Yellow 6:

"You know, Kuroko, you really don't have to be here…go enjoy your weekend."

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and they were all sitting around the office, sorting through evidence. Earlier, he received a message from Kuroko.

'I have today off. Do you need any help today, Kagami-kun? I can come by…'

'It's up to you. We're just going to sort through evidence that the other two compiled. Apparently they managed to get a carful. If you have other things to do, go have fun instead.'

' I'll drop by then.'

Kuroko shrugged. "I didn't have anything planned today so it's alright. How much evidence did you guys get anyways? You made it sound like quite a big job…why are you holding a frog puppet, Kagami-kun?"

"Uh, that Midorima guy told me that it was my lucky item so I went and…" As the words left his mouth, Kagami realized just how ridiculous he sounded and the embarrassment hit him. Just how did he get so caught up in all this fortune telling stuff anyways? "Never mind that though! I'm not sure just how much evidence we have. But those two went out to the car with a hand truck so…"

Suddenly, Alex returned with a wide grin on her face. "Taiga, we're back! Look at all the stuff we compiled for you! Aren't you excited? Think of it as an early Christmas present!"

Turning around, his jaw dropped at the sight of cardboard boxes piled up on the hand truck that Tatsuya was struggling to wheel into the office. "Seriously? All that? How'd you two manage to get that many boxes full of evidence? What'd you do? Break into his house and rob his parents?"

The woman laughed and shook her head. "Nope! Nothing like that. Actually, there isn't that much here compared to what we could've gotten…"

The detective raised a brow skeptically. "Why? Are the boxes empty?"

"Of course not, don't be silly, Taiga. They're all very full. Why else do you think Tatsuya's struggling so much right now? These are all just the victim's phone records. And what's more, this is only a month's worth of phone calls and messages. You weren't joking when you called him a social butterfly."

Staring at the boxes in disbelief, he nearly forgot about Kuroko. "O-oh, seriouslY? Phone records? Right, by the way, Kuroko, that's my boss, Alex. And the one behind the boxes is Tatsuya, the guy I normally work with."

The woman blinked and looked around in confusion. "What? Kuroko? The guy you've been working with? Where-whoa! Have you been here the entire time? I didn't notice you at all! Taiga, you never told me he was so cute! Hi, I'm Alexandra Garcia."

"Kuroko Tetsuya. Nice to meet you, ma'am…"

Giving him a greeting kiss on the cheek, she smiled and pulled him into a friendly hug. "Are you here to help out? You're so sweet, helping Taiga out over the weekend and all! Since you're here, you can help them sift through all these records and I guess I can go look other things up then. You're so adorable, no wonder Taiga was muttering your name in his s-."

Quickly pulling his boss off the shorter man, he frowned, trying his best to stay calm though he was pretty sure that his face was as red as a tomato. "Oi Alex, that's enough! What are you trying to do? Don't scare him off by molesting him! I still need his help, you know?"

She pouted. "What are you talking about, Taiga? It was just a kiss on the cheek! Don't be so stingy! I already toned it down, didn't I? Anyways, go help Tatsuya before he hurts himself!"

Sighing, he walked over to help his partner and began carrying boxes back to his desk. "Sorry about that, Kuroko. She's like that…that was her on her best behaviour already. I swear, one of these days, someone's actually going to file a complaint against us or something."

After returning the hand truck, Tatsuya returned and exchanged a brief introduction with Kuroko. "Hello, I'm Himuro Tatsuya, Taiga's partner. You're Atsushi's old friend, aren't you?"

Light blue eyes blinked. "Murasakibara-kun? We used to play basketball together but I didn't really keep in touch with him after high school. I heard you're acquainted with him now? How has he been doing?"

"He works at a bakery now but every time I see him, he's eating instead of baking." The brunet laughed, "other than that, he seems to be doing quite well. Will you be coming with us to see him? I'm sure he'd be happy to see you."

Kuroko nodded. "If I don't have work at the time, it'd be nice to see Murasakibara-kun again."

Tatsuya replied with a smile, "I guess we'll have to try to figure out a time that works for everyone then."

Turning back to Kagami, the shorter man asked, "Kagami-kun, why's your partner so much more professional than you?"

He frowned and smacked the other lightly on the head. "Oi, and just what's that supposed to mean? Just because he's more polite doesn't mean he's more professional. I can do this job just as well as anyone, you sadistic brat. Anyways, instead of taking jabs at me, why don't you help out and start sifting through these text messages and see if anything sticks out. Did Kise normally send out a lot of texts?"

Kuroko nodded. "I used to get at least ten from him daily and even more if he had something to do that day. I'd get one in the morning saying 'good morning' and then a picture of his breakfast, and one about the weather, a picture of his lunch, a picture of one of his teammates, and random pictures of shoes and shops if he decided to go shopping, a picture of his dinner and then a 'goodnight' text. That was a normal day's worth of text messages even though I'd only reply maybe once a day."

"Seriously? Even though you two went to different high schools?"

"I'm sure he did that to everyone from Teikou because Kise-kun was just that social."

"What was your relationship with Kise like? I never really asked you, did I? Other than ex-teammates and friends, was there anything else between you two?" Part of the reason he never asked was because he wanted the other's help on the case and it would've been unprofessional to enlist the help of someone who had an intimate relationship with the victim. And the other part was probably because he didn't want to find out whether or not Kuroko had any other feelings towards Kise for reasons he didn't want to consider, not even to himself. "Kise seemed awfully fond of you."

Expression blank as usual, Kuroko tilted his head slightly to the side. "Sre you asking me if I had any romantic feelings for Kise-kun?" He replied with a nod. "Kise-kun was affectionate towards everyone, especially people he respected. But no, I didn't like him that way. The way I saw Kise-kun was more like a friend or a…a pet dog."

In his shock, he snuck a glance towards Tatsuya, wondering whether the brunet heard the incredibly sadistic statement he'd just heard, but either his partner didn't hear or was pretending not to have heard since he merely continued scanning the piece of paper in his hands. "…a pet dog?"

The shorter man nodded in affirmation. "Yes, a pet dog. An affectionate and obedient one. I'm sure other members of the Generation of Miracles would agree." But then he rested his head on his arm in thought, "but romantically speaking, I can't imagine what it'd be like to go out with Kise-kun. It was probably really hard… During games and practice, Kise-kun belonged to the team, and outside of that, he belonged to everyone else; his agency, his fans…even if I was to like Kise-kun, I think it'd get tiring really quickly, never being able to have him to myself."

He blinked, not having expected such an answer. "Do you think he was aware of this?"

"Yes, he definitely was. Kise-kun was really good at reading people, so he was always on the lookout for any signs of disapproval from his teammates and friends. He was constantly worried about how people felt but he didn't have any intentions of giving up either basketball or his modelling job."

"Not the kind to be held back, hm? So he knew how much of a strain he was putting on his personal relationships and tried to make up for it with text messages?"

"Well, he tried to spend as much time with everyone as he could…no one held it against him or anything…. You can't really hold ill feelings when someone's clearly trying their best. Kise-kun used to stay later with Aomine-kun to practice more and on weekends, he had to wake up extra early to get to his photo shoots and interviews, then he'd invite people out for lunch. That was Kise-kun's schedule…"

"That Kise really was an amazing kid, wasn't he? He really tried to stay in touch with you guys, just look at all these messages." The words 'golden boy' popped into his head as he began sifting through the pages in his hands, raising a brow as he read the texts out loud, trying his best to ignore the emoticons and hearts. "'Kurokocchi, today's weather's really nice! Kasamatsu-sempai's letting us out early. Would you like to grab a milkshake after school or something?'

'Sure, I think I can make it.'

'Yay! I love you, Kurokocchi! Marry me!'

'No thanks.'

'So mean!'"

Kuroko let out a nostalgic sigh. "That was a typical conversation with Kise-kun. It happened at least once a week."

"How about: 'Midorimacchi! Good luck on your match today! Love you!'

'Go die'

'So mean!'

'Takaocchi, Midorimacchi just told me to go die!'

'Don't worry about it, Shin-chan's just tsundere (laugh). He actually meant to say thanks.'

'I see (laugh).'

'Kise, disregard Takao's message. You're both idiots.'

'You're so mean, Midorimacchi!'"

"That sounds like a normal conversation as well."

Kagami snorted. "Why do all his conversations end with you guys verbally abusing him and him going 'so mean!'? Wait, don't tell me, I don't want to know. It's got something to do with him crying, doesn't it? Why are you all such sadists?"

The other shrugged. "Because Kise-kun had a really nice crying face? I'm not sure what kind of answer you're expecting, Kagami-kun."

"Here's another one: 'Aominecchi, can we go see that new movie this Saturday? Please?'

'No.'

'But why? Please, Aominecchi? I really want to see it! You're so mean! Please? Please? Please?'

'You're so noisy! Fine, we'll go see the stupid movie!'

'Seriously? You're the best! I love you, Aominecchi!'

'Yeah, I know.'"

Kuroko didn't look impressed by his findings. "That's just a typical conversation between Kise-kun and Aomine-kun. Never mind year after year of this, you get used to them after the first week."

Flipping through page after page of similar text messages, his eyes began blurring from all the emoticons and smiley faces. Skipping ahead to the last few pages, he skimmed through the page before slipping it into his desk drawer discreetly. Then blinking a couple times and stretching, he decided to give his eyes a break and began looking around. Alex was still in her office doing whatever she was doing and Tatsuya was going through his box worth of records. Turning his attention to Kuroko, he saw the young man putting all his efforts into examining the text messages. He wondered what it was like, looking at old conversations you used to have with a friend knowing that they'd never happen again. He wondered what kind of expressions they used to have on their faces as they typed up their replies in attempt to get a 'so mean!' for a reply.

After awhile of staring, he gave a start when he noticed that Kuroko was returning his stare. "Is something wrong, Kagami-kun?"

Kagami hastily shook his head. "No, I was just wondering whether you were okay or not…reading all these and stuff. It can't be easy for you, right? Do you need a break?"

The shorter male shook his head. "I'm okay. It's just surprising…"

"What is?"

"How fast a person can adapt to things. I used to get countless messages and calls from Kise-kun. It took awhile to get used to and one day, they just stopped. And thinking back now, it probably took less than a week for me to get used to the idea that my phone won't have five new messages waiting to be read whenever I checked it. Isn't it strange, that we can get used to a friend's absence so quickly?"

Not liking the sadness in the shorter man's voice, he got up and pulled the other along. "Come on, now seems like a good time for lunch. You definitely need a break. Tatsuya, Alex, you guys hungry yet? I'll bring burgers back."

"I want a combo three with a strawberry milkshake!"

"A combo five with a coke for me, thanks."

As they made their way back from the burger joint, Kagami looked up into the clear blue sky with bags of food in his arms. "I can't believe I'm going to spend my weekend reading one person's phone records. And I also can't believe his phone records are so ridiculous. But you know…from reading through those texts, I couldn't help but think; Kise was a really lucky guy, wasn't he?"

Kuroko blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, although you're all a bunch of sadists who take pleasure in making people cry, it was obvious that you all cared about him a lot. I think that makes him pretty lucky, don't you? To have so many people looking out for him. I'm sure Kise would've agreed with me."

Quietly, the other asked, "Do you think he knew?"

"Huh? Knew what?"

"That we cared about him…"

Thinking back to the last page of text messages sent from the day the blond went missing and even after that, he nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure he knew. I mean, for one thing, I'm pretty sure he would've never put up with all the crap he did if he didn't know. And he would've never kept all those pictures of you guys in his locker if he thought it was all one-sided. You said so yourself, right? Kise was good at reading people, so he definitely would've noticed it."

Kuroko nodded appreciatively. "I guess you're right. But to be honest, I'm not sure I want to know who did this. I've heard of stories where people get killed for the most trivial reasons. What if Kise-kun was killed just because? And what if the killer feels absolutely no remorse for his actions? I don't know how well I'd take it."

"Well, regardless of how you take it, the most important part would to bring Kise's killer to justice, right? Even if the killer had the best reason in the world, that doesn't justify taking someone's life. There's never a good reason to kill someone. Besides, if he had a bad reason, then the sooner we find him and lock him up, the better. That kind of person shouldn't be allowed to wander the streets, right?"

Giving a small smile, the shorter male dipped his head. "Agreed. Thank you, Kagami-kun. I take back what I said earlier. You make an excellent detective."

His heart skipped a beat at the smile and was about to reply when the other's phone buzzed. "Hm? What is it?"

"It's from Momoi-san…apparently she and Aomine-kun will be back in Tokyo tomorrow night for a couple days."

Everything he'd just been thinking off leapt out of his brain at those words. "What? Seriously? They're finally back?"

The shorter man turned his head away. "Please stop looking so excited, Kagami-kun. It's very out of character for you and it's kind of gross."

"Shut up! I was just thinking about how cool it'd be to play a match against him, that's all. I doubt I'll be able to beat a professional player, but it'd still be fun…and an awesome story to tell later on." He shrugged, "he seems cool enough. It's not every day you get to play with you get to meet the youngest person to have ever been admitted into a professional team and then into the national team. What kind of person is this Aomine guy anyways?"

"Aomine-kun…he's changed a lot since when I first met him. He used to remind me of you, actually. Actually, he's the reason Kise-kun joined the basketball team. At first, back at Teikou, when I was acting as his shadow, he was really outgoing and he loved basketball more than anyone. But the more he played, the stronger he got, and nothing challenged him anymore so he started getting bored with the sport. We managed to beat him during the Winter Cup during the first year of high school and for awhile, it looked like the old Aomine-kun was back…that is, until Kise-kun went missing. After that, Aomine-kun kept playing basketball but it wasn't quite the same. He kept getting better until he graduated and went professional and that's pretty much it."

Kagami understood that he was getting the watered down version of things but didn't press it. After all, he'd be able to ask the man himself tomorrow. "So he went from being a team player to a diva, basically? I change my mind, I get this feeling that I might not get along with him that well after all. And what about his relationship with Kise?"

"I don't know how much I should be telling you since it'd probably be better and more accurate if you hear it from Aomine-kun. They were close. Back at Teikou, they used to stay behind to play 1-on-1 matches all the time. Kise-kun admired Aomine-kun a lot, though during the Interhigh Championship, he did announce that he was going to stop admiring him. But to be honest, I'm not too sure since I wasn't there with them so you're going to have to ask Aomine-kun himself."

He blinked. "How can you not be sure?"

"Well, they probably acted differently when I was around…Kise-kun was very easily distracted when he wasn't playing basketball."

Upon seeing the shorter boy, the blond beamed and immediately attached himself to the other, happily nuzzling his hair. "Kurokocchi!"

Unfazed, Kuroko merely stood there. "Kise-kun, you're heavy and kind of sweaty. Please get off me."

Then Aomine approached them with an annoyed frown on his face. "Oi, Kise, get off Tetsu already! He's my partner, you know? Besides, I thought we were going to play another match."

A large grin. "We will, Aominecchi! But I just wanted to give Kurokocchi a hug first!"

"You have half a second to get off Tetsu and get back on the court before I change my mind about playing with you."

"What? That's not fair! There's no possible way for me to move that quickly!"

Aomine shrugged and began walking away. "Then I guess we're not playing anymore."

The blond immediately turned teary eyed and ran over to the tanned boy, trying to pull him back towards the court. "No! That's not fair at all! Aominecchi, again! Again! Let's play again!"

Unbeknownst to Kise, the two them exchanged amused glances with one another before Aomine let out an exaggerated sighed and turned around. "Fine, fine, let's do it. Just one more game though."

"…it normally went something along those lines."

Kagami frowned. "Really? You two went so far as to teaming up to make him cry? Did you guys consider it a sport? Everyone in the Generation of Miracles was a sadist, weren't they?"

"You make us sound like such terrible people, Kagami-kun."

"That's because you are terrible people; even now as adults."

Kuroko looked over at him seriously, ignoring his previous statement. "Of course, that was Aomine-kun back when we were in middle school. I can't really tell you what kind of Aomine-kun you'll be meeting tomorrow night. I don't know how much he's changed since high school but Momoi-san will definitely be helpful to this case though. She and Kise-kun got along really well."

He nodded and made a mental note of it.

"By the way, I've been meaning to tell you something, Kagami-kun."

"Oh? What is it?"

Pointing at all the bags of food in his arms, Kuroko spoke in his usual blank tone, "You should probably cut back on the burgers. Eating a dozen burgers for lunch is probably going to lead to a lot of health issues when you get older."

If he could, he would've smacked the other in the head. "Don't say something so pointless in such a serious tone! If I ever want your health advice, I'll ask for it!"

Sitting back down at his desk after having finished his lunch, he sifted through the pages he'd put in his desk and the additional ones Tatsuya had left for him with a frown on his face. Reading the messages sent the night of Kise's disappearance was nothing if not depressing.

'Oi, Kise, did you get lost? Pick up your phone.'

'Kise, where are you, you idiot?'

'Kise-kun, are you alright?'

'Ryouta, everyone's getting worried.'

'Kise-chin, are you alright?'

'Ki-chan, where'd you go?'

'Kise, pick up your stupid phone already!'

'Everyone's out looking for you, where are you?'

'Call me, you idiot!'

Putting the pages down, he let out a loud sigh and leaned back in his chair to stare at the ceiling. After thinking about everything, he decided that he wasn't looking forward to breaking the news to Aomine. Having read so many conversations between the two, it was clear that there was an intimate relationship between them; one that went beyond basketball. As he sat there, he tried to come up with all the best and worst possible scenarios. "Hey, Kuroko…"

The other looked up from his stack of paper. "What is it?"

"What are your thoughts on Aomine being a suspect?"

Kuroko shook his head confidently. "I don't think he did it. I believe in Aomine-kun."

The next evening, the two of them made their way to the train station where Momoi had said she'd meet them. Getting off, he looked over at Kuroko. "It's been awhile since you saw her, right? Will you be able to recognize her?"

The shorter man nodded. "Yes, I have no doubt I'll be able to." As they went down the stairs, Kuroko pointed to a woman nearby, "there's Momoi-san."

Approaching her, she seemed to notice him first before eyes drifting down to Kuroko. Smiling, she waved at them before running over to pull Kuroko into a tight hug. "Tetsu-kun! It's been so long! I've missed you so much!"

Hearing the affection in the woman's voice and seeing how attractive she was, he could only gawk as she embraced the smaller man. Was she really the manager for a basketball team? And unfazed, Kuroko, looked over at him. "Kagami-kun, please pick your jaw up off the ground before flies fly into your mouth. Momoi-san, I don't believe you two have met. That's Detective Kagami-kun."

Momoi blinked and turned her attention to him though she didn't let go of the male in her arms. "Oh! You two came together? Hello, detective. My name's Momoi Satsuki."

Recomposing himself, he straightened up and returned the introduction. "Kagami Taiga. Nice to meet you."

The pink haired woman looked down curiously. "Tetsu-kun, why are you with a detective? Did something happen? It's not Aomine-kun, is it? Please don't tell me he did something dumb. Even though I tried to keep an eye on him as often as I could…" she let out a sigh and shook her head in exasperation.

The two of them exchanged questioning glances before Kuroko shook his head. "No, Momoi-san, there's no need to worry. Aomine-kun isn't in trouble or anything. We should probably find him first though, it'll be easier that way."

Letting go, she frowned and crossed her arms. "I sent him an early warning but I can't make any guarantees that he'll be ready. He's as irresponsible as always. I guess it's worth a try though…it'll be nice to crash his party anyways."

As they made their way away from the station, the two ex-schoolmates began catching up with Kuroko talking about his job at the daycare and Momoi talking about her experiences with the professional basketball world. Deliberately walking a couple steps behind the pair, he couldn't help but notice how well they got along. But then Momoi turned around and quickly looked him over. "Kagami-kun, you play basketball, don't you?"

He blinked. "yeah, how'd you know?"

"Momoi-san's really good at analyzing people, especially when it comes to basketball," Kuroko explained.

Momoi beamed and pulled the man into another hug. "I'm so happy you remember all this, Tetsu-kun! It's a specialty of mine. After being around basketball players for so many years, it's only natural that you pick up these kinds of skills."

"Oh? That's pretty cool. You were the manager of the Teikou team as well, right?"

The woman smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, that's when I fell for Tetsu-kun."

He did a double take at that. "What? You fell for him?"

"Yep! Tetsu-kun was my first love after he gave me ice cream. We even went on a couple dates and he even got me a doll! He was such a sweetheart, still is, unlike Aomine-kun. I can only imagine how much the kids at your nursery love you. I definitely need to come by and visit you some time!"

"How is Aomine-kun doing?"

Momoi frowned, clearly not that keen on the topic they moved onto. "Aomine-kun…well, he's the same as always. He shows up to practice most of the time then leaves right afterwards. It's the same with matches, and he only comes to team outings when I force him to. I guess he's trying his best though but still…it's just not the same. He even got to do a commercial once but then after that one time, he rejected all the other offers. It was probably too much for him…"

Raising a brow, he asked thoughtlessly, "Why are you making up excuses for him? If he's being a jerk then he's being a jerk, right?"

Kuroko looked over at him. "Kagami-kun, you're being insensitive."

The pink haired woman laughed, reverting back to her old nickname for her childhood friend. "He reminds me of Dai-chan back in the day: blunt and tactless. It's a little more complicated than that, Kagami-kun. I've known him since we were kids so I have a soft spot for him, I guess. He's got this hidden charisma that just makes people want to follow him and help him succeed, even if he is an idiot."

"That still doesn't mean he can go around acting as he pleases," he grumbled.

Momoi smiled fondly at him. "It's not just me, right? Tetsu-kun, doesn't he remind you of Dai-chan back at Teikou?"

The shorter man nodded in agreement. "At times, he does."

He found it interesting that although the woman was obviously making references to when Kise was alive, she never explicitly mentioned his name even once.

Arriving at an apartment building, his natural reaction was to look up in awe at the sheer size of the place. "Whoa, this place is huge! I guess that's pretty expected for professional athletes." They went into the building and up the elevator to the top floor. "Seriously? He lives in a penthouse? Isn't that a little over the top?"

Momoi gave a little chuckle at his reaction as they stepped out of the elevator. "This is how he likes to flaunt his status, I guess. I think he moved here because it's close to where we used to live." She pointed down to the streets below, "See that court down there? He used to play there on the weekend all the time. I think he still goes down there to shoot hoops every now and then."

Knocking on the door, the three of them waited for awhile. Kuroko blinked. "Maybe he's not home?"

She huffed in annoyance. "No, he's definitely home. If anything, I'll just have to use the spare key he gave me and-"

The door opened and an annoyed man stepped out in nothing but his boxer briefs. "What do you want, Satsuki? You're so loud today! If you must know, I have a guest with a huge rack at my place right now." But then his eyes travelled over to his other guests and stared in disbelief before he exclaimed loudly, "Whoa! Tetsu, is that really you? It's been awhile! You're looking good! Oh? And who's this guy?"

"Hello, Aomine-kun. This is Detective Kagami-kun."

The tanned man raised a brow. "Oh? A detective? Hi, I'm Aomine Daiki."

Trying to not look as amazed as he felt by the other's abode, he cleared his throat and shook the other's hand. "Kagami Taiga."

Aomine ran a hand through his hair a little sheepishly. "Look, detective, Tetsu, I'm not sure why you're here. But again, sorry but I've got someone over right now and she's probably waiting for me so can we talk about whatever this is tomorrow instead? Satsuki's got my number."

His childhood friend frowned in protest. "But I told you hours ago that Tetsu-kun would be dropping by!"

"I must've forgotten or didn't read that text then." Turning to the shorter man, he grinned. "Sorry Tetsu, but a gravure model's waiting for me. I swear, her rack's even bigger than Sa-"

Much to his and Momoi's shock, Kuroko angrily snapped at the professional player and cut him off, "Aomine-kun, this is about Kise-kun."

Aomine gave a slight flinch and visibly froze at the mention of that name. Less arrogantly, he asked in a low tone, "And what about him?"

"They found his body, Aomine-kun. Kise-kun's really gone."

There was a pause before the taller man replied coldly, "Is that it? Don't waste my time by telling me something I already know, Tetsu. And like I said, I'm busy right now, so go home. You too, Satsuki."

Then he stepped back inside and slammed the door shut.