Author's note:

Good call to those of you who guessed that Momoi was referring to Kuroko instead of Aomine when she mentioned 'boyfriend'. That means you're smarter than Kise. "ヽ(´▽`)ノ"

Rough guide to the timeline:

Fated meeting happened in the first week of March. Events in the second chapter occurred in April. Spring and summer overlaps in this chapter but I'm just going to label this chapter as spring.


Spring: Misunderstandings

"Grr– Where is he?" a frustrated Aomine thought to himself as he listened to the "person is unreachable" message for the umpteenth time on his mobile phone.

He slammed the phone down onto the table before picking it up again to dial the police station.

"Oi! Wakamatsu? Have you got anything on Kise Ryouta yet? What happened to the search squad that I asked you to deploy earlier? Any findings?"

"Huh? You of all people should know that you can't file a missing person report if it hasn't been 24 hours yet. Didn't you last see him about 4 hours ago?" an annoyed Wakamatsu replied.

"But he has yakuza after him! What if he was kidnapped? I can't reach him at all!"

"We can't do anything without evidence Aomine," Wakamatsu continued. "Oh, wait, wait. I have something here! I think I just saw Kise Ryouta–"

"WHAT? WHERE? TELL ME NOW!"

"–on a TV commercial for that new Sony mobile phone–– Should we put TV Tokyo on our list of suspects now? Ahahahahahahaha––"

Aomine cursed loudly into the phone before slamming the poor phone, again, onto the table, this time catching the attention of curious onlookers around him. He is currently sitting in the café where Kise had made a table reservation for the evening. Before that, he was running in circles around the neighbourhood trying to look for him. He spoke to a few people who claimed to have seen Kise but the trail got cold and Aomine was back to not knowing where to look again. Kise wasn't replying to any of his messages and his phone was switched off. He was banking on Kise to show up at the café by some miracle but the seat in front of him remained empty.

"Ah– Ano– Are you ready to make an order?" a timid, frail-looking waiter with light brown hair and huge brown eyes asked Aomine.

"Wha? No. I'm still waiting for someone."

"I'm sorry! But– But– You have been sitting here without ordering anything for the past hour… And there is a long queue outside of people wanting to dine in here…"

"Your customer service sucks."

"Hah? No, ah– I'm so sorry!"

"Sakurai-san? Please go and serve the other tables. Let me handle this one. Oh, bring out the berry explosion cake for this table too. 4 slices for me and 1 slice for this scary-looking gentleman," said a purple-haired giant in a chef's uniform as he took the empty seat opposite Aomine's.

"Ah– I'm so sorry Murasakibara-sama!" exclaims the timid waiter as he frantically ran off to the kitchen.

"Hey, hey. Who are you? That seat's taken!"

"Murasakibara Atsushi… This is my café…"

"Still doesn't give you the right to take that seat," scoffs Aomine.

"Hmm… Did he stood you up?" he asked out of the blue.

"Wha– What do you mean? He's probably just running late like he always does! He was the one who wanted to come here in the first place!" grunts a flustered Aomine.

Sakurai arrived shortly with the cakes and Murasakibara started digging in while gesturing at Aomine to take a bite too.

"I saw that this table was reserved for Kise Ryouta. I know him, that famous model right? He comes here quite often with his work colleagues," mumbled Murasakibara with his mouth filled with cake. "I can understand how you feel… I have a model boyfriend too. They tend to be quite fickle, must be because of their job, always out drinking and partying– One minute they will declare their everlasting love for you and the next minute they will start yelling that they hate you. Hai–– Such a headache…"

"We're NOT in that kind of relationship. We're just flatmates."

"Oh? But you're planning to take that route right? Since you're both already living together and sorts–"

"NO. He'll be out once his own place is fixed."

Murasakibara wasn't really paying attention to what Aomine was saying as he started rambling on about how his current lover, some model by the name of Tatsuya Himuro, would rarely come home nowadays, how he doesn't trust the people hanging around him and so on. It came to a point that Aomine begged to be excused as he couldn't take listening to the stories of another person's troubled love life any longer.

Instead of heading straight home, Aomine decided that it was best for him to hang out at the police station in case any news on Kise comes in. Plus, he still wants to kill Wakamatsu for his stupid joke earlier.


It was probably about 5 in the morning when Kise arrived back home after having been kicked out from his manager's place. Initially, Reina was reluctant to let Kise in as she didn't like having uninvited guests over but seeing Kise's sorrowful face made her feel bad about leaving the young boy out in the cold. Kise fell asleep in the guest room immediately but was woken up by Reina early in the morning as she has changed her mind about getting involved with Kise's problem and advised Kise to sort out his own mess without involving others.

Kise quietly tucked into his makeshift bed on the sofa when he heard Aomine's bedroom door creak open.

"Daiki? Is that you?" a soft voice called out.

Kise pretended to be asleep, covering his head completely with the blanket and hoped that she will back away but he can still hear the sound of her footsteps coming nearer.

"Eh? Kise-kun? You're back! Did you come back with Daiki?"

Kise pulled down the blanket halfway on his face to stare at Momoi. What did she mean by Aominecchi not being here? Didn't they both spend the night together?

"No… I came back on my own. I was at a friend's place... Where's Aominecchi?"

"He ran off looking for you after you took off like that! What happened? Was there an emergency? Is something wrong? Daiki was really worried!"

"No… Nothing's wrong. Aominecchi was looking for me?"

"Yeah, since you left. He hasn't come back since. I should give him a call now that you're safe and sound here," she continued as she went back into the bedroom to search for her phone.

Kise sat up confused.

After making the call, Momoi went into the kitchen to make a cup of green tea for Kise.

"Daiki is on his way home now. Seems that he spent the night at the station waiting to hear any news from you. He told me to check for any injuries on you. What does he mean by that?" Momoi asked.

"I don't know... Momoi-san didn't go on a date with Aominecchi?"

"Date with Daiki? Ewwww. No! What made you think of that?"

"You came here saying that you're seeing your boyfriend… For dinner and a movie."

"Aaah– You mean Tetsu-kun? Ummm, yeah, we went out! It was soooo much fun! He gave me this bracelet as a gift! He is such a romantic! I'm so happy right now!" blushes Momoi as she showed Kise a 'Hello Kitty' bracelet on her right wrist.

"Er… You can get that bracelet for free if you purchase a McDonald's Happy Meal…" said Kise, still confused.

"Yes, how did you guess that we went there for dinner? He's amazing right?"

"But you looked as if you're dressed for dinner at a fancy restaurant–"

"And then we went to watch Despicable Me 2 with his class of students–"

"Students?"

"Yes, he's a kindergarden teacher at a nursery school nearby. He brought along the kids for dinner and movie too as part of a school activity," Momoi continued excitedly.

"Eh? You call that a date?" yells a bewildered Kise.

"Um, yeah?" nods Momoi. "Ah– Good thing I'm up now since I have a train to catch early this morning for Osaka. I'm currently living and working there– Tetsu-kun still wouldn't let me stay for the night at his place so I can only sleep here. When I arrived yesterday, Tetsu-kun wasn't home yet so I decided to hang out at Daiki's since they're both living in the same building."

"This Tetsu-kun lives here?"

"Uh-huh. Apartment Number 4 downstairs."

"Wait, that's next to my apartment! I didn't even know there was anyone living there! I thought it was unoccupied!"

"He's been living here for the past three yea– Daiki! That was quick! Did you run all the way back?" asked a surprised Momoi when Aomine came busting through the front door looking haggard and miserable.

"KISE! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" growls Aomine as he stomps towards Kise, ignoring Momoi's unanswered question.

"Aominecchi– Uh, I, I–" his words cut off as Aomine collapses on the sofa, his face onto Kise's lap.

"Shit, I need to sleep. Wake me up at 7," mumbles Aomine and just like that, he was already fast asleep.

"Hmmph, Daiki is so inconsiderate sometimes! That sofa isn't big enough for two people to sleep on! Ne– Kise-kun? Do you want to use the bed? I won't be needing it anymore," laments Momoi.

"I'm fine like this Momoi-san… Thanks…" replied Kise while running his fingers softly through Aomine's hair before wincing at Aomine drooling on his lap.


The following night, both Aomine and Kise finally made it to Murasakibara's café.

"I didn't know Aominecchi is good friends with the café owner! I asked my colleague to make another reservation on my behalf for tonight and she said that the café was fully booked all week! But then Aominecchi managed to get seats at the very last minute!" exclaims an excited Kise as they were led to their table by a waiter who couldn't stop apologizing as soon as he saw Aomine.

"Umm… Not really. Don't ask anymore," replied Aomine as he recalled Murasakibara giving him his personal contact number the previous night in case Aomine needed a favour or any sort of help.

"Ah– Mine-chin. Welcome back," said Murasakibara as he appeared with two plates neatly stacked with their limited edition Sakura Yokan and Sakura Mochi. "I've even prepared a box filled with our best sliced cakes for you guys to take away. Everything is on the house too to celebrate Mine-chin's and Kise-chin's reunion so please enjoy," he continued with a wink before giving them their privacy.

"Eh? What did he mean by that Aominecchi?" asks Kise anxiously.

"No idea. Anyway, you still haven't explained your behaviour last night, so talk."

Kise wasn't exactly prepared for this. He didn't dare confess that he might just have inappropriate feelings for Aomine which caused him to get upset upon hearing that Aomine has a girlfriend even though that wasn't the real case. For that moment, going with a half-truth should be the safest option for Kise.

"About that– I thought Aominecchi made plans with Momoi-san and forgot all about our dinner plans," he mumbled, focused on nibbling his Sakura Mochi.

"But you switched off your phone, didn't reply to any of my messages and didn't come back till morning. What gives? I always forget our dinner plans but this is the first time you ran out on me," Aomine asked firmly at a fidgeting Kise.

Kise was starting to lose his appetite over this conversation. He wondered if this was how the caught criminals felt when Aomine interrogated them at the station. What else can he say to end this once and for all? That he was jealous of Momoi when he wrongly thought that she was Aomine's girlfriend? Why was Kise feeling this threatened about another girl in Aomine's life anyway?

"….. I was really worried you know," said Aomine while gazing at Kise intensely.

"Eh? Aominecchi is worried about me?"

"I thought that the yakuza caught you for good this time and I won't see you again until the sex tape is released."

"GAHHH AOMINECCHI! YOU WERE THINKING OF THAT THE WHOLE TIME?"

A short distance away, Murasakibara couldn't help but be amused with watching the duo's antics.


Aomine and Kise had just arrived at Shin-Osaka Station after taking the Shinkansen from Tokyo on a hectic Sunday morning. They were both scanning the crowd for a hint of pink hair before spotting Momoi waving at them at a distance.

"Daikiiii! Kise-kun! Tetsu-kun! Welcome to Osaka!" she shouted excitedly.

"Tetsu-kun?" asked Kise.

"Yeah, he's right behind us," replied Aomine coolly.

"Ehhhhh? Since when?" Kise turned around to come face-to-face with a blue-eyed pale boy with light blue hair standing right behind them. He was of smaller build compared to the both of them and his eyes has an icy, distant look to it.

"Didn't we all leave the apartment building together this morning?" said Aomine.

Kise could only give Aomine a horrified look. He hadn't noticed there was a third person all along.

"I'm sorry if I had startled you Kise-kun but I'm Kuroko Tetsuya, your neighbour when you first moved in," Kuroko nodded to Kise.

"Ah right, Momoi mentioned that before. Err, I've never actually seen you around before. This is my first time. Pleased to meet you Kuroko-kun…"

"This is not my first time meeting you though. I've always greeted you almost every morning when you were taking out the trash."

"Uh, huh… I must have not noticed you…"

"I'm not offended Kise-kun. I'm actually used to it. In fact, when you were harassed by the yakuza when you first moved in, I tried to help out by reasoning with them but was ignored. It's a good thing that Aomine-kun was around to save you."

"Ri—right. Gosh, I'm truly sorry for never noticing you Kuroko-kun!" Kise apologized clasping both his hands.

"Oi Satsuki? What train should we take now to go to this uh—Universal Studios?"

"Just follow me— We need to change stations a couple of times but we should get there within half an hour," said Momoi confidently as she started pushing her way through the crowd with the guys tagging along obediently. "And oh, Kise-kun. Thanks for letting us come with you!"

"No problem," replied Kise with a grin.

While it was an off day from work for Aomine, Momoi and Kuroko, it was actually a work day for Kise. He was booked for a photo shoot that morning at the Universal Studios in Osaka. When Momoi heard that Kise was coming to Osaka, she begged him to bring her along as she has always wanted to see what goes on behind the scenes of a fashion photo shoot. Aomine was only there because Momoi forced him to and Kuroko was an unexpected surprise.

As soon as they arrived at the theme park, they were issued special passes at the main entrance and were told to make their way towards the Hollywood area where a section of it was reserved for the photo shoot and closed to the public. There were make-shift tents set up at the location and a number of people were busy moving things around, setting up props, cameras and artificial lighting.

"Oi Kise, will there be any beautiful female models today?" asked Aomine with a grin.

"I'm not sure Aominecchi. We're shooting menswear for Issey Miyake's autumn/winter collection after all," Kise rolled his eyes.

Upon reaching the set, the makeup artist, Keiko, was quick to snatch Kise away from them as she started getting him ready in one of the tents.

Momoi, Aomine and Kuroko were pushed to one side as more people turned up and the place started to get really busy. Kuroko was in a world of his own observing the buzz around them while slurping on a vanilla milkshake, Momoi was simply excited to be there and Aomine was bored to death. It must have felt like centuries for Aomine when he caught sight of Kise walking back towards them looking… Amazing. He looked completely different to how Aomine was used to on a daily basis. Kise obviously had makeup on but it only served to enhance his best features such as his eyelashes and his hair was styled differently, side-swept to make him look young and fresh but still polished with an aura of maturity.

"Sorry for the wait guys! We'll be starting as soon as my photo shoot partner is ready!"

"You have a partner for this shoot Kise-kun? Is it anyone famous?" asked Momoi excitedly.

"Ah—yes, you might know him if you're up-to-date with the latest fashion news Momoi-san. I'll be working with—"

"Ryouta," a voice that belonged to a tall guy with slick, black hair covering his left eye called out from one of the nearby tents. The guy has a tiny beauty mark under his right eye and he has a refined, cool look to him.

"OHMAIGOD HIMURO TATSUYA!" shrieks Momoi like a fangirl on crack as she hyperventilates and started rummaging through her handbag for something to get an autograph on.

"I'm a fan! Please sign this!" Momoi bows shyly with a small notepad in front of Himuro.

"Ah, sure. Anything for Ryouta's friends. It's a first time to see Ryouta bringing friends to work," he said smiling at Kise.

"I thought it'll be nice to have my friends here for support Himurocchi. I'm quite nervous about today's shoot. I've never worked with such a renowned fashion designer before and I don't plan to screw up!"

"You'll do fine Ryouta," said Himuro as he held out his hand to run his fingers through Kise's bangs. "Hmm, you should go back to the hair stylist and ask for more volume. Your bangs are looking flat at the moment," he continued.

"Right— I'll head on to the back again to get it fixed. It was starting to bother me too," comments Kise as he turned around to make his way back to one of the tents only to be pulled aside roughly by Aomine.

"Oi Kise. What was that? Isn't that guy a rival who has been stealing all your work? Why are you being so friendly to him?" asks an annoyed Aomine.

"Don't say that Aominecchi! I have a lot of respect for Himurocchi! He has taught me a lot of things since I've first met him. He's far more experienced than me too. He may have only debuted last year but that was only in Japan! Before that, he lived abroad and was walking the runways in Europe for years!"

"But still—"

"Problem Ryouta?"

"Ah sorry Himurocchi! I'm on my way to get my hair fixed now," Kise apologized quickly.

"I'll go with you. We need to discuss what we're going to do for the photo shoot as well— Ah, please excuse us. We're working here and you guys shouldn't get too close to the set," Himuro smiled smugly at Aomine.

Aomine was tempted to punch Himuro in the face but chose not to.


The after-party celebration for wrapping up a successful photo shoot was held in a VIP room of a renowned stylish bar in Osaka's Minami area and despite the free flow of drinks, Aomine wasn't enjoying himself at all. It bothered him that Kise was being very friendly towards a guy he was constantly whining over back at home for reducing the amount of modelling work he was getting. It also bothered him that Kise was still drinking a lot despite being unable to handle alcohol very well. Aomine was aware the Kise has an active social life but he was never part of it until today. It had always just been the both of them which was by far more enjoyable compared to this large crowd of noisy, drunken people. Honestly, Aomine hates this part of Kise's life and he has never felt so out of place in his life which made him regret coming along in the first place. Momoi and Kuroko seemed to be doing just fine but that was only because they have each other in the first place so there was no pressure on them to try and fit in with this crowd.

"Aomine-kun, we should get going soon if we're going to catch the last Shinkansen to Tokyo," said Kuroko.

"Yeah, I know. I have work tomorrow too and this party sucks. Wait outside with Momoi while I try to grab Kise," said Aomine as he turned his attention towards Kise who was seated on the other side of the room with Himuro.

Aomine glared at Kise who seemed to be having a good time laughing with the rest of the group. Kise was red-faced from having too much to drink and was being more than his usual bubbly self, thanks to the alcohol kicking in his system. Himuro has his arm around Kise's shoulders and was leaning close to Kise, whispering something into his ear which caused Kise to giggle like a high school girl in love. Too close, Aomine thought. And doesn't that Himuro guy has Murasakibara waiting for him at home? What a jerk.

Aomine stepped forward towards the model duo and grabbed Kise's arm, trying to shake him loose from Himuro.

"Hey, hey. What's your problem? Give me back my beloved Ryouta," Himuro said in a drunken manner.

"We have to get back to Tokyo by midnight," grunts Aomine.

"You do but he doesn't. Let him stay," Himuro rebuked.

"Let me staaayyyy Aominecchi," a drunk Kise echoed Himuro's remark as he found release from Aomine's hold and then proceeded to throw himself back into Himuro's arms.

Himuro was hugging Kise tightly by then, refusing to return Kise to Aomine and their drunken antics was starting to piss Aomine off.

"Let's just go Aomine-kun. Kise is a big boy. He can find his way home on his own," remarks Kuroko tugging Aomine's shirt.

"But–" Aomine was interrupted by the loud sound of cheers and whistles in the room as he turned around to see Kise and Himuro sharing a deep, wet kiss.


For a whole week after that incident, Aomine gave the silent treatment to Kise who couldn't remember what he had done wrong to suffer Aomine's wrath.