Chapter 2

Aomine had never considered himself to be brooding. In fact, he'd been told by many that he didn't think enough, and charged into things on a half a whim...others who were less kind commented snidely that he didn't have enough brain cells to think about anything except for boobs and basketball. And hell, maybe they were right. Assholes and pricks, the lot of them, but honest ones at least. He personally would have just added Tetsu to the list; at least...he would have up until recently.

However, Aomine's already limited spectrum of interests had dwindled even further in months past, and with the huge blow of losing his interest in basketball, there now existed an enormous void in how he spent his time, in his daily thoughts, in his very being. And with the falling out between him and his former "shadow" - and former friend - he could scratch Tetsu right off too. No Tetsu, no basketball; that left...boobs.

Not that Aomine had a problem with that; he never got tired of looking at a decent set of nice, bouncy tits, so look he did, for generous stretches of time. But either something in the weather had killed his typically raging teenage hormones, or the conflicted reunion with Tetsu during the game the day before was still bugging him, because - for whatever reason - he just couldn't focus on the round, creamy breasts laid out like the finest art before him, as he disinterestedly flipped through the magazine he held. He couldn't figure out why even his beloved Mai-chan brought out no reaction, not even a hint of interest; his mind wandered, and he was growing painfully bored, only briefly skimming his eyes over the skimpy bikinis the much-adored model posed in before turning the page. Maybe he was overthinking it. And he never overthought boobs...just looked, and enjoyed. It occurred to him eventually that he might have been trying to distract himself from thinking about something else. Something much less harmless than a nice pair of cans.

It wasn't as if he could perfectly block out what was riding him either; whenever he closed his eyes, he was speared by icy, penetrating pools of the clearest, brightest blue, and something unpleasant would tug at his stomach, making him feel queasy. And though he kept his gaze glued to the round hips, sunkissed skin, and flowing dark locks in front of him, in the back of his mind he kept thinking of the smooth white planes of Tetsu's face, a slender waist he could easily and snugly wrap his arms around, and short, pale strands of hair tickling his fingers or the side of his neck. A complicated, bittersweet mass of emotion was churning in him, and he hated it. He hated not knowing what to do, not knowing what to feel; he would much rather things be simple….but nothing was ever simple where Tetsu was concerned.

With a long-suffering sigh, he let go of the gravure magazine he'd held open over his head where he lay sprawled out on his back, dropping it on his own face, and was plunged into blessed darkness. When exactly darkness had become preferable to boobs, he had no idea, and the notion freaked him out a little, but he pushed it aside for now, folding his arms over the magazine to better block out any lingering light. Maybe he could just take a nap here to pass some time…

"Aomine-kun!"

Grumbling at the loud, shrill voice breaking into his peace and quiet, Aomine lifted the corner of the magazine covering his face, glimpsing Satsuki crouching right beside him, shooting little pink daggers at him from her eyes.

"What," he said dully, not moving from his position.

"You know what," Satsuki retorted, "You weren't at practice again, and I find you lying on the roof like a lazy -"

"No point," Aomine interrupted bluntly, letting the magazine fall over his eyes again like a makeshift sleep mask.

"What do you mean no point? You know Imayoshi-san already threatened to bench you once, if you don't start taking your responsibilities seriously, he might really do it."

"Tch, no he won't. He needs me too much; they all do."

He could almost hear steam escaping Satsuki's ears, "He could decide he doesn't need you anymore, you know! You are part of a team, you should start acting like it!"

Aomine shrugged, "Even if he did make me sit out, I wouldn't care; I'll just start skipping games too."

"Then what's the point of being on a basketball team?"

Aomine sat up slowly, Mai-chan's smiling face falling into his lap, and stretched leisurely, "Maybe I'll just quit the team," he yawned.

Satsuki just stared at him, eyes wide, mouth slightly ajar; she kind of looked like she'd been slapped in the face.

"Keep your mouth open like that and a bug might fly in," Aomine commented carelessly.

Her mouth snapped shut.

"...Who are you?" she asked after a moment, in little more than a whisper, sounding betrayed, appalled, and a little frightened.

She didn't give him time to decide on a sarcastic enough answer, standing up straight and turning on her heel before walking away, starting to descend the ladder that lead up to the roof.

She paused, looking over at him sadly, "I feel really sorry for you, Aomine-kun, and I know I'm not the only one. Think about that." With that, she started climbing down the steps, her pink head gradually disappearing from view.

When she was out of sight, Aomine let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding through his teeth, "Well fuck you too," he muttered, lying back down stiffly and folding his arms under his head.

Watching the clouds pass overhead, he reluctantly obeyed Satsuki and thought about her parting statement - brooding again, which wasn't getting any more normal for him to do - wondering if he should let it mean as much as he knew it was intended to. He knew who she was referencing, when she said she wasn't the only one who felt sorry for him, and he didn't like the huge, painful knot that formed in his throat as he acknowledged that, swallowing hard to try to get rid of it.

I didn't think I could feel worse than yesterday… he thought ruefully, throwing an arm over his eyes with a groan of frustration. Satsuki and Tetsu, they both knew how to piss him off, pitying and patronizing him all the time. He was not a goddamn child, and was really starting to loathe being treated like one.

"I know you are frustrated, Aomine-kun, but don't take your anger out on other people,"

"Fuck off, Tetsu…."

Gritting his teeth, Aomine raked his fingers up into his hair, as if he could pull the memories out of his head before they could fully form, but, just like before, they would not be stopped from tormenting him, taunting him, laughing in his face.

"You made Momoi-san very upset...you shouted at one of your own teammates and stormed out…" Tetsu's gaze was impassive as ever, but there was a hint of reproachfulness in his voice.

"I already talked to the new coach about that," Aomine growled, his pace becoming brisker on the puddled ground, so that Tetsu had to jog to keep up, "He said -"

"You can't just stop coming to practice, Aomine-kun," Tetsu interrupted baldly, "Whatever the substitute says."

"Yeah? Watch me."

Tetsu stopped, and, startled, Aomine faltered as well and glanced back at him.

"What happened to you?" his "shadow" asked softly, the dismay in his eyes briefly illuminated by the headlights of a passing car, "Ever since the Kamizaki match at nationals, you have been different...bitter."

"I already told you," Aomine muttered, averting his gaze, "It's pointless; the only one who can beat me is me. The match at nationals proved it to me, that's all."

Tetsu took a step closer to him, eyebrows drawing together slightly; the only indication he gave that he was angry, "Don't say 'that's all' like it's nothing," he said in a dangerously quiet murmur.

Aomine tried to break off the train of thought there; tried in vain to stem it before it got bad, and jerked the magazine in his lap open, gazing at the pictures blindly as the memory just kept going like a reel of film in his head.

"It's not a big deal, Tetsu. What happened earlier today isn't either, I'll just be absent from practice sometimes; it doesn't affect you at all, so just fucking drop it!" He hadn't realized the volume of his voice was rising as he went on, until he was shouting by the end of it, hands clenched into fists.

There was a drawn-out moment of silence, and Tetsu just looked at the ground for the duration of it, as if the puddles on the sidewalk would reveal the answers to him.

"It is a big deal," he responded after a moment, tilting his head up to meet Aomine's eyes; his own were unusually sad, the emotion very clear where it was normally a bit hard to tell what he was feeling.

No...stop...fucking stop… Flinging Mai-chan's photobook over the edge of the school as hard as he could, Aomine got to his feet and got moving, as if he could escape his own thoughts, his own very recent, very real past.

"And not that you would notice, but it does affect me," Tetsu went on, wringing his hands in front of him; something Aomine had never seen him do, "It's affecting you too. You are angry so much of the time; you yell at everyone, including Momoi-san...including me."

"Tetsu, I didn't mean -" Aomine began, sensing the tense, ominous atmosphere between them.

"If you start skipping practice, then I no longer want to be your 'shadow'," Tetsu whispered.

Breaking into a run, Aomine scrambled down the ladder, letting go when he was still a good two meters from the ground, not even registering the twinge of pain as his feet absorbed the shock when he landed, almost sending him to his knees with the inertia.

"What...are you saying?" Aomine asked warily, crossing his arms.

"I'm…" Tetsu began, but he was cut off.

"Are you breaking up with me?"

Sighing, Tetsu started walking again, trudging right past Aomine, giving a morose reply over his shoulder, "Were we ever really together? We practiced together, and sometimes kissed, and now...not even that. You said…you don't even remember how to receive my passes anymore."

Impulsively, Aomine reached out and snatched his hand, preventing him from walking away. Tetsu halted, but didn't turn around. His hand was so small, Aomine's almost smothered it, and it was cold, like Tetsu's skin always seemed to be before Aomine's furnace-like body heat warmed it up.

"Don't do this," he pleaded - and he never pleaded with anyone, for anything.

Aomine didn't know where he was going, sprinting blindly as if he was being chased by the Devil; his pounding footsteps were reverberated in the empty halls, his sawing breath almost as loud, and to his surprise he found himself almost crashing into the doors of the gymnasium. He skidded to a stop, winded, and recognized that he'd cornered himself.

"It's already done," Tetsu muttered dully, and yanked his hand out of Aomine's grip, the strength of his small arm as surprising right then as it was on the court.

"But -"

"Please don't walk me home anymore, Aomine-kun. Don't follow me." If Aomine had listened closely, he would have heard the shake in Tetsu's voice that betrayed the gathering tears he was concealing, "I'm sorry."

Sinking to the ground with his back to the gym door, Aomine slumped, pressing his face into his own hands, and then his knees, his breath coming harsher and faster than it should have, Fuck…fuck fuck fuck….

That whole day had been a nightmare. Even before Tetsu breaking up with him - assuming they were together to begin with - and then avoiding him, refusing to talk to him unless absolutely necessary, for just about the rest of middle school. He didn't seem angry, or distraught, or anything like that...just distantly sad and detached, and that was probably what bothered Aomine the most about it.

Well, it seemed like he finally moved on now, and had a brand spanking new, albeit dim "light" to send all his passes to. They even seemed to get along well, maybe better than he and Aomine had. A nasty little voice in the back of his mind wondered if it was possible that the two were together, like he and Tetsu had been. Who cares if they are? Why should I give a damn?

He supposed he could pass it off as ridiculous all he wanted, but as he unsteadily got to his feet and tried to regain some of his composure from what he could only describe to himself as a panic attack, he reluctantly admitted that the thought of Tetsu in someone else's arms - tender, gentle lips in someone else's possession - made him feel sick with rage. And some stupid, senseless hurt he could never quite push away.

TBC

((I know, I've got so many stories I need to update, and this is the newest and therefore the least popular of the bunch, but it's fun to write angst, and hopefully it won't be too long with these nice, brisk chapters, so I can get back to the others quickly. I've got some ideas brewing for this one, and not just of the angst and Teiko flashback variety, don't you worry, *wiggles eyebrows*

Feedback is always appreciated, it helps more than you know, and motivates me to keep writing.

-Shinsun))