Comfort   von Gepo
                            (Twin-story to "Hurt")
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                      Kapitel 8: Consequences of silence
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In hindsight it was laughable that the one who finally brought them together was
Midorima Shintaro. The one most inept at talking, interacting, even having an
interest in humans was their matchmaker – his saving grace was that he had
never planned on it. It began with a text message in which the other asked if
they could meet. A most peculiar message for reasons stated above but Kuroko
thought it must have to do with having a sociable boyfriend. Maybe Takao had
forced him into contacting at least one person on a regular basis or something.
Kuroko was not exactly sure what the other saw in Midorima but he had no doubt
that those two shared a deep and lasting relationship. One had to be blind an
deaf not to notice how the green-haired changed in a matter of months. He had
only blanched when Himuro had cooked his lucky item at the party last week and
let it go afterwards. That was huge for Midorima.
They met for a basketball double-date, Takao and Midorima against Kagami and
Kuroko. They ended up with Kuroko explaining misdirection to Takao and Kagami
teaching Midorima some of that “wild” play. Kagami's face was hilarious when
the other asked him about throwing angles, rotation speed and air resistance.
Somehow Kuroko was not surprised that Midorima had calculated all his shots'
aerodynamic values. After they got some ice-cream, him and Kagami were talking
about their last game when Midorima said: “Next time I won't play you when I
am still sick.”
“You what?” The red haired turned to him with a shocked expression. “You
were sick? I didn't even notice.”
“I had a cold two weeks before our game and was still under the weather.”
The green-haired smirked. “You won't get off as easy the next time.”
“Man, you are unbelievable. I can't believe how horrible it must have been for
people to play Teiko. No wonder everyone seems broken when they talk about
losing to you in middle school. Akashi alone was horrible enough.”
“Akashi is special.” Kuroko agreed. “With teamwork, we would have
overtaken the JBL.”
“We could still do that.” Midorima smiled at him – actually smiled, it
even looked convincing. “Do you want to issue a challenge to them in our
name?”
“I would like to relax for a bit more first.” Somehow Riko's training and
playing streetball afterwards had become his version of a relaxed life.
“Winning against you all has been my focus and reason for a long time. Now I
have to sort through my priorities.” Mating Kagami was on the top of his list
but what else did he want? He was so content right now. He just didn't know.
“Will you be alright?” The other suddenly turned serious. Had he actually
gotten that? When had Midorima become perceptive?
“Thank you for asking.” Kuroko's smile turned to a slightly melancholic one.
“I was able to close the chapter called Aomine. I am not too sure about the
other one right now. It will take more time I think.”
Kagami looked at him with a questioning gaze. Yes … he still had to tell him
about his past. Everyone else knew, at least everyone from his middle school
time. Even Takao knew. He just had to, it wasn't fair to leave him in the dark
forever. But when he could not even tell the other he wanted to stay with him
forever, how could he tell him about six abortions, gangrapes and his
not-exactly-relationship with Aomine?
“I would like to close my own.” Midorima interrupted his thoughts. “Would
you help me one last time?”
“Of course.” Hopefully it wasn't too hard. He trusted the other not to ask
something unreasonable, Midorima was pretty decent for a rapist. It wasn't like
you could exactly put the label “offender” on him when he was victim as
well. “What is it?”
“As you know I hate that I couldn't control my Alpha instincts. I have trained
that as well. For months now I have not been influenced by people's scents
anymore. I could even pass by Omegas without a reaction. I have not tested
myself on a full blast of Omega pheromones though. Would you loosen the control
on your scent for me to test myself?”
That was … surprising. It was Midorima's ultimate horror to loose control. To
actually ask for that, he had to trust his skills a lot. So it was an easy
decision: “Sure.”
He heard Takao sharply draw in his breath. So he had not known his boyfriend
would ask that. It must be hard to be with an Alpha when you were a Beta. Every
Omega could just snatch your boyfriend away, you would have no chance. Midorima
was doing this for himself as much as for Takao. It was cute in it's own special
way.
“Kagami, if Midorima attacks me, please try not to kill or maim him. You are
strong enough to simply hold him until I rein in my pheromones again.” The
other seemed pretty resistant to hormones, he had not reacted to Himuro after
all. He had not even noticed his brother was an Omega.
“Err … okay?” Kagami scratched his neck. “You are an Omega?”
Well. Yes. That answered some questions Kuroko had not voiced until now. So
Kagami had not noticed … no wonder he had never asked about mating before. He
wasn't a gentleman, he was simply thick as an European door. He said so when
Takao seemed close to facepalming.
“Oi, how should I notice my own brother suddenly … well.” Kagami became as
red as a tomato. “I mean you don't expect your brother to develop such
feelings.”
“Himuro is with Murasakibara now, right?” Takao asked.
“Yes, after Kagami still did not notice a thing, even after meeting again,
Himuro mated with our old friend.” That one did have an affinity for airheads
but at least his mate wasn't exactly holding back his feelings. It must be
reassuring to have your lover's eyes on you all the time. “Murasakibara isn't
exactly intelligent but he is reliable when you tell him it is important. He is
certainly not the worst choice as a partner.”
“I do question your taste. Though it is not as if your own choice was a fine
example of brain power.” Midorima remarked with a scoff while looking at the
redhead. “Why you two who could have everyone chose nothing but muscle is
beyond me.”
“It is about taking responsibility.” Kuroko smiled slightly. “That has
become more and more important the older I got.” He stiffened a bit, still
surprised that the other had not shown any reaction yet. He had released his
pheromones bit by bit and already reached about fifty percent of what he could
do.
“True.” Midorima seemed lost in though for a moment. Maybe he remembered
Aomine. “In that case I understand completely.”
“How do you two do?” Kuroko felt compelled to ask. Sixty.
“I am not sure how to answer that question. As you can see, Takao is still
with me. I don't think you are inquiring about our sexual activities, so what do
you want to know?” That sounded so purely Midorima, he felt like laughing but
he knew the other was completely serious.
“Do you quarrel?” The first question had merely been a nicety but this was
something he was actually interested in. How did a relationship with someone
like Midorima work? He upped his pheromones again.
“Not that I know of. What is the definition of quarreling? He does annoy me
sometimes.” Well, that was Midorima for you. He did not comprehend human
interaction if he wasn't explained what it was about.
“Err, Kuroko? Kagami looks strange.” Takao said.
While he was still on the last word, all seemed to happen at once. With a jump
even more impressive than anything before Kagami was lunging for Kuroko.
Midorima stepped in between, stopping the bull-rush and being knocked at least
two meters backwards for his effort. He closed his arms around his abdomen to
brace for the impact, landing with a crash and sliding further for at least half
a meter.
Kuroko stared for a second, having already taken a step back by instinct, before
his survival instincts kicked in. Run! Run, you fool! His head urged him to go
fast, faster. Outrunning an Alpha was impossible but with a head start he might
make it … where? Where should he go? Pheromones … water. He needed to get
them washed off. A fountain! Damn, no water. A pond? Yes, there was a pond.
Why hadn't Kagami already gotten him? He did not dare to turn. Maybe Midorima
had grabbed him. Please have someone hold him back, he needed to make it to the
lake. He did not want to be raped again, not even by Kagami. Especially not by
Kagami. That was not how he wanted to be mated. He wanted to take it slow, make
it nice, make it painfree.
Kagami gave off the scream of an enraged animal, quite a bit behind him. Someone
must have grabbed him. Midorima screamed – even farther behind. Did Takao grab
Kagami? Oh gods, Kagami would kill him. He ran faster, faster than his legs
would ever carry him on a basketball court.
“Run, Kuroko!” Takao managed to scream in absolute horror. Thank god, he was
alive. He must have let go.
So Kagami was free. Kuroko felt every hair on his neck stand up. He saw the
pond. It was so near. But he could hear the other, hear him sprint, hear him
gain on him. He would not, could not, he had to, he jumped-
Kagami had him. A hand on his leg, he would be- the hand let go. He heard
another voice roar before he was engulfed in unbelievably cold water. He dived,
swam, gained distance. Gods, it was so cold. A hand grabbed his clothes, ripped
at them. He flailed, tried to stay underwater, dived again but Kagami was
stronger. His shirt was in tatters, a hand on his leg, one on his jeans, no,
please not, please-
Kagami was gone with a crash he could even hear underwater. Two fighting figures
went under beside him. He turned and swam away. It must have been Midorima, he
was massive enough to give even Kagami a fight. Why was it always Midorima who
saved him in these situations? He saved him so often and still blamed himself
for being unable to save Aoki. No one could have saved Aoki, Aomine had been far
to fast for … not now.
He got up and gasped for breath before sinking back into the water. He saw the
two Alphas still fighting, Kagami throwing a punch at Midorima and knocking him
back quite efficiently. He stilled after that though. He looked at the other for
a moment before he held out a hand to help him up. The green-haired simply took
it without any hesitation. Only after that did he look around and found Kuroko
who was underwater up to his nose.
“Oh God.” Kagami began to tremble, looking at him in horror. “I … I am
so sorry, I … Kuroko.” Well, yes, he knew that routine. At least Kagami had
not raped him and stood above his bleeding body. It was far harder to react
coolly in such a situation.
“Your control is splendid, Midorima.” He stood and nodded to the other.
“Thank you for protecting me twice. Thank you as well, Takao.” He bowed to
him. Midorima was an Alpha, he was strong enough for such situations but the
Beta could have been killed. “Are you hurt?”
“Just a bit bruised.” Takao only had eyes for his boyfriend. “Are you
okay, Shin-chan?”
That one seemed annoyed at best, a bit grumpy, a bit mad at himself, but mostly
okay. He took in his surroundings and then himself. “I want dry clothes.”
The green-haired stepped out of the water. “We will catch a cold if we stay
like this.” What a Midorima thing to say. Well, being rational had it's pros.
“Quite right.” Kuroko followed him, beginning to shiver before he even left
the water. He would look at Kagami in a minute. Just a moment to compose
himself. “Is anyone living nearby?”
“I do.” Takao nodded. “I'll run and get our bags. Shin-chan, take them
straight to my flat.”
“I will.” Midorima followed him out of the water.
Kagami did not. Well, this was it. He had to turn. He had to face that sight
again. A guilty Alpha, blaming himself for losing control. He had never wanted
to see Kagami like that … and it was all his fault. How could he have been
this stupid? Even with a splendid control, Kagami was still an Alpha. Only
because Midorima did not react did not save him from another Alpha. It was his
fault this had happened. He should turn and take the blame off of Kagami.
“Kagami?” Kuroko turned to the now silently crying boy still standing in the
water. “Would you please carry me? I feel cold like this and you are naturally
hot-blooded.”
The redhead looked up with eyes asking, no, crying for forgiveness, afraid of
being hated, afraid of being rejected. He was such a good man. How could he have
done that to him? But saying so would not convince Kagami it was alright. This
was too horrible for that. He had destroyed Kagami's trust in himself. This was
his work, his guilt.
“Come out, Kagami, before you get a cold.” Midorima supported him. He knew
what this was like. He had been so broken after he raped Kuroko for the first
time. It had been the first time he had regarded the green-haired as human.
“Idiots don't get colds.” Kuroko deadpanned.
“True enough.” The other nodded. “You'll carry Kuroko the whole way as
punishment. Now come out before he loses the rest of his clothes from
shivering.”
Oh yes, his shirt was gone. His jeans was ripped too. It was barely hanging on
his hips as the zipper was broken. He held it with one hand. A gust of wind
reminded him how cold it was. Jumping into a pond in February … well, it was
better than being raped on the frozen ground.
Kagami jumped into action after a moment, coming near with long strides. Kuroko
had to hold himself back from flinching by tensing up. The other slowed down,
opened his arms before he gently picked him up, one arm around his upper body,
the other around his hip to lift him up. He ended up pressed against Kagami's
warm body just like he wanted. He let out his breath, relaxing his muscles and
sinking against the warmth.
Midorima directed them to Takao's flat in silence.

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