The first time Aomine met him his first thought was you have got to be kidding me. The blond had turned to him with an idiotically bright smile on his lips, hair practically glowing under artificial lights. Which, in all actuality, shouldn't even be possible, but there he was, shining like a fucking star.
Aomine knew he was screwed when he was told that this man was going to be his copilot.
The second time Aomine met him was during their first flight together – nothing too long, just a short practice flight to get used to the other's presence. The blond – Kise, Aomine reminded himself – was pilot while Aomine served navigation. Upon seeing him, Kise had let out an excited squeal and gave him a ridiculous nickname – Aomine-cchi? Seriously? What the hell? – and all Aomine could think was how the hell did this guy become a pilot?
The third time Aomine met him was after yelling his head off to his boss, and coincidentally, childhood friend Momoi Satsuki.
"Seriously? I know I'm new to the job and all, but couldn't you pair me with anyone better?"
Satsuki sighed, glancing up at her friend from her spot, seated behind her desk, "I assure you Dai-chan, he's the best we've got."
Aomine's eyebrows shot up before rearranging themselves better to fit the glare on his face, "You've got to be kidding me. His head's farther up in the clouds than the plane is!"
"That may be so, but when he needs to be, Kise can be unexpectedly serious."
Aomine let out a derisive snort, "yeah, well I'll believe it when I see it. I can't work with him Satsuki."
Momoi opened her mouth to retort only to be cut off my an awkward cough sounding from the door. Aomine swore as he realized that in his rage, he'd left the door open. Turning to see who had interrupted their conversation (and completely intending to apologize if they were important enough), Aomine froze as the figure standing in the doorway.
"I, uh, I didn't mean to eavesdrop," Kise said, rubbing the back of his head with one hand, gaze averted, "I just heard your conversation and thought I'd let you know that this arrangement is only temporary, if it makes you feel any better."
Aomine stared blankly as the blond made his way out of the room, softly closing the door behind him. And for some reason, Aomine felt the need to apologize.
The fourth time they meet is on their first real flight together, and it's awkward as hell. Kise tries to pretend that nothing had happened, which, in a way, just makes Aomine feel worse about himself. However, Aomine's never been good with words himself so he keeps quiet.
It's when they hit the first spot of turbulence and Aomine doesn't quite know what he's supposed to be doing, but Kise's just sitting there, calming delivering the news back to the passengers and navigating the plane with perfection, that he realizes that maybe he should start learning.
"I was wrong. Sorry."
It's the four hardest and most embarrassing words that Aomine has ever uttered but he thinks that the bright smile he receives in return might just be worth it.
It's after their tenth flight together that Aomine stops counting. The days blur together as the weeks string together to form months. Aomine and Kise have begun a sort of friendship that came from being in each other's company way too often for them to be anything less than friends. On their rare days off, the two could be seen in each other's company still, enjoying the fact that they weren't cooped up in a plane. Of course, Aomine thought, it might be more enjoyable if we didn't get stopped every other second by a blushing girl holding out a pen and paper. Sure Kise's good looking, but why would they keep doing that?
Sitting in a small cafe out of the public view, Aomine pondered this, absentmindedly stirring his coffee while staring at the man in front of him. Catching Aomine's gaze Kise let out a smile.
"Something wrong Aomine-cchi?" Kise asked, taking a sip from his own drink, only to flinch back a bit at the still scorching hot liquid.
"Just thinking," Aomine shrugged, pulling his eyes away from Kise's own golden orbs.
"Ehhhh? Aomine-cchi's thinking?!" Kise exclaimed, throwing one hand dramatically over his heart, "it must be the apocalypse!"
"Shut up," Aomine muttered, "I was just wondering why people always ask for your autograph, that's all."
Kise's eyes widened in surprise, "Eh? Aomine doesn't know? That's strange, I thought that was why you didn't want to work with me in the beginning. . ."
Aomine's eyebrows creased together, "what the hell are you talking about?"
"I thought you knew – I'm actually a model, Aomine-cchi."
Aomine nearly spat out his coffee as he stared incredulously at the man before him and the nonchalant air he excluded.
"A- a model?"
"Yeah," Kise shrugged, "been doing it since middle school – never really saw a reason to stop, you know?"
"Ah, I guess," Aomine said, before frowning in confusion again, "wait, if you haven't stopped, then why are you a pilot?"
"Ah – that," Kise started, looking slight uncomfortable. Aomine leaned forward on the table, head resting in his hand as he waited for the answer to be given to him. Just as Kise opened his mouth to answer however, the dinging of bells signaled another's entrance into the cafe and before Aomine could blink Kise was up and excitedly greeting someone named "Midorima-cchi" while echoes of "die, idiot!" resonated through the store.
Aomine sighed. Maybe next time he'd get the chance to ask the blond.
The next time Aomine sees Kise, he doesn't really see Kise. Instead what he does see is Kise talking to the same green-haired man from the cafe. In debating between showing himself or continuing to hide oh-so discreetly behind a conveniently located brick wall, he failed to realize just how close the pair had come to his current hiding place. Now stuck, Aomine really had no choice but to listen to their conversation as they passed by. Really.
"I'll never understand why you did it," the green-haired one spoke, voice holding a hint of confusion masked behind a carefully laid tone of I-really-don't-care-but-I'm-going-to-ask-anyway.
"Eh? Did what, Midorima-cchi?" Kise asked back, licking carefully at the ice cream in his hand. Green hair – Midorima? – let out a sigh before leaning against the opposite side of the wall Aomine was currently pressing himself against in an attempt not to be seen, "you know idiot, quitting basketball to continue modeling."
"Awww Midorima-cchi we've had this conversation so many times! I told you, it's because I decided that I liked modeling more than basketball anyway, and with my schedule always filling up there was no point in continuing to do both."
Midorima adjusted his glasses, "bullshit. If you liked modeling so much, why'd you quit to become a pilot?"
"I didn't quit Midorima-cchi, I took a break. There's a difference you know," Kise pouted, looking stubbornly away from the man he was talking to.
"Fine, fine, took a break. Still doesn't answer my original question – why'd you quit?"
Kise turned, looking over at Midorima once more for a few seconds as if internally debating something. Finally he sighed, a long breath whispering out from between his lips, "fine. It was because I was bored, okay? At first it was good, because I had you and the others and there was a challenge involved since I couldn't copy you. And then I could. And it all became too easy again and there was no challenge anymore – no fun. And then Akashi-cchi left to go take care of the family business and I just, I was bored," Kise looked over at Midorima from beneath long lashes, "modeling, I guess was more exciting in a way. I got to meet new people, go new places. It was fun. Recently though it's become monotonous, so my manager gave me this break before I could get too bored with modeling."
Midorima stared for a bit before frowning, "So basically you left because it became too easy to beat us."
"Yeah, exactly – wait –" Kise started before cutting off at the sudden dark atmosphere around his friend, "I didn't mean–"
Midorima cracked his knuckles, "you must be even more of an idiot than I thought, Kise."
"Waahh! Please don't hurt me Midorima-cchi! I swear, I didn't mean it!"
Aomine cautiously looked around the wall as he watched Kise flee down the street, his. . . friend? chasing after him. Aomine's mind reeled with questions – basketball? Copying? Akashi – that name sounds familiar, why?
However, first and foremost among those questions was, how long does his break last?
Aomine glanced over at Kise, the blond staring straight ahead for once as he guided the plane to its landing. Ever since Aomine overhead Kise's conversation with his friend, he hadn't been able to look him in the eye, curiosity demanding the better of him, yet not willing to admit that he'd eavesdropped. Finishing up at work, Aomine sighed, unsure of what he was going to do with himself since he (for once) had the weekend off. Kise did as well, but seeing as he was mad at Aomine for his unintentional avoidance of the blond, Aomine figured that spending the weekend with him was out of the question.
Not that it really mattered to Aomine. Nope. He has other friends. He doesn't need the idiot. With his blond hair and stupid brown eyes and seriously how the fuck does he ever shine so much?
Aomine let out a groan, hand coming up to smack the forehead that was making its way down to his hand. Absentmindedly rubbing his head because dammit that hurt more than it really should've, Aomine made his way out of the airport, making to call a cab when he was interrupted by a cheerful voice behind him. Stiffening ever so slightly, Aomine turned around to see Kise making his way toward him, his smile and cheery voice not seeming to match his countenance as he spoke.
"Aomine-cchi we need to talk."
Aomine didn't know quite what possessed him to say okay, following Kise to his car – which, by the way, was way too beautiful to be true – and back to Kise's apartment, but he began to curse whatever it was the second he set foot through Kise's door and the blond offered him a beer from the fridge. And then another. And then another. And then somehow bottles of wine and whiskey got thrown into the mix and it was impossible to tell what bottle belonged to what anymore.
"Fuuuucckkk," Aomine swore as he reached for another bottle, "ya know, it's good we don't have work tomorrow."
Kise giggled, "Ain't that riiight? Ahhh but I like work, even though Aomine-cchi's been avoiding me lately," Kise took another swig of whatever was in his hand before tossing it to the side upon discovering it was empty, " 'snot fair ya knoow?"
Aomine leaned back into the couch – well, at least where he thought the couch was. Swearing, Aomine fell backwards, opting to just stay laying on his back on the floor instead of moving. Throwing an arm over his face he groaned at the thought of what the morning would be like before flinging his arm off his face and turning to look at Kise.
"You know? I didn't mean to ignore ya. I just – just was emberassssed, ya know?"
Kise looked over at Aomine before laying down next to him on the ground, "Embarrassed? What for?"
"'Cause I evesdropped on you. I din't mean to, I swear I just – you were there, and I was there and there was this wall and it was a nice wall and then you just hadddd to lean on it but I was there and so really this whole thing is your fault," Aomine finished, looking away from the blond.
Kise smiled in response, "I prolly wouldn't have minded Aomine-cchi. You shoulda just told me. I don't like being ignored by you, ya know. It kinda really sucks."
Aomine glanced back over at the blond who was still smiling. Getting unsteadily to his feet Aomine made his way over to the entrance to Kise's living room and after fumbling around a little bit, turned the lights off. Struggling not to hit anything, Aomine made his way back to his original spot before gracelessly plopping back down onto the ground.
"Ehh? What'd you do that forrr?"
"Shut up. You shine too much." Aomine grumbled before pulling a blanket down from the couch and wrapping it around himself.
"What?" Kise asked, grabbing himself an edge of the blanket to use.
"Shine – sparkle. Whatever. Just you do it too much."
"What?"
"Nothing. Shaddup and go to sleep."
It was the next morning, only after sneaking out of the tight hold Kise had on him underneath the blanket – that, really was too small for one man, let alone two – and stealing some of Kise's painkillers before calling a cab home that Aomine realized that he'd forgotten to ask Kise about the modeling situation again.
It was Monday the next time Aomine saw Kise, having decided to become a hermit for the rest of the weekend. The blond seemed a bit resigned, but appeared to brighten up when he saw Aomine waiting for him.
"What's got you down?" Aomine asked, Kise's smile faltering slightly before coming back full blast.
"Eh? What are you talking about? Absolutely nothing!"
"Kise–" Aomine started only to be cut off by the blond's bright voice.
"So Aomine-cchi, you think I sparkle, do you?" Kise teased lightly, glancing at the dark haired male next to him, "or was it shine?"
Aomine clenched his fingers together into a fist.
"Kise," he growled, forgetting his earlier concern in favor of chasing the blond until he promised not to tell anyone what Aomine had said.
And thus, the week passed.
It was another two weeks later when Aomine realized his thoughts when he first met Kise were probably the most true and foreshadowing thoughts he'd ever had the displeasure of having. The blond was crashed on Aomine's couch after he followed Aomine home, insisting that he had to tell Aomine something important again. Feeling a sense of deja vu, Aomine had agreed but upon entering his apartment the model had immediately fallen down onto the couch and refused to move since.
Aomine sighed in frustration wanting to know what had been eating at the other man these past few weeks. Shaking his head, Aomine grabbed a blanket from where it hung over a chair and draped it across Kise. The blond immediately snuggled into the warmth of the blanket, scrunching up his nose as the threads of the blanket tickled his face. Cute, Aomine thought before freezing.
Fuck.
No.
Aomine let his eyes trail down the sleeping figure on his couch, taking in the blond hair swept across the pillow, the hands lightly grasping the blanket, and the long lean form he knew to be hidden from sight.
You have got to be kidding me.
I'm screwed.
It was two days later when Kise finally manned up and told Aomine what had been bothering him.
". . . and so my break will be coming to an end in about another month, a little less I think. I'll be returning to modeling once it finishes," Kise finished, looking up at Aomine warily from behind his bangs. Aomine opened his mouth. Then closed it again. Then opened it. Then closed it.
Well fuck. Aomine knew that Kise was on some sort of break and that it would come to an end soon but he didn't know quite how soon. Also, could you do that? Just decide to be a pilot for – what? A year?
"I know the head of the airline – Akashi-cchi and I went to high school and did basketball together. I've also always been rather exceptional at picking up things quickly," seeing Aomine's blank stare Kise smiled, "you were speaking out loud, Aomine-cchi."
Aomine looked away, embarrassed. Well shit. Looking back over at the blond, Aomine cringed at the worried look on his face.
"You- you really care about my opinion don't you?" Aomine asked gruffly, taking in Kise's surprised expression.
"Well, yeah. Aomine-cchi's the best after all!" Kise said brightly.
"Idiot," Aomine sighed, "Well I can't say I'm happy about it – they'll have to give me some annoying newbie partner if you leave, but I can't exactly stop you either. If you wanna go, go."
Kise mumbled something under his breath, something that Aomine couldn't catch before smiling, "yeah," he said, "I think I'm gonna go."
Aomine nodded, breath constricting in his throat. Watching the blond grab his coat and slip his shoes back on, Aomine felt panic begin to well up. Kise opened the door a bout a quarter of the way before a tan hand reached over and slammed it closed. Kise looked over at Aomine in shock.
"Aomine-cchi?" He asked, eyes wide and questioning. Aomine turned away from the bright stare.
"Just – uhm, well, you know that you can always come back, right? Or at least, uh I'll always be here so. . . fuck, just – just don't forget about me, okay?" Aomine spluttered out before instantly regretting it. Kise let out a bright smile and Aomine swore he saw the milky way transported to his apartment in that moment. Kise's hand reached out and gently touched Aomine's face, guiding it back to look him directly in the eye.
"I won't Aomine-cchi," Kise whispered before saying louder, "you can't get rid of me that easily after all!"
Aomine let out a smile, "no, I suppose not." Before he could talk himself out of it, Aomine leaned forward, pressing his lips to the models before backing away. Kise lifted a hand over his mouth, hiding his smile.
"Aomine-cchi, you –" Kise started.
"Ah, I'm sorry Kise, you uh probably want to leave now –" Aomine said before Kise cut back in to continue his sentence.
"You're really something, you know?"
"Eh?"
Aomine's bewildered expression caused a giggle to erupt from Kise's throat, followed by full blown laughter. Watching, Aomine got more and more frustrated.
"Kise!"
"Ah, I'm sorry Aomine-cchi, you're just – just so awkward you know," Kise struggled out between laughs, finally calming down at seeing Aomine's expression, "besides, you know, I never said I didn't like it."
"What –"
"In fact, it was rather mean of you to pull away so quickly," Kise said, pouting, "don't you like me Aomine-cchi?"
"What? Yeah, I like you Kise, I like you a lot actually –" seeing the grin on Kise's face Aomine broke off into a growl.
"Kise, you little bastard!" Aomine exclaimed, reaching for the blond.
"Ah ah ah Aomine-cchi, I really must be going now. Thank you for your hospitality!" Kise sung, skipping neatly out of Aomine's way and out of the apartment. Holding the door halfway open, Kise threw back into the room, "and by the way Aomine-cchi, I really like you too."
With one last laugh the blond disappeared, leaving Aomine dumbstruck in the apartment rethinking his previous statements.
He was really, really screwed.
Walking into his kitchen to ready food for dinner, Aomine let a smile appear on his face.
But maybe, he didn't mind.
So that's that! I was gonna write an epilogue thingy like "and blah blah blah they live happily ever after" but decided not to because this is 8 pages on open office already and I. Am. Done.
I don't quite understand the whole "Kise is a pilot" AU thing, but we were learning about planes and shit during French class and he was all I could think of.
And with Kise comes Aomine.
And in the end Kise didn't even stay a pilot soooooooo. . .
I really don't know.
I also don't know anything about planes besides how to say random things in French.
Or about drunken-ness. Is that a word? I don't know.
I don't know anything
Hope you enjoyed?