old habits die hard

© duckie/nacht zeit
pairing: aomine/kise
summary: college au where aomine works at some tea place/café. as a favor, aomine's boss asks him to work the late shift. the night drags on, he starts to regret agreeing to the extra job, that is, until some strange blondie strolls in way past midnight, bringing in a cold gust of wind, a wave of nostalgia, and some things he would rather not deal with at the moment. or ever.
notes: i was gonna call this who is u to reflect the true initial feelings of aomine but decided against it. i recommend hide and seek by imogen heap & vegas skies by the cab, because i was listening to those two while writing ahaha. ps this is on tumblr too! view it there as much as possible because the smiley i used at some point in the fic doesn't have the same effect here but whatevs

| part one

Aomine's feet were starting to hurt. A lot. But he couldn't go into the backroom now since the people were only beginning to thin out and there were tables that needed clearing once the said people would stop babbling about amongst themselves. Then there was his job on the line if he decided to act on impulse and just stomp over to that table where a bunch of annoying high school students were seated. They'd already paid but they were still laughing into their phones and he was starting to feel physically ill at the sight of it. He was so wrapped up in mulling about all that was in store for him that night (or lack thereof) that he hadn't noticed that they were gone now, and the other waiter on shift had cleared the tables.

"Hey, sorry to leave you here, pal. But I have to meet my thesis mentor tonight and then clean some brains for the lab before tomorrow's experiment. All that if I want to graduate on time when spring rolls around." Kasamatsu sighed, pulling his apron over his head. He threw it over his shoulder and went into the backroom, leaving Aomine to scowl at the thought. Mostly because he would have to begin working on that next year as well. There were times when quitting school seemed like a good idea and that working odd jobs until he expired would do him better, but that was dumb and irresponsible. He had no intention of being both at the same time.

Kasamatsu came out from the backroom with his backpack. He gave Aomine a light pat on the shoulder as he walked past him and out from behind the counter.

"Somebody's going to take your place at around four in the morning, sometimes he gets in early though. So you could hope that he's up to it today."

Aomine's response was a curt nod and a wave of the hand as Kasamatsu reached the door. "See ya then. It's pretty slow from here on out anyway, so you could use the late shift benefits as much as you want. Just make sure we don't get broken into to, but you should be more than capable."

There was only a grunt in response and an impatient, "just go already." To which Kasamatsu nodded as he made his exit. It didn't take very long until he was out of sight and Aomine was completely alone inside the establishment.

The place was quaint, not too big, not too small either. It had a few tables, a few comfortable couches and soft chairs to the side. It was nice and calming inside, with homey interior –a stark contrast to the winter weather raging on outside. It wasn't much of a snowstorm anymore, but compared to the inside of café, but with the thick blanket of snow that coated the entire city, outside wasn't exactly the place to be at this time.

Kasamatsu was right though, it was much slower at this time. By 1:30AM, everything was completely still. The last time a customer went in was to order a large non-fat latte to go and that was at around 11:15.

He sighed heavily, closing his eyes for a moment. He then got up from his seat on the back counter to refill the water in the heater and maybe fix something up for himself.

As he was pouring a freshly brewed batch of coffee into a mug for himself, the small bell right above the door rang and a cold gust of wind swept in. Turning around abruptly, he only managed to pour a little coffee on his foot and quickly jumped back, instead of getting a look at the customer, much less addressing him properly. Luckily, it seemed that the customer didn't catch whatever was going on behind the counter, that and by the time he finally decided to make his way to the counter, Aomine was already done cursing as many gods as he could remember off the top of his head.

"Um, excuse me?"

Aomine checked the clock first before addressing the customer, it read 2:00AM and it only succeeded in making him cranky and sleepier.

"Can I help you?" He said, still with his back turned as he cleaned the mess he'd made.

"Ah…well. I—ouch!" Aomine heard a loud bang and he could feel the counter behind him shake a little. "I'm a little tipsy, you see and—"

Aomine stood up without another word and stared openly at the customer—blonde and wearing nothing but a cotton-shirt that came just about three-fourths of his arm, jeans, and a pair of sneakers. He had nothing else on him, except for (presumably) his wallet, and phone, which were both in his pocket. As for a bag, any other coat, there was nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada. And when things finally registered properly for Aomine, he only felt like throwing the rag at this guy, because if this was his idea of a joke it seriously wasn't funny.

"You're what?" He ground out, almost glaring.

The customer laughed sheepishly, cheeks coloring. "Or just a bit drunk, but just a bit ahaha. I uh…help…me?"

Aomine wanted to do a great number of things, one of which was to walk out on life itself and leave this guy here, the other was to lead him out back into the snowy streets, effectively kicking him out of the premises and then he would walk out on life itself. But something rooted him to his spot behind the counter and made him aware of dormant instincts that he could never have imagined to be inside of him.

"Go sit on one of the chairs." He stated simply.

When the blond had safely (literally) landed on one of the chairs with cushions (thankfully), Aomine turned his back to him again.

"Don't move." He called out over his shoulder, to which came an enthusiastic but slurred, "okay!" in reply.

Aomine took a deep breath and pushed the door to the backroom open. He found a small towel in his bag that was still clean and with it in hand, went back up front. He set the coffee back to 'hot' instead of 'warm' and leaned against the back counter with his eyes closed and his arms folded over his chest. It was actually pretty understandable that a guy would go around looking for something else to drink to sober up after getting drunk, but this guy was going a stretch beyond etiquette, rushing into an innocent little café like this instead of a convenience store which, though not as accommodating as Aomine was being at the moment, was more ideal.

With a soft but audible click, the coffeemaker shifted back into warming mode, which signaled that it was ready again. Aomine took it by the handle, this time, expertly pouring some into a new mug without spilling. He was about to grab a bottle of room temperature water from the cabinet below, but his movements were halted by the unmistakable sound of regurgitation.

A vain would have popped, but Aomine tried his best to keep his cool, somehow managing as much while he pulled a bottle out. He loaded the tray with the things he'd prepared and made his way to the blond.

"You are going to fucking pay for that. Literally."

The blond could only manage a small nod, slumped against the chair, head resting on the wall beside him. The air around him was of semi-digested stench that if he wasn't as used to trash duty as he was by now, Aomine would not have been able to stomach this for long. He set the tray down on the table in front of the guy, an almost deadpanned expression on his face.

While Aomine contemplated his options, the bell jingled lightly and sent another gust of cold air in, he was glowering at this point but couldn't say much, knowing full well by now that he'd brought this upon himself.

"Ah! Sorry, I'm late."

"Late?" Aomine repeated out loud, turning to look at the clock. It read: 3:40AM.

"Just got up a few minutes ago and I got here as fast as I could." The guy explained, rushing to the backroom to slip an apron on. He probably didn't notice the "customer" that seemed to be semi-conscious at the moment, which Aomine would use to his advantage.

Aomine didn't look back as he made his way to the back of the room again, not bothering to make sure to tell the guy on the seat not to move, because his legs probably couldn't take him farther than two steps before falling flat on his face. He figured it must have taken a miracle to reach as far as the counter in his state earlier.

When got to the backroom, he took his apron off and hung it on the rack. He pulled his coat on as he collected his things. Slinging his bag over his shoulder without much of a second thought, he got out before his coworker could, intending to drag this blond customer out and as fast as possible with him so as not to raise any questions. He wasn't entirely sure why he had felt this strange obligation to keep from involving anyone else. That in itself was an even stranger way to be selfish, but Aomine shrugged that off as convenience, the door closing softly behind him.

"Let's go." He took the other roughly by the arm, practically dragging him along. Once they were out, he let go, beckoning the blond to follow him.

The streets were cold, but the wind had settled into soft breezes every now and again. He heard the faint sound of teeth chattering a from a few paces behind, but he didn't have to turn around to figure out where it was coming from. He slipped his jacket off and pulled it over the blond's shoulders, who staggered forward as he tried to get his arms into the sleeves. With much fussing, Aomine finally got it on him and they were ready to go. The blond, practically about to trip with every step, was so good at disproving him subconsciously that Aomine had to hook his arm around his and continue dragging him all the way.

From behind the counter inside the café, Takao finally tore his eyes away from the huge shop window and back at his phone's screen to type in a message.

to: midorima shintarou
subj: no title

your friend's not such a bad guy after all. but he can be a little thick. has it really been that long since? oh and good morning (^ε^ )

It was a little cryptic, but Takao figured he'd explain later if got a reply, or maybe when he was less sleepy. He leaned against the counter lazily, knowing that it wasn't really likely that anyone would wander in again, at least until breakfast.

Aomine's unit wasn't far from the café and thankfully, that meant it didn't take very long to get there, or else he'd have frozen to death before they did. As much as he would've preferred to get this guy back to wherever the fuck he came from, it would be much easier to sober him up first before trying to initiate any decent conversation.

He fumbled with the keys a little, and then shoved it in when he got it right, unlocking the door in haste. He threw the blond in first and stepped in himself as he closed and locked the door behind him.

It wasn't a huge place and if Aomine hadn't stopped him and set him down on the couch first, the blond would've found a way to dirty the bed with his puke. The place was already starting to smell like it. The guy was leaning against the wall behind the couch, his breathing a little ragged, cheeks tinted pink. Aomine left his bag on the other side of the couch so he could rummage through his closet. He found an old pair of boxers that he'd kept and found a clean shirt he could do without seeing ever again, should the guy decide to leave while Aomine was asleep. (Although for some reason, he had an itching feeling that wouldn't be the case.) After which, he boiled some water, then poured it into a basin. With a clean towel, he made his way with the newly acquired items and knelt in front of the blond.

"Take your shirt off." At this the blond's cheek became an ever deeper red but Aomine ignored this in lieu of the greater good, that and the blond took it off anyway. He dipped the towel into the basin, squeezing out the excess water and knowing exactly what to do, Aomine gingerly took the cloth across the exposed skin before him. The smell of vomit still lingered, but wasn't as pungent as it had been a few minutes ago, something that he found he was thankful for.

He placed the basin on the coffee table behind him as he stood up. Throwing the boxers and the shirt at the blond, he turned his back to him yet again, "can you manage?"

The blond nodded, muttering to confirm as much. Again, with much tripping over himself and limbs getting stuck, he eventually managed to change into a clean set of clothes.

Aomine took him by the arm, lifting it over his shoulder and letting it rest there as he lead the drunken man to the bed. He pulled the sheets off and the blond nestled against the pillow immediately, a contented, carefree smile on his face when he found them.

Aomine was about to clean up and maybe fix himself something to eat before setting the couch up, but he was pulled back by an arm that had reached from under the covers.

He was thoroughly confused the entire night, more so now, but what took the cake was what the blond had said.

"Thank you, Kasamatsu-senpai. I knew I'd find you there."

Before Aomine could say anything else, a phone rang to some strange tune, probably a pop song and probably this guy's phone, but he figured to take it anyway.

He lifted the sleek, white phone to his ear, giving a straightforward, "hello"

"Kise?"

At that, Aomine looked at the screen to confirm any suspicion. It read, 'Kasamatsu-senpai' indeed.

"Kasamatsu?"

"Aomine…? Aomine! I got to my messages late and the guy, with you, probably with you, he…is he alright?"

Aomine took a sidelong glance at the bed and replied, "yeah, he's alright." Something about all this was beginning to put him on edge.

"Good, then. Thank you. I'll come get him in a little bit and—" Aomine's shoulders were tense and his reply was a clipped, "it's okay. I can handle it. It's cold outside. Stay indoors." And with that, disconnected the call. He placed the phone atop the bedside table and looked back at the bed.

The blond's eyes were closed and his breathing was steady as if he were already asleep, but when his mouth opened to speak, clearly, that wasn't the case. "Kasamatsu-senpai…who was…who called?"

"Aomine."

The blond looked perplexed, eyebrows furrowed, fingers gripping the pillow lightly.

"Ehh…he called me?"

Aomine was glaring at him now, practically seething when he ground out,

"I'm Aomine."

At that, the blond sat up, eyes widening. Any more further action was cut short by the sharp pain in his head because he was moving too much and too fast all at once. He gripped his head, body bent over forward.

"What are you, allergic to my name?"

The blond turned to look at him a little, mouth slightly agape. He closed his eyes again, as if to contemplate something. Eventually, he murmured,

"A-aominecchi?"

The name hung in the air, it was tension gaining yet another form. They stared at each other for the first time that night, perhaps, in the longest time.

Aomine was almost afraid to speak, but in the end, hadn't managed to suppress how "Kise" rolled off his tongue, almost foreign, but not enough to keep the nostalgia away from everything that the name entailed. The very walls of the room held them in secret, and it was as if life had waited for this very moment to unveil it, make him remember.

It was a trigger.

And it was almost as if Kise had sobered up, feeling something wet, salty to the taste, trickle down his cheeks. He choked a little, biting his lip. He tried to force a smile but couldn't hold it for long before he lost it again.

"Aominecchi…fuck. What the fuck?" He was talking more to himself than who he was addressing, managing words between choking back tears.

Aomine watched him from where he stood, unsure of how to move or what to do. Among the other firsts of the day, this was the best he'd gotten to look at Kise –but something else caught his eye. When Kise noticed, through his crying, that he was being stared at. He followed Aomine's gaze to the shirt he was wearing—an old, black, Touhou High jersey and boxers that were actually his.

"Kise…"

Kise looked up again to face Aomine who was looking pointedly at him now. His cheeks were still tear-stained.

He was expecting whys, that and he wouldn't put it past Aomine to kick him out right then and there.

But instead he got, "does your head still hurt?"

Kise nodded in reply, which he regret immediately as he winced in pain.

What he hadn't seen was Aomine's fists clench and then unclench

Aomine climbed over to the empty space on the bed and slipped in under the sheets, beside Kise.

"Sleep it off. I'll go look for aspirin in the morning."

By the time Kise could say anything in response, Aomine had closed his eyes, determined to keep it that way until Kise followed suit. It was something uncanny he had remembered at that instant and he said no more, sliding back under the sheets. He took in a deep breath and let it go, drawing the blanket up to his shoulders. He was about to fall asleep when he heard Aomine's voice.

"Kise."

Today, Aomine paused every time he said his name. As if he had to make sure of something before saying it, and it was like that whatever it was, it wasn't what he was going to say next, but it was more like trying to confirm something in having to say it. But by now, Kise was too sleepy to dwell on it.

"If you wake up earlier, don't do anything stupid."

Like leave, Kise finished in his head, rather amused but he was too sleepy for it to actually show. He whispered, "alright" with a yawn.

Still not completely sober, and with bits and pieces of his confidence returning to him, Kise shifted in closer, trying to close what little space there was between them as he added, "you didn't say anything about doing anything stupid now though."

Aomine sighed, exasperated and tired beyond belief as he drew an arm over Kise anyway.

"One last thing, Aominecchi…" another yawn. "If I forget all of this in the morning, kick me out."

There was no response, and though Kise was actually still pretty dizzy, he somehow felt glad that Aomine didn't catch that.

end notes: this au features the knb characters as a university students. kasamatsu here, is a graduating psychology major, who also has a part time job in campus as a lab assistant. in this timeline, both aomine and kise are second year students. i'm only deadset on aomine majoring in criminology ahaha. i also have this headcanon for selective memory!aomine, which to me would explain a lot of his actions and how rapidly he can "change" but his dick-ish attitude and swearing keep him consistent though. anywaaay, thank you for reading! have a nice day. this was supposed to be heartwarming. but fuck