Mainly a friendship fic, but can be read as AoKise if you squint. Please review if you like it!
"You suck!" says Hanamiya loudly.
"Suck, suck, suck," chant the others after him - Hara, Seto, Furuhashi, Yamazaki.
Kise's big brown eyes fill with water. "I don't," he protests tearfully. "I don't s - suck,"
"You suck," Hanamiya repeats, kicking the smaller boy in the stomach. Kise keels over in the mud, pristine blonde hair now half-brown, and he begins to bawl loudly as his bully and the rest of the gang scream loudly, "You SUCK!"
Kise's sobs quieten as he is kicked over and over, the wind going out of him. Beseeching brown eyes seek out the silent blue-haired boy standing behind everyone else, a silent plea to a person he knows will be on his side.
Aomine hangs back, reluctant to join in the others' 'fun', yet equally hesitant to outright support Kise. He wants to be in with Hanamiya's gang - everyone does. They're the coolest kids in the elementary school; all the others admire them or fear them, and he's just started going around with them. He could jeopardise everything if he opens his mouth now.
"A - Aominecchi," comes a weak sound from the blonde lying on the ground. Aomine stares at Kise, unwilling to move or say anything.
"Aren't you going to help him, Aomine?" snickers Hara.
"Yeah, help him! Help the poor baby!" singsongs Seto cruelly.
Aomine frowns and steps forward, looking down at Kise. He bends down, extends a hand.
And punches Kise in the face.
"You suck," he says vehemently, and grins at the pleased smile on Hanamiya's face.
This is what he's supposed to do. Who he's supposed to be.
So why does he want to knock all of them out when they start hitting Kise harder?
He can't stop thinking about it. About the bruised, bloodied, beaten-up mess that his new gang had made Kise's face into.
Aomine groans loudly and rolls over on his bed, shoving his face into his pillow.
Why can't he just forget about it? Kise does suck, anyway. He's a crybaby and no good at basketball -
Well, that's not true. Even Hanamiya has to accept that. Kise's ability to copy anything is pretty cool, and it makes him good at whatever he does.
He's probably off crying somewhere, anyway. It's not Aomine's problem.
You know what you have to do, says a little voice in his head.
"I don't have to do anything," he screams out loud, sick of all the stuff that's happened today. First those weird feelings he's been feeling about Kise, wanting to be near him and show off and make him smile, and now a voice inside his head.
A frustrated shout passes his lips as he rolls out of bed and puts on his jacket to go out, grumbling all the way.
Aomine scrambles along the parapet and jumps down like a cat, landing softly near the exact spot where he knows Kise is hiding. It's the blonde's go-to hideout, and besides, he can hear sniffling sounds coming from the corner.
He moves closer and squats down, peering into the dark corner in which Kise is curled up crying.
"Oi, Kise," he calls. "Come out."
"Aomine - cchi?" says a weak voice, shaky from crying.
"Yeah." Aomine replies. "Yeah, it's me."
Kise raises his face, wet with tears, and gives him a defiant glare. "Go away."
Aomine crawls into the corner, ignoring Kise's instructions and the painful kick to his side.
"Don't cry, stupid," he says gruffly. "Men don't cry."
"Don't touch me," Kise whines, pushing Aomine's hands away. "You're gonna hurt me again."
"No I'm not,"
"Yes you are."
"No I'm not,"
"Yes you are."
They go on like this for a while, until Aomine decides he's had enough and pulls Kise's hands away from his face.
"I'm sorry, okay?" he spits out, blushing furiously but still keeping his gaze locked onto teary brown eyes. "I'm sorry I pushed you and kicked you and said all that. I didn't mean it. You don't really suck that much, you're better than Hara."
Kise looks up, and his eyes are suddenly filled with a bright light. "You really think so?" he asks hopefully.
"Y - yeah," Aomine stutters.
"Aominecchi's so nice," Kise says quietly, smiling even though his face is still wet, nose streaming.
"I'm not," he protests vehemently. He's not some wishy-washy baby to be nice.
"Promise you'll never leave me," Kise sniffles, grabbing his hands.
Aomine goes redder than a tomato despite his dark skin. "Wh - what?!"
Kise nods vigorously. "Aominecchi's never gonna leave me, right?" he asks, eyes big and wide and pleading.
Aomine sighs and crawls forwards. "Okay… I'm never going to leave you."
Kise shakes his head vehemently. "Not like that! You have to say, 'I'm never ever ever going to leave you! Not ever!'"
Aomine rolls his eyes. "Fine. What a piece of work you are. I'm never ever ever going to leave you. Not ever. Is that okay?"
Kise nods. "As long as Aominecchi means it," he says pointedly.
"What the hell – of course I mean it," Aomine blusters, not wanting to go through another whole session of this.
"Of course you do," Kise says quietly, smiling.
And Aomine finds himself thinking, he wouldn't mind if he did.
Wouldn't mind if he did mean it.
Just a little.