Jogging on the beach

Kagami got up early in the morning and straight away went to brush his teeth. His mind was still dwelling on the sudden revelation that Yui and the GOM were friends. He hadn't asked Kuroko yet about it and was waiting for the right time. He rinsed his mouth and spat out the toothpaste when he jumped in shock at Kuroko who suddenly appeared.

"What the hell? Kuroko. You doing that on purpose," Kagami growled. "And your hair..."

Kuroko touched the top of his head well aware of his terrible bed hair when the duo heard two familiar voices behind them. Kagami blanched when he saw the faces.

"Eh?" Takao and Midorima wore shocked faces when they noticed the blue and red heads. Midorima looked more annoyed though.

"You, what the hell are you doing here?" Midorima asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Kagami snapped.

"Shutoku always comes here for training," Takao explained.

"Abd you're here for vacation?!" Midorima pointed and Kagami who denied. "What's with the tan then?!"

Just then, Riko's voice diverted their attention but the four paled considerably upon seeing her appearance which looked to be from a murder scene. She was covered in red splotches and was holding a knife.

"Oi Kuroko! What is your school?!"

"It is Seirin High."

"That's not what I'm asking!"

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

A practice game between Seirin and Shutoku. Neither teams were expecting such a thing and wore dumbfounded faces. Kagami walked into court ready to take position when Riko pulled him out.

"Please go buy drinks for everyone," Riko smiled. Kagami blinked. "Huh?"

"At the convenience store, 500 meters from here, through the beach,"

"Why?!"

"But it's heavy so you can run one at a time,"

"How many times do you want me to run?!"

"They started playing already, hurry!"

"Don't make me your errand boy!!"

Of course, Kagami couldn't disobey his coach and grudgingly ran along the beach to the store. The Shutoku coach noticed what Riko was doing and thought, 'You wouldn't think she's so young. To be able to notice such a thing...' Riko had realised long ago that Kagami's strength lay in his jumping power and was now developing it further.

Kagami had an idea of what his coach was getting at when she told him to run. It didn't make him happy though since he was itching to play but after the Touou game, he realised that he needed to improve his muscle strength in certain areas.

What he wasn't expecting was to meet a familiar brunette at the convenience store on his third run.

*Huff huff* "What are you doing here?" Kagami asked sweating. Yui was sitting on the bench outside the store licking a popsicle.

"I came to keep you company of course." Yui giggled. "It seems your coach has sent you to train your legs,"

"How'd you know?" Kagami questioned suspiciously. This girl was a definite stalker. "Are you stalking me?"

"Yep," Yui replied honestly. There was no point trying to deny something so obvious.

"Weirdo," Kagami clicked his tongue and went to buy the third drink. The cashier stared at the boy with a weird face as he handed the money. Yui snapped at photo of Kagami who scowled.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking a picture obviously. Don't worry it's just for memories,"

Kagami rolled his eyes and started started running back. Although it was weird that Yui was stalking him, strangely enough, he didn't mind it. Actually...he liked the attention she gave– woah woah, hold up now Taiga. 'What the hell am I thinking?' The tips of his ears grew hot and he did his best to focus on running.

When he returned to the store, Yui was waiting there with...a bicycle.

"What is that?" Kagami said wiping the moisture from his forehead.

"What does it look like?" Yui answered with a blank face. "I'll ride it while you run,"

"You can't ride on the sand."

"Of course not baka. I'll ride it on the path right next to the sand."

"Whatever," Kagami muttered. He bought the fifth drink and started running back. Yui hopped on the bike she rented and started cycling near him. Originally, Kagami was running closer to the sea but he moved closer to the path where Yui was cycling. She noticed his red ears and and thought it was due to the heat.

Kagami's mind suddenly remembered their conversation the other day and asked in a huffing breath, "So what was Kuroko like in middle school?"

Yui spoke unblinklingly, "The same as now. At the start he used to show more emotion, though it still wasn't a lot, but after he joined the basketball team, he learned to keep a blank face always."

"Why?"

Yui was silent and replied at little late. "That's something he'll tell you later. I'm sure. All I can say is that it had something to do with his style."

Kagami grunted and asked another question. "Is there a reason you pay attention to me? And why do you seen to know everything?"

"For the first question, it's because you're interesting. For the second, I can't tell you. I might one day but for now, it's best you focus on the Winter Cup,"

The two no longer chat so that Kagami didn't run out of fuel faster but they kept a peaceful silence,"

Sometimes Yui would hum a tune to keep herself busy as she cycled or she'd pause for a bit to take photos of the horizon. It wasn't known how long the two had been going but Yui was nearly dead by the end of it all since she was just about as fit as a sloth and had never worked out.

The two collapsed on the sand side by side breathing heavily. Kagami glared at the girl. "Why are you tired? You stopped so many times,"

"Sh–shut up you stamina freak," Yui huffed.

"The hell you call me?"

"...."

"Oi!!"

The sky was dark now and the stars were shining brightly. All was peaceful until Yui's phone started ringing startling the duo.

"Hello?"

"YUIIIIII!!!! What happened? Why are you so late?!" a very worried voice of Ryu came through the phone. "Did you get lost?"

"I texted Sora that I'd be late today. I'm accompanying a friend who is training by the beach."

"SORA!!!"

Another voice was heard. "What?!"

"Did Yui text you?"

"Oh yeah. I forgot to mention,"

The siblings sighed and Yui slapped a palm on her face. "I'll be back soon so don't worry."

"Alright, do you want me to pick you? It's not safe for you to walk alone at night,"

Kagami, who overheard the conversation, said to Yui, "Um...I can take you...if you want," he was doing his best not to blush. He felt it was only right since she kept him company for so long. Yui's eyes brightened and she hurriedly told her brother, "It's fine Ryu-nii. My friend said he'll drop me."

"Oh okay. Wait did you say a 'he'–"

Yui ended the call cutting him off. "That was my brother who called."

"I figured," Kagami said. He stood up and dusted the sand off his pants before lending a hand to Yui. She held it and was lifted up from lying position. 'Hehe strong...'

"Thanks,"

"What about the bike?"

"It's still on rent to me so I won't return it till I leave the inn,"

"Oh okay." Suddenly he got an idea and glanced at Yui with a conflicting face.

"What is it?" Yui asked.

"I have an idea...wanna try it out?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Just a small distance from the beach, in the quiet streets, a cycling sound filled the air along with two arguing voices.

"Crap we're gonna crash!"

"Stop covering me eyes then maybe we won't!!"

"LEFT LEFT!!!"

Kagami sat at the front of the bike doing the peddling while Yui was clutching on to his back with her hands wrapped around him. This probably wasn't the best idea but Kagami was an idiot and Yui was a little crazy in the head so they made it to Yui's inn in one piece.

The owner of the inn didn't even bat an eye when the two arrived in a disheveled state making one wonder what was going through her old mind.

Yui hopped off panting slightly and Kagami tried to calm his heart. He was confident they were close to death and wondered why he suggested the idea in the first place. Suddenly Yui began laughing and jumped for a hug with Kagami who stumbled a bit clearly not expecting it.

"That was awesome!!" [Told you she was crazy] "Arigato Kagami-kun,"

"Mmm," Kagami's face turned red as he stood awkwardly accepting the hug. Yui released him and rolled her bike to the stand before waving him bye.

Kagami responded with a wave of his own and quickly took off embarrassed.

'Her hug...felt nice.'