I ended up mashing together two prompt days so this is for Day Two: Rivalries and Day Three: Bonds. Rivalry being between Aomine and Kise, and the Bond being between Kise and Kuroko.
Warnings: Self-Esteem/Confidence Issues and Crying
"Aominecchi always wins," Kise continues, "I've never beaten him, I'll never be able to beat him."
Kuroko looks up curiously. It's not every day Kise swears, in fact, he doesn't ever swear. It even catches Midorima's attention. Kuroko sets his book aside and pats Murasakibara's arms to tell him to let go. He's slow to respond but he eventually unwinds his arms and lets Kuroko stand up.
It's their day off and, to no one's surprise, they've congregated at a basketball court in a nearby park. Well, Akashi had something to attend to, but everyone is present, even Momoi. Aomine and Kise had started a one on one match immediately.
When it became clear that they'd be at it for a while, Midorima set to retaping his fingers and stretching while Murasakibara pulled Kuroko into his lap and requested a story. Momoi sat down on the bench to go over a few papers, keeping score for the two dueling on the court.
But now, all the attention is on them.
Kise is red in the face, and Aomine looks stunned. The ball rolls until it hits the fence. The air is heavy and still, but Murasakibara shatters it.
"Kise-chin?"
Kise looks ready to cry before he bolts, leaving his bag and phone behind. Momoi jumps up but freezes, not knowing what happened, and unsure of what to do.
"Idiot," Midorima says after a minute.
"What'd I do?"
"Upset him, obviously."
"We were just playing like we usually do!"
Aomine looks genuinely confused, and really, none of them really know what upset Kise so much.
"I'll go find him," Kuroko offers.
"Are you sure?" Aomine asks.
"Yes, please continue playing."
Kuroko picks up his water bottle and sets off at a light jog in the direction Kise disappeared to. It takes roughly fifteen minutes but Kuroko hears the faintest strains of sniffling, and finds Kise sitting on a bench.
Startling Kise, Kuroko sits down beside him, pulling him into an awkward side hug. Luckily, Kise doesn't question it, he just begins crying all over again, and Kuroko's shoulder is soaked in no time. Once he's calmed down, Kuroko hands over his water bottle.
"Sorry," Kise mumbles, drinking half the bottle in one go.
"What happened?"
"Aominecchi won."
Kuroko processes the answer, he has only the slightest idea of where this is going.
"Aominecchi always wins," Kise continues, "I've never beaten him, I'll never be able to beat him."
"There are times you've scored more baskets than him before."
"But I've never come close to beating him in a one on one." Kise drops his head to his hands, rubbing at his eyes.
"I've never beaten him either."
"But you're you!" Kise stops immediately, backtracking as quick as he can. "I didn't mean- not like that- you pass, you don't score, of course you've never beaten him. Even Midorimacchi's beaten him."
"Midorima only wins because of his point advantage. They could make the same amount of baskets and Midorima would still win."
"But I've never won. What use is my copycat if I can't copy my own teammates?"
Instead of responding, Kuroko dumps some of his water onto his sweater sleeve and moves Kise's hands away from his face. Gently, he dabs under the other boy's eyes, trying to stop them from swelling too horribly.
"Why don't we try a two on one, for now. You can work yourself up to a one on one with Aomine."
Kuroko pulls Kise to his feet and starts walking, not giving him a chance to question.
They win by a single point.
Kise's practically glowing with pride, though it could just as easily be the sweat. Aomine ruffles Kuroko's hair, congratulating him between his happy laughter, before Midorima and Murasakibara walk onto the court. Kuroko sits out, too exhausted to do anything more than keep score.
Midorima and Aomine versus Murasakibara and Kise.
The match doesn't reach triple digits but it does ends in a tie. They make Midorima pay for popsicles afterwards, but the he refuses to pay for the excess snack food that Murasakibara picks out.
Kise decides that he'll walk home with Kuroko despite the fact that his home is in the exact opposite direction.
"I'm gonna do it, some day." Kise's gaze is fixed ahead of him and Kuroko is almost certain that there's a heady light in his eyes.
"Do what?" he asks though he already knows.
"Beat Aominecchi. I'll beat him, before we graduate. I'll probably fail a lot, but I'll win eventually."
They both know it's an empty statement. Kise may have the drive but there's a feeling in his gut that tells him it will never happen. They've seen Aomine play, he can win without putting his all into the game. It'll take a miracle. But if hollow words make Kise believe in himself, then that will just have to work.
"I believe in you," Kuroko says quietly.
Kise beams, slinging his arm around Kuroko's shoulders.
"Just wait and see, Kurokocchi, I'll beat him."
Kise challenges Aomine to fifteen more one on one's by the time they graduate. He loses all of them.
When Touou beats Kaijo, Kise calls Kuroko once the night winds down. They talk about everything except what they probably should. Kuroko won't talk about it unless Kise brings it up first. So Kise leaves him with a simple 'beat Aomine' before he wishes Kuroko goodnight and hangs up.
Seirin loses.
Seirin wins, and wins, and wins.
Kaijou loses, and loses.
Kise doesn't call Kuroko this time.
On a whim, Kise calls Kuroko to inform him of how his physical therapy is going. He's not sure if the other boy really cares, but Kuroko listens to everything Kise has to say, interrupting occasionally with a question or sarcastic comment.
Kise runs out of things to say by the time he gets home, and Kuroko's still on the line. He hasn't said anything about having to go, or wanting to end the conversation, so Kise figures he knows something. Kuroko always knows.
"Kurokocchi," Kise says at last.
"Yes?"
"You've felt inadequate, right?"
"Kise-kun, I don't think that's how you're supposed to ask someone for advice."
"Sorry," Kise sighs, "it's just- you beat them, you beat all of them and…"
Kuroko keeps quiet, waiting for him to continue. Kise knows Kuroko will stay quiet for as long as it takes him to begin talking again.
"I couldn't even- I've never beaten him, you know? Aominecchi. He's the one who got me to play basketball! But I've never been able to beat him, and I guess that makes a little sense but I hate it. I- I got close you know, you saw, I can copycat him. I did it perfectly, and I still-"
"That doesn't mean you're not a good player," Kuroko says suddenly, his voice taking on a serious quality that Kise is unused to. "Aomine happens to have a natural proclivity for basketball. And it wasn't just me, I had my team, and you do as well."
The line is quiet for a bit before Kuroko speaks up again.
"There's something else."
"Aominecchi has never been hurt, I've never seen him injured on the court. I played just as hard as he did, harder even, and I hurt m- I got injured."
Kise waits for Kuroko to respond, worrying his lips through his teeth. He's not entirely sure why he's telling Kuroko all of this, it's not like they talk all that often anymore. To be honest, he's not entirely sure why it bothers him, the injury. It's logical, he supposes, he played harder than Aomine, pushed his body to its limits, and got injured. It still bothers him though.
He's not even sure if he's all that angry about getting hurt. Maybe it's because he pushed himself that far, to that point, and had nothing to show for it. Kuroko beat Aomine, Kuroko became the goal then, took Aomine's place. And Kise couldn't beat him, and he got an injured knee for trying.
"Would you like to come visit? Aomine and Midorima are coming over this Sunday, we're going to play at the courts in the park. Kagami was supposed to be our fourth, but something came up."
Putting aside the fact that Kuroko thought to invite Midorima before him, Kise mulls the invitation over.
"I don't know, Kurokocchi, my leg-"
"It's up to you."
With that, Kuroko hangs up and Kise's left staring at his phone like it's personally offended him. It'll be nice to play again, his leg is at least 'okay' if he doesn't strain himself. But it's the fact that Aomine's going to be there, that they're going to play.
Part of him wants to, but most of him doesn't. If this is Kuroko's way of offering a closure of sorts, he's not sure what he's supposed to do.
But he still has a few days to think on it. He knows Kuroko won't be offended if he doesn't show up.
Kise tells himself he's not going. He tells himself he's staying home as he's tying his shoelaces and slinging his bag over his shoulder. He tells himself he's just going to take it easy and rest his leg as he texts Kuroko to tell him that he's on his way. Kise tells himself he'll probably just take a nap as he waves to Kuroko and shouts a 'Kurokocchi!'.
Murasakibara and Akashi live too far away to make a simple social visit, but that's okay. Midorima is unwinding the tape from his fingers and Aomine is laughing at something Momoi said. Kuroko waves him over, a small smile on his lips.
Momoi keeps score for them and they split into teams, Aomine and Kuroko versus Midorima and Kise.
Kise can't play like he used to, not even after therapy and not with his brace. He's still a ways from peak performance, but losing to Aomine doesn't feel as bad as it used to.