We were 6-year-olds when Taiga proposed.

"Can I be Daiki's wife?"

The sound of ball dribbling came to a halt as Taiga's nervous question took me unawares. I held the basketball with both hands and turned to face Taiga, staring straight into his eyes as I present him with my brightest grin while I nodded an agreement.

Taiga's face lit up instantly and the next thing I knew, I was affectionately caught in his embrace. My basketball dropped to the concrete floor as I return the hug, pulling him closer as I smile into his neck. Even without my gaze looking directly at Taiga's face, I could sense his cheek muscles pulling into that stupid grin I always adored.

"We'll get married someday!" Taiga exclaimed.

"Of course," I pulled back from the hug to look at Taiga. "Promise not to leave?"

"I promise!"

Taiga's vow seemed hopeful, but who would've thought it wasn't as hopeful as it sounded.

3 weeks later...

"Taiga, let's go and play!" I beamed with an elation that only Taiga could trigger as I approached my future wife in the classroom. I didn't notice Sensei was there and I definitely did not see Taiga's parents were present too. They stopped whatever they were discussing when I barged into the room, all gazes on me. I couldn't care less but the red and puffy eyes of Taiga made my chest hurt.

"I'll leave you with Daiki-kun now, Taiga. Have fun." I heard Taiga's mom say with a smile, somehow, it was sad.

Taiga gave a slight nod, which was unusual because he'd usually radiate a huge amount of joy whenever his parents allowed him to play with me. Even his steps were sad and heavy, lacking in the usual bounce.

"Hey." Taiga's greet was boring.

"What's wrong?" I asked worriedly, taking him by the hand as I led him out of the classroom. That place seemed to be a bad luck right now.

Taiga didn't speak until we were out of the kindergarten and at the playground beside it. We each took a swing and swung for a few minutes before Taiga's breath hitched. I stopped and faced him.

"I'm leaving tomorrow." Taiga was quiet and tears were threatening to fall when he turned to meet my gaze.

"I don't get it."

Taiga hiccuped. "I-I'm leaving for America tomorrow." I could see Taiga was trying his best to blink back his tears, and so was I. I must stay strong, for the sake of Taiga. And so I grinned, despite the tight grip I had on the metal chains supporting the swing.

"Cool! I've always wanted to go to America!"

Taiga was surprised by my reaction, and confused, too.

"I'm leaving, Daiki. I don't know when I'm coming back." With each words, tears gathered at his eyes and his voice gets quieter and quieter.

"I don't wanna leave..." Taiga trailed off as he lowered his head, I'm guessing it's an attempt to not let me see him crying. Idiot, I could already hear his sobs.

I get up from the swing and walked in front of Taiga, ruffled his hair and knelt down. He really was crying, but he tried to hold them back as soon as he saw my face.

"It's okay to cry." I reassured him and grinned, trying my best to hold back my tears.

"No it's not!" Taiga finally looked up and resolve plastered his face. "Daiki's the coolest kid in school and if I cried, I'm not suitable to be Daiki's wife." Taiga mumbled out in embarrassment, causing me to chuckle lightly.

"But even a hero can't be a hero without someone to protect." I took Taiga's face in my hands and pressed our foreheads together. "So it's alright to cry."

Taiga stared at me for seconds before his lower lip quibbled as his eyes turn watery and he threw himself on me and bawled his eyes out. For the whole time I held onto Taiga until he was done crying and eventually fell asleep. His regular breathing pace was the only thing that assured me that it was finally okay to show weakness.

"I don't want you to leave too." I allowed a tear to slip pass my eyes.

The airport might be the second place I hated, first being the classroom, because it's the place that separated Taiga and I. My parents knew Taiga and I were best friends so they drove me here to send him off, even if I was reluctant to see the last of Taiga.

"You better not forget me." I joked light-heartedly.

"Never." Taiga's grin was the main reason why I didn't want to be here in the first place. I don't think I cant leave him alone after seeing that grin that I came to love.

We didn't speak for a solid minute.

"Promise me you'll get tough when you reach there," I hardened my look and gave Taiga a stern look. "'Cuz I won't be there to protect you." It's sad saying that out loud, I can feel tears prickling at the corners of my eyes.

Taiga choked back a sob and mustered up his most tough look. "I promise."

I gave a relieved smile. Then it was Taiga's turn.

"Promise me we'll get married when I come back." Dusty shades of pink colored Taiga's fair cheeks, adorning his red locks, though behind that coyness hid determination.

I held to both of Taiga's hands and grinned. "I promise."

I spent my whole day locked up in my room, crying until my eyes became puffy and red. I wondered if Taiga cried too. I hope he didn't, because I wanted him to be tough.

10 years passed and such a beautiful vow is now nothing but a precious memory tucked behind the back of the mind as life continued to move on. That guy didn't show up of all these years and my memory of him was starting to reduce to a blurry shade of red and bright grins.

Aomine.

Is someone calling me?

Aomine!

Damn, that person's loud...

Ahomine!

I pry my eyes open at the familiar insult to my name and am greeted with a cloudy mix of burgundy and black as I sit up, my back aching from the hard surface I obviously didn't have the intent to sleep on. The blurry vision causes me to rub my eyes until they could properly focus on stuffs and eye my surroundings once more. This is the streetball court Kagami and I always meet at.

A dream? Well, that was sudden...

"Aomine, what happened?" Kagami's voice reminds me that the redhead is, apparently, still here with me. Kagami saves me the trouble of looking around for him by appearing right in front of my face because hell, I feel like I'm having a hangover right now. So dizzy.

"Uh.." It seems like I lost the intelligence to speak now, how great.

My lack of response knits Kagami's eyebrows together in worry. "You passed out when we were taking five."

"Even a hero can't be a hero without someone to protect." Somehow Kagami's face makes me mumble out irrelevant things. I don't even know why and what that's supposed to mean anymore.

"What was that?" Thank God Kagami didn't catch up to that or else what a fool I'll be making of me.

"Nothing." I get up from the bench and start to do some stretching(God, the bench's a goddamn hard motherfucker).

Kagami raises one of his unique brows and I smirk.

"Let's continue."

"I'm gonna wipe the court with your ass this time."

At that moment, Kagami's grin reflects the one on the kid I vowed to protect during my childhood days. I wonder how he's doing right now, whether if he had accomplished his dream of being the toughest kid in school or not because I'll be damned if he ever came back crying to me, I would have zero clue on how to deal with him. After all, the one whom I really want to protect right now, is Kagami.