A/N: Yumi strikes again! *slapped* yesincaseyoudidn'tknowi'm4nimenutOTL

So I was having a very... pleasant conversation with Kei on twitter and shE TOTALLY DROVE THIS ANGST HC IN MY HEAD ohmygod

This fic is also heavily inspired by September 11 attacks (You see where we're going now?) This is something like a development of a short drabble I wrote on tumblr; I hope you like it! ^^

Last Breath (Aomine x Kise)

Part 1 - first breath

All over the streets of Japan, the lights blared on, blazing red and blue, as the police on duty continuously ushered people to keep themselves at bay and stay vigilant. At that point of time, crime rate had become even higher worldwide, and it did not help matters that terrorist attacks were on the rise as well. To make matters worse, a new name, the Fukuda Sōgō, has been rapidly rising in power and was most notorious for its extremely violent measures and the atrocities it had committed, all in an effort to gain world recognition after claiming credit that it was them who had 'cleansed their victims of their wrongdoings'. They had bombed countless places and carried out umpteen shootouts as well, forcefully claiming the lives of millions.

Videos of their victims' ruthless murders were taken and broadcasted to the world for all to see, while others watched and cowered in fear at the bloody sight. The authorities had gathered countless times, discussing strategies to counter Fukuda Sougou, but none of them had seemed to work. In an attempt to raise the sense of vigilance within people, the authorities had decided to dispatch the police force to work overtime whenever possible, ensuring the safety of the civilians in their respective countries while coming up with more counteractive measures against the terrorism acts...

...

Or that was what Aomine had remembered what his sergeant had lectured the entire section about, day and night.

"What a drag..."

With a heavy sigh, he flopped his lethargic self onto the sofa, having been dragged down by the heavy burdens and responsibilities of his work. The sky was so dark outside, with shades of the orange sunrise briefly surfacing, he wasn't even sure what time it already was. His eyes hurt like hell, and his entire body wasn't doing so well, either.

It wasn't as if he was working overtime out of his own free will. Rather, he himself had requested to be put in as many shifts as possible so as to have more overtime salary bonus at the end of the month. That day was the last, and he had finally saved up money for something...

"... Aominecchi?"

The voice he had longed to hear for the longest time during his most arduous moments at the station rang in his ears. Barely keeping himself awake, the policeman turned his head just in time to see a blonde standing right before his eyes.

"Ah, Kise," he mumbled, voice chained down by his exhaustion. "What's up? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"More like you should be the one sleeping, Aominecchi!" Kise huffed as he put his hands on his waist, pouting. "It's already five in the morning and I just woke up to get ready for work!" Upon closer inspection, Aomine could barely see Kise dressed in his pilot uniform; white blouse, black pants, with his black tie loosely hanging around his neck.

Kise reached forward and on the count of three, he pulled the exhausted officer up and lifted his arm over his shoulder. "Here, I'll help you to the bedroom, can you manage?"

"Don't bother, Kise," the latter groaned as his body slumped against the pilot's, the energy having been sapped from him. "I've gotta get up in two hours anyway, it's not worth it." His eyes were closing, and he was fighting to keep himself awake for as long as possible, but it was almost impossible to resist the temptations of the soft pillows that awaited him in the bedroom.

"Then you should be sleeping as much as you can! This'll ruin your skin too, y'know?!"

"Dammit, I'm not so obsessive over my skin like you with your goddamned skincare products, Kise!"

"It's not good for your health too! I insist!"

"... Fine," Aomine finally relented. To be honest, he would have chosen to continue bickering with the blonde, but the fatigue was slowly overtaking him, and he could not think straight anymore. To continue would be a foolish decision. Who knows what he could say when he was completely absent-minded?

Kise beamed. "There we go! See, it wasn't that hard, right? Now all we have to do... to..."

Kise's voice began to fade out as Aomine slowly, but surely succumbed to the comfort of the darkness, the warmth of his lover embracing him gently and soothing him to sleep. The exhaustion that had piled up over the past month was finally taking its huge toll on his body, and all he wanted to do now was nothing but sleep it off, ready himself for a new day, and the day where he would finally have enough money for the one thing that has been forcing him to be frugal since forever.

"Oi, Kise!"

The all-too familiar voice of his senior, Kasamatsu, shrilled into his ear, causing the daydreaming blonde to jerk up from his seat.

"Y-Yes, Kasamatsu-senpai?!"

"Geez, what's gone into you? You're overreacting, you idiot." Kasamatsu tapped the clipboard he held in his hand on the blonde's head a few times. "Have you forgotten? We have to get to the meeting room now." He then leant forward and peered at the table. "My, you're already done with the report? That's unusual."

Kise forced out a bitter smile. "Senpai, you think too little of me."

"Ahh, whatever. Hurry up, Takeuchi-san's waiting for us inside. Said that he'd give us a talk on Fukuda Sōgō." At the mention of the name, Kise's breath hitched. He shot a smile at his senior.

"Okay, I'll be there."

"Grab a snack while you're at it. We're on flight duty for Thailand today. We're leaving straight after the gathering."

As Kasamatsu left the office for the meeting room, Kise fingered the stack of papers by his desk. On his face was a troubled look, and his other hand was clenched into a tight ball.

Fukuda Sōgō.

A name which has been rising rapidly in power since the past few months. Countless terrorism cases, each and every one related to this name, have been flooding the police reports ever since its infamous debut in the unwindable crime-themed drama play. Hijacking planes, suicide bombing, gassing of victims, you name it, they'd done it. Videos of violent, merciless murders of innocent lives were streamed online for the internet world to see and to learn to fear them. They were so greatly feared to the point of being internationally known as one of the biggest world's threats. Kise briefly remembered the first time he had been surfing online, and was immediately scarred with the horrific scenes that flickered on his screens. Aomine had barged into the scene, holding him and telling him everything would be alright, and that 'nothing would happen to them because they weren't so unlucky'.

Aomine had told him that it was because of the trouble Fukuda Sōgō was causing that he was working overtime much more often than before. He mentioned, the sooner they could crack down the whereabouts of these particular group of terrorists, the faster Japan could be at peace once more, and the quicker their worries could be put at rest.

"But what if we were the ones being caught up in it?"

He shuddered, before beginning to slap his cheeks in an attempt to wake himself up. This should not be the most of his problems! There must be something else to worry about, like Aomine and his bad tendencies! Like, coming back home so late at night... heck, what if he was philandering behind his back?!

The intercom buzzed, and then...

"KISEEEE! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

Startled, the blonde frantically scooped up the report on his desk and flew out of the room in a hurry. Right now he should be rushing to the meeting room to gain new information of Fukuda Sōgō, not dilly-dallying while thinking about Aomine here! And then, later on, he'll be up and away on his plane, shipping people off to the coastal area where the scenery was of top quality, and then watch the passengers leave the plane with a smile on their faces.

"Coming!"

He had Aomine with him. The love of his life.

He had sworn to protect him when they had gotten together, even if it would cost him his life. With that kind of resolve...

... What could possibly go wrong?

"Aomine, you're going to drill a hole inside the wall soon if you keep shooting the centre of the target with such accuracy. It's scary."

Aomine glanced at the newcomer with a bored look as he set his gun down on the wooden stand. He pulled off his goggles and turned to face an immensely impressed Imayoshi.

"I don't recall you having a voice so piercing to the point that I could hear you during shooting practice," he commented dryly as he stepped out of the cubicle. "And since when have I missed a shot? You underestimate me, four eyes."

"You say that, but the mess you make while shooting at criminals says otherwise."

"Come on, it's not like I didn't get them, right?" Aomine placed a hand to his neck, grumbling at the ache that had snugly rested itself in his sore muscles. Damn that Kise for not waking him up! To think that he still had the audacity to contact the higher-ups and tell them he would be oversleeping! "I still do my job prim and proper, Imayoshi. There's a reason why I have more recognition that you," he snickered with sheer mock.

"I'd prefer you striking out the 'prim and proper' part, thank you very much."

"Who cares about what you think?"

"That hurts, Aomine," Imayoshi replied in a sarcastic way. "Surely you could reduce the harshness in your voice? After all, it's the head sergeant you're talking to right now."

"Whatever." The tanned male turned towards the door. "If you'd excuse me, I have some paperwork to do."

"Go ahead. I don't mind even if you wreck havoc in the station. I'm pretty sure the superintendent wouldn't like the sight, though..."

Ignoring Imayoshi's words, Aomine trudged out of the room. The aftereffects of sleeping in were kicking in, and the tiredness was actually overshadowing his mind. Just as he was thinking of hanging out at the rooftop to take his everyday snooze, he was then attacked by Momoi, secretary of the superintendent. Frantically, she threw her arms around his own and tried to fling him towards the wall, of course with massive failure.

Or at least, that was what it seemed to Aomine.

He forcibly pulled his arm away, wincing in slight pain at the earlier sudden movement.

"Satsuki, what the hell?! That hurt!"

"Dai-chan!" she exclaimed. She was bouncing up and down, like how she usually would, but the grim expression on her face said otherwise. "You have to hurry! Harasawa-san's calling all of us in for an emergency meeting!"

"To where? What can be more important than my beauty sleep? Jeez, and don't go trying to drag me around and pull my arm off in the process. You're going to pay for my medical expenses otherwise." He glared at her in annoyance. "And I told you to stop calling me that around the station!"

"That doesn't matter!" she shrieked, almost hysterically. He then noticed, her complexion was much more paler than usual, and her eyes were widened to the extent that it might bulge out of her sockets. In his entire life, Aomine had never seen Momoi in such a state.

Or could it be...

"... That kindergarten teacher?" he frowned in annoyance. Momoi always had a thing for this guy ever since he had given her a popsicle stick on their chanced encounter just outside the convenience store next to the station. Of all things, he gave her the most luckiest thing in the entire store; the popsicle stick labelled 'Winner'.

"No! Not Tetsu-kun!" she breathed frantically as she tried to calm herself down. "He's got nothing to do with this!" The flustered expression on her face gradually faded away as she caught her breath. "It's... it's..."

Aomine's eyes widened in immense shock at the words that left her mouth. Immediately, he was wide awake.

"... It's Fukuda Sōgō... Another video's up."

Aomine stared at the screen in muted horror as he watched the man on the monitor smirk maniacally while controlling the crane's jib, lowering a cage into a swimming pool. Then, the camera view was shifted to underwater, where, to the Tōō's police squad's horror, three men wearing orange jumpsuits clawed against the cage's bars, as if they were begging to be let out. Their heads were also covered by a black trash bag, so in no time at all, all three had stopped struggling and floated limply inside the water, before another person was thrown into the water. The screen exploded in a fiery mix of orange and red, before static noise overtook the system and plunged the entire video into a black screen.

Tōō's superintendent Harasawa switched the lights back on, watching the shocked expressions of the officers with silent keen eyes. He made no movements, but the troubled creases were evident on his face.

"... And that's another one of their videos," he concluded with a sigh. "I think I don't have to tell you what to do." He then slammed his palm on the table before him, declaring loudly, "Hunt down any remaining traces of Fukuda Sōgō. Their most recent tactic is suicide bombing, as you can see from their uploaded footages. This could mean that their numbers might have dwindled quite a bit. If we could just get a hold of who's commanding them, then we might just hit the jackpot."

Wakamatsu immediately leapt on his feet. "Why should we keep searching for clues?! Can't we just narrow down the list of areas they've already attacked and predict where they'll hit next?!"

"Idiot, do you think things would be that easy?" Imayoshi leant his chair backwards, supporting himself with an empty table just behind him. "There are 195 countries in the world, and let's not even talk about states and regions. Do you think with such a large number, we can track them down?"

"... While I will not deny that it's an arduous task, shouldn't there be some sort of pattern in their attacks?" Susa stroked his chin as he eyed the static on the screen. "There should be some sort of aim in their attacks; like, for example, to assassinate the leader or some sort?"

"I will not exclude that as a possibility. But unfortunately, it seems as though the attacks are happening at random." Harasawa sighed in frustration. "There's an attack in Shinjuku, Ginza, even outside of Japan such as Egypt, America, and so on. I'm really sorry, but I can't see any connection to it. Would anyone like to enlighten us further on how we can approach this?"

There was a collective silence that resonated in the ears of the room's occupants.

"... I see."

Suddenly, Momoi shot up from her seat, dragging her chair back with a noisy groan. Her intense gaze was fixed at the monitor of her laptop. Her lips were pursed, and the look on her face was one that could not be taken lightly.

"Harasawa-san," she announced, her voice laced with graveness, "I received a voice message from Interpol, Rakuzan branch. They've sent this out to the rest of the police branches in the whole Japan area." She hurriedly walked to the front, grabbing the audio cable and plugging it into the USB port of her laptop. With a single click, there was shallow breathing that echoed out from the speakers. All the officers held their breaths, awaiting whatever things that could happen next.

"I-If it was sent to every single police station, i-it must b-be serious!" Sakurai stammered as he leant forward, his folded arms barely supporting his shivering body weight on the table.

"... Yeah, I know, Sakurai."

There was more static, then the raspy breathing of someone filled the room.

"Ehehe..."

"?!"

"Interesting... It's such a drag to watch you police mice scurrying about and trying to locate us Fukuda Sōgō." There was hysteric laughter, which immediately threw the officers off their composures. Wakamatsu leapt up in rage, but Imayoshi swatted a hand before him, signaling him to stop and listen first.

"You will never be able to stop up, even if you weaklings try so hard! AHAHAHA!" More ragged breaths that gave off deafening static noises from the speakers. "Hey, little police officers, how about we play a game? I'll give you a little clue; I'm swanking my plentiful life right now at Paris, where the Eiffel Tower is such a beauty, and where I can bone all the busty women I want!"

"That bastard!" Aomine growled, the recorder's voice grating on his ears painfully. Who dared to talk about busty women right before him?! And in such a dirty manner, in fact... He then slapped himself mentally, cursing himself for thinking of such things while currently dealing with a potential threat to the world at that moment. Besides, he already has Kise, and that's all it should matter...

"I'll let you in on a secret... we're going to have a little fun right here. In Paris. Maybe you'll see the tower fall like the London Bridge!"

More hysteric laughter.

"Or maybe a small bird would fly past from Paris to Tokyo! And then when you realise and try to salvage the situation, you will never know..."

Without saying anything, Momoi swiftly flipped her notebook open, immediately jotting down notes at a furious speed. Her focus was unwavering, and the friction from her pen was almost burning the lined paper.

"...the Kantei might just go... 'boom'! HAHAHAHA!"

Susu and Harasawa listened intently, not making any movements. However, their widened eyes of pure shock and horror were more than enough. The terror of the threat that descended upon Tōō's police force was one not to be reckoned with, not to be taken lightly. They had seen too much, heard too much to even think otherwise. This was clearly a serious threat; and it was more than crystal to even point out that they were being mocked at. And for that very reason, even Imayoshi. the most sly of them all, was starting to feel very pissed.

"Fufufu... Try all you might, but you will fail."

Aomine's trembling hand gripped the edge of the table tightly as he held his breath, tensely waiting for the finale.

"I look forward to the day where I can paint Japan with the beautiful crimson of higanbana."

Translations:

Kantei : Refers to the residence of the President of Japan

Higanbana: Refers to 'red spider lily' - the flower of death in Japan