned, dryly.Taiga laughed, “I’ll tell you, but you could guess if you want. I’m curious if you can figure it out.”Kuroko’s eyebrows twitched and Taiga thought he looked like he was coming to some conclusion.“I thought this might happen,” he said and now Taiga was the one to be confused. Kuroko continued with a minute frown, “You fear that I am a stranger to you, while you are not one to me. Am I close?”Taiga’s jaw dropped. Kuroko had hit the nail on the head, summing up his worries succinctly. He leaned into the couch cushions and tilted his head back against them. How was he suppose to keep up with this guy?“While I do know a lot about you, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko said after a pause, “You still manage to surprise me. Even I can’t always predict what your response will be in any given situation. And I am sure that, given some time, we can come to a mutual understanding, of sorts. And if not, well, you don’t need to like me for me to protect you; I like you enough to do that regardless of whether it was my job or not.”What.What?“W-what?” Taiga said dumbly as his face flooded with heat. “Y-you-! You can’t just-! How can-?”He spluttered for a long time and the look on Kuroko’s face grew steadily more amused, until he was shaking with chuckles at Taiga’s extreme blush.“It’s not funny!” Was the first coherent sentence he got out after a solid minute of stuttering.“I beg to differ,” Kuroko said through laughter, “You’ve always been easy to embarrass.”Taiga groaned as he remembered how well Kuroko knew him. There were plenty of embarrassing things about Taiga. He was a pretty awkward guy, all things considered, and had a habit of getting himself into uncomfortable situations. It was a good thing Kuroko already knew him and he couldn’t scare him off by making a fool of himself.“How about we get some sleep?” Taiga asked as his face returned to its normal colour, embarrassment fading. “Tomorrow we can explore and talk some more.”Kuroko nodded and climbed into Taiga’s hand when he held it out. He placed the angel on his shoulder, then walked around the apartment, turning off lights and closing cupboards and drawers. He eyed the bag of fast food still sitting on the kitchen counter before he took out two cheeseburgers and tossed the rest in the fridge. After three consecutive airplane meals, the taste of quick fry burgers and processed cheese was quite welcome. He made short work of them, then put the wrappers with the folded up cloth next to the sink. Lastly, he closed the curtains that hung in front of the balcony doors.The first door on the left of the hallway was the bathroom and Taiga quickly pulled out his travel case and brushed his teeth. He turned the lights off and closed the door behind him, then went a little further down the hall and entered his room. It was pretty big, with a closet that stretched from wall to wall and a large window that overlooked the parking lot. Stepping a bit closer, Taiga could make out a children’s playground and a basketball court, just beyond the fenced off lot. At least he wouldn’t be bored on days off. He’d have to go out soon and get a ball, maybe when he went hunting for a shoe store.The bed was already made, which was nice. The sheets weren’t ones he was use to, so he figured whoever had set it up had gone ahead and bought new ones for him. Taiga felt a flutter against his neck when Kuroko took flight. He was considerably less startled than the last three times he had been reminded of the angel on his shoulder, but he still nearly jumped out of his skin. Kuroko had the good grace to ignore it that time as he landed on one of the two pillows on the bed. Taiga shrugged; if that’s where Kuroko wanted to sleep, it was fine by him.Finally, he got into bed and flipped the covers over himself, then said, “Night, Kuroko.”There was a pause, long enough that Taiga could feel himself drifting off, before Kuroko almost whispered, “Good night, Kagami-kun.”Sleep dragged him under quickly. That night he dreamed of feathers again, not merely charred, but caught on fire and burning brightly.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Taiga remembered bits of the dream when he woke and it made him uneasy. White feathers. Burning. And a smell of… rotten eggs? He wondered what it was all about. Was there a real reason that Kuroko had chosen to reveal himself now? He said he didn’t know any more than Taiga did but he had also mentioned a compulsion, making it sound a will outside of his own. He resolved to ask Kuroko about it later.He glanced at his other pillow to find the little angel still asleep. He was curled up tightly under one of his own wings, his breath ruffling the feathers every few seconds. In sleep, his face looked even more expressionless, but not the same way as when he was awake. It was more relaxed now; unguarded seemed to be the right word. Awake, he looked like everything around him was a threat, except for Taiga. Asleep, he looked like a regular dude. Minus the angel wings and scars. And the fact that he was tiny.Taiga’s eyes traced the line of a pale scar down Kuroko’s arm. It was jagged, so it obviously wasn’t made with a blade, but he had no idea what could have done it. The other scars that littered his torso were all different shapes and sizes and he had one at his hip that stretched all the way across his abdomen. It caught the morning light strangely making it glint a silvery colour. “You’re staring, Kagami-kun.”He flinched as he met slitted blue eyes. Kuroko maintained eye contact for a moment longer, then rolled onto his stomach, stretched his wings out as far as they could go behind him and his arms over his head. With them stretched out like this, Taiga realized that each wing was about the length of Kuroko himself. He supposed that made sense. In order to achieve lift off, he would have to have a wing span of about twice his own height.He finally sat up, with a yawn, and began preening his right wing.“I’m gonna make breakfast,” Taiga said, sitting up and leaving his hand open on the pillow, “Do you want some?”He nodded and knee walked into the outstretched palm. Taiga glanced around his room once before realizing that he would have to do some unpacking if he wanted to shower and change out of his travel clothes, but for now, he was comfortable enough. He left the room and stopped in the bathroom to brush his teeth, then went to the kitchen. The balcony curtains had been opened, so Taiga assumed that his dad was already up and gone for the day. That was good; it meant he didn’t have to whisper or ignore Kuroko entirely, which, after going largely unnoticed for most of his life, would probably be pretty frustrating for him. He went to the fridge and got out the remaining cheeseburgers and unwrapped them all. He wished the microwave was unpacked because cold cheeseburgers were hardly pleasant, but that’s what today was for. He left the wrappers in a pile by the sink, with the rest of the garbage from last night, then opened the same box as last night, digging around for a bit and finally coming across a butter knife. He chopped off a chunk of one of the burgers that was about the size of the end of his thumb, before handing it to Kuroko, who sat down on the edge of the table and happily munched away at it.“Hey, what do you usually eat?” Taiga asked curiously.Kuroko swallowed his bite before answering, “A bit of whatever you’re having. You eat enough that you don’t really notice when I take some.”Taiga grumbled at the subtle dig at his appetite but dug into his food. He finished quickly and rinsed off his plate while Kuroko gulped down his last bit of burger, then picked the angel up and put him on his shoulder. The first thing he did was brush his teeth and wash his face. Then he stripped off his shirt and hung it off a hook on the back of the bathroom door, to be washed later. He ran his head under the shower spray for a minute, just to give his hair a bit of a rinse, then tried to brush it into submission. He gave up on that pretty quickly. His hair always did what it wanted anyway.Back in his room, Kuroko flitted off his shoulder and landed on the empty dresser. Taiga dug around in his duffel bag a bit, sniffing shirts until he found something that didn’t smell like week old trash, and put on a black t-shirt that was just this side of too tight. Digging around a bit more, he found a light spring jacket with pockets that Kuroko could hide in, should the need arise. He slid the jacket on and turned to face Kuroko, only for the angel to have disappeared. He turned on the spot several times before coming to the conclusion that Kuroko must have left the room.“Ahem.”The little cough that came from his left side this time startled Taiga so badly that, before he was even conscious of his actions, he shrieked and spun in place, sending a fist flying into the open doorway. His breathing was heavy, though he hadn’t moved much, and he was sweating like a pig. Kuroko came to land on his outstretched arm, head tilted to the side in a way that instantly made Taiga turn an embarrassing shade of red. His wings fluttered, buffeting Taiga’s face with a cool breeze but offering no real reprieve.“We must stop meeting like this, Kagami-kun.”Taiga only groaned dramatically. _The first thing he did was pull up directions to the nearest corner store. He found one that was a block away and bought a box of garbage bags, a package of disposable cloths and dish soap, a small bottle of laundry soap (which would do enough laundry for him and his dad until they could get out for a real shopping trip), a sports drink called Pocari for himself, and a small carton of vanilla ice cream for Kuroko, who hadn’t asked for it, but Taiga caught him eyeing the cold display and was happy to buy it for him. He didn’t say anything about it either but Taiga noticed the pleased flush and the smile he tried to hide.He took a slightly different route on the way back to the apartment, choosing to explore the neighbourhood as he went. The street he turned on to was lined with cherry trees in full bloom on either side and Taiga took a deep breath of the scented air. The blossoms hadn’t truly begun to fall yet, but the pavement was still littered with soft pink petals and squished fruits, which gave off an acidic, fermented smell.He felt Kuroko take off from his shoulder and watched as he flitted up among the tree branches. He came to rest on a branch heavy with cherries and pulled the tiny knife from his belt to cut a few of them off. Taiga held out his hand as he drifted back down and the angel dropped two plump berries into his hand, before sitting down in his palm.“I thought cherry trees were decorative in Japan?” Taiga asked as Kuroko cut into one of them.“They are,” He replied, “But a little bit of magic can be forgiven.”Taiga frowned, “What do you mean?”Kuroko took a bite of cherry and swallowed before explaining, “I have the ability to make things that are not so good become good, with a simple touch. For example, I can turn sour decorative cherries into sweet, edible ones. I can will the weather to remain temperate for a short period of time, so that someone can get out of the rain in time to not be drenched. Small, simple things that make someone’s life a little easier.”“Have you ever done that for me?” Taiga asked, picking up the other cherry and popping it into his mouth. It was perfectly sweet and completely seedless, and he was surprised to feel oddly revitalized after eating it.Kuroko was silent for a while, then he said, “Yes,” and went back to cutting bits of cherry for himself. Something about his expression struck Taiga as guarded and he took a moment to wonder why. It was difficult trying to parse out the expressions of a person (angel?) he had only known for two days but Taiga found he couldn’t move on from them. Kuroko was a mystery shrouded in an enigma (and wasn’t that a damn poetic way of thinking) and he felt the need to understand him better, for his own peace of mind.He kept walking, keeping his hand aloft and finally, it occurred to him, “Are you embarrassed?”Suddenly, a pinprick of agony shot through his hand and he nearly dropped Kuroko. He gasped, holding onto his wrist with the hand that wasn’t in pain, and hopped on the spot, trying not to jostle the angel too much.“Oh no, Kagami-kun, I am so sorry,” Kuroko fretted, flapping his wings frantically to hover above the injured hand. Taiga looked at it and realized that Kuroko’s tiny little knife was jutting out of the centre of his palm and a circle of blood was welling around it.“Jesus fuck, for a tiny little toothpick of a knife, that sure hurt like a bitch!” Taiga ground out, plucking the dagger out of his skin and handing it back to its owner. The cut looked more like a cat scratch than anything, but it was surprisingly deep, and bleeding just a little more, without the knife to block the way.Kuroko covered his face with his hands and Taiga had just enough time to see that he had gone beet red in embarrassment, “I am so sorry,” he said again, flapping so hard he shook a couple feathers loose, “I was surprised and I lost my grip for a moment. Please let me fix it?”Taiga blinked and, after a moment of deliberation (he wouldn’t stab me again, would he? no of course not) held his palm out. Kuroko nodded and set down on his forearm, kneeling there. For a moment he did nothing, then he closed his eyes and placed his hands on the edge of Taiga’s palm, an inch below the incision. His hands began to glow a bright blue as he whispered words that Taiga couldn’t make out and when he stopped whispering, the light flared so bright that Taiga had to squint. It seemed to drip off of him and as soon as it touched Taiga’s skin, it soaked in, like water into a sponge. He could see it illuminating his veins, and he watched in awe as he was lit up from the inside. A strange tingling spread through his whole hand and partway up his forearm. The light flared once more around the cut in his palm and then winked out of existence all at once. Now, Taiga watched as the cut slowly sealed itself up and disappeared without a trace.It was a few minutes before Taiga could find it in himself to react and the first thing he did was look around. Thankfully, there was a bench a few feet from where he was standing, so he staggered over to it and collapsed in a heap, convenience store bag clattering to the ground by his feet. He continued to stare at his unblemished palm for some time until Kuroko finally entered his line of vision, distracting him.“Kagami-kun, are you okay?” He asked.Taiga sighed, unsure how to answer. He supposed he had been handling this whole ‘guardian angel’ thing fairly well up until this moment, but now he was coming to understand that Kuroko really was a tiny little magical creature who, logically, shouldn’t exist. How many times in his life had he seen or read a fantasy themed movie or book and subconsciously thought ‘nah, it’s not real’? And it wasn’t even that he thought magic and angels and fantastic creatures weren’t real, it was simply that it had never occurred to him that they could be. The thought was so foreign that he didn’t know how to come to terms with it until he was faced with it, and now that he was faced with it, he was having trouble actually processing it.His train of thought was broken by the angel landing heavily (well, as heavily as someone who was the height of his forearm could be) on his knee. He was panting and his normally radiant wings were sagging back, looking somewhat grey. His skin, which was usually pale, had lost all colour, and he was sweating profusely, giving his face a sickly sheen.“Whoa, Kuroko, are you alright?” Taiga asked, alarmed at the sight of his friend (?) looking so ill.“I am fine,” he said between breaths. He swiped at his forehead and wiped it on his pants, “Healing magic simply takes a lot out of me, since it is not my forte.”“Is there anything I can do?”Kuroko considered that for a moment and then looked up at him, “I believe I will be fine once I get some sugar in me. And I also might need a nap.”“Wanna sit in my pocket for a while?” He asked.“No, I should stay awake for now. I will sit on your shoulder, if that’s alright.” He said faintly, and Taiga carefully picked up the angel and tucked him under the edge of his jacket, so that he wouldn’t fall off if he did begin to nod.He kept walking then, electing to go straight back to the apartment from there. The walk was still lovely and he appreciated being able to view the cherry blossoms as he went. Petals floated on the surface of the shallow creek that ran next to the road, below street level, swirling about in little eddies and getting caught on reeds near the banks. The whole atmosphere was so tranquil that Taiga wasn’t surprised when he felt a light tap against his neck and looked down to see Kuroko’s eyes closed as he snored lightly.Back at the apartment, Taiga opened the package of cloths and took one out, fashioning it into a little nest, then carefully arranged Kuroko in it so that he could nap. The angel grumbled once and when Taiga tried to put him down, latched on to his thumb so tightly that he had nearly flailed. It took some time to pry him off, and then he covered Kuroko with the loose end of the cloth.Taiga found himself pausing as he watched Kuroko drag a wing over himself, and wondering, yet again, how this had become his life. He had gotten use to the presence of his tiny guardian quicker than he’d thought possible and, barring his low presence that took him by surprise from time to time, was no longer overly shocked at the other’s presence. It should have been strange, knowing that he was protected by a literal mythical creature; if he thought too hard about it, it still gave him a headache. But he was quickly getting use to the idea that the world was bigger than he thought.Taiga was shaken from his musings when Kuroko snuffled and shifted his wing to cover more of himself. He sighed then and took the small container of ice cream out of the bag to put in the freezer, then dropped the bag on the counter and went to his room to get some laundry together. There was an apartment sized washer and dryer stowed in the hall closet and he wheeled them out into the bathroom, quickly hooked them up, and set some shirts and underwear to wash. The manual said it would take about half an hour for a small load to wash so he decided to take a basketball out to the court he had seen last night. He changed into a pair of clean gym shorts, grabbed a ball, and made sure to lock the door behind him. He reached the court quickly and began to stretch out his hamstrings, which were tight from the previous day’s travel and inactivity. He hadn’t played in about a week, so he decided on a quick jog, to get his blood pumping. The route he had taken to the store earlier was picturesque and likely relatively empty, so he chose to go that way.The sidewalk was beginning to fill up with pedestrians going about their day. He hadn’t realized how early it was until now, but he gathered it was around seven in the morning, which was around when he usually got up to do his jog and morning practice. He figured the week he had before his first day of school would be enough to get over the jet lag.A flash of light by the banks of the creek gave him pause and he slowed to a trot to see what had caught his attention. A woman in a traditional kimono was perched on a rock overlooking the stream. In her hands was a polished, silver hand-held mirror, like one would keep on a vanity table. The glint of light off of it had been what distracted him and he stopped in his tracks when he saw what the glass was showing. The scene in its surface was entirely different from anything in his surroundings, in fact it was almost black, with occasional sparks of gold and red drifting across it. It struck up a strange kind of terror in him and he was reminded of his nightmare from that night.As if sensing his gaze, the woman looked up, meeting his gaze and Taiga drew a shocked breath at the sight of her brilliantly glowing, ruby red eyes. She smiled at him and gave a short wave, which he awkwardly returned, then turned back to the stream.Taiga felt a strange tingle in his eyes, and they began to blur. He blinked profusely to try to make it stop, and by the time his vision was restored, the woman was gone, only ripples in the water to tell him that she’d ever been there.It was obvious to him that the woman was some kind of magical creature, like Kuroko, but what she was, he couldn’t possibly have any idea. He had grown remarkably use to the idea of magical creatures existing, in a very short period of time, so much so that he almost wasn’t panicking…… That was a lie, his heart rate had sky rocketed and his palms were practically dripping sweat. He stayed rooted to the spot for another moment, and then somebody brushed by his shoulder, murmuring a short apology. It was enough to jolt him out of his reverie and he immediately wheeled back around and made a dash for home. He didn’t stop until he was inside again, leaning against the door, panting at having taken the stairs three at a time.This whole magic and mythical creatures thing was still just a little too much for Taiga, he was just one guy. God, he needed some decent sleep.