"Go ahe... ad... go ahead and abandon me," Kise chocked out the words like it caused him physical pain. His lower lip trembled slightly. He stood shoulders tense and back arched against the wall like a cornered animal.
"Kise – " Aomine said haltingly. He stood at the doorway, still wearing his uniform, too exhausted to find the right words. It was almost midnight. There had been two armed robberies in the last twenty-four hours, and his right shoulder was badly bruised in a scuffle with one of the assailants.
"You're tired of me aren't you? All of you are! That's why you're spending all those nights with Momoi!" Kise's voice rose into a wail, and his fists shook with fury. His head was lowered, so his eyes were covered by his bangs, but Aomine was sure that idiot had been crying again. Has he not been eating regularly? His shoulders looked even thinner than usual.
"No, I'm not," Aomine said firmly, and took a few steps towards Kise.
"Why would I believe you? Didn't I see you with Momoi the other day when you said you were busy? I still can't satisfy you, can I? If you want to fuck her just say so! No one's forcing you to be here!" Kise raved, and waved his hand accusingly. There was a glint of cold metal in the flurry of movement, and Aomine realised, as the pit of his stomach plummeted, that Kise was holding a knife.
Aomine stretched out his hand to put it on Kise's shoulder. "Look Ryouta, put down the knife first," he said gently. But Kise shrunk away, and glared up at Aomine ruefully. "Why should I? Are you afraid that I'll hurt you? I look just like a mad man don't I? Then you should walk out! Because, because - " Kise right hand trembled slightly and he swung the knife dangerously close to his left arm.
"- Because all this time you've been moving forward, haven't you? All of you have? And what am I now? I'm still just some pretty face on the covers of magazines... I'm stuck... going nowhere..." Kise sank to the floor, his shoulders slumped, the hand holding the knife lay on his lap.
"Kise, you're an accomplished international model..." Aomine said softly, and knelt down beside him. With one hand he ruffled Kise's blond hair, while his other hand reached out cautiously to take away the knife. "Accomplished what? You- " Kise swung the kitchen knife up in agitation. Aomine lunged forward to grip his wrists, but Kise was surprisingly strong, a sharp pain shot through Aomine's shoulder and his grip slipped. The next thing he knew was that a warm slippery liquid was spilling from his side, and a second later Aomine felt a burning sensation spread around his midriff.
"Kkise don't freak out," Aomine said, his voice slightly hoarse. Kise turned even paler than usual, his eyes fixed on the wide gash on Aomine's side. I hurt him, Kise realised with a shudder, the most important - I fucking –
"Ryouta. Ryouta, look at me. II'm fine, just get me a towel to stop the bleeding," Aomine was breathing too fast, a thin film of perspiration was beginning to gather on his forehead. The overnight shifts, Kise being hurt and hurting himself, the throbbing pain on his side and his shoulder - it was all adding up, and Aomine suddenly felt to tired to lift a finger, too tired to even breath.