A/N: Thanks for the lovely initial response! In case it's confusing, apart from the first section of the first chapter, this fic is Aomine POV.

Rating: M

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(Smiling in Reminiscence…)

When did it start? His first taste of infatuation.

Infatuation. No hedging words. Aomine was not in the habit of lying to himself. What he carried in his heart for this carefree, smiling boy from its inception was too important to him to be cheapened with denial. So fiery were these feelings that it would be stupid to call it preoccupation born from mere boredom.

He felt an acute sensation of free-fall in the initial months. And years on he was still reeling from vertigo, Kise, Kise Ryouta ringing silently in his ears. And of course, there were those awkward moments of lust. Ironically, his horndog reputation and womaniser image made the lying so easy.

When did it start?

Aomine considered it carefully and smiled self-depreciatingly. It must have begun that one time, in the midst of the hottest summer on record, most unromantically on the side of road two hundred metres from a dusty intersection in the country. They were attempting to reach the beachside pension where the rest of the Teikō team were already gathered…

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'Why is there no bus route to this place?' Kise complained, stretching his long legs out into the shallow ditch and rubbing his heels against the hard dirt. 'We should have stayed on that bus…'

'Are you stupid? A detour would have taken us another two hours! Be patient, Kise. A car will drive by any second now.' Aomine laid back and made himself comfortable on the pile of weeds growing forlornly alongside the ditch, closing his blue eyes. 'Wake me when it does.'

Kise ignored this and laid down right beside him, an arm swinging over Aomine's outstretched one in that overly familiar way of his. Aomine decided to ignore this too, so he didn't have to suffer any additional wheedling. Soon, there was some semblance of quiet for the first time since they embarked on this godforsaken half-day journey.

But try as he did, the heat was too oppressive for an easy doze. There was no shade and his black T-shirt was soaking up the sunshine, cooking him in the process. Aomine could pick up the faint but annoying groan of agricultural equipment operating a few miles away to the west. And he was probably beginning to sweat too much because there were flies crawling all over his face. Then his shoulder began to itch. Fuck this. No, fuck you Akashi for this mess.

With an angry groan he flung Kise's arm off and pulled his shirt off, then whipped it repeatedly through the air, trying to deter the flies. They were monsters… a huge, persistent rural variety determined to get a piece of him. Little motherfuckers, the only one who can beat me is me… Now die! Die! Die!

He was momentarily distracted from this sweaty struggle by Kise's arm landing on him again. This time, fingers brushed against his side. Aomine sighed and turned towards the blond to tell him off. He didn't even like girls feeling their way around there… it tickled.

Aomine paused as he focused on Kise's sleeping figure. He felt an ungracious scowl creep across his face. No one had the right to look like that in this kind of ludicrous situation. Momoi said he always drooled and grunted in his sleep. Like a pig, she once offered helpfully, which perfectly matched his boorish personality. But a subdued Kise looked even better than he did wide awake: silky, golden fringe swept down across the bridge of his perfect nose, long eyelashes fluttering lightly as he dreamed, tapered cheekbones curving down to frame a pink, upturned pout. Kise's breathing was even and as Aomine unconsciously leaned forward, he let out a soft, feminine sigh that sent a jolt straight through Aomine's stomach.

The growing sound of an engine and tires grinding against steaming asphalt interrupted Kise's slumber. Sleepily, one golden eye opened, followed by another. He looked straight into Aomine's eyes. 'It feels good, sleeping next to Aominecchi like this…' he murmured with a slight smile.

Aomine face was frozen. It may have been a side effect of dehydration but in the next moment he opened his mouth and let slip: 'You're so pretty, Kise.'

Kise was yawning daintily behind a hand as he got up on his elbows. 'Wha diya jus say, Aomi-yawn-cchi?'

Aomine's mind lurched. What did I just…? He tried to cover up his panic. 'I-I said, it's time to put your pretty face to use! Quick, get up and hail the car, Kise!'

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His finger twitched. Fuck, it was annoying him. It took almost all ten minutes of the car ride for Aomine to tell Kise he had something in his hair.

'Come here,' he said, grabbing the front of his shirt. He quickly plucked the blade of grass out from behind Kise's ear, but not before his fingers accidentally brushed the side of his face. Kise took that moment to sneeze and proceeded to chatter with excitement about seeing Kuroko again. But Aomine's mind was blank.