Title: Chasing Yesterday (1/2)
Writer: Amariys
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Character/Pairing: Aomine Daiki, Kise Ryouta/AoKise
Rating: T
Words count: 3290 words
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke, but I do own this fic and the idea. Any plagiarism will be very frowned upon.
Summary: Rather than the future, Aomine would prefer to chase after yesterday where memories would be waiting for him. He just hadn't expected Kise Ryouta to meet him half-way. AoKise. Complete.
A/N: Beta-ed by the most gracious popsky. Update will be in two weeks time.
"I think … I'm in love with someone."
Aomine Daiki doesn't even bother to acknowledge the statement with immediate response. He merely looks up from his cup, eyes catching the figure sitting in front of him, letting his stare does the talking and makes the figure squirm a bit, before deliberately setting his cup down onto the table and says in the flattest tone he can muster:
"For the sixth time in half a year. Congratulation. Who's the unlucky person now?"
"T-this time it's different! This time I've finally found The One, I'm sure!" Kise Ryouta insists with a voice too loud, attracting the attention from nearby patrons of the small café they're currently in. It doesn't do anything for the twenty-eight years old ex-model though. It's almost as if he doesn't realize the stares at all.
"Amazing. It's exactly the same."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Your statement. Just a month ago when you declared you've found the love of your life again. Oh, wait, it's a bit different. You actually used capitals while saying 'The One' just now, didn't you?"
Aomine tries his best to keep his expression blank, although it's a bit difficult when Kise gapes at him like that; honey brown eyes widened to the size of saucers and jaws dropping without a care about public appearance. He loses the fight against his amusement in the end, letting out a small chuckle that snaps Kise out of his mortification and makes him shut his mouth with an almost resounding snap.
"Careful there, thought you'd catch a fly or two inside that big mouth of yours."
The gentle tease makes Kise purse his lips out in what most people will probably say an adorable sulking pout. He crosses his arms on his chest, brows furrowing so deep Aomine is almost afraid they'll carve a permanent scowl on Kise's pretty face, and says with conviction:
"You're lying. There's no way I'm saying the same thing a month ago. This and that are completely different!"
"Yeah, wanna bet on that?" Aomine fishes out his phone and puts it right at the center of the table. "I have a recording of your statement a month ago saved in my phone. I have concrete proof, Kise."
It's a bluff. No matter how much Aomine enjoys this daily conversation with Kise, he still isn't that obsessed to record the blonde's statement in every chance he gets. Still, he's good at playing pretend, has actually trained this skill for whenever he's interrogating a suspect, so he isn't really surprised when Kise slumps his shoulders down as if defeated.
A sigh escapes from Kise's lips. He puts his chin on the table before chuckling weakly. "I'm that bad, huh?"
"Hey, at least you're still trying to find your soul mate or whatever. That's good, I think. You don't have to look so down."
"I'm not even sure you're praising or teasing me here," grumbles Kise although then a thin smile starts to form on his face. "Thanks for even trying, though."
"Anytime. I'm used to your whines and silly antics, so don't think too much about it." Aomine takes back his phone and puts it inside his pants pocket. He takes a sip of his drink before giving Kise his full attention once again. "Anyway, you still haven't answered my question yet. Who's the unlucky person now?"
"Do you really want to know?" Kise asks dubiously.
Aomine merely shrugs his shoulders. "Might as well. You won't cheer up if I didn't give you the chance to ramble about this person and it's not really a pretty sight to be seen hanging around a sulky grown man."
"That's quite true," concedes Kise with a grin. He then lifts his chin off of the table and straightens up. This time his eyes are glinting with excitement and happiness, faint flush makes his cheeks seem rosy, so full of life, and he once again catches the attention of people around him, but for a totally different reason. Some school girls nearby even start to squeal at each other.
Aomine sometimes wonders if Kise ever realizes the power he has over people, especially when he's practically radiating happiness like this, his voice warm and lilting with joy as he recounts the tale of romance out of those red lips.
"So! That person! I … don't really know his name actually, since we haven't talked that much, but he's so handsome!" Kise starts and he hastily adds the last part when he sees Aomine's eyes narrow in skepticism, as if someone's physical appearance will be a good enough reason for you to not knowing their name. "I've just met him here in this café three days ago. You know, that one day you failed to visit and didn't even bother saying anything to me?"
Aomine flinches a bit because Kise must be intentionally pointing that out. He very rarely skips out on their daily meeting and usually he'll always give Kise some warning ahead if he was otherwise preoccupied. Of course there are exceptions to that and three days ago certainly was one of those exceptions.
"I already apologized about that. Stop holding grudges over small matters, Kise. Besides, if I did come, you wouldn't meet this person, whoever he is, right?"
"Oh. You had a point there. Anyway!" Kise continues on and Aomine snorts, incredulous. How very typical of Kise to jump from one topic to another in a blink of an eye. Kise gives him an unimpressed look for that, but doesn't bother with any reprimands, opting instead to focus his attention to his own story. "Anyway, as I was saying … I was waiting for someone who, as it turned out, would never come, and I was bored almost to death. It was drizzling outside, yeah? And then suddenly the little chime atop the café's door started tinkling and because I was bored, naturally I turned to look and that was when I first saw him!"
Thin, navy eyebrows rise up when Kise's expression turns dreamy. He even lets out a fond sigh just like helpless teenager girls in love. Well, now this is new. The reaction Kise has for his so-called true loves usually isn't this bad. "And then what happened?"
"Well … nothing happened," Kise's voice turns sour. He pouts and plays with his straw idly. "I just saw him, the most handsome man ever. He was tall and well-built. He had dark yet sharp eyes that seemed to pierce right into my soul in the split second our eyes met. His hair was wet due to the rain, but it just framed his face beautifully, softening the edges of his powerful jaws. God, if you were there, I'm sure you'd be captivated too. Sadly, nothing happened except for short eye contact and shared smile. He took a seat at the bar and I wasn't brave enough to come to him, so … yeah."
The story is finished by a very pointed slurp as Kise decides to dump all of his irritation to his drink. Aomine watches with an amused smirk. He's about to say something when he feels his phone vibrating inside his pants pocket. He takes the time to read the incoming message, with a faint frown appearing between his brows for a moment, before dismissing it with a shake of head. Once he has put the phone back, he lifts his head, only to find two bright honey brown eyes watching him very closely.
"Message from your lover?" Kise asks after releasing the straw in his mouth.
Aomine snorts. "I don't have a lover, idiot. It was just a friend, nothing important." He leans forward, hand reaching out slowly as to not startle Kise, although the honey brown orbs are still widening in surprise when his thumb gently caresses the side of Kise's pink lips. Aomine watches as pink stains spread on Kise's milky white cheeks, the blonde obviously uncomfortable with their close proximity, refusing to let Kise go from his steady gaze. Ever so slowly Aomine withdraws his hand and with an obnoxious smile he puts the finger into his mouth, delighting in the way Kise is blushing even deeper.
"You had whipped cream on the corner of your lips."
"Well you could just tell me so!" Kise huffs, covering his blushing face with both hands. "You're so cruel, teasing me like that!"
Aomine just chuckles, obviously delighting in Kise's mortification. He leans back against his chair, drawling lightly, "Sorry. Didn't think that. Anyway, you should really try talking with that handsome stranger of yours soon. You have it bad for him, Kise."
"I know, but I'm not really sure I'll meet him again. Besides, it'll be too embarrassing if I talked to him while you were here."
"Are you trying to chase me away now?"
"Never said that! It's just that … I'll need privacy for that sort of thing, you know? Wouldn't want to embarrass myself in front of you or him."
"You and your goddamn vanity," Aomine rolls his eyes. "Well, guess you're lucky. Two days from now, I won't be able to meet up. I'll be having a business trip of sort for three days. You can test your flirting skill then, if you ever met with that love of your life again."
"You're going on a business trip? Why don't you tell me sooner?" demands Kise. His voice was trembling just barely. He never likes it when their daily meeting is disturbed. For reasons he can't really explain, he always feels insecure whenever he is left alone. It's like Aomine is anchoring him to something precious; something he can't remember but is still there nevertheless, just out of reach.
"Hey, it's just for three days," Aomine says in soft voice. He puts his hand atop Kise's palm, not at all surprised to find it cold and sweaty, squeezing as if he can give Kise strength by doing that. "I will keep contact with you and we'll meet up again before you know it. Besides, you want to get close with Mr. Stranger, right? Maybe this can be your chance. You'll be alright Kise, trust me."
There's still some hesitancy in Kise's eyes as he returns Aomine's gaze. He has no doubt Aomine's telling the truth, but the wariness still doesn't dissipate. There's a small voice inside his head that keeps on yelling at him to not let Aomine go, to keep him by his side forever, but Kise knows he can't give into that voice—he can't be that selfish. Aomine has given Kise so many things. There's no way Kise can bother him more than this.
In the end he manages a smile; small and feeble, but no less sincere. He turns his palm up, linking his fingers together with Aomine's, nodding with a little more conviction than he actually feels. "Yeah, just you see, I'll gain myself one boyfriend once you return! Be careful on your business trip. I don't want to be the last person who saw you or anything like that."
"Yes, because of course you'll be the prime suspect if I end up dead somewhere," says Aomine in flat tone.
"That's still a possibility!" Kise laughs despite himself, acknowledging he's being slightly ridiculous. "I'm serious though. Be careful, be safe. I'll miss you if you don't come back."
"… yeah, I know. I'll come back. I promise."
It's a promise Aomine intends to keep, because he can never bear the thought of disappointing Kise and he will miss the idiot too. They exchange smiles at one another after that, taking and giving comfort for their future separation—no matter how short it'll be—and none of them says anything about their hands which are still linked together.
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Kuroko Tetsuya (16.28): Aomine-kun
Kuroko Tetsuya (16.28): Kagami-kun will have days off in two more days
Kuroko Tetsuya (16.28): You still want to come over?
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Aomine Daiki (19.44): yeah sure
Aomine Daiki (19.44): sorry
Aomine Daiki (19.44): late reply
Aomine Daiki (19.45): was with Kise
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Kuroko Tetsuya (19.47): How is Kise-kun?
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Aomine Daiki (19.48): fine
Aomine Daiki (19.48): said he met someone
Aomine Daiki (19.48): The One.
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Kuroko Tetsuya (19.49): Are you alright with that?
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Aomine Daiki (20.20): ofc
Aomine Daiki (20.20): why shouldn't i
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"We are dating!"
Aomine, who is about to take a seat on the park bench beside Kise, halts his movement in order to give Kise a look of total incredulity. It takes him about five seconds before he resumes movement, finally planting his ass firmly onto the bench. Still catching Kise's eyes, he then says in slow manner, as if he believes Kise has brain damage, "No, we are not. I've just returned from my business trip and there was no talk about dating anywhere in our messages. Sorry to disappoint, but we most certainly are not dating, Kise."
"Of course we're not dating, duh!" Kise rolls his eyes dramatically, but it isn't enough to dampen his spirit, it seems, because not a second after, a shit-eating grin has appeared on his face and there are more sparkles inside his honey brown eyes than anything Aomine has ever seen before. "I mean Shigeru-san and I! We are dating! He asks me out, can you believe it?! I know he's The One for me!"
"… Shigeru-san?"
"Mr. Stranger! I met him on the second and third day of your business trip and we hit it off almost immediately! By the end of our second meeting, he'd asked me out and I said yes and now we're officially dating!"
Kise is positively beaming. It hurts more than Aomine thinks it will to see such happiness radiating off of the blond when he's talking about someone else. His chest feels as if it's being crushed mercilessly, but Aomine can't possibly let Kise see the pain he's currently in. He doesn't want to destroy Kise's happiness, after all. With a lot of effort Aomine forces himself to smirk, to reach out a hand and ruffle Kise's hair teasingly both to look supporting and so that Kise wouldn't see his face.
"Well, well, you're moving fast, aren't you? Why did I just hear this now?"
For whatever reason, Aomine's question makes Kise blush. He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly as he answers, "I want to tell you directly. It doesn't feel right talking about this via messages and if I called you I wouldn't be able to see your reaction."
"My, thank you for your consideration," says Aomine although he was only half listening to Kise's explanation. His gaze falls onto his lap where his curled up fists rest, mind busy processing the information Kise just gave and what exactly it means.
This has never happened before. Usually, whenever Kise is in one of his lover-fancy-mode, it won't last long. There's never any real relationship born from that since Kise will lose interest before it gets to the dating stage or he'll find out some information that makes him give up on his pursue. So to hear Kise's actually dating this Mr. Stranger-who-is-no-longer-a-total-stranger is mind-boggling and also … disconcerting.
Aomine doesn't know whether this is a good thing or not, but seeing Kise's smile now, he knows the blond deserves a chance to be happy. True, Aomine'd rather make Kise happy by himself, but it's impossible for now. At the moment, all Aomine can do is watching from the sidelines and praying that by the end of it, Kise won't end up hurt.
Finally coming to a decision, Aomine releases a soft sigh. He leans back against his arms, tilting head towards Kise, and voices out his question, "Are you happy now, Kise?"
Kise blinks when he first hears the question, uncomprehending, but then he looks up at the sky and hums thoughtfully, legs swinging idly like children on a high chair. The end of his blond hair touches the side of his neck playfully, Aomine just has to resist the urge of caressing the stray strands away. It takes Kise some time to find an answer for the seemingly simple question and once he does, he turns his head towards Aomine, honey brown orbs warm with genuine happiness matching with the curve of his lips. The sight is breath taking and for the umpteenth time in his life, Aomine finds himself captivated by one Kise Ryouta.
"Yes, I'm happy. The happiest I've ever been."
That's a lie and Aomine knows it—especially because he has seen Kise even happier than this—but for now that's a good enough answer. At the very least, that's more than Aomine can hope for.
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Aomine Daiki (19.03): kise's dating someone
Aomine Daiki (19.03): name Shigeru
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Momoi Satsuki (19.04): Shigeru?! Isn't that…?
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Aomine Daiki (19.04): yea
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Momoi Satsuki (19.04): You okay?
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Amine Daiki (19.05): just peachy
Amine Daiki (19.05): what do you think?
Amine Daiki (19.05): idk what to do satsuki
Aomine Daiki (19.06): this never happens before
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Momoi Satsuki (19.08): I'm coming over
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Two months pass without much change between Aomine and Kise. Despite his currently dating status, Kise still has time for their daily meetings. The only thing that may indicate he's already taken is the way he's always talking about Shigeru this or Shigeru that. Apparently, they are having a long distance relationship and thus can only exchange words via mails. Aomine doesn't bother hiding his skepticism and distaste at their dating system, but it doesn't faze Kise one bit.
"You're just jealous because you don't have a lover." Kise says in a sing-song voice.
Aomine snorts politely in return, "Like you can talk. What's the point of having a lover if you can't even embrace them in person when you're lonely?"
Kise falls silent and Aomine knows he has hit a nerve. Usually it'll make him feel better, knowing he's won their argument, but the pained expression on Kise's face right now only makes him feel like a bastard. Heck, Aomine doesn't regret saying the truth, but he certainly feels guilty to have hurt Kise again—no matter how unintentionally it is.
There's a stutter in their conversation. Any new topic either one of them can come up with will die almost immediately. An air of awkwardness settles between them, heavy and uncomfortable, pricking at their skin like thousands of small needles, until finally they don't even bother making small talks. They just sit there in the silence, side by side, both drowning in their own thoughts, until finally the sun goes down and they decide to go back home.
That day Aomine walks away from Kise with the bitter taste of blood inside his mouth. He doesn't even realize how hard he's biting his tongue, only to make sure the truth that has been hanging on the tip of it doesn't slip out anytime soon.
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Aomine Daiki (21.05): how is kise
Aomine Daiki (21.05): in your opinion
Aomine Daiki (21.05): should I be worried for him or not
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Midorima Shintarou (21.22): I don't think you should be worried about him
Midorima Shintarou (21.22): The last time I met him, he looked healthy
Midorima Shintarou (21.23): He's smiling a lot like an idiot
Midorima Shintarou (21.23): Just like the old days
Midorima Shintarou (21.24): Don't you think that's good, Aomine?
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Aomine Daiki (21.25): yeah
Aomine Daiki (21.25): I just
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Midorima Shintarou (21.31): Just, what.
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Aomine Daiki (21.33): don't want him to be hurt
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Midorima Shintarou (21.33): To be hurt is to be human.
Midorima Shintarou (21.33): You can't protect him forever.
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TBC.