The Time Traveler
Note: If Kise and Aomine's game ended a little differently.
I can't avoid it anymore! It will always be a loose end! And no matter how much I wish it hadn't happened, it will never have not happened. It'll always be…unfinished.
-Robin Sherbatsky (How I Met Your Mother)
Vancouver, Washington (USA)
September 17th, 2016
22:00
It's useless.
Aomine walked around the semi-lit sidewalk elevated from the rocky shores of the Columbia River in Vancouver. The rest of his team was out visiting the local bar celebrating their recent victory of their first official match, one that had come out of nowhere and wasn't part of any sort of league or championship. Because of the late time most of the civilians had already gone to bed, and now he was walking alongside a group of town homes, their gardens on his right and the beach on his left. The night was beautiful and a Harvest Moon rose high into the sky.
It's like you're not even trying.
"Isn't it great?" Aomine jumped and turned, having not noticed the blond teen sitting among the flowers. He looked young—maybe seventeen or eighteen, with a pretty face and long eyelashes. His skin was creamy and flawless without any visible pores. "The Harvest Moon, I mean. Isn't it?" Golden eyes shone brightly in the darkness.
You've given up? Do you want me to win?
"Y-Yeah…" Aomine agreed. Usually he kept to himself but there was something very inviting about the blond, like they already knew each other or something. His legs moved by themselves as he walked and sat down next to the other. "Not to be rude…but have we met before?"
So pathetic. What happened to you?
"Yes, actually, I'm Ryouta Kise." The blond smiled a little sadly. "I went to your middle school, Teiko, in Japan."
You used to be amazing. Now?
"But you're here in America…?" He took a closer look at the blond. He was sweating more than a little bit and his eyes were watery. He wore basketball shoes and shorts that were blue and white, and a thick black north face that was zipped up all the way to his chin. But he missed the red, bloodshot eyes and vocal slur that druggies did, so Aomine deemed him safe.
You're nothing.
"Modeling." Kise paused. "Well, actually I'm here with a few friends…we—we had some things to take care of that were important to us."
You'll never win.
"Ah." Whatever. None of that made any sense so Aomine didn't try to understand it. "Care to elaborate, model-kun?"
You'll only ever fall.
"H-Hey! Don't tease me!" Kise's face scrunched up in a flowery, adorable way that made Aomine pinch his cheeks and laugh. Tears bunched up around the rims of Kise's eyes when he let go. "We all…can I ask you something?"
Like I could ever care about someone as weak as you.
Aomine was annoyed at the change in topic but decided to roll with it. "Sure, what the hell."
I can't even pity you.
"Who's the most important person to you?"
You're worthless.
"Eh?" Aomine scratched the back of his head and thought about it. "Momoi."
He glanced over and saw Kise laughing cheekily. "I didn't think you'd admit it~I remember how you two were in middle school."
Using your knee as an excuse.
"Yeah, well." He sighed. "Why do you ask?"
Stop running away from me.
"Because what if she was hurting? A lot. Something that you tried and tried to help her with, but couldn't." Kise's smile faltered and Aomine's own grin slipped off his face.
You're upset because you know I'm right.
"I'd find whatever was hindering me and destroy it and I'd save her." He stated plainly. "What is this about?"
Stop expecting me to go easy on you.
"I—nothing. Thanks; you really helped a lot. You can go now, if you like." Kise gave him a tired half-grin. "It's fine, since we never knew each other that well anyway."
You're so annoying.
"Are you sure?" Aomine asked carefully, standing up and offering his hand. Kise didn't take it. "I could walk you to a more populated place. It doesn't seem dangerous here but…"
You can't even play one-on-ones with me anymore.
"No, it's fine." Kise shook his head. "My friends are close by and are coming to pick me up as we speak. And…" He gestured helplessly to his knee. "I can't. Stand, that is. My knee is, um...I can't use it very well any more."
Just stop trying.
"Oh." Aomine frowned. "Alright then. Well, I hope you have a good career, I guess." He began to walk away. "Nice meeting you, model-kun."
You'll never reach me.
"Yeah." Kise nodded. Aomine pretended not to see the tears dripping down his face and the sobs wracking his body. Instead he backtracked to the bar his friends were at and slid in next to them at the booth, and promptly spit out his drink when he saw a certain blond model happily receiving a reward on television for his career. In the corner was the location and date: Los Angeles, California September 17th, 2016 10:14 p.m. How the hell…?! He felt like there were memories stuck in his head that he needed to recall—for the blonde's sake. But they wouldn't come. A light grin and a voice pleading for one-on-ones echoed like shadows in his mind.
A picture of a perfect blonde figure, coated in sunlight and warmth and begging him for practice.
You'll never win.
A dejected, empty face of a person so hollow and unfeeling they were frightening.
"You alright, man?" The small forward of their team, Andrew, asked and wrapped an arm around Aomine's shoulders, shaking him out of his reverie. His dark blue eyes searched Aomine's worriedly. "You look a little sick."
You'll never beat me.
"Just need another drink." The bluenette muttered in anguish, and downed the half-full glass in front of him.
The only one who can beat me is me.
Portland, Oregon (USA)
September 17th, 2016
22:15
"Hey." Kagami sat down next to Kise in the flowerbed and wrapped a comforting arm around the other's shoulders. Kise had tugged off his jacket after getting too hot, discarding it on the sidewalk and revealing his Kaijou jersey. He was still sweating a little bit from the game he'd played earlier, a half-empty waterbottle clutched tightly in his hand. "You okay?"
"Y-yeah." The blond trembled a little bit, still trying to keep in his tears.
Kagami sighed and rolled his eyes. "No, you're not. Come here, idiot." He pulled Kise into his lap and hugged him tightly like a teddy bear, hushing him when he tried to move. He petted Kise's head slowly and let his heat envelop the other.
"I-It's just…It's just so hard to believe that h-he…" Kise sobbed. Kagami grimaced upon thinking back to the game that had been played so recently, yet so long ago.
"I know." He murmured, rubbing Kise's back with his other hand. "I know. Let's…go home." He helped the blond stand and they stood there in each other's arms for a moment. It was an unromantic gesture between friends, a comforting notion bred through proximity and time. They were there suddenly and then not at all.
Teikō Junior High, Tokyo (Japan)
March 4th, 2011
17:00
"I don't get it."
Kise stared at the younger, bubblier version of himself and suddenly wondered how he was so popular. "I'm you from the future, here to help someone you care about."
"Huh? Who?" Young Kise raised an eyebrow curiously. "Is she pretty?"
"His name's Aominecchi Daiki. And yes, he's very pretty." Kise leaned back in the chair. It was very nostalgic to stop and see himself back in Junior High before everyone had lost their way. He wouldn't let that happen—not if he could help it. And after getting a visit from future-future-Kise, without him the others would never have lost it. He wouldn't have been there to challenge Aomine and fuel his power and drive. He wouldn't have been there to drive everyone apart.
Kagami didn't agree with it. He'd argued with Kise's plan until the very end, until Kuroko had given up and left for the week to sort his mind, and Akashi stopped leaving intimidating voicemails on Kise's home phone, and until Midorima and Takao stopped dropping by for a quick bite to eat. He'd argued until Murasakibara abandoned them all to expand his pastry business in the U.S, dragging a lovesick Himuro with him. He'd argued until Momoi and Riko began to ease up their texts and emails, asking how Kise was doing.
He'd argued until he finally realized that Kise was never going to stop having nightmares about that dreadful night.
In the end, it was Kagami who knew it was inevitable; Kise weakly arguing the decision in vain in his place.
"I'm gay?" Teenager-Kise blinked. "Okay…tssu. So what am I supposed to do?"
"You…" Kise bit his lip and looked down. "Do you like basketball?"
"Not really," Teenager-Kise rolled his eyes with a bored expression. Older Kise wondered how long he would have to walk around with that expression, uninterested in the world and all it had to offer. He rubbed his aching knee and blinked slowly. "Why?"
"Don't play it." Kise leaned forward, making eye contact. He'd prepared himself for this, but now…it was like he was losing them all. Aomine was no longer the singleton to open the doors to claim the title of Miracle. It was all of them. Together.
Without him.
"Okay?"
"I'm serious. You hate it. You join it because you think it'll be fun, and it is at first. And then…" He had to do this. He had to lie. "Your teammates are bad. I never should have trusted them. They hurt you, they lie to you, they manipulate you…one gets you into bed saying he loves you and—" His throat dies out for a minute, the lie freezing. "And then he leaves you. You lose the ability to walk properly, permanently. As in forever."
"What does this have to do about someone I care about?"
"I can't say." Kise looked back down. "You have to listen to me…"
"I am." Kise looked up in shock. Young Kise yawned like this was no big deal at all. "Basketball never meant anything to me before, so it's no big deal if I never start it, right? Besides, those guys I play with sound like assholes. So it's probably for the best."
"It—yes. It is." Kise blinks back tears. "Okay…goodbye."
"What do you—" Young Kise stops yawning, opening his eyes.
He is alone in the classroom.