Aomine was a bit surprised at the ramen place Kise took him as it was rather, for lack of a better word... shabby? It really did not match Kise's stylish appearance. But then appearances could be misleading, Aomine quickly was taught again, the moment he tasted the meal placed in front of him. From the aroma of the broth to the taste of the noodles to the texture of the meat, it was perfect. The owner of the little shop, a man in his late 50's, himself was serving them and treated Aomine in a strange mix, both as a young son and a national hero which, honestly, made Aomine feel more comfortable and also a little shier than he ever had been in a restaurant in ages.

When they left restaurant, after a lengthy discussion in which the owner insisted that the meals had to be on the house and they didn't need to pay, and Aomine signed a bunch of items, and also promised to come back at the first chance, he felt much fuller and also much younger. He was not sure why he was reminiscing of his teenage years but Kise begging and almost forcefully taking him to a candy shop, which he claimed to be the best place to have a milk shake around here, might have added to the nostalgia. As he slurped the grape-berry protein-packed smoothie he bought, he gave a side glance at Kise who was happily slurping his own vanilla milkshake.

"I didn't know you liked vanilla shakes."

"Nah, I mean they are okay but not my favourite or anything. I just thought it would be nice to have it as it reminds me of Kurokocchi."

"Reminiscing about Tetsu by drinking vanilla shakes? What are you a lovesick 14 years old girl?"

"Says the man who was what, 'ex-light' of Kurokocchi? I mean I never claimed to be his 'light' or was 'partners' with him y'know..."

Kise specifically elongated the way he pronounced the words "light" and "partner" which made Aomine, who till that point was giggling at his own joke, to not just stop giggling but also to gag and spit out some of his smoothie out of sheer surprise at Kise's cheeky comments. With his cheeks adorning a slight blush, he replied,

"What the heck Kise? We were just kids okay? When you are that young, you are inevitably a little dorky."

Kise started laughing quite loudly,

"Oh like always Aominecchi is the best one to tease. And you know I do love Kurokocchi and I am sure you do as well, I think he has been a great friend to all of us really. I don't know how we would turn out to be if he didn't help us through our teenage angst. It is funny when you think about it, he was the most mature of us despite the one who looked the most childish."

Aomine nodded his head, what Kise was saying was surely true but he did not feel comfortable admitting them vocally. Maybe he still had a lot of way to go to be an adult and being an adult was not something that magically happened when you were over 21 years of age. He felt like changing the subject,

"Do you know where we are going? It feels like we are just randomly walking."

"But we are just randomly walking..."

"Okay... that was unexpected. Thought you would be dragging me to some other weird location."

"Being a meanie again just because you can't properly express your feelings of friendship?"

Aomine gave a half-joking angry glance and Kise smirked,

"Fine fine... I don't know, I just like walking randomly and freely like this I guess. I was not a big star or anything, still, back in Japan I had some following as you know and especially in recent years it had become harder for me to just randomly walk in the streets. People would always stop me or whisper to each other about me, some paparazzi could always jump out to take a picture. It was tiring. Since I moved here, nobody has been bothering me like that – I am not sure if I should be happy since it means I have a long way to go with my career over here – but somehow it makes me feel relaxed and content and I like it..."

He felt that he had talked too much so he stopped.

"I kind of get it."

"You do?"

"Yeah. I am luckier I guess, if I put on a bit of a disguise – like the glasses and the knit cap today – people don't really recognise me easily over here. But yeah, the last year when I visited Japan it was especially a big uproar. Reminds me... we didn't see each other last time I came, you were in Europe or something right?"

"Yeah, I was able to get some jobs over there, a great breakthrough for me really."

Kise's feet slowed down and his eyes stared at the small streetball court across the street, when Aomine realised this, he naturally commented,

"Ah too bad we don't have a ball with us. Or if somebody were playing we could borrow it..."

Kise was surprised.

"You would play now?"

"Why not?"

"We just ate and we are still stuffing ourselves as we speak?"

"So? Didn't we do it often when we were younger?"

"Yeah the keyword: 'younger'."

"Kise, we are not that old."

"I know but... anyways."

Aomine at first was nerved at Kise's reluctance, how could he be so reluctant when it came to basketball... it was not just infuritating to Aomine but also very awkward considering how passionate Kise had always been about the sport. But a few seconds later, he felt that unlike his own situation, Kise's relation with basketball was probably much more sensitive right now. Was he being insensitive like usual? How could he not read the mood properly? He used to have much better insight and intuition towards his friends' basketball. They had started to walk again, albeit at an even slower pace, and an awkward silence had fallen upon them. He decided to break it as smoothly as he could,

"Well since you did inform me of a great ramen place, I think the least I can do is to show you my own generosity. Kise Ryouta, you are invited to my first official opening match with my new team. VIP tickets."

Kise smiled,

"You sure Aominecchi? That is too much of an honour for a peasant like me to bear."

"Yes I am sure but please do not shout anything like 'Aominecchi' during the game."

"Aw, you meanie..."

Kise jokingly pushed his shoulder to Aomine which made him almost drop his smoothie,

"God... Kise, you are a goddamn brat, I swear to God you are."

Aomine said, while his eyes were giving an irritated glare to Kise, he was oddly and slightly smiling.