24 hours before commencement of the annual Purge
Tokyo at night has changed since Aomine's youth. The buildings have grown taller, the lights brighter, the people more active and lively. Tokyo in general has changed a great deal, too. Six years earlier, a new power rose in Tokyo; said power took over and stripped the country of it's government, putting in place an oligarchy. This government – the Oligarchy of Japan – is ruled by the "new emperors," a wealthy group of individuals that took down the what seemed set-in-stone constitutional monarchy.
Prior to the new government, there had been a steady decline of the crime rate in Japan, plummeting with each passing year. However, the day the Oligarchy was put in place, there was a standstill in crime completely; everyone was nervously anticipating what was to come. The next day, and the days following, the rate continued decreasing. Japan, to other countries, seemed to be becoming a more open and safe place to live. However, this continuing decrease in crime was because of one established event.
Every year for fourteen hours, there is to be an annual purge. During this time, any and all crime, including the murder of other civilians, is legal. It is a time where some people find their calling, hooting and hollering out the windows of beaten up vans waving guns in the air like a declaration of war, whereas others cower in their homes, windows and doors bordered up in hopes to survive the night.
It's seven in the afternoon when Aomine finally unlocks the door to his apartment and steps in. It had been a long day at the station; there were nonstop arrests of early purgers – people who thought they could get a head start on their fun. Aomine was exhausted as he quietly closed the door, back pressed to it as his arms fell to his sides. From somewhere within the apartment, he could hear the shuffling of slippers against a carpeted floor, and when a familiar head of bright blond hair peeked around the corner, he was instantly put at ease.
Kise rounds the corner, and Aomine is quick to push away from the door and meet him halfway. There's a limp in Kise's step that causes Aomine to hold back a wince whenever he sees it. Ever since their high school days, Kise had been having knee problems. They had gotten better as the years passed, but during his last semester at university when he was going all out in his last basketball match, only thirty-six seconds separating him and victory, he ended up with a blown knee – a tearing of his ACL, MCL, and lateral meniscus.
The accompanying surgery to treat the terrible triad, along with the follow up physical therapy, had completely dried his bank account which at one point contained a healthy sum from saving up his modeling money. After university, Kise had dreams of attending aviation school to become a pilot, but since the incident, there was nothing left to do but survive.
Aomine meets Kise halfway as he steps through the apartment, lifting him off the ground and nuzzling his nose into the crown of golden hair. He inhales sharply, taking in Kise's citrus-scented shampoo before carrying him over to the couch. It's a habit to sit down with his boyfriend in his lap, pull his legs across his thigh, and mindless massage Kise's knee. Aomine's fingers are gentle as they caress the other's silky skin.
"Daiki, I've told you before that you don't need to carry me," Kise whines as he rests his head against Aomine's shoulder; Aomine turns his head to kiss the top of Kise's, hoping it'll be enough to silence him on the matter.
"You know I hate seeing you like that, though," he retorts quietly, wanting to bask in the moment of having his boyfriend close after a stressful day.
"I know," Kise emphasizes, given that every day it's the same routine again and again, "I should be able to walk around my own apartment though. It's been, what? Two years now since I've had the surgery? I'm fine. Nothing's going to happen to me."
"Yeah, but… I should be able to pick up and carry my boyfriend to the couch without question," Aomine shoots back, and it's enough to finally get Kise to silence.
It's quiet in their apartment, the only sounds being the ticking of their wall clock that hangs above the TV opposite the couch, and the voices of noisy civilians outside. Aomine and Kise don't live in the wealthiest neighborhood in Tokyo, nor do they live anywhere near it. Given Kise's lack of funds and Aomine's working to support the both of them, they live humbly in a single bedroom apartment with a kitchen, bathroom, and small living area. It's not much, but it's home and it's all theirs.
Given that Aomine's a police officer, he has been granted special protection from the purgers. Inch thick steel barriers have been installed to slide down at the press of a button and cover their windows and door. It's not much, but it's been enough to keep them safe the past couple of years since Aomine had joined the force.
Kise is completely against the idea of the purge, while Aomine appreciates the fact that it "gets rid of the whackos so he doesn't have to worry about them." However, with that in mind, there has been a decrease in the need for new police officers given the fact that there's a decline in crime. It puts Aomine's job on the line, but seeing as he goes in every day and works his ass off, he's one of their most prized officers, and he thinks it'd be stupid to let him go.
For a few more minutes, Aomine and Kise sit on the couch in silence. Aomine continues to mindlessly massage Kise's knee, while Kise stares at the opposite wall; both appear to tune out the world until their TV automatically flashes to life, displaying the news station with an enlarged countdown signaling that there is merely twenty-four hours left until commencement. From their position, Aomine can feel Kise holding his breath, and with the arm wrapped around his body, he rubs comforting circles against his back.
"Breathe, Ryouta," he says, voice low and soothing as he feels Kise's back beginning to rise once again. "Breathe, and you'll be fine. Everything's going to be just fine. We've survived five years of this already, and we'll survive another. You know we will, and I know we will. There's nothing to worry about."
In the background, an electronic sounding woman's voice repeats directions that have been implanted in the minds of nearly one-hundred and fifty million people. They all know the rules. This is nothing new. If anything, it serves as an adrenaline boost for those participating. From down the hall, a cheer can be heard that causes Kise's steady breathing to falter again. Aomine returns to murmuring soothing words in his boyfriend's ear, telling him that he'll survive – that they'll survive, and that soon enough, they'll leave this now miserable country and move someplace new, welcoming, and above all else, safe.
After Aomine works on calming Kise down, the two separate: Kise returns to their bedroom to take a much needed nap while Aomine heads out to buy enough groceries and necessities to last the fourteen hour time period that's quickly approaching.
Twenty-two hours left, Aomine thinks as he folds into the driver's seat of his car ad starting it up, pulling out of his spot and out of the lot. The drive is quick, considering there's a small convenience store down the street that sells just about anything anyone could need last minute. When he parks and steps inside, he notices that a majority of the shelves are bare, and there are seemingly endless lines at the dual registers.
Picking up a basket, Aomine heads down a nearby aisle, pulling anything and everything he can find that would be necessary into it. By the time he's finished hunting down things he needs, he heads for the line, biting the inside of his cheek at the fact that it's still nearly twenty people long. Every few minutes, the lines will shuffle forward a few inches before coming to a standstill once more. It's frustrating, because all Aomine wants is to get back home and hold Kise in his arms for the night and fall asleep peacefully one last time before commencement.
An hour passes by the time Aomine's groceries are bagged and he's back in his car, arguing with himself about how shitty the service was, but deep down part of him understands. All of these people are scared. They're the poor, he's the poor… Kise's the poor. They're the ones that are normally targeted and killed, because not only do the wealthy pay good money for a sickly civilian or a homeless man on the street, but ridding of the poor helps improve the economy as well – effectively, the wealthy are the ones gaining from this disturbing holiday.
When Aomine finally returns home, Kise is fast asleep in bed. With quiet feel, Aomine shuffles to the kitchen where he unbags the few groceries he scavenged and places them in a bare cabinet. It's sad in a sense, looking into empty cabinets and a desolate fridge. He used to be able to provide so much, but now… They're barely making it by. Sighing, he crumbles up the paper bag which had contained his groceries before dropping a pack of batteries into a drawer containing flashlights, candles, and lighters.
Before heading into the bedroom himself, Aomine plops back down on the couch and reaches for the remote, turning the TV on and instantly clicking away from the new channel counting down until commencement of the purge. Twenty-one hours. The number resonates in his suddenly blank mind; dead eyes stare at the changing pictures on the screen before him as he begins thinking of the previous purges. The increase of hunting gangs in the area. The decrease in population…
The next thing Aomine knows, it's midnight and his eyes are beginning to crust shut from how tired he is. In six hours, he'll be up and getting ready for another day at the station; later on though, the other officers will be jittery and anticipating getting home. None of them participate in the purge. They've seen enough bloodshed and violence to last their lives. They'll want to get out and get home to their families and loved ones as soon as possible. They'll want to wait out the event; some will probably sleep through it, some will probably sit across from their front door with a gun in hand… Some will probably lose it.
It's all a part of who they are now, as people and as a country. They've been driven mad, all of them. With that thought weighing down on Aomine, he stands from the couch after flicking the TV off. For a few moments, he stands in total darkness, staring off into nothingness as he thinks about everything ranging from work to Kise to life. His heart is either racing or has stopped altogether, he can't tell. All he knows is that he feels worn down and exhausted, and his bed is calling his name. So, he carries himself slowly towards the bedroom where he crawls into bed beside his sleeping boyfriend.
He doesn't bother changing, too tired to do anything but wrap an arm around Kise's waist and burrow his nose into his soft golden hair. Kise's developed a habit of setting the bedside alarm for Aomine, seeing as he himself is too lazy to do such a minute task, so Aomine falls asleep moments later, no longer worrying about anything in particular. His mind wanders in his comatose state, thinking about Kise and how much he loves him. He also thinks about how he would do anything in the world to give the male asleep in his arms a better life, and how he would go against anything and everything to keep him safe.
When Aomine finally falls asleep, there are eighteen and a half hours until commencement of the annual Purge.