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Momoi had been nice enough to help him pack his things into three neat little bags and four boxes stuffed to the brim with all the little knick knacks he'd collected over the years. It was a long process that had taken a few days but Momoi was unsurprisingly patient with him and it actually went by quite fast and, before he knew it, his car was packed and ready for departure.
Midorima had somehow agreed to see him off as well, which was nice, considering his friend from junior high always seemed too busy for Kise since he opened his own practice. He had given him a gift according to his horoscope for the day – a green kitten keychain that Kise immediately choked up over before placing on his phone – and told him to stay out of trouble and take his vitamins. Kise hugged him and although Midorima cursed at him to stop; Kise held on for awhile longer.
His two friends waved for as long as Kise's rearview mirror had them in sight and Kise allowed himself to let a few tears loose as he maneuvers through the city. They had been two important people in his life for the past six months – probably the only two people that had stayed true friends during this entire clusterfuck. Kise would probably call them every night just to tell them how thankful he was for them.
…
He arrived at the sleepy town of Namimori long after sundown. It was originally supposed to only take him two hours to find his new apartment but with so many cute little cafes and souvenir shops, how was he supposed to focus? When he finally arrived at his new place, he had only to turn on his model face and the landlady soon forgot her anger at having to miss her evening drama for this. She had gave him the key and with a slimy grin, told him that if he needed anything at all, to call her.
The house was of the traditional sort on the outskirts of town, surrounded only by trees on one side and, on the other, a public bath and the inn the landlady and her husband owned. Town was within walking distance, maybe five or ten minutes? It had a cozy sort of feel to it, made of deep dark oaks with shrubbery hugging the sides.
As Kise fingered the key he wondered what sort of roommates he would have. There were no apartments in town and the only place that was renting a room was here. After seeing the photograph, Kise had eagerly agreed to it (which Midorima later scolded him for his hurried decision making) without even asking what sort of people lived there.
And, looking back on it, he probably should have asked about them, because his first glance at his two roommates was a massive cock and a tape measure.
"Um." Kise dropped his bag and felt his face break out in a cold sweat.
"Oh hey!" The man that had been on his knees, tape measure in hand, jumped up to his feet and all but skipped to Kise. The man with his pants around his ankle – as nonchalantly as possible – pulled up his pants and joined them in the entry way.
"Um." Kise repeated, taking in the two before him. One was shorter with black hair pushed back by a bright yellow headband. He had a white tanktop on with a pair of pink shorts. The tape measure still dangled in his hand. The other was taller, just a few centimeters taller than Kise with dark skin – a foreigner? – and short dark hair. He looked bored and not at all embarrassed at the fact that he had just been walked in on without any pants on.
"I'm Takao Kazunari. Nice to meet 'ya!" Takao grabbed Kise's hands and shook them happily. "This is Aomine Daiki –" A bored 'yo' came from the taller one "- We were wondering when you were gonna get here! Granny was yelling at us over it and we were like, 'Oh my god, Granny, chill!' But she was, like, nagging us over it and man, it's good to see you."
Kise felt himself grin a little at how much energy this guy had. He could just image how different he was than his two friends that he had left back home.
"I'm Kise Ryouta. Please take care of me!" Kise bowed, temporarily forgetting about the scene that he had just walked in on.
"Well, let us show you to your room!" Takao grabbed Kise's hand again and led him through the back hall. "You'll love it here. It's real quiet but that's what's good about it. Although, I hear you're from the city, so I don't know how it'll compare. Hey – haven't I seen you somewhere?"
Kise vigorously shook his head, feeling his cheeks redden. "No, no, um, yes I'm from the city, but I doubt you've seen me before." Kise pushed the glasses he had brought as disguise further up his nose like Midorima usually did when he was annoyed and continued to shake his head.
"Are you sure? You look familiar, right, Mine-chan?"
Aomine stood in the doorway of Kise's new room, leaning against the wall. "Not really," he yawned.
Takao just shrugged and gestured around the room, showing Kise the futon and how to work the space heater. Somewhere along the tour, Aomine had slipped out, leaving Kise alone with the little bundle of energy.
"So, why'd you decide to move out here?" They were now sitting on the futon that Takao had insisted on laying out for Kise. It was late and Kise was tired but he didn't really have the heart to tell Takao that he wanted to sleep.
"Oh, you know, I got sick of working as a businessman," Kise shrugged, paying with the corner of the blanket. "I've never lived anywhere but the city, so I thought this would be a good change."
"Yeah, Mine-chan and I are just the opposite." Takao leaned back on his hands. "We've grown up here and only been to Tokyo like twice. Crazy, huh?"
The mention of Aomine made Kise remember the image he had walked in on and found himself blushing. He didn't have any problem with homosexuals – in his industry, they were everywhere and he himself wouldn't really say he would rule out being with a man, but he wasn't expecting his roommates to be a couple. A gay couple.
Kise blushed at a not-so distant memory before pushing away thoughts of the past and asking: "So you and Aomine-san have been together for awhile then?"
"Oh, sure. Our dads were teammates on our schools basketball team and they made us play together all the time when we were little." Takao grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "We've been friends for a long time, even if he's a little bit of a yankee."
"Friends?" Kise quickly regretting saying it out loud.
Takao looked confused for only a second before laughing like a hyena. "Ooooh. Sorry, I guess I should explain." Takao leaned in, winking. "We aren't a couple, I was just measuring his dick cause I didn't believe it was actually as long as he said it was."
"Eh?" Kise felt his ears tingle.
Takao laughed again before standing and heading for the door.
"Sorry, Kise-kun, but this is the kind of idiots you gotta deal with out here in the goonies." Takao laughed again before excusing himself for bed.
Kise laid down, burying his hot face into the pillow, trying to grasp just how different country people were to city people.
Midorima would probably skin him alive if he tried to mention the size of their dicks.
…
Morning came too fast but the soft chirps of the singing birds outside was a welcome alarm clock. Kise stretched, realizing he was still in his travel clothes and quickly showered and changed into a plain t-shirt and jeans. He cleaned his glasses and tucked his newly-dyed black hair under a baseball cap.
Takao and Aomine must still be asleep as Kise left the house in search for food. He passed the inn and stopped for a few minutes to talk with the landlady over trivial matters. He bid her a good day before continuing down the road to town.
Namimori, according to the travel guide he had found in a magazine at the doctor's office, was a quaint little place with traditional values and customs. They offered an inn – the one next door to Kise's new place – and a small Buddhist temple with a beautiful botanical garden on the north side of town that hosted grand festivals in every season. They had local delicacies and hidden treasures littered throughout the streets and, to top it all off, the people were friendly and welcoming to new comers and travelers alike.
Although the travel guide probably was over exaggerating, Kise found himself slowly falling in love with the quiet streets of Namimori. Most buildings were old, made with dark woods or painted dull colors that reflected the woods that surrounded them. A river flowed through the town and offered a beautiful picture as Kise walked along the water's edge. The sun was just barely over the horizon and the air was still early-spring crisp. The cherry blossom had all fallen, painting the ground pink and Kise found himself thinking of home as he sat on a boulder at the edge of the river.
It was a little over a year ago when he first met him. He was tall, strong, good-looking with a smile that made Kise rethink everything. When they first met, it was early spring like this but the cherry blossoms were still in bloom. His finance, a TV host for a popular cooking show, was linked at his arm and they walked through the park. The man was with his own lover, hands linked and as they passed by each other, Kise felt his knees go weak.
A few days later, Kise had had his first experience with a man and so began his downfall from the heavens, at least in the eyes of the public.
But that was over now and here he was, in the small town of not four thousand, sitting, alone, at the water's edge – away from the city, away from everything that had gone terribly wrong, away from photographs, questioning eyes and disappointed faces.
Kise sighed before pulling himself away from the memories.
"Hey! Kise-kun!"
Kise jumped at the sharp voice that ripped through the soft trickle of the river.
"Good morning, Takao-san, Aomine-san." Kise stood as his two roommates approached him. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, when I got up this morning, I noticed that we didn't really have any food to make for breakfast, so I thought that I should go to the grocery store. Mine-chan saw you leave the house when he was coming back from his morning run and said you were in town, so I thought we could all go together!" Takao laughed sheepishly, his cheeks a bit pink, maybe from the crisp air or embarrassment, either way, Kise was touched.
"Yes, that sounds great, I'm starving!"
Takao laughed, leading his two roommates away from the fall cherry blossoms and through the streets of Namimori. A few people were out by now, all staring at the newcomer as Takao paraded him through town.
Finally, after being stopped a few times by old ladies in order to be introduced to the tall, young, blonde, they arrived at the grocery store.
It was a run-down sort of place, with potted plants and some shelves lining the outside. The windows were littered with posters for sales and advertisements for other local establishments. The white paint was chipping and peeling, showing an ash-brown wood that seemed to match surrounding buildings. The actual sign for the store was missing a few letters so it read: K_amats_ Gro_ry.
Kise winced at the overall image of the place, realizing that what Takao said last night about country folk being entirely another breed of people seemed to be true as people freely walked in and out of the market, ignoring the horrible façade. If they'd been in the city, no one would step foot in that place.
Inside, the smells of any normal supermarket hit Kise and made his stomach growl in anticipation. Although things were messy with boxes everywhere and the products weren't neatly placed, a grocery store was a grocery store and, somehow, Kise found it charming as they walked up and down each isle, filling their cart with supplies for a home made up of three males, which included a lot of instant ramen, beef, and beer.
Granted, due to his previous profession, Kise wasn't used to consuming any of that, but he felt himself become giddy with anticipation.
…
"So, it's going good, Kise-kun?"
"My roommates seem nice." Kise was laying on his futon after his first time in a public bath. "Takao-kun – he kept insisting that I call him either that or his first name, aren't people so nice here? – is a nurse at the old people's home and usually works nights, isn't that interesting? And Aomine-kun is a policeman, isn't that cool?"
"Very cool, Kise-kun."
"They're so amazing and nice and friendly and they're really good friends and, oh my god, Momoi, I really like them."
"I'm happy to hear that, Kise-kun."
"Am I boring you?" Although he'd known Momoi since his breakout as a model in high school, and although she had always been loyal to him, she had her own life to deal with, a crazy firefighter husband and a little baby girl on the way, Kise sometimes worried that he was only trouble for her.
"Not at all," Momoi was smiling now, "I'm glad that you are enjoying your new life."
Kise felt his eyes well. His new life. His new life without his friends, his career, his huge apartment. Everything was in the past now and today, right at this moment, he was just Kise Ryouta, an ex-businessman from the city looking for a stress-free life. He had no job now (although he would still be receiving some annuities from his last magazine gig) and no real friends like before.
"It's nice to be able to walk down the street without being judged."
Yes, that was a definite plus with this new life.
Chapter One Complete!
I literally have 20 pages written, so I will be updating quite quickly. Next chapter – meet Senpai!
Reviews would be wonderful! Thank you for reading.
