Title: Boiling Point

Summary: Aomine was just so sick of everyone's expectations and false notions towards him. He simply wanted some peace and quiet for a change. Drabble. Set when Aomine is in Touou, some time after the Touou VS Seirin match at the Inter-High.

A/N: I do not own KNB or the cover picture for this story.

Aomine was frustrated.

He was just utterly exasperated with all the words of accusation that people left, right and center were shooting at him. Tetsu claimed that he had changed, that he was no longer passionate about basketball, which was true to some extent, but could Tetsu even understand his feelings? It was true that he wasn't as enthusiastic about basketball as he was during their days in Teikou. But that didn't mean that he had stopped loving basketball. He loved basketball with all of his heart, which was precisely why he changed. He changed because he was disappointed that there was no one who could match up to his immense potential. It sickened him to see teams cowering in defeat, not even bothering to try. Or worse, when their limit wasn't even barely enough to suppress him. It was this kind of despair and loneliness that led him to become more and more jaded and believe in those cursed words, "The only one who can win against me, is me."

In the past, whenever he set foot on the court, the mere sound of the ball bouncing on the floor and the squeak of shoes as players made sharp turns were enough to set his blood on fire. He could feel the itch in his fingers, the passion in his soul, that made him look forward to trainings and simply enjoy playing basketball. Yet nowadays, the fire in his soul was starting to cool with each and every match that they played. He only felt dread at the sure prospect of victory. It wasn't that he disliked victory, who would? What he disliked were easy victories, pointless ones where your opponent doesn't even bother to put up a fight. Aomine hated those kinds of victories. They were hollow and empty and meaningless to him. It was as though the enemy had already put up a white flag at the start of the war and there was no war left to be fought.

Each passing day seemed to be more and more of a burden to him; with each passing day, he only reaffirmed that his elusive search for an opponent who could challenge him and reignite his passion would be fruitless. Kagami Taiga had almost managed to accomplish that, but he fell short by a hair's breadth. It was as if God had bestowed hope to him only to stomp it to pieces and shove reality brutally in his face. If that was the case, he much rather wished that he had not experienced any semblance of hope at all. It would certainly be far kinder than allowing him to feel a slight sensation of it, only to immediately rob it away.

Aomine sighed.

That was enough thinking for a day. Thinking about this confusing shit just pissed him off more and more. He decided to take a nap instead.

Aomine closed his eyes and willed his body to relax as he lay back on a soft patch of grass. For now, for just a fleeting moment, he could forget about all his troubles as he deluded himself into sleep.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this short drabble! A review would be very much appreciated! ^^