A/N: Hello! This is going to be a short and fluffy Aomine/Kise three- shot! I'm taking a short break from the other stories and writing random fanfics like this one instead just to satisfy my fangirl instincts(I guess). Please R&R and tell me how it is!

~Sorako

Kise Ryota felt like shit.

Practice this week was more aggressive than usual. Well, at least that is what the blonde thought. The Nationals was a week away, and his teammates, especially Kuroko, was looking forward to their first official tournament. Akashi also insisted, more like forced, everyone on coming to practice, and Kise did not want to disobey the redhead. So that's why he was going to practice even if it killed him.

Kise popped a couple fever reducers into his mouth and drank down water afterwards. He staggered out of the bathroom, swaying a little because of the throbbing headache. Sweat broke out on his forehead as he tried to walk across the sunny field towards his destination- the gym.

These few weeks had been rough for Kise. Many studios awaited his arrival, and he could earn quite a lot of money from those photo shoots. Apart from that, he still had those part-time jobs he did, almost for a living. His father was away doing his business outside of country, leaving him to live alone. Kise let out a long sigh. The sickness was probably caused by the stress that he had been through lately. It's funny how much it can effect one's health... he thought.

"OII! KISE!"

The person who was being called winced at the loud greeting. Kise didn't want any of his friends to worry about him, nor see him in this state. The blonde turned around before pretending that he was fine with the mask that was perfected over years.

"Ah, Aominecchi! Going to practice?"

The blue- eyed teen ran towards him before strangling Kise with his arms.

"Hell, yeah! We're going to beat all those crappy players at the Nationals!"

Kise smiled weakly at the statement. He loved all his friends and didn't want to let them down. Another reason to why he was going to survive all the necessary practices in this state.

Only thirty minutes passed, and the they had only finished warming up. The headache that retreated when his was running came back and worse than ever. Kise stretched a little to lessen his muscles' pain and numbness before running back to his friends.

His mask was slowly cracking, revealing his vulnerable state. His movements got more and more sluggish as each moment passed, and at one point, the sharp pain from his head made him wanted to throw up. He knew he would black out soon if he didn't stop playing. But he didn't care.

"Kise."

"KISE!"A loud shout snapped him back to the present, and he raised his head to find Aomine looking down at him.

"Are you sick?"

Kise winced at the accusation. Was he slacking off that much that it was noticeable to the person who was the worst at picking up emotions? His body gave out for a second and he stumbled a bit, but immediately caught himself before he could fall.

"I'm fine" he lied smoothly.

Aomine did not buy that, and so did his other team members.

"I would prefer if you sit out over there fore a second. You look like you're could to fall over any moment." The redhead spoke.

"But-"

Akashi gave him a death stare.

Kise gulped and decided to follow his captain's command. He propped himself down on the benches before drinking down a few more tablets of medicine, hoping that it would help with the headaches that was attacking him constantly. The edge of his vision was tinged with darkness. Kise was struggling to keep himself upright even when he was sitting, and before he knew it, the pitch black darkness swallowed him whole.

Kise woke up blurry and disoriented. The first thing that he could make out was a person's blue eyes, staring directly at his golden ones.

That shook him awake.

"How long are you going to sleep, baka?! Practice ended a while ago and everybody already went home." A person's annoyed voice echoed around the large room. Kise's head throbbed painfully as he tried to process the information.

"A- Aominecchi? Why didn't you wake me up?"

A sigh was heard, and then the reply came. "I tried to, but you won't even budge."

Kise abruptly stood up and immediately regretted doing so. His vision fuzzed unexpectedly, making him sway to the side. His hand went to the wall for support, and he started walking, more like limping, to the exit.

"I have to go!" Aomine looked at him, puzzled. "Serving in a restaurant, uh, part time jobs, I mean-"

A light kick to his legs from someone behind him made his knees buckled. Kise would fall onto the ground if his friend hadn't caught him.

"Baka" the ace mumbled under his breath. "How can you go around serving other people food when you can't even stand up on your own?"

Aomine picked Kise up, bridal style, and trudged towards the door. Too light...He thought. Kise struggled to get out of his friend's hold, but no avail. The grip was too strong. The blonde let his weak body rest against Aomine's as he closed his eyes and once again, drifted off to sleep.

Aomine was truly worried, despite his 'I- Don't- Really- Care' face.

The blonde looked like he didn't sleep for days, judging from the dark bags under his eyes. His mouth was drawn in a tight line as if he was holding something back. The cheery aura he usually had was gone. His eyes, yes, his eyes were red and puffy...from crying? That was undeniable no matter how much he wanted to hide.

That was when he first suspected that something was off with his friend.

Secondly, Kise's smiles were so determinedly bright and cheerful that it could only be fake. He gave his friends an "I'm fine, don't worry" answer every time the he was told how pale and sickly he looked, and how he should go to the nurse. Aomine had to resist the urge to barge in every time the blonde said that and say Shut that crap, Kise! You're obviously not fine and you're making me worried, dammit!

And his fears were confirmed at noon. During lunch, Kise accidentally bumped into him before muttering an "I'm sorry" and headed off without realizing who he actually bumped into. It was just that moment when he could feel the heat radiating from the blonde's body when he was a few inches away from him. Kise's face was as pale as a sheet and a thin sheen of sweat covered his forehead. He was obviously sick. I should've known not to let him practice then, he irritably thought. Aomine looked down at the blonde who was snuggling against his chest. Kise's right hand clutched a handful of Aomine's jacket. The ace almost dropped his friend when the blonde's fingers pried open his jacket, but other than that, he still showed no sign of waking up soon.

Aomine reached into Kise's backpack before fumbling around for the condo keys. Plugging the keys into their hole, he unlocked the door, and in front of him was Kise's room. Thanks to the adress on the name tag, he was able to find the blonde's condo. Aomine slipped off his shoes on the mats and flicked on the lights.

It was a stuffy, quite messy room. Instant noodles packages piled on the floor, forming a pyramid. Documents were scattered on the working desk placed at the end of the room, and flashy clothes were sprawled on top of the unmade bed. The room smelled worse than a polluted river, and Aomine wondered how often Kise laid his hand on a broom. The blue- eyed teen made the bed and cleared just enough clean space for a person to sleep and laid Kise, who was still sleeping, on the soft mattress. Aomine tucked the covers around his sleeping teammate. He gently brushed the hair off Kise's face and pressed his hand on the blonde's burning forehead. Aomine wasn't a doctor himself, and he didn't want to go around searching for medicines in a condo. Just as when he was about to stand up, a framed picture on the headstand of the bed caught his attention, and he reached his hand to pick it up.

Five people were staring directly at him, and one of the people in the picture was Kise, who looked like he was around 6. None of them were smiling, except from Kise, so he assumed that it was a formal family picture.

There were traces of water droplets on the glass frame.

Wait. Water droplets? Or perhaps... teardrops?

"Nnn..."

A little voice coming from the boy that was finally coming to made him stop wondering. Aomine turned his head to see Kise, who was blinking rapidly when he saw Aomine and was opening his mouth to speak. However, no sound escaped his his lips. The ace saw that and immediately shushed the blonde.

"No need to speak. You'll hurt your throat." was what he said. Kise, who was amused at what his friend just spoke, thought to himself:

Was Aomine usually like that?

On the other hand, Aomine, who realized how weird what he said was, felt a blush rising up his cheeks. An awkward silence covered the room, and he decided to break it.

"A- Anyways. I'm going home now. It's getting late." Kise nodded. "I assume you have your medicines?" Another nod. Aomine turned to leave but stopped halfway.

"I don't want to see you tomorrow at school." He saw Kise opened his mouth to protest. "Or at practice."

Well, that shut Kise up.

Aomine's hand was on the doorknob and was about to turn it open if a voice hadn't stop him.

"Being bossy, I see." Kise teased. Aomine's hand frozed. Luckily, his back was turned on Kise, otherwise the blonde would see his tomato-red face. Annoyed and embarrassed, he quickly turned the doorknob and slammed the door shut, mumbling Idiot Kise under his breath.

Kise's pale lips widened into a smile, and this one was genuine.

Please stay tuned for the next chapter! Thanks for reading!