Aomine hadn't spoken to Kise in three days. Maybe people would think he was childish, being stupid, but could anyone blame him? His own boyfriend had basically whored him out, in a sense, by allowing two of their best friends to see what the they got up to behind closed doors.

Closed doors. Meaning that it was private.

Since they both lived in different cities and were busy with their own school things, it was easy for him to ignore the blonde. He didn't have to text back or answer calls because no one could tell him to. Satsuki had no clue what was going on—Aomine did keep his mobile on silent whenever he was at school so no one could hear it go off every five minutes. He'd even opted to go to practice to keep himself busy, to everyone's surprise (and joy). Aomine could release all his pent up anger as he played and broke basket after basket, which greatly depleted everyone's patience and past happiness that he showed up.

He'd stopped playing one-on-one with Kagami . This was because he just couldn't face him—not after what had happened. That day, the bluenette had put up his smiling face as to not make things more awkward. It was Kise's apartment so he couldn't actually kick anyone out and if he ran, they'd be left alone to discuss things and it would make him seem like a pussy or something. He hadn't been willing to participate in the walk of shame at the time anyway because he would have humiliated himself further. Now, if he chose to go and hang out with them again, they would only see him as the person Kise had shown them—the doll—and it just… he couldn't do it. It killed him, really, to not play with his rival, but there were things he had to sacrifice to uphold some dignity.

The Touou ace had not been able to stop thinking about it at all, though—he kept getting in trouble in school for his lack of focus. Kagami had kept looking at him the whole evening when he thought Aomine was not paying attention. He especially kept thinking about how red the boy had gotten when he had said how much he liked what Kise had allowed him to see. He couldn't stop thinking about the way Kagami had looked so blissful when he had watched Aomine get utterly fucked.

The bluenette couldn't sleep either. He just kept playing the events of that day in his head over and over. Why hadn't Kise just asked him? Because he would have said no?

That was really screwed up.

The tan male tossed and turned in his bed for the seventh night in a row. It had been one week. He'd been like this for a week. He had way too many unanswered, unread texts and too many missed, ignored calls on his phone so he had just powered it off for some peace of mind. Aomine couldn't bring himself to just sift through it and keep feigning knowledge of seeing 'Aominecchi PLEASE TALK TO ME I MISS YOU' and 'I'm SORRY PLEASE DON'T DO THIS I LOVE YOU' and 'Kise-kun will not stop bugging me' and 'Where are you, Aho' and (somehow) 'Why is Ryouta pestering me to tell you to talk to him? Talk to him because even my patience is wearing thin, Daiki.'

He was so done with all that.

The teen settled for lying on his back and staring at the ceiling. He was exhausted but he still had so much energy thrumming through his veins. His hand carded through his hair and Aomine sighed with a perplexed edge. What should he do? He was acting like such a girl. But, he was just so hurt by what his lover had done. Then again, he was being pretty dumb about the whole thing, thinking about what Kise had said afterwards about how he had pride too and he wanted them to not think he was what they thought he was. How else was he supposed to prove it? Then again, on the other hand, it was not something for the blonde to just do without permission. He had absolutely no right. He couldn't just apologize and kiss him and act like he hadn't broken Aomine's trust—which he definitely had done. But, still, maybe he was being stupid and overdramatic?

A loud knock on the door to his apartment kicked him out of his trance, forcing him to glance at the clock on his nightstand. Who the hell came to visit someone at 1:14 AM? The cobalt eyed teen gritted his teeth when the knocking grew louder and more insistent so he grabbed the metal baseball bat adjacent to his bed (Satsuki had given it to him for his birthday in sixth grade with some really nice basketball shoes because "Dai-chan needed something to protect himself from burglars."). He stomped to the door with the object raised and threw it open with annoyance written all over his face. The bat lowered and he huffed with anger.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well, someone won't answer my calls or texts and I couldn't take it anymore!" Aomine shut the door behind Kise's swift entrance and leaned against it with an exasperated countenance.

"It's one fucking AM. Couldn't this wait?"

"It's not like you were sleeping, Aominecchi." The taller boy threw the bat onto the nearby couch, suspiciously close to the blonde's thigh, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"So you had nothing better to do but come all the way here? What a waste."

"I had to see you."

"I thought you'd get a hint by now." Suddenly, hands grabbed onto Aomine's shoulders and pushed him against the wall. Furious lips attacked him and the bluenette's fingers dug into the model's sides and then his chest to create some distance. "No," he growled out because he couldn't do this right now.

"I've missed you… especially today."

"Fucking stop." A hot tongue licked its way up the taller male's throat and onto his jaw, stopping at his ear.

"Let me." Needy palms went under his shirt and teeth attached to his neck, making Aomine's knees tremble.

"I said STOP!" He roared, showing the teen back with a force he didn't realize he had when it came to his lover. Those honey eyes looked at him with so much moist hurt, but, no matter how much it pained him, he had to remain firm.

"Aominecchi…"

"No, Kise, we're not-I mean, is that all you came for? Or was there something else?" The pale boy dropped down onto the couch and ran a hand through his silky hair. Aomine flicked on his lights and stiffened upon seeing the red bags under his boyfriend's eyes. Kise almost mirrored him… except for the remnants of dried tear tracks on the lighter skin.

"I just… I wanted to talk and be with you. I miss you."

"Kise, look—"

"Aominecchi, why are you doing this to me? I told you I was sorry. I haven't talked to the other two all week, except today, and we all waited for you. We all tried to—"

"I know. Akashi even texted me." He grunted with crossed arms, frowning at the sitting teen.

"Then why?"

"Why do you think?"

"It's not that big a—"

"You just don't get it, do you?" Aomine growled out, walking over to the blonde to glare and tower over him. He was about to grab his collar to pull him up and give him piece of his mind, but Kise surprised him when strong yet trembling arms circled around his waist. The model's face was buried in his abdomen, Aomine's hands clenching at his sides when his shirt began to dampen.

"I-I'm SORRY. I won't do something like that again, I promise! Just pleasepleaseplease don't ignore me. I can't handle being without you all day. Please don't keep doing this to me, Daiki, I'm begging you." The Touou player's breath hitched at the tone of Kise's broken voice, biting his lip and looking down at him.

They were quiet, save for the blonde's little sobs and the sudden godforsaken rain that had decided to grace their presence. Fuck everything. Now he had no choice but to allow the other boy to stay here. He couldn't just let him go back alone in a storm—he had some compassion somewhere inside him. He just wished he didn't. His clenched fists loosened and he sighed, rubbing his tired face while one briefly touched his counterpart's head.

"Let go of me. I'll go make tea or something." That only served to make Kise hold on tighter, hands warm on Aomine's lower back.

"Please just stay with me." His voice was a bit muffled from being buried in the standing teen's shirt, causing his cobalt eyed boyfriend to almost smile. Almost.

"Look, you can stay the night but you're sleeping here on the couch. You are not—hey! What the hell are you doing?!" Warm lips ghosted over his bare stomach, after his shirt had been slightly lifted, and then his clothed crotch. His fingers flew to Kise's shoulders t attempt to push him away again. The model did move back, but he managed to tug the taller boy with him and they were both abruptly on the sofa. Aomine was now straddling the Kaijo player's thighs and sitting on his lap with a hand on the cushions and one on the back of the couch.

"I need you, Daiki, please."

"Wha-No! Have you been fucking listening to me?! I'm-I'll fucking kick you out and make you sleep in the hallway!" He yelled, trying to break free of his lover but insistent hands gripped his hips to bring him down onto something half-hard. Aomine groaned, instinctively hanging his head between his shoulders and grinding back on Kise's dick.

"I see you want it too, huh?"

"Fuck you. G-Get ou-ah!" The older of the two thrust up and gripped the bluenette's ass in a bruising hold, throwing his head back and moaning Aomine's name. The shorter teen grabbed harder, one finger teasing his hole through his sweats. Aomine choked, clenching his eyes shut with a shudder. The tan male's blood travelled south and, shit, this was not how it was supposed to go. He couldn't help but be putty in Kise's hands, though—he always knew what to do to make him feel good.

"Commando, eh? Have you been touching yourself without me?" Kise said seductively, licking his lips the same time as when his lover gasped and ground back down on him.

"You wish."

"Now, now, no need to be like that, doll." Doll. The pet name snapped Aomine out of his lust and he clasped Kise's arms to roughly pull them off of him. He stumbled back with a flustered face and a livid expression.

"The hell is wrong with you?! Get the fuck out!" He shouted it like he hadn't just been dry humping with his boyfriend, but he was completely aware of how strange his sudden 180 must have seemed. He didn't really care, though.

"You also—"

"I-I don't want to hear anything else from your fucking mouth! You only came here to fuck, right? Well, go fuck yourself, doll!" The blonde's stunned, hurt countenance absolutely pained him, but he knew that if the boy stayed any longer, it would only end with regrets come the morning.

"But—"

"I said get. The. Fuck. Out."

"Aominecchi, please don't—"

"Out." He hissed scathingly, holding the door open and trying not to listen to the cacophonous sound of thunder and rain pelting his window. The model gulped and shakily stood, staring at his lover with disbelief.

"Don't do this."

"I cannot do this right now, do you understand me yet? Get your fucking face out of here and leave me the hell alone."

"I-I'm sorry, Dai—"

"Don't you dare call me by that name. Out." Kise's bangs hid his face as the tears emulated the angry storm outside. He slowly made his way to the door without looking at the Touou player before it was slammed shut behind him. Aomine's back slid down the frame and he buried his face in his hands and curled into a ball. He bit his lip to keep from making any pathetic sounds. Iron exploded on his tongue but he didn't care. The suffocating feeling he felt inside him flooded his senses more than anything else. His chest ached but he'd had no choice to do it. He had to show that he wasn't messing around.

He stayed like that the whole rest of the night.

The next morning, at 5:13 AM, he walked out of his apartment to find Kise in the same position he himself had been in. He turned the other way and sped down the stairs with his basketball in his palm. Ironically, Kagami exited the elevator nearby nearly seconds later and found the blonde curled over with dried tear tracks streaking his pretty exhausted face.

He angrily knocked but there was no answer.

The weekend passed with a slow trudge. Aomine spent it all playing intense bouts of solo basketball, gorging himself with takeout, masturbating, and ignoring the knocks at his door. He'd completely turned off his phone despite the knowledge that Satsuki or Akashi or someone might come for him.

He didn't care at this point.

He stayed engrossed in Horikata Mai, but mostly in random thoughts of red and blonde and blue hair. He was seriously fucked up. Aomine didn't think that when he had his cock in his hand with three fingers thrusting inside himself, though.

He called out Kagami's name first and his face was the color of the boy's hair when the liquid of his pleasure began drying on his skin. He was really, really messed up.

But, he didn't think about it too much as Monday rolled around and school, for once, was a saving grace. Aomine's mind stayed on what the teachers said today because if he didn't, or tried to take a nap, those thoughts would be all he thought of. That's why he'd drank four cups of extra sugary coffee this morning. It was kind of working and he could live with that.

He told Satsuki his phone had broken and he'd been too busy to fix it or get a new one and that things with Kise were nothing to be worried about. It wasn't really any of her business, anyway, what happened in his personal life. Aomine knew she didn't believe him but the rings under his eyes he'd tried to conceal forced his childhood friend to leave it be. Good.

He concentrated extra hard at practice later that afternoon, not even being snarky towards Wakamatsu or Imayoshi for once. He didn't steal any of Sakurai's food, either. All he cared about was playing hard enough to leave puddles of his sweat all over the floor It actually made everyone else partially uneasy and partially confused (and maybe a teeny bit concerned?). They had long since ceased to be joyful about Aomine's consistent attendance because the only reason for his sudden appearances were, as far as they could tell due to intuition, because of problems with his "significant other" (and he only came to blow off a lot of steam due to that). Aomine may have been a jerk but no one wished to see their usually proud ace in distress—it was quite strange and they did have hearts. They all pretended that they knew nothing, though, like they pretended they didn't know Aomine was seeing Kaijo's own ace.

The power forward was breathing heavily and his thighs burned but that was good. He was actually getting somewhere. It all went to shit when Kise showed up, though.

Aomine's ball swooshed beautifully through the net and he went to retrieve it when he spotted the teen standing by the doorway with it in his hands. They were staring at each other and the others could feel the tension. It was suffocating.

"Can we, uh, talk... Please?" The tan male feigned knowledge of even looking at him and turned around to get another ball. Satsuki and Imayoshi witnessed the scene with frowns and pity. Kise looked just a wrecked as Aomine, if not worse. Whatever had happened must have been a pretty big deal. The pink haired girl noticed the slump of the blonde's shoulders and his dejected countenance. She put her clipboard down and hesitantly walked towards her friend.

"Ki-chan! It's nice to see you. You could have called." His eyes were plaintive and lost and unlike him at all. What had he childhood friend done this time to make him look like that?

"Oh, Momoicchi, hi. You look as beautiful as usual. I just, um, had nothing better to do so I decided to come here…"

"And see Dai-chan?" The mention of their mutual best friend's name earned a flinch from him, fingers running through his hair as per habit when he was distressed. It was one of the few things she had learned about him when analyzing him in middle school.

"Yeah, kinda." He smiled sadly, almost fake like.

"What did he do this time?" Those honey amber eyes glanced at the bluenette, who was scowling like he used to before Kagami beat him. It was an expression they had never wished to see again.

"I think it was my fault this time."

"What? Why would you say that?"

"Um… it's kind of a bit… private?" His attention shifted to the floor, almost like he was embarrassed to admit it.

"Oi! Satsuki! What are you doing?!" The two jerked at the source of the voice, looking at each other before they changed their gazes to Aomine. Kise gulped because of all that glistening dark skin—it was painfully tempting to just walk over there and lick every inch.

"Was just talking to Ki-chan, obviously." The teen snorted, chucking the ball at the backboard hard enough for a crack to appear before going into the basket. He was not happy, apparently.

"I'm done for the day. See you all tomorrow!"

"Dai-chan!"

"Oi! Aomine! You can't just keep breaking stuff, bastard!"

"Can it, would you? I didn't take the whole thing off this time so give me a break." Imayoshi patted Wakamatsu's shoulder to signal him to just back off, craning his head towards Kise. Wakamatsu was reminded of the dire situation and immediately understood, biting his tongue (albeit begrudgingly) and resuming practice. The model didn't miss the exchange and realized that people knew him and Aomine were not on the best of terms. That was… disheartening. But, he couldn't just let the boy go again.

"Aominecchi! Wait!" The taller boy flinched, Momoi nudging the blonde to hurry up and follow him to the locker room before he most likely locked it. "Don't you walk away from me!" His projection voice was a bit lackluster due to his raw throat (he'd spent a majority of the last week crying into his pillow every night and it wore him out) but that didn't deter him as he sprinted after his miffed boyfriend.

He barged in, surprised he was fast enough to catch up… or maybe Aomine had wanted him to follow? His honey orbs searched for the navy haired male, going further into the locker room. Kise found him sitting on a bench, the furthest one from the entrance, with a seemingly damp towel hanging off his head. His elbows were on his spread knees with a hunched back and slumped shoulders. He looked utterly defeated.

"Aominecchi…"

"Just start talking. I want to go home soon." Kise frowned, slowly going closer to his lover and his exhausted voice. How had it turned into this?

"How long are you going to keep doing this, Aominecchi? We can't do it forever." The bluenette said nothing, just listened. It greatly discouraged the Kaijo player. "I can't keep doing this. You're being so angry and hurtful and all I wanted was to show that—"

"You had no. Right. That was supposed to be something between us."

"Yeah, but…"

"But what, Kise? Why don't you get it? You broke my trust. It's hard enough to earn it from me but you… Why couldn't you have told me?" The older teen was beginning to get just as exasperated as his counterpart, running a hand through his hair.

"You wouldn't have agreed… I mean… why would you?"

"Exactly. You basically just forced me to do something you know I wouldn't want to do. How the hell do you think that's OK?" Kise bit his lip and shook his head, heart dropping.

"Please stop. You keep making it sound like I… like I raped you or something. I didn't-I would never—"

"It kind of feels like it to me, Kise. I told you from the start: what we do in the bedroom stays in the damn bedroom. You stomped over the only rule I laid down. How the hell do you think I feel?"

"What about me?" Aomine stared at the pale boy in disbelief from his seated position, towel falling to the ground, forgotten.

"What the fuck about you? It's not always about you!"

"It's not always about you either!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's always been about you! You can't ever think about what someone else wants!" Kise knew he sounded ridiculous right now but he was way too angry to care at the moment. He just wanted Aomine to understand.

"So you go and break my fucking trust?!"

"You were enjoying it at the time, weren't you?!"

"Before I knew that Tetsu and Kagami were fucking watching!" Aomine roared, absolutely livid at the pretentious, absurd things coming out of his boyfriend's mouth.

"You forgave me that day!"

"Only because I had no choice at the time! You really think I'd just forgive and forget something like that, baka?!"

"You liked them watching, though! You didn't even see yourself!" The bluenette stood up swiftly, grabbing his lover's shirt and slamming him against the lockers hard. Everyone outside only pretended not to notice due to Imayoshi's frown and assurances.

"What did you fucking say?"

"Don't act like you didn't have an orgasm when you saw them watching." The two were glaring and baring their teeth with the blonde's fingers at Aomine's collar as well. Kise felt a bit smug with the knowledge that he had a slight upper hand, if the pretty rosy heat along the power forward's cheeks was anything to go by.

"You're so fucking—"

"You're a slut for it, don't even deny it… doll." The cobalt eyed teen snarled and saw red as his fist connected with his counterpart's jaw. On instincts, the model punched back just as harshly. Before they knew it, they were shoving and tugging and kicking and hitting anywhere they could.

Ugly purple blemishes that matched, like vile tattoos, adorned the sides of their faces with crimson spilling from their heaving and growling mouths. Grunts and strings of curses and filthy names were bouncing off the walls along with the lockers' cries of rebuttal.

The Touou basketball team refused to listen to anymore of the violent shrills and shrieks, so, Imayoshi and Wakamatsu barged in with Momoi close behind to quickly break the duo apart. They flailed and attempted to escape the two males' clutches to go on the offensive again but more of the players, even Sakurai, rushed in to help their captain and former captain. The pink haired girl could only watch in horror as her childhood friend and the boy she never though capable of such aggression thirsted for one another's blood and pain. Her bright eyes scanned all the throbbing marks embellished on their flesh and she, for once, didn't know what to do.

"Get your fuckin' hands off me and let me at that bitch!"

"Oh yeah? Come and try it, doll!"

"I'm gonna rearrange your face so bad you'll never model again!"

"At least it won't be as bad as yours!"

"Fucking dick! Say it with your fists, I dare you, you pussy!" The two were pinned down by the others and couldn't hurt the other physically so they bit each other with their scathing words. It was a pity, really, to see them like this. Imayoshi ordered Wakamatsu to take Aomine outside to set him loose, which he obliged but not without kicking and screaming from their ace.

"Would you stop throwing a fit? What are you, five?! Violence is not going to solve anything! Especially if its—"

"Don't fucking tell me what to do! Let me back in there so I can—"The broad teen socked the bluenette in the jaw (where Kise had first him and it hurt like a motherfucker), knocking him to the ground. Aomine wiped the blood from his lips as he glowered up at his senior.

"If you wanna be violent, go cool off in the court. Don't take it out on others. You need to get your shit together, Aomine. I don't know what the hell is going on with you or with you and him but it's gotta stop. We can't take it anymore." The tanned male stared down at his lap with a clenched (and aching) jaw and listened to the white-blonde leave.

He was right, though. What the hell was he doing? He was Aomine fucking Daiki. He was a proud, head-held-high kind of guy, why would he let something like this ruin him? How could he let Kise walk all over him? What was wrong with him?

He stood up, ignoring the flaring pain he felt everywhere, and plucked out his phone to turn it on as he picked up into a sprint. The opposite line rang a couple times before he heard the other speak, with a quite surprised tone to be exact.

"Aomine?"

"Just listen! Meet me at the usual court with a ball, preferably with Tetsu in tow! Like, now!" And he hung up, a small smile on his face as he reached his destination and waited. It had been too long since then. He was excited, to be honest. He moved around and couldn't sit still, tapping his feet and scaring others with his haggard appearance. He probably looked like shit, didn't he?

"Oi! Aomine!" The tan male turned around and spotted red and light blue locks and grinned—which most definitely hurt his lips.

"'bout time. Thought you might've chickened out." They couldn't take their eyes off of him, Kagami turning the color of his hair.

"You wish… but, uh, what happened to your face? Don't you think you should—"

"Shut up and let's play. I have too much energy and I'm ready to kick some Seiren ass."

"Aomine-kun—"

"Just give me the ball!" He finally yelled, eyebrow twitching at their concern and inquiries. There was too much talking and no enough action.

The light and shadow duo was stunned for a moment, not missing the desperation written all over the teen's face. They nodded, Kagami checking the ball to his rival. As soon as it touched his fingertips, the tall boy transformed into a beast and broke past their defense. They played and played and played, Aomine being more aggressive than usual and Kagami being more intense than usual and Kuroko playing better than usual. None of the minded. Kuroko had to sit out after a bit but he watched with awe as the two powerhouses danced in their own way. They played for hours on end, drawing a crowd before losing it once evening came around.

They were so tantalizing… until Aomine happened to score with a formless shot and suddenly hit the ground with his back and stayed there. He didn't wake up even after they waited for a couple minutes. Kagami piled him onto his back, the bluenette feeling lighter than he remembered, and Kuroko looked so genuinely worried it almost pained him. They walked back to the redhead's apartment in silence and in such apprehension.

Aomine didn't open his eyes for the rest of the night.

Cobalt eyes blinked before curling onto his side and wincing at the ache, but he felt too comfortable to move. His bed felt a lot nicer than usual… He say up abruptly when he saw a red clock and a picture frame of Seiren after they won the last Winter Cup (it still stung a bit, damn it).

This was not his bedroom. When had he even fallen asleep yesterday (after not sleeping for pretty much ten days, it was a strange prospect to think about)?

"Finally awake, huh?" Aomine whipped his head toward the smooth voice, eyes widening with surprise.

"K-Kagami?! What the hell is going?"

"You're in my room, Aho, what else?"

"Shut up, Baka… when did we get here? What happened?" The other teen narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, frowning in the slightest.

"Why don't you tell me?"

"What—"He was interrupted by the growl of his stomach, landing back under the covers when he heard Kagami's laugh ("Fuck you, asshole!").

"This can wait. I'll make you something to eat." The Touou power forward listened to his rival prepare food, chopping and clanging and softly humming. Aomine buried himself further into the blankets and realized that he didn't feel tired—just that everything ached due to his and Kise's "confrontation." His wounds were bandaged up and taken care of, apparently, so that was nice. He didn't have to worry about Kagami constantly eyeing all the ugly bruises he had gracing his flesh.

Thinking of the blonde caused him to grit his teeth and it made his tranquil blood boil. How had it become like this, anyway? He had never seen Kise so angry before or seen him get violent like that. Well, he had thrown the first punch so he couldn't exactly blame him for that one, could he? But… what had he done? He was poisoning their once beautiful relationship by acting out and making the both of them miserable. He felt so exhausted from doing this and avoiding everyone. He was so drained and he just wanted Kise, or anyone, to hold him and tell him it would be OK.

"Hey, food's done. Get any on my bed and I'll kill you." Aomine sensed the boy's presence and then a dip in the bed. The bluenette pulled the covers off of himself and greedily took the offered first bowl of delicious noodles and chicken and vegetables. The cobalt eyed male glanced at the redhead before carefully slurping a noodle into his mouth. Kagami was looking anywhere but him and he then realized the awkwardness emitting off of his counterpart. Now that he took notice of it, he himself felt it and the atmosphere suddenly grew heavy.

He was in Kagami's bed, eating food as the boy took care of him, and seeing him for the first time in almost two weeks after that day. All of a sudden, he felt like being back in his own bedroom, curled up with Horikata Mai in his hands.

"Uh… I can eat in the living room. 's no big deal," Aomine found himself saying.

"Huh?" The younger male set the bowl down onto the nightstand and came to a standing position, holding his hand up when Kagami went to try and support him.

"I'm OK. C'mon. Let's eat in the living room and watch something so you don't have to stand in the corner like a kid in timeout."

"Shut up." The redhead still followed though, taking the food with him and before placing it on a coffee table in front of his couch. They set up the area so plenty of extra helpings were available next to them as they observed an old game of basketball from a couple years ago from the NBA. Well, they were partially watching it and partially hypersensitive to the other teen sitting next to them. The distance felt way too close yet a bit far.

After the fourth serving, and onto the fifth, they accidentally bumped arms and screeched out apologies (which Aomine was somehow capable of, to Kagami's surprise) and stammers before falling completely silent and fleeing to opposite sides of the sofa. It wasn't far enough. They barely glanced up from their food after that, other than to catch glimpses of the now uninteresting game. Their concentration was solely on the opposing boy, despite not looking at one another.

Once the game ended, they just sat there and unsure of what to do next. Aomine's eyes flitted to Kagami, than down to his lap and… what the hell was he doing? Why were they so awkward? They had never been like this between them. Why should it now? Well, other than the fact that this same person had watched him enjoy being thoroughly dominated and treated like a slut (and the redhead had gotten off on it), there was nothing to be so worked up about. Yet, the perpetual tension was so suffocating and thick; they could probably cut it with an axe or something.

"Hey, do you—"

"I think we should—"

"Oh, sorry."

"No, I'm sorry."

"Um, you go fir—"

"You go first." They were speaking at the same time again and stumbling over their words and this was so agonizingly ridiculous. Kagami sighed, clearing up all the bowls that had piled up and putting them to the side. The darker skinned teen did the same and then stared down at his lap, then Kagami, then his lap, and then settled on Kagami. Aomine brought a hand through his ruffled hair and gestured the Seiren player to go on. The redhead was now looking at him too and his face got all crimson again. His felt kind of hot too, now that he thought about it.

"Uh… was just gonna ask if you wanted to… I dunno…" He trailed off and it irked Aomine a bit, to be honest, because here he was allowing the boy to speak yet he was still having trouble articulating his words. Figures.

"Oi, just say it. Stop beating around the bush! What do you really want to say?" The shorter of the two swallowed and opted to shift his gaze to the TV so he could turn it off.

"Where have you been?" It was so quiet that Aomine almost didn't quite hear it, but his ears were pretty sharp so he did. He hadn't been expecting it, though. He'd been expecting to be asked to play basketball or if he wanted to go back to bed or asked what the hell had happened to his face or whatever. "Aomine?"

"Huh? What?" Blue met red and he wanted to not look but he found himself frozen in place.

"Did you hear me?"

"Yeah… yeah, I did."

"Well then?" The taller male exhaled sharply and leaned back against the cushions. This was the conversation he had not wanted to have yet.

"Been out and about, no big deal."

"Then why have you been ignoring us?"

"I'm not." One of Kagami's split eyebrows twitched, Aomine resisting the urge to laugh.

"Momoi said you broke your phone but you were lying, weren't you?" Curse his sometimes-there-intellect.

"What makes you say that?" The Seiren player scoffed at him, facing his counterpart with a disapproving stare.

"It's been, like, two weeks, maybe almost three. You didn't show up to play. You haven't been answering calls or texts, not even Kuroko's. You always answer him. What's up?" It was Aomine's turn to glare sternly.

"Just been busy with school. I've started trying, that's all."

"Does this have to do with… y'know?" He seemed flustered about it—again.

"Just get off my case. It's nothing. I just—"

"Then why do you and Kise look like shit?" He winced at the mention of his boyfriend's name.

"What the hell is this? An intervention?"

"Aomine."

"What, baka?" Kagami was tempted to stick up his middle finger, but he didn't.

"Can you atleast tell me what the fuck happened two days ago?"

"Two days ago?" They were looking at one another, still flushed about the redhead bringing up that day.

"Yeah. You've been sleeping since you fainted and all of yesterday and through the afternoon. What's going on with you?" The bluenette turned away, still trying to process the fact that he slept so peacefully in someone else's bed rather than his own.

"Why do you fucking care?" He hadn't meant for it to come out the way it did but the blink of hurt on Kagami's face was enough for him to know that it had come out the wrong way. He really should learn to keep his mouth shut.

"Because you're my friend, you dumbass. Why else?" Tan fingers coursed through navy locks again and he stood up slowly.

"Look, Kagami… I didn't mean—"

"Yeah, you fucking did." His voice was icy cold—that shocked him a bit.

"I just didn't think—"

"You never do." Aomine growled because what the hell?

"Will you let me fricking talk?!" Crimson eyes were peering up at him with such heat that the Touou power forward felt them melting through him. The shorter boy nodded curtly, apologizing with a slight pout.

"Sorry. Go ahead." The navy haired male scratched the back of his neck and wracked his brain as to how he should explain his situation.

"Look… I just thought that after… what you saw that day, that's all you would ever see. I couldn't face you the most because… well, you know, we're rivals and have a lot of pride and yada yada. You seeing me like that, though… I just… You were never supposed to see it. I didn't want anyone to know that side of me. It's not… I'm not… I mean… fuck. You get what I'm trying to say, right?" Aomine asked, ruffling his hair because he felt hypocritical for reprimanding Kagami for being unable to properly articulate his feelings yet he himself was doing the same thing.

"More or less, yeah. I just think that maybe you're making a big deal of it?" He said it quietly, playing with a strand of his hair. The tan boy's jaw slackened and he furrowed his eyebrows.

"A big deal? What the actual fuck, Kagami? Are you saying that if I saw, oh, I don't know, Tetsu bending you over and fucking you, you wouldn't feel how I feel?!" The older teen went red in the face and flailed his hands all over the place.

"What the hell, Aho, that's not what I meant!"

"Then what the hell did you mean, baka?! That you're on his side?!" It was the Seiren player's turn to stand, looking lost yet quite angry. What a strange combination.

"I'm not on anyone's side! Of course I'd be embarrassed but, like, I'm just saying that neither Kuroko nor I mind or care what you get up to in bed! Don't act like—"

"No, you know what? Save it! I don't wanna fucking hear it! I thought that since you were my, what'd you call it, my friend, you'd get it! But you're all the same!" Aomine gritted his teeth and flipped him off, Kagami's eyebrow twitching involuntarily again.

"Oi, Aho, what—"

"No, fuck you, I'm outta here. Leave me the hell alone!"

"Don't fucking walk away from me!" The redhead yelled, grabbing the Touou ace's wrist to stop him. The bluenette shoved him away and meant to scream at him again but he apparently forgot about the things littering the floor. Kagami stumbled backward on the empty bowls while tugging Aomine with him, who tripped as well. They crashed back onto the small sofa with the taller male on top of his counterpart with their faces inches apart (shockingly, the piece of furniture did not break).

Aomine shivered at the feel of that toned body flush against his own. He finally got a good look at his rival, spotting each freckle adorning his cheeks like tan dust and the dangerously plump cherry lips moist with saliva as Kagami swiped them with his tongue. This was not good. He couldn't break away from those enticing orbs leering at him, almost predatory like. Shitshitshit, he was getting turned on. He had to get away.

"Fuck, I'm sorry, let me—"Soft hands held him in place, surprising him.

"Wait… hold on." Those eyes were burning into him once more, bringing back memories of that day—when Kagami had come into his hand messy and beautiful by staring at him. Him.

"Kagami, I think—"

"Just wait for a minute. I've been dreaming about this since that day, you know. Let me just be have this for one more moment… did you know that I haven't been able concentrate because of you, Aho?"

"What?" Aomine finally noticed the dark rings under the other boy's eyes and he sucked in a breath. Well then.

Their mouths were so close and everything felt so hot. He felt like fainting again as he slowly inched forward with his arms on either side of the older teen's head. He looked so good and he had to have him now—those hands felt too warm.

"Wait, Aomine, I didn't mean—"

"Didn't mean what?" He murmured, their breath mingling hot and heavy. It was so fucking tempting, it really was.

"I've been dreaming about this but I didn't mean that I think we should—"Aomine couldn't hear anything except Kagami's heartbeat and the breath on his lips as he clenched his fists.

"Stop thinking for once." It was an urgent whisper that broke all self-control before they said fuck it and they both surged forward at once. Aomine rocked against Kagami and groaned as they kissed feverishly, rough hands gripping his hips and his ass and his sides and his hair, driving the cobalt eyed male positively crazy.

The redhead tasted addictive and delicious and he wanted to devour him.

The darker teen licked the other boy's lips before begging for more, twirling and coiling the muscle with his rival's. Kagami kept making these noises at the back of his throat, causing Aomine to fall into a frenetic state of lust and wanton emotions.

Their hips continuously grinded together for that painfully sweet friction their bodies craved. The shorter male swallowed each of Aomine's moans and growls, allowing the Touou player to do the same for his own sounds as his hands found muscular thighs. He made sure the tanned boy was straddling him and rubbing against him just right. He tasted each cavern of Aomine's mouth and he felt like coming undone just with this because he'd been thinking about this for weeks now.

Every day, every minute, all he could imagine was touching and being touched by the bluenette while pulling him close and wrecking him slowly. God, he wanted him.

Aomine cried out when he felt something hard pushing up against him, against his backside, choking on Kagami's moan. The blue eyed male grinded back, one hand next to his rival's head and one rough in his hair. This wasn't enough, though.

The redhead sat up and held the younger power forward flush against his frame while nibbling at his bottom lip. Spread legs curled around his taut waist, almost inducing him to tears because it was so damn good. Kagami steadily came to a stand, lifting Aomine with him, and made sure not to fall over obnoxious, intruding objects this time as he walked them to his bedroom with their tongues still down each other's throats. The bluenette held on tighter, trying to rock against Kagami's hips and bite his lips and yank at crimson locks. Saliva was beginning to dribble out of the corners of their mouths and neither of them could handle it.

They had to break apart briefly as the lighter skinned teen threw Aomine down onto the bed and followed him, kissing him again like he'd never kissed anyone else. The taller boy's fingers disappeared underneath Kagami's cotton shirt, nails dragging lightly along beautifully golden sides before imploring the garment to be taken off. He wanted to feel that warm, naked skin all over him and against him.

Kagami removed the shirt and chucked it over his shoulder, not caring where it landed, before roughly forcing his rivals' legs around him again so he could thrust against Aomine's ass and the headboard could thump against the wall.

Well, shit.

The cobalt eyed male whimpered (fucking whimpered, Jesus fucking Christ) into the greedy lip lock, tugging on hair again and leaving behind blood trails down Kagami's defined back. The Seiren ace began nipping lips again before moving down to Aomine's bared throat to lick and suck on it.

"K-Kagami!" That caused the redhead to bite down into the flesh harder because Aomine Daiki just moaned out his name. His hands went under the other boy's loose tank top and thrust against him again. His cock was hurting and throbbing way more than usual (must be due to having the real thing here in person, putty between his fingers).

"Aomine, fuck." The teen suddenly seemed to freeze for a moment, arching slightly when digits dug into a bruise.

"Wait, Kaga—"

"Let me fuck you. Wanna fuck you so bad." It was like a switch was flipped in the bluenette, who was shoving his counterpart away and crawling back until he met the opposing wall. They both stared at each other with bewildered eyes and flushed skin and heaving chests. They tried not to glance at the obvious tents in their rival's pants but, boy, was it difficult to not sneak a peek.

Kagami attempted to say something but he only ended up floundering like a fish out of water. Aomine could only look and think about how goddamn gorgeous the redhead looked in all his half-nude, flustered glory and of Kise.

God, Kise.

"Uh… I think I should go." This time, no protests were made. It seemed like the shorter teen was frozen in place. The tanned male stole one last glance back at him before exiting the apartment and then jogging all the way back home (with the godforsaken throbbing pain in between his legs that he was trying to desperately to hide). He knew it would take a while but he didn't care. He needed the time to think. He didn't even say hi to Kuroko, who he practically ran into on the street.

He ended up hiding in an alleyway after that for a bit to allow his "problem" to lessen. He really, really was messed up because he was very tempted to jerk off right then and there. But, he waited until he reached his home and, at 1:14 AM, he had his fingers curled around his cock and four digits pushing inside himself. He did this until he was a trembling mess and he was moaning out Kise's name more than someone else's and he was just too exhausted to move. He was really, really fucked up.

Unfortunately, his previous determination had been depleted and he felt a massive urge to be alone when the sun's rays streaked across his face and he pulled the covers over his head.

Maybe for another few weeks or so.

It was Monday afternoon, meaning it had not been officially three weeks and three days since that day. He hadn't spoken to Kagami since last Wednesday before he stormed out (approximately four days). Everything was a mess and Aomine felt that maybe he needed to begin clearing things up. He missed Friday evenings with the other three more than he cared to admit.

So, here he was, waiting outside Kaijo's gate. He'd managed to cover the remnants of the marks Kagami had left because that would only serve to make this whole thing worse. Aomine stood there for an hour, being recognized by quite a few people, before remembering practice was right after school (duh).

This was ironic, to say the least, considering it had been Kise who had come to his school last week. He'd skipped school and his own time playing basketball to come here and maybe this was what the blonde had done. Just thinking about him caused a hollow ache to burn and reside in Aomine's chest because what had become of them? They'd resorted to hitting each other and himself kind of falling into the arms of one of their best friends (which continuously filled him with painful regret).

He stood at the entrance of the gym and watched the boys play basketball—they had improved some. He wouldn't mind playing them one of these days. He spotted each one of the players he remembered and knew but… no Kise. The power forward scanned the court approximately five times but came up empty on each account, much to his disappointment. He did notice Kasamatsu staring at him, however. He looked a bit surprised yet curious, and maybe a bit angry? The captain ordered the first and second years to keep doing what they were doing before approaching the bluenette.

"Kaijo's a ways away from Touou, brat."

"Shut up. I was just passing by. Where's Kise?" The black haired boy frowned indignantly, eyes narrowing.

"You don't know?"

"No… should I, senpai?" Kasamatsu grabbed Aomine's collar and dragged him outside with many protests from the taller male.

"What's been going on with you two?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" The captain was obviously not very pleased with his apparent obliviousness because Aomine was supposed to know something (that he honestly did not know).

"We all know that you and Kise have been seeing each other and sleeping with each other. Literally everyone knows."

"Eh? What? How—"

"You two are way too obvious and people talk, whatever, that's not my point or what I'm asking. What I do wanna know is what the hell you've done to him?"

"What?" Kasamatsu's glare was a bit scary (but not anywhere near Akashi scary so Aomine wasn't too intimidated).

"Is that all you can say? After beating him up and making him look like a ghost?" The younger teen was slammed into a wall but he still had the same bewildered expression on his face.

"I didn't—"

"Save it, you brat. He's at home."

"Home? Why?"

He fainted at school today and I took him to his place and told him to stay there the whole rest of the day to rest. He's been getting worse and worse for three weeks. This is where it stops, Aomine Daiki. Whatever you've done, you better fix it or I'll ruin you." The Touou player's eyes widened and he broke free of the shorter male's grip to run, run all the way across the school campus and onto the street (how many times does he need to run on the damn street?).

Kasamatsu sighed heavily as he looked after the bluenette, silently praying for everything to work out.

Aomine repeatedly pushed on the doorbell and knocked as he tried to catch his breath. He attempted listening for footsteps and shuffles as he straightened up. He waited impatiently for five minutes before doing it again and, this time, the door was thrown open in a fury.

"WHAT?!" The two boys blinked as they peered at each other in unfiltered shock. Kise did look like a ghost. He was deathly pale, like Kuroko (if not more), and he looked a lot thinner than Aomine recalled. He had light purple rings under his eyes and a lost edge in his honey orbs. He looked really sick.

"A-Aominecchi?"

"Uh… hey." The model slowly moved aside to permit his boyfriend inside, gaze on the ground. He shut the door behind the teen and was about to offer something to drink but Aomine shook his head. "Lay down. I'll make something warm for you. You look like a fuckin' cancer patient."

"I—"

"Just get to bed, or else you'll faint again, baka." Kise's expression was one of shock (and maybe some fondness due to the fact that his lover knew the fact. Aomine refused to accept that part of his beautiful face).

"How did you know that?"

"A little birdie told me." The darker teen barked before ushering the blonde to his room so he could enter the kitchen. He looked up the recipe of chicken noodle soup that Murasakibara had sent him a while ago when Aomine had caught a cold. He scavenged Kise's pantry and fridge for the ingredients he needed (the expanse of the area always amazed him). He may not have been the most reliable when placed in a kitchen but he had made this recipe before and he was determined to get something in his life right at the moment. The bluenette chopped vegetables quietly and prepared the chicken in broth with spices he'd scavenged and dropped the noodles in salted boiling water. Aomine waited patiently for everything to cook thoroughly and properly before ladling an extra-large serving in a decent sized bowl (after tasting it, of course, and he was really damn proud of himself). He carried the vessel on a plate and slowly walked into his lover's bedroom.

"Here. Finish it and I'll get you more. You gotta keep your strength up." The model briefly thanked him for the meal and he gratefully held the warm bowl in his hands. Aomine watched him swallow a spoonful before his palms rubbed against his jeans and his cobalt eyes averted to a picture of the both of them lying in the corner in shattered pieces, like the glass shards had been swept up and forgotten about. The fragments reminded him of the state of their relationship, a deep, dull pang echoing in his chest. His gaze shifted between frames of Teiko and clipped articles of Kise in famous magazines (as well as a few of himself in some sports articles, which kind of caused a feeling of warmth to rush over him but he didn't need to let Kise know that) and the broken picture of their content smiles. It almost seemed like a distant memory now.

"It was delicious, thank you. I didn't know you could cook stuff like this." Kise's voice broke Aomine out of his gloomy stupor and he scratched the back of his neck.

"It's nothing too fancy. Let me get you more." The pale boy smiled sadly and shook his head.

"No, no, I don't think I could have anymore."

"I made a lot. You're having one more whether you like it or not." The bluenette argued, taking the empty vessel from the older male and disappearing back into the kitchen. He was back before Kise knew it, who had his feet on the ground and was about to stand; it caused Aomine to huff in annoyance and anger.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing? I told you to stay in the fricking bed!" The blonde was surprised at the voice laced with concern and allowed himself to be maneuvered back under the covers. He was holding the soup once more but this time, he peered at the reflection he saw. He saw something he never thought he would see—the cackling devil. He saw the picture he'd flung across the room in unadulterated and absolute rage.

"Why are you doing this?" Kise found himself uttering out loud, eyes not steering away from the full bowl on his lap.

"What do you mean?" He stared up at Aomine and saw the teen lost in the shattered glass all over his floor in the corner with untidy clothes that belonged in the laundry.

"What are we doing?" The bluenette was silent, cobalt orbs entranced in a picture of Kuroko, Kagami, Kise and himself with clenched fists (they were as tight as the clenching around Kise's heart).

"I don't even know anymore." The shorter male exhaled the fire behind his vision and sullenly spoke his next words carefully.

"You kissed Kagamicchi." That caught the power forward's attention and he had a shocked, contrite countenance. Kise's stomach dropped.

"What? Why—"

"He told me on Friday, when we waited again. He said you two kissed—or made out."

"Oh."

"Yeah." They were silent for what seemed like an eternity with the blonde's eyes on the darker male, whom was flitting his attention about—everywhere and anywhere but his boyfriend. He seemed conflicted but it wasn't enough.

"I… Kise…" His shoulders were stiff and Kise wanted to get up and throw something again and then smash his fists into the shattered remains until nothing was left.

"Why?" Aomine sighed heavily and finally thumped onto the edge of the bed with an exhausted exterior. His eyes matched Kise's (looked like he was one emulating this time, ironically).

"Honestly? I was so angry and didn't know what to do with myself. I was tired and just… he was right there. I wanted to and he was… I guess, more than willing? I dunno but don't blame him. I… I was the one who messed up."

"Yeah. You let someone else touch you. I… I mean… wow, we're both pretty bad, huh?"

"Yeah… guess that kinda makes us even? I mean, like… we both fucked up and hurt each other. I just want to be done with this." The paler teen grimaced and all of a sudden, the meal on his lap was the most interesting thing in the world. Even, huh?

"If I did that to you, how would you feel, Aominecchi?" The taller boy frowned, throwing his lover a look of disbelief. What kind of question was that?

"How do you think? You're mine. I'd… I don't even know. I'd probably hit someone and be pretty damn pissed." As he said, he realized what his boyfriend was actually feeling and his guilt increased tenfold.

"That's exactly how I felt, you know? I was so mad and jealous and I think I punched Kagamicchi too hard." Aomine blinked and stared at the model, stunned.

"You what? You hit Kagami?" Kise laughed bitterly, running a hand through his hair. Aomine sounded way too concerned.

"He's my friend. I just don't… how could he do that to me? I let him see something private and then this happens. I just… how could I have been so stupid?" There were frustrated tears in his plaintive eyes now and it caused a lump to form in the younger male's throat.

"Kise… I'm sorry."

"No, I am! I… I ruined everything! I-I get it now! I broke your trust and I had my chance and I… DAMN IT! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so—"he choked and he was full on sobbing like Aomine's never seen him before.

It hurt.

The Touou player took the bowl and placed it on the nightstand so he could wrap his lover in his arms. It felt so nostalgic and there were so many emotions inside him right now. Kise clung to him like he was his lifeline, bawling into his shirt and profusely apologizing and saying how much he loved him. Aomine simply kissed his hair and held him closer, saying the same things over and over.

"I'm sorry too. I messed up too and I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. I was stupid and treated you like crap. God, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have hit you either." It all rushed out in a flurry and it felt so good to let it out and soothe the boy in his embrace.

"Me too! Please for-forgive me, I was s-so angry and didn-didn't know what I was doing! I'm sorry I—"

"It's OK, Ryouta, it's OK. I'm here now and I-I won't leave you again. I promise." The bluenette whispered it into his ear, brushing his lips against it and letting his counterpart saturate his clothes in his misery.

"Me neither! I-I'll never do something like that again! I won't hurt you anymore! I—"Aomine silenced him with a kiss, an urgent one, and expressed everything he was feeling with that insistent touch of lips. Kise's arms enveloped him and he shoved the taller boy onto his back so he could shuffle in between his legs. Aomine could taste salt on his tongue and he kissed the teen harder, rougher, heavier. He remembered, though, that his lover was sick and halted him for a moment (much to the Kaijo player's irritation).

"Kise, wait, I don't think—"Pale fingers hushed him, lips next to his ear.

"Please let me. It's been too long." He knew that they shouldn't be doing this right now, not with Kise in this state, but he'd missed this (and the way Kise was holding him and rutting against him and saying how much he loved him wasn't helping).

Before he knew it, the blonde was buried deep inside him while clinging to him as tight as humanly possible.

"Missed you so much, Daiki, missed how good and tight you feel on my cock."

Aomine let himself be bent in half as he was pounded into, crying out a hoarse "Ryouta!" as he bit the honey eyed boy until his taste buds exploded with his flavor.

"Such a good doll, no one feels as good as you. You're the best." As the words were murmured into his throat, the bluenette threw his head back and dragged his nails down Kise's back.

"Fuckfuckfuck, missed you too, love you. Aaaah!" A particularly hard thrust caused the power forward's body to move up the bed until his head hit the headboard.

"Look at me when you talk to me." They locked gazes and Aomine gasped when his hands were pinned down and the pale teen licked his jaw.

"Yes, sir." He choked it out, moaning and bucking his hips into the other boy's when teeth plunged into the mark Kagami had left behind a few days ago. His legs wrapped tight around his lover and the hands holding him down pushed harder.

"Beg me."

"Let me cum, sir, let me cum."

"Ask nicely, you slut." Yeah, Aomine really fucking missed this.

"Please."

"I'll let you, just… tell me that you're mine. Say you belong to me only." Kise slammed into his sweet spot and the bluenette screamed because it was so damn good.

"Yoursyoursyours always yours, Ryouta."

"Who do you love most?"

"You! You're the one I love most! I love you!" Their lips collided again and Aomine wanted to never let go.

"Good boy, Daiki, my precious doll. Cum for me." The younger teen shouted and arched his back when Kise thrust his hips at just the right angle.

"Yesyesyes, fuck, there! Make me cum! Aaaaahhh!"

"Oh, Daiki."

Kise marked another dark bruise onto his lover's neck as he felt something warm and sticky in between their stomachs. Aomine was clenching so perfectly tight around him and it was the most amazing feeling in the world. No one else compared. They grasped for the other, a mantra of "I love you" a broken record on their tongues and blood dripping from their lips.

"Once more, doll." They were like that the whole rest of the evening, messy tears flooding their cheeks and their bodies going numb from lust and exhaustion.

They finally shut their eyelids and disappeared into slumber while holding right onto the other at 1:14 AM.

It had been four days since then and Kise and Aomine were inseparable. They were constantly texting each other and calling each other and good health appeared on their faces again (Touou and Kaijo were equally relieved to see their aces seemingly back to normal, if not happier). After school, they alternated going to each other's apartments and staying the night. When they were together, they could barely keep their hands off one another, always having some parts of their body touching. Things were finally going right again. Well, there was still one thing.

Kagami.

Aomine thought about him sometimes (or a lot). He still didn't want to admit it, but he missed him. It had been a little over a week (and it had been four weeks since that day, but that was an entirely different issue) and they had done the entirety of it without contact (unsurprisingly).

But, today was Friday, so maybe Tetsu would drag his light along for their weekly meeting and he could try and patch things up (and see him). He had to fix this. He had come all this way for this meeting so Kagami had better show up.

At the moment, Aomine and Kise were standing in front of Maji Burger and chattering (or bragging) about who had improved more and who'd win against Seiren. They didn't even notice the petite brunette with deep blue highlights and lightly tanned skin approach them, clearing her throat.

"Ryouta-chan?" The blonde's eyes widened and Aomine frowned, not approving of the way she was blushing and calling his boyfriend by his first name.

"Do you need something?" he said in the most pleasant tone he could, changing his gaze from Kise to the stranger.

"Yes, actually… Wait, oh my God, you're Aomine Daiki, right?"

"Yeah…" The girl's expression seemed to light up and it was a little bit cute, in a way.

"The highlights in my hair were because of you! I loooove your hair color and I just had to put it in my own hair! But only you could pull that off!" The tan male grinned smugly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Thanks, uh…"

"Takana Haruhi! But you can call me Haruhi since, you know, I love you and Ryouta-chan!" The Kaijo player cut in and was obviously trying to keep his cool.

"What are you doing here, Takana-kun?" She pouted, peering at him now instead of Aomine.

"I just wanted to know what you haven't called or texted back! It's been a week since—"

"Hey, hold on, let's talk over there, OK?" The younger teen scoffed, grabbing his lover's wrist before he could get away.

"Whatever it is, I think you can talk about it here, can't you?"

"Um, well—"

"Aomine-kun, you're here today." The trio turned to see Seiren's shadow and light walking towards them. Kagami's and Aomine's cheeks grew hot when they spotted each other and the redhead also seemed surprised.

"Uh, yeah, I'm alive." From the corner of his eye, the navy haired boy caught Kise dragging Haruhi—who, he realized, looked strangely similar to him—to the pole opposite the burger joint. The blonde seemed exasperated and frightened, to say the least, causing Aomine to narrow his eyes.

"It's nice to see you, Aomine-kun."

"Yeah, I know."

"Who was that? One of Kise-kun's fans?"

"I dunno. She knows him by first name basis so they must know each other." He didn't like the idea though, considering how obvious it was that she liked Kise.

"She looks kinda like you." Kagami mumbled, still trying not to glance at his rival. Kuroko observed the two aces' distance and their awkwardness before smacking his light on the head. "Hey! What the hell, you little punk!"

"What did you two do and does Kise-kun know?" The redhead turned pink and huffed, muttering a "nothing." Aomine did the same, cobalt eyes absorbed in his boyfriend and the mysterious stranger again. He wasn't cheating, was he?

"Did you two have sex?" Kagami spluttered, denying his shadow's claims and looked to Aomine for help. He wasn't paying attention.

"Oi! Aho! Tell Kuroko that we didn't do anything!" The darker skinned male blinked when Haruhi started to cry and Kise tried consoling her.

"We made out, that's it. And he does know. Someone told him." The shortest of the three had the faintest look of hurt before staring towards Kagami for his say in this. The Seiren power forward was glancing down at his shoes (they were the ones Aomine had given him last year and he had never given them back) before he looked at both teens with a contrite countenance.

"Yeah… sorry, Aomine. I guess he told you, huh?"

"Yeah."

"I couldn't hide it, y' know? I—"

"It's fine… it kinda helped us, I think. It's weird but whatever."

"Oh… OK." The phantom player clenched his fists but kept his stoic façade in pace before he shifted his attention to the now sobbing and angry girl hitting Kise's chest. She was yelling about how she "trusted him" and "how could he do this to her?" and that "he would pay." Aomine was about to go and help the blonde but stopped when she slapped him and ran the opposite way. The model was stunned and afraid and… guilty?

"Oi! Kise!" His honey eyes met Aomine's and he looked so agonized and lost as he walked back towards them.

"Um, sorry. She's just upset I didn't—we didn't—let her come model with us. Too inexperienced." He came closer and held his lover painfully tight, surprising the younger boy. Kagami refrained from saying anything this time. It was too soon. And it wasn't his place (Kise wasn't the doll anymore anyway, right?).

"Let us go order, Kagami-kun. We will wait for you two inside." Aomine nodded curtly before tentatively rubbing the small forward's back gently.

"Hey, it's… Don't worry 'bout it. If it really was just—"

"Yeah… Yeah, I don't want to talk about it anymore." The shorter male's voice sounded almost forlorn but he was probably imagining it.

"Fine… you're not… I mean… you're not cheating, are you?" Kise glared (again, not Akashi scary so the real intimidation factor wasn't there, but it was Kise so it was a bit strange) at him.

"No. Don't ask me again."

"Fine. Sorry. Let's go eat and get your mind off it, yeah?"

"Yeah." The blonde nuzzled his boyfriend's neck before entering Maji Burger, Aomine holding the door open (yes, he can be a gentleman when he wants to). They found their usual table occupied with the usual amount of food and plopped down across from the Seiren duo. Aomine stole a glance at Kagami, who was stuffing his face and purposefully ignoring him. Obviously, the redhead felt just as awkward and contrite as him. The tan boy took a burger from the monstrous pile and bit into it. He almost moaned from how delicious it tasted. It had been too long.

"You look like you are in heaven, Aomine-kun."

"I am! Damn, I forgot how good this shit was!" The small smile on Kuroko's lips caused the cobalt eyed teen to return the sparse gesture. The quartet stayed quiet for a while longer to eat and allow the tension to seep in. Aomine continuously stared at his rival to see if he could spot a bruise from where Kise had hit him. There was a fading purple mark on his jaw, he finally noticed, but it was barely there (he had a weird urge to kiss it better). When crimson eyes caught Aomine's, his heart sped up and he had to stop chewing.

The other two didn't miss it.

"So, I guess we should address the elephant in the room?" Kise finally said, eagerly cutting into their sudden communication.

"Yes, let us address it." The two aces stared at their friends and gave them puzzled looks.

"What do you mean?" The blonde sat back and spread his arms along the top of his and Aomine's chairs, exhaling sharply.

"Firstly, I'm guessing they told you, Kurokocchi?"

"Yes."

"Alright then. Second of all, I really am sorry for hitting you, Kagamicchi. I was upset so… please forgive me?" The redhead swallowed the chewed up pieces of his burger and sighed, setting the rest of his food onto his tray.

"Look, I'm not mad. I get why you punched me. I mean, if my partner kissed some guy, I'd hit 'im too." They smiled briefly at each other before the older continued.

"OK. Then… why?" Aomine's and Kagami's eyes widened and they cleared their throats with burning skin.

"I, uh, I was upset too. I told—"

"I want to hear it from Kagamicchi. Why didn't you stop him? Why did you keep going?" The two tall boys were silent, flitting their attention about like madmen. How were they to explain this one?

"I would like to know too, Kagami-kun."

"Huh?!" The look on Kuroko's face conveyed that he was dead serious.

"Why did you kiss Aomine-kun?" His face emulated the hue of his hair and he tried to look to Aomine for help, but he seemed just as curious (and embarrassed).

"Um… I dunno. He leaned in and I couldn't stop."

"You like Aominecchi, don't you?" Both power forwards whipped their heads towards the model, spluttering and trying to gainsay his ludicrous proclamation.

"I-It's not like that! I-He was just good at kissing! What else would I do?"

"Pull away." Kuroko said with a frown, noticing Kise's underlying guilt and melancholy. What was he guilty for? He'd looked like that earlier when talking to the girl too. What was going on?

"Look, why can't we, uh, talk about something else? I didn't come all this way to just argue and stuff. I just wanna forget all this shit happened and have things back to normal again." The three stared at Aomine with stunned countenances. He was right, though. They didn't have all the time in the world to be bitter about past conflicts. So, they all relaxed for a minute and peered at one another. Aomine shrugged, finishing his burger and throwing the crumpled wrapper at Kuroko. He caught it and chucked it at Kise. Perfect shot. The blonde grumbled and copied Aomine's previous throw so it hit Kagami in the face. He glared at the shorter boy and went to shoot it back at him but his light snatched it and gave it Aomine. The navy haired teen shot the garbage ball over his shoulder into the trash can, causing Kagami to pout (he denied that he was pouting and claimed that it was a frown).

"Show off."

"Hey, Tetsu was the one who gave it to me. I just wanted to show you my skills so you could learn a thing or two."

"What'd you say?"

"Basically that I'm better than you."

"Oh yeah?"

"I'm better than you too, Kagamicchi!" Kise chimed in.

"We beat both of you so, therefore, we are better."

"Maybe I let you win. Kise probably did lose for real." Aomine said with a scoff, earning a light slap on his shoulder from his boyfriend.

"Did not! I was going easy on them!"

"Fine! I'll—"Kuroko gave him a look, "—we'll take both of you on, then!"

"Fine, bring it, Bakagami!"

"You're gonna have to bring it, Ahomine!" An electric spark flashed between them and they were chomping on burger after burger with icy stares directed towards the other.

The light blue haired male sipped his vanilla milkshake and tried not to break into a smile. Everything was seemingly normal for now. Well, save for that remorseful expression Kise kept trying to hide behind his mask every time he looked at Aomine. What had he done?

Kuroko wondered since when he had been thrown out of the loop from their lives with uneasiness cold in his chest.

Of course Kise and Aomine had won. And it had felt so damn good. Aomine had collapsed onto his lover's couch as soon as the two of them arrived at Kise's luxurious apartment. He hadn't played that hard in a while and he really loved Kagami for keeping him on his toes (well, he was grateful for Kagami because it wasn't like that). The bluenette closed his eyes and sighed in content when his boyfriend decided to sit on his backside and thighs to knead tight muscles. His hands were like magic.

"Feels good, babe."

"Hmm." Aomine peeked over his shoulder to see the blonde focused on him with this look—almost forlorn and pained.

"What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"You don't seem happy. Did I do something?" Kise shook his head with a sad smile, bending down to kiss the tanned boy's ear and hair.

"No. You're such a good doll, of course not." Aomine frowned when the shorter teen's fingers pushed deeper and he lay still atop him. He felt cold and lost.

"Then what's up? Are you still mad or is it something else? You've been like this ever since Haruhi showed up. Why—"

"Can you ride me?"

"—are you—Kise, we're not having sex until you tell me what's bothering you!" The Touou player attempted to turn but a sudden moistness in his hair stopped him, turning his blood to ice. Why was he…

"Please. I-I need to… I need to know you're mine and you love me."

"Ryouta—"

"Please. I-I'll tell you if you just do what I ask and let me have you." The bluenette shifted under the model's body and piled him onto his back. They looked at each other, cobalt meeting plaintive honey. Kise's heartbeat thrummed at the concern and adoration in his boyfriend's gaze.

His whole being burned at each touch, fingers going to tan flesh to take and take and take and brand—because he was allowed. He was allowed to do whatever he wanted. With Aomine, he could be strong and feel strong. His hands begged for smooth hips still bruised from the morning—fresh and beautiful.

"Hey. Look at me." Kise hadn't even noticed that in the midst of their lovemaking, he had shut his eyes to picture his lover staring at him with need and desire. But, he forgot that the real thing was here with flushed skin and hungry eyes, panting for him. It made the blonde's vision blurry again as he slammed his hips up, hard, and he barely saw the other boy's wince.

"Tell me you love me, Daiki. Tell me how much you love me." The words escaped him like a raging flood as he became one with the male on top of him, going as deep as he could. Kise begged and begged and begged as Aomine cried out with each meeting of their bodies while repeating "IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyou" like it was the only thing keeping the bluenette alive. It kept Kise breathing and sobbing as he demanded more from his lover. He demanded each syllable and letter with a sharp thrust of his hips before flipping them over so they fell off the couch and Aomine was on his back, legs hitched upon pale shoulders. He grunted and clawed at the Kaijo player's biceps while continuing his mantra of affections unheard because Kise would not cease to command more. Aomine had never seen him like this—so grief-stricken yet livid. It agonized him.

He let the older teen use him until he ran out of energy and just sob on top of him, no matter the sting he felt in his backside. The floor was surely dirty now but he didn't really care. He also didn't care when Kise asked to not talk to Kagami anymore. He just thought it was due to his lover's sudden hysteria and nodded (but he was pretty sure Kise wasn't joking, which stunned him), soothing his damp golden-yellow hair and kissing his head and promising him that he was only his.

They did it again when Aomine finally managed to get the smaller teen into the shower and it didn't matter to him that it didn't feel good this time. The bluenette only cared about the pain his boyfriend was trying to conceal. Kise told him that this was all he was good for but he said it so halfheartedly that Aomine shut his mouth to keep from cursing at him and leaving. It wasn't about him right now.

He allowed himself to be led to the bed and thrown down and taken once more. Kise asked him why he looked like he was hurting and Aomine told him it was because his love was in pain and it caused him pain to see that. Kise only stared at him before he began to weep harder than before and he finally stopped when he saw the cobalt eyed boy's flaccid member. He profusely apologized and he pulled his hair and curled into a ball. Aomine held him and let him just cry and say how sorry he was. He didn't even know what to do and it killed him.

Eventually, Kise fell asleep from exhaustion in his arms but Aomine was wide awake for hours. At 1:14 AM, his phone buzzed from the nightstand. He picked it up to silence it so his lover wouldn't be disturbed but froze when he realized who it was. His eyes clenched shut and he tensed his jaw before deciding what to say with a heavy heart.

Kise had asked him to not talk to him anymore (he was still chanting it in his sleep and tears slowly still flowed from his closed eyes) and of course, he didn't want to listen. Everything had been fixed today, it was supposed to be OK, but it wasn't and Aomine felt like choking for doing what he was about to do. He didn't want to do this, really, but it was all he could do at the moment to help his lover (no matter how much it hurt and made him want to vomit).

From: Bakagami

Message: I couldn't sleep and was up, thinking of making teriyaki burgers tomorrow and I know you like em. Wanna come over?

To: Bakagami

Message: Leave me alone.

To: Ahomine

Message: What? Aho? This is u or this Kise? IS THIS THE RIGHT NUMBER?! KISE ARE U FUCKING WITH ME

From: Ahomine

Message: We are sorry to inform you that this number has blocked you.

The weekend was spent with Aomine taking care of his boyfriend and ignoring people's texts and calls again before he just turned it off (and he also pretended not to hear the knocks at the door every so often). He was acting like he had been before this past week—isolated and alone but this time, he had Kise with him.

His chest was aching as thought about his rival and the face he must have made when he saw that message. He couldn't stop thinking about him. Even as he kissed his blonde's lips with a tired smile and gave him breakfast over an "I love you," all he saw was doleful red. He hated it.

The entire week was like that. He was solely focused on the model and bringing him back to his cheery self. Aomine's life had become Kise, go to school, come back by train to Kise, then KiseKiseKise. Basketball had taken a backseat, becoming foreign to him again, and it was like a piece of him was missing but he couldn't just leave. They had tried to play but the older teen had crumpled to his knees and, before Aomine would have laughed and forced him to get up, but, now, he had just told him to take it easy and they'd gone home and that was that.

Kise hasn't had any energy to do anything. He'd stopped eating as much, if at all. Some days, he refused any of his boyfriend's offered meals, some days he ate a few bites, and some days… some days he ate everything and anything before he heaved it back up. It wasn't that the blonde wanted to, he claimed, his body just refused to allow many solids in its system. Aomine wasn't really sure he was okay with that justification.

The Touou player spent his time looking up various remedies and trying anything to help his sick lover. He gradually lost contact with the outside world and he and Kise didn't go to Friday meetings anymore. Aomine barely even went to school and he called Kaijo to inform them of Kise's sick leave, since his parents were away, and managed to retrieve all his school work for him.

The boy looked like a shell of what he used to be after one and a half months passed. Even Aomine himself noticed his own shirts getting a bit looser on his frame. But, the taller of the two tried to stay as optimistic and happy as he could for the both of them (which was strange because he was not used to being the upbeat one). He had to. Aomine had to struggle not to yell back when Kise became livid and screamed and accused him of cheating again. This happened atleast once every day. Then he would cry and apologize when his counterpart calmly repeated each time that he didn't even talk to anyone anymore so there was no way he could cheat and he would always promise that he was only his—his doll. Then the pale teen would briefly smile and kiss him and do whatever he wanted (which was usually shoving Aomine against the nearest surface and taking him right there).

Kise stopped being only sad and became sad, mad, and happy—mostly the first two (if he was happy, it was always following his raging outbursts).

Close to two months later, the bluenette managed to take his lover to a doctor (finally). He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. That night, he made Aomine sleep on the couch.

The younger boy realized how much he'd stopped smiling as well and how cold he had become.

It had been almost four months and two days since that day and two and a half months since having contact with anyone outside Kise's apartment. Neither Aomine nor Kise participated in this year's Winter Cup (it literally killed the Touou power forward to stay in the apartment and not play) and their teams lost to Seiren again. They had seen it in the newspaper (but Rakuzan had beaten Seiren, so there was some relief there).

Aomine gradually stopped thinking about basketball as much because Kise's health was slowly getting better. Next weekend, he was supposed to go to his fifth therapy session (that Aomine had helped him sign up for.

It was because taller male eventually screamed back at his boyfriend. The blonde had wanted to have sex for the seventh time in two hours and he couldn't do it anymore (it had stopped feeling good after the third time). He'd been angry because the teen refused to eat and had no energy for basketball or anything else yet he was fine when it came to fucking Aomine over the countertop when he was making breakfast (or just sex in general). It really pissed the darker boy off. Kise didn't take his medication or want to really do anything but fuck around. Aomine was sick of it and told him so as soon as his lover had latched onto his neck and called him a slut for wanting to be fucked seven times in a row (even though it was definitely not his idea). The blonde had been surprised but, surprisingly, he'd nodded and had allowed himself to easily be taken to the doctor again. This time, he had been diagnosed with sex addiction. The younger teen immediately set up an appointment for therapy immediately, but the most wondrous thing had been that Kise paid for it. He wanted to do therapy every Wednesday and Saturday starting that week. Aomine had felt such pride in him that he'd said fuck it and kissed him right then and there.

That night, the honey eyed male had held him close and apologized and just laid there with him—nothing else (for the first time in months).

This was the third week and they were getting somewhat happy again. Kise took his medication when he had to. He'd lashed out less and wasn't as saturnine as before. Color was coming back into his skin and It began to melt the frigid ice around Aomine. It was good.

But, he never stopped thinking about Kagami. He never stopped missing him. The day he realized that, when Kise was at his session (because he'd insisted he go alone), Aomine had retched into the sink and bought sleeping pills to just fade into restless slumber for a while. Nothing really helped, though.

He still saw red and it burned something agonizingly painful inside him.

It had been almost five months since that day and it had been three months since Aomine and Kise's isolation from everyone when everything went to shit.

The morning arrived and Aomine was making breakfast for the two of them (he had just gotten back from his early-ass-crack-of-dawn run because he found himself waking up way before his boyfriend and he needed something to keep himself busy). Insistent knocks at the door made him frown and when he'd looked through the peep hole, there were hordes of people pushing each other and yelling. What the hell?

He'd opened it to tell them to fuck off, but as soon as he did, microphones were thrusted in his face and "Are you Kise Ryouta's lover?" and "Are you the person he ditched his baby for?" and "Are you the person he's cheating on his lover with?" were stabbed at him.

"What—"The reporters were all yelling and screaming and he couldn't even finish his sentence before more questions were hurled his way.

"Have you seen the papers or the news?"

"Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

"Aren't you Aomine Daiki?!"

Aomine snatched a paper shoved at him and slammed the door shut. His heart was hammering and dread was bubbling in his gut like hot magma. He shakily eyed the paper crinkled in his trembling fingers and nearly vomited all over it and the shiny hardwood floor. His body became ice and time just stopped. He wasn't sure whether he should believe it or not but… he just didn't know. He had faith in Kise, he did, it's just… Aomine crumpled the object of his rage in his hands and stomped to his boyfriend's room with no real objective but to let it out.

Blonde hair was splayed beautifully all over a pillow with a lithe body sprawled over both their sides of the bed. The bluenette almost didn't wake the peaceful teen up but he was Aomine Daiki after all and he had trouble stopping himself once he started something. The Touou player chucked the paper ball perfectly at his lover's head and kicked the bed with force. It was to rouse the light sleeper from his slumber.

"Aominecchi, what the hell are you—"

"Get the fuck up and tell me what that shit is!" He was roaring at the top of his lungs, caution be damned.

"Huh?" Kise looked positively dumbfounded and baffled, wide awake now as he looked up at his livid boyfriend.

"The fucking paper! What the fuck is this?! What the actual hell?!"

"Wait, hold on, just—"

"NO! You better tell me or I'm gonna fucking rip your balls off and shove them so far down your throat they come out your ass!" The blonde jumped up and tried to soothe and comfort him with a wild look in his eyes but was roughly pushed away.

"Don't fucking touch me!" The model stared at him with hurt and disbelief but picked up the wrinkled newspaper to unravel it and read whatever had the other male in such an outrage. His eyes widened and his honey orbs became contrite again. He looked lost, like the day Haruhi had come to them three long months ago. Aomine noticed that right away and began backing away with pained shock and a cold chill down his spine.

"Aominecchi, let me—"

"You fucking s-son of a bitch… you… you knew all along, didn't you?" His voice shook and he hated himself for it.

"Daiki, I—"

"DON'T call me that. I… shit, I believed you." Aomine looked at him in wonder and everything felt like it was crashing down on him—again.

"Let me explain, please." The tan boy laughed darkly, almost manically, and had a hand over his face.

"Explain? Explain? How the hell do you explain your fricking baby growing in some chick's womb?! You-You think you can say your dick accidentally ended up shooting your fucking cum inside her?! Don't make me laugh, Kise, really. I'm not that stupid."

"Aominecchi, I was—"He seemed to be at a loss for words as he listened to Aomine laugh harder, which was pitiful, bitter sound. It didn't sound like him at all and Kise wanted to hide in a corner but he also wanted to shout and throw something.

"Or, y'know, maybe I was stupid since I believed you! She came that day to tell you, didn't she? That she was pregnant? Is that why you got like this?! So I'd feel bad for you and forget? Is that it?! Was—"Kise saw red and that was it.

"SHUT UP! Don't blame me! HOW could you even suggest that?! And don't even forget that you cheated on me first! How do you think I felt?! All I could see was you and him! I thought it would make me feel better, having revenge but—"

"So you fucked someone that looks like me? And got them pregnant? You think that that's—"

"I… you cheated first." Aomine put his other hand up because he knew, by the close sound of the model's voice, that he was coming nearer. He felt his back hit the wall and had nowhere else to go when Kise ignored his hand and pushed up against him with his face only inches away. The taller male whipped his head up and his glare was deadly (Akashi-deadly) and it froze Kise on spot because he'd never seen so much pain and contempt on the teen's face before. It constricted tight in his chest.

"Get away from me. And all we did was kiss. I didn't sleep with him, asshole, so don't fucking pull that shit with me."

"OK, I… I messed up. I'm sorry, I shouldn't—"The blonde felt like he was suffocating with each word so he resorted to nuzzling his face against a large bruise on Aomine's throat with his hands inching closer to the teen's hips.

"What the hell are you doing at a time like this, baka?! STOP!"

"I need-please, I—"Kise stuttered and began licking a pattern on Aomine's skin while his fingers began to go under his counterpart's shirt. The bluenette's heart sunk and he shoved him again with angry, moist eyes.

"I said don't touch me… This is just like that time again. Fuck, why do I keep falling for your lies?" Kise gritted his teeth but contained his anger and looked at him with grief.

"I won't—"

"DON'T. Don't you fucking dare promise me shit. I don't want your fricking bullshit again. I-I took care of you and put up with so much crap for you because I loved—love—you and I lost everyone because of you! I sacrificed basketball, fucking basketball, for you and three months of my life for you, and THIS is what I get?! Haha, I really must be the biggest idiot in the whole goddamn world." He was laughing hysterically once more, but each sound sounded choked and so wrong. The older boy felt his stomach drop.

"I-I'm sorry, I'll get it aborted or—"

"I don't fucking care. Do whatever you want. I'm leaving." Kise's eyes widened and he begun to panic and hyperventilate because NONONONO this was not happening to him this was not happening go please no.

"Wait, wait, no, wait, don't go!" The Kaijo player surged forward to grab onto his counterpart and beg him to stay (déjà vu all over again, huh?).

"Get the hell off me. Now." Kise's tears broke free from him and he shook his head wildly and tightened his hold.

"NO! Don't leave me! I-I can't do this without you, Daiki! I love you!" Aomine clenched his jaw because this was hurting him more than anything else but he had to do it—he had to end this vicious cycle before it ripped him apart.

"I don't give a fuck! I gave you once chance and you go and do it to me all over again! I'm DONE! We're done, you hear me?! Don't ever show your face to me again! EVER!" He shoved his now ex-lover away and sprinted away from him. He didn't even grab his shoes or any of his belongings and he just ran out the door with his middle finger sticking up at the cameras and reporters.

Aomine didn't care about the breakfast he'd cooked, he'd didn't care he probably looked like shit, and he didn't care about anything but the destination he had in mind. Anger boiled in his chest and he quelled the sobs and agony lumping heavily in his throat, locking it inside his heart shaped box and throwing the key down into his burning rage. He almost tripped a couple times and he definitely ignored the blisters on his quick feet.

When he violently knocked on the door he'd been searching for, he was certain he looked like an absolute wreck. He knocked and knocked because it was Saturday morning, damn it, he had to be there! It finally swung open with a rough "WHAT?!" Aomine's fist met the other boy's defined jaw and he let the door shut behind him again. He straddled the teen on the floor and began punching him with a "this is what you get for fucking telling him!" The slightly shorter male caught his wrists and tightly held them with an angry and befuddled stare.

"What the hell, Ahomine?! What are you doing here?!"

"This shit happened because you told him! This is all your fault! Let me go, you piece of—"

"HEY! Calm the fuck down! What are you talking about?" The cobalt eyed teen froze at the abrupt outburst from his counterpart and immediately regretted acting out against someone else for the most idiotic reason. He hung his head in shame and grief, staying silent for a moment before quickly apologizing.

"Sorry, I-I dunno why I came here. I just… sorry, Kagami. Let me get you an ice pack."

"Hey, wait." Red and blue clashed and the Seiren ace sat up with Aomine still on top of him to get comfortable. He looked genuinely concerned and damn it, it had been so long since seeing his face. He couldn't stop looking and thinking about how their bodies had felt together, making his face go hot. He tanned boy sighed, saying fuck it, and pushed Kagami back down.

Every time he closed his eyes, he envisioned Kise and Haruhi and it killed him.

So, he let his lips crash onto the redhead's. He let rough hands settle on his hips and his fingers knotted in crimson hair as their tongues swirled together. Kagami was about to protest but Aomine grabbed his hands and pinned him down. He ground their hips together and they both moaned. Aomine didn't cry even once as they rolled around and threw their shirts to God-knows-where.

All he saw was Kise and Haruhi and their goddamned child, so he was the one to initiate this time.

His fingers slipped past the hem of the older male's basketball shorts and he whispered a "get me naked now," into his ear. Kagami was so very hesitant but Aomine wasn't having it. Not right now. He managed to get his rival down to his boxers and tugged the redhead's hands down to his own sweats.

"C'mon, just take 'em off." He said it in the most seductive voice he could, practically purring it.

"A-Aom—"

"Shut up and fuck me." Screw being seductive, might as well just be blunt.

"Wait, I—"

"Kise isn't a problem anymore, just hurry."

"Can we talk about this first?" He was starting to realize how Kise felt when he wanted to have sex and Aomine always said no… that pissed him off a lot because he didn't want to think about his ex-boyfriend right now.

"I thought you wanted to!" Kagami finally escaped the boy's hold and put his hands on the taller male's cheeks. Those cobalt eyes were focused on him, saturated with lust and sorrow and underlying rage. His lips brushed the teen's lips and then his jaw and back to his mouth.

"I do want to, believe me, I do, I just…"

"What then?" Are you a virgin?" His face became red and he flipped them over so he was hovering over the bluenette and his necklace dangled precariously, like a warning.

"Hell no. I just don't have any stuff." Aomine got up onto his elbows and licked along Kagami's collar, a hand pulling his rival's head back so he had better access.

"'m clean, you're probably clean, I don't care. Just do it. We'll talk later. I need you right now… please."

"Kise—"

"Don't talk about him right now. I said he's not a problem. We broke up." The redhead's eyes widened.

"What?" The Touou player groaned and suddenly stood up to step out of his boxers and sweatpants.

"I promise we'll talk about it later, OK? Now let's fuck." Kagami noticed a waver in the boy's voice and the unshed melancholy at the edges of his eyes. His shoulders were slumped and he looked much thinner then when he'd seen Aomine three months ago. Kagami was dying to know what had happened to him to make him look like this. But, something told him now was not the time to be curious about that.

So, as he came to a stand with his dark purple boxers pooling onto the floor, his and Aomine's eyes were glued to one another's naked bodies. The redhead grabbed his rival's wrist when he went to turn and pulled him back so his tan back met Kagami's chest. The coolness of the metal ring and chain burning Aomine's skin caused him to involuntarily shiver but he let the shorter teen kiss his nape and his shoulder. Kagami's arms tightened around him, trapping him, and Aomine loosened the tension inside him, laying his head back against the older male's shoulder.

Something hard dug into his ass and it felt so nice that he had to push back a bit. They both gasped at the contact, the Seiren ace walking them over to the wall so Aomine's forehead rested against it. He was released so he could pile his forearms above his head. The boy behind him breathed deeply into his ear and ghosted his fingertips over his sides.

"Aomine…"

"Yeah. C'mon, shove it in me."

"Let me be gentle with you. Let me take my time. Been wanting this for a while." The bluenette arched his back when Kagami whispered it into his ear and flicked his nipples with tender fingers.

"Just… please. We can be gentle later. I want it hard." Mess me up until I forget.

"Aomine, hey, look at me." The cobalt eyed teen tentatively shifted his frame so he was facing his counterpart, bottom lip caught between his teeth with a tremble. Kagami kissed him softly, thumb caressing the skin underneath his eye. "I don't want to hurt you."

For some reason, that made Aomine laugh before it bubbled out of him in broken chuckles. His hand was over his eyes and his whole form was shaking with the hysteria spilling off his tongue. Kagami furrowed his eyebrows and frowned, hands falling to his sides.

"What's so funny?"

"This is just too good. I mean, you don't want hurt me? I've heard that so many times I just—"he was barely able to contain his dark snickers, almost doubling over, "—I just think that it's fuckin' hilarious how many time I believed it. My parents, Akashi, Tetsu, Kise, and now you. This is so freakin' good. I never realized how stupid I was—am—and it's—"A cry was ripped out of him and it jolted the redhead out of his silence. His fingers touched the boy all over but Aomine just shook his head and was torn between his laughs and apparent little sobs.

"Fuck, don't. Don't look at me." It broke Kagami's heart.

"Aomine—"

"I'm fine. Just shut up and fuck me." He growled with a quivering voice, abruptly jumping up so his legs and arms wrapped around Kagami with a strength that surprised him.

"Aomine, let me. I want to see you."

"Just get on with it or I'll put my dick in you instead." His tone was urgent yet weak, like he wanted to give up, but Kagami wouldn't let him. Never again.

He held the tanned boy up against the wall for support and then he thrust up. They both moaned out loud at how good it felt, Kagami's face in Aomine's neck while the taller male's was in soft red hair. He clung onto the Seiren ace's shoulders and waist, praying that the dampness clouding his vision wouldn't completely overwhelm him. But, every time he felt the older teen's hips snap up, a needy, choked cry escape him. His eyes were shut and he bit his lip to silence his desperation.

"Let me see, Aomine. Look here." The boy lodged his face in the junction between Kagami's neck and shoulder, grasping him tighter.

"Aaaah, feels good…" Aomine murmured into the redhead's flesh.

"D-Daiki…" He moaned at that, pulling back to kiss the shorter male with a passion. His rival gasped into it, hoisting the bluenette up higher and fighting him with his tongue. An electric shock popped through their veins, bodies gruffly meeting and separating over and over. It wasn't enough. Aomine licked the redhead's lips and whispered a raspy "bed" into his mouth. Kagami held onto him tighter, reflexively inching closer to his bedroom. They didn't stop kissing, not even when the Seiren player threw Aomine down onto the mattress.

They bit and licked and grunted as Kagami's hips met the tanned male's. The redhead placed Aomine's thighs onto his shoulders so he could bend his counterpart almost in half. The younger of the two cried out loudly when he felt Kagami's cock brush against his prostate, nails clawing predatory crimson trails down the teen's toned back. It hurt so damn good and the red eyed boy craved more of it. His lips left Aomine's to suck a harsh bruise onto his throat and jaw, wanting to see blood.

He wanted to see it, to smell it, to taste it—he just wanted to see his color on that inviting dark flesh.

He had to know that this was real and his, because it was so much better than having his dick in his hand and thinking about what it would be like.

"F-Fuuuuuck, Taiga." Kagami's breath hitched and he forced himself to not cum right then and there. He stayed sheathed inside that wonderful heat, but didn't move, and stared at the teen under him with a flushed face.

"Say that again."

"Wh-Shut up! It just came out!" His tan skin was the same hue as a pretty rose and he looked so damn good.

"Once more, Daiki, please." Aomine covered his eyes with one of his forearms and his free hand wrapped around Kagami's nape to pull him down. His ear was right next to Aomine's bruised lips as he murmured in a sultry voice.

"Fuck me hard, Taiga." It had Kagami on fire as he repeatedly slammed his hips into the flushed male, licking the side of his face. His skin was damp.

"DaikiDaikiDaikisogoodsogoodfuckmine." It all left him in a flurry of nonsensical words (the last one wasn't even true) but he didn't care. Not with the way Aomine arched off the bed and screamed his name in the most sinfully wrecked voice he'd ever heard and came all over their burning abdomens. Kagami sucked on bloody bruise to make it darker and dug his fingers impossibly hard against the boy's tan flesh. His face hid in Aomine's shoulder as he emptied his essence inside his rival, kissing the spot he'd broken and whispering a "fuck, Daiki" into the skin.

They both breathed each other's scent in, catching their breaths for a moment. Kagami wanted to kiss him, to hug him, to say things, but he wasn't really sure where the two of them stood now. He didn't know. He tensed a bit when Aomine slightly moved and grimaced.

"Oh, sorry." The redhead pulled away, already missing the heat of the other boy and mumbled a quick "I'll get a wet rag," before disappearing.

Aomine turned to his side and gritted his teeth. No one called him Daiki anymore (Akashi didn't count) but Kise. He didn't even realize how used to sex without a condom he'd gotten. He placed a hand over his heart because it hadn't stopped aching since he found out what Kise had done. Aomine blinked away the sting in his eyes and swallowed the heavy lump in his throat. He tasted blood on his lips because of his teeth digging into them so painfully. Good.

"Here. Clean up. I'll get you fresh clothes." The bluenette stayed still and clenched his eyes shut, feeling that lump melt down into his heart where the ice was building again.

"Leave it."

"What?" He looked so his and Kagami's eyes wouldn't meet.

"I was just leaving."

"Huh? Leaving?"

"Yeah." Aomine felt the rag be thrown at his head so he glared up at the other male. To his dismay, the places he had punched his rival were tender and bruised. This was just kept getting better and better.

"You said we'd talk."

"Kagami—"

"Stay. You're probably going to disappear again and I… I don't know if I can deal with it." His choice of words shocked the younger teen and he blinked slowly at the pinkish color on Kagami's face.

"I-I don't know. I…"

"Stay. Please." Their gazes were intense and Aomine had to look away once more. He wasn't sure if he could do this any longer. He grabbed the rag and wiped the dried streak of cum from his chest and abs, nodding as he did so, but he said he didn't need new clothes. He tried to ignore the way the redhead kept staring at his naked body (and he himself tried to ignore Kagami's own beautiful nude glory). He took his garments from the boy and began to dress before a gentle hand stopped him.

"Do you think that… we could, like, maybe lay together?" The taller male stopped to stare at his rival, eyes wide.

"Cuddle?"

"Uh… you know what? It's a dumb idea. Forget it."

"Why?" Kagami shrugged with the same stupidly bashful face, scratching his bicep. "Aren't you gonna get dressed?" Aomine asked, setting his clothes down.

"Do you want me to?" The navy haired teen had to chuckle but it hurt a little. Déjà vu all over again.

"D-Daiki! I'll pour it all into you!"

"Yesyesyes fill me up! RYOUTA!" They both screamed as intense waves of pleasure rode over them and they basked in the afterglow. They stared at each other lovingly, kissing softly and laughing and whispering how amazing it had been.

How amazing their first time had been.

Aomine traced lazy circles on the pale, creamy skin before him. Kise smiled at him and rubbed his side and sat up on an elbow to look down at him. He told him that he was the most gorgeous thing he'd ever seen. Aomine smirked and said that he knew that, earning a slap from the other boy.

"This is the part where you deny it, meanie! You're supposed to tell me that I'm the most beautiful thing!"

"Yeah yeah. You know it, anyway, ." Kise beamed brighter than the sun and removed a strand of hair from Aomine's eye.

"Fine. I'll go get us popcorn or something so we can watch a movie in bed. Wipe off."

"Aren't you gonna get dressed?"

"Do you want me to?" The bluenette grinned and leaned back, winking at his lover.

"Nah. I'm enjoying the view." Kise laughed and wiggled his hips before leaving the room. Aomine smiled so wide he thought he'd rip his lips. He didn't care.

"Aomine?"

"Huh?" The redhead came closer, in his bubble, before slowly bringing a hand up to his face. Kagami's thumb brushed something off Aomine's cheek, bringing the appendage to his own lips.

"What, baka?" As he asked it, the younger teen tasted salt on his tongue. His eyes slightly widened and then jerked his head away from his rival's grasp, but his grip was firm. Kagami's lips stroked the dampness with such care and tenderness and it broke something inside Aomine's core. His hands clutched the shorter boy's shoulders and he buried his face in his neck. The strong arms that wrapped around him caused him to hold on tighter because it hurt.

Everything hurt.

"Stop. Let me go." His voice didn't even sound like his own as he begged the other male to stop caring. But, Kagami didn't listen and he just brought Aomine closer to him. He hesitantly soothed the taller boy's back and touched his mouth to his hair. Aomine let out a choked, broken sob and then he couldn't stop. Kagami felt, actually felt, his heart break when the Touou ace's frame began to shake and a hot wetness appeared on his shoulder where the teen's head was. He thought he heard a whisper of Kise's name roll off his rival's tongue and he felt like he understood the basis what was going on.

His chest ached for him.

Aomine's hands tightened and he bit his tongue to stop but nothing worked. He asked his counterpart to let go again and even formed fists to push, but Kagami disregarded the bluenette's protests. Aomine roughly shoved him away after the struggle, but the lack of support caused him to crumple down onto his knees. He'd become utterly defeated. His tears hit the floor and one hand was covering his face and one was clutching the edge of the bed.

"Aomine—"

"No." Every limb in his body felt disconnected from his being and he was so lost.

Kagami stared down at the boy with a pained expression. He'd never seen his rival like this and he never wanted to ever again. Never. So, the older of the two knelt down and embraced Aomine tighter than he'd ever hugged anyone else before—tighter than to his parents when he'd left them in America, tighter than to Tatsuya before they'd parted ways, and tighter than to his grandmother before she'd flat lined in her hospital bed.

"I've got you." Shaky hands reached for purchase but Kagami grabbed them to place them on his face and laced their fingers together and leaned his forehead against Aomine's. "I'm not leaving." It triggered something in the other power forward and he just… he lost it.

Loud, raw cried racked his entire body and he felt like he was drowning again.

The redhead pressed his lips to the teen's tears, to every crevice of his counterpart's face, and murmured all the tender words he could. The corner of his own eyes burned too and he allowed Aomine to crush him in his quaking arms. He returned the desperate gesture and soothed navy hair.

Whatever had caused him this much anguish (probably Kise), Kagami would find out and kill them (Kise was a dead man, really).

It seemed like hours before Aomine's tears ceased, but he was still tiredly dry sobbing. His face was hiding in Kagami's neck again but he left it there. Their arms were worn-out from how strongly they gripped the other but neither moved. The taller male's stomach growled, causing him to tense, and the silence was broken. The redhead smiled and slowly pulled back.

"I'll make something." Aomine didn't let go.

"Don't want anything."

"You need something in your body. You look like you've lost a lot of weight."

"No."

"Aomine."

"Stay." Kagami was a bit surprised at how small his usually cold rival sounded and set his jaw. He didn't like this. What the hell had Kise done?

"C'mon. Help me. It'll get done faster. I'm starving." He said, pulling Aomine up (easily) with him. That worried him a lot.

"Can't we just eat cereal or something?"

"If that's what you want." Aomine's heart ached from how kind Kagami was to him. It had been a long time since he was allowed to choose what he wanted. It had been a long time since he felt like a person with a will.

"Yeah… it's what I want," he murmured, not even realizing that he was going to kiss the shorter boy before he was actually doing it. Kissing still hurt, but the tenderness Kagami showed him made him want to keep doing it. It had been a long time since he'd been allowed to kiss gently and lovingly.

"Alright, alright, c'mon, or you're really gonna tempt me. I'm too hungry." Aomine felt his face soften and his lips broke into the smallest little smile as he followed his rival into the kitchen and watched him get out bowls for both of them. It had been a long time since he's smiled like this.

As they ate on the couch, sitting as close as humanly possible as they could, Kagami didn't keep trying to touch him and make him give in to temptation. He let Aomine watch the basketball game and allowed them to have a long conversation about it until he almost forgot his pain.

Almost.

But, it had been a long time since he got to feel his passion for basketball and bask in it.

The whole rest of the day, Kagami took care of him and they even played a round or two of basketball. It felt so good and he wanted to just kiss him right there on the court. It had been a long time since he'd felt this way.

That night, Kagami didn't make him get on his knees to suck his cock or call him his doll and make him bend over (ok, he was fucked up for missing that). But, he did pull Aomine closer to him under the overs and tell him that he was glad he was here or he'd be pretty lonely. It made Aomine laugh. It had been a long time since he'd laughed like that, which only made him hug Kagami tighter.

At 1:14 AM, they stopped talking about random, stupid things and finally fell asleep. And Aomine actually slept. It had been a long time since he slept like that.

He woke up to loving arms and a nice breakfast.

It was the first time since he felt something like this as he kissed the boy in the pink apron and let a salty tear plop into his eggs.

He had a nagging feeling his content wouldn't last long when the doorbell rung loudly and a voice that was all too familiar called out for him.