Witch's thoughts: hi guys. there's another part of this story. man, isn't it getting long! but I'm getting there, promise.

now, the point is, I'm leaving for the weekend and won't have access to my laptop. don't have another one, which means that there will be no new chapter until Tuesday (earliest) sorry about that!

also, many thanks for animeXfight sakura , Aspect1 and again, sakurahimecool blue. the reviews are what makes me want to go on in the story, so my muse is dependable on you! again, thanks a lot :hug:

"Momocchi, where are you!"

Through the cell he could hear sounds of heated argument, along with a scared squeak of Satsuki, who most probably, had to jump out of the way. Her voice was enough to convince him the situation was indeed bad.

"Ki-chan, please, hurry!"

Running across the street in cacophony of hooters and shouting of angered drivers, Ryouta only sped up. The park Satsuki called from was not far away and the sooner he got senpai from there the better. He didn't know what was going on, why Kasamatsu met Aomine and Satsuki, but it didn't matter. Right now, top priority was to get them separated, before the two of them could injure each other. And knowing how irritable Aominecchi was, Ryouta groaned inwardly. He only hoped that they hadn't killed themselves in this fight. Yet.

His hopes, as usual, were groundless, since when he took a turn into one of the park alleys, he just got to see that Kasamatsu senpai punched Aominecchi with his right hook. The sound of falling body and Momocchi's shriek stopped Ryouta dead in his tracks.

/

a few minutes earlier

"Eh?" Aomine quirked an eyebrow "Why would you care what was with me and Kise in Teikou?"

"Just interested."

"Be polite, Dai-chan!"

"Shut up, Satsuki." Aomine frowned, looking at stubborn expression of Kaijo's captain. He didn't like the other's piercing gaze one little bit. "Don't see a reason to answer you, though. Senpai."

Aomine smiled, like only he could and Yukio almost felt his blood pressure rising. He came here to ask nicely, but it seemed that his politeness was in vain.

"I care about my players and Kise apparently has a problem with you." he hissed through his teeth, his naturally hoarse voice becoming more like growling. However, Aomine didn't seem moved at all.

"What a reliable senpai" he mocked. "And what exactly is the problem Kise has with me?"

"Kise" the captain tried to calm himself down by talking slowly and after thinking. Didn't help. "calls your name in ambiguous manner in wrong situations." with a little embarrassment, he said wanting to make the matter as clear as possible. Aomine blinked.

"What? What wrong situations?"

Yukio felt his face becoming red, without him knowing why. It wasn't his fault that even only thinking about Kise sitting in his lap made him feel hot. And uncomfortable. He still was coming to terms with what it could meant, but of course, Aomine misunderstood it completely.

"Don't tell me you tried to fuck him and he called my name! Wrong situation, like hell" he laughed, throwing his head back. There was an audible gasp coming from the girl, Momoi, but Yukio didn't care. Second after, he even forgot she was there with them. He saw only Aomine, the bastard that was talking in such awful manner about someone Yukio cared for. Cared? Really? There was not time for pondering about it now and Yukio didn't even want to stop and think what those thoughts indicated. Right now, Aomine was suggesting that Kise was a slut, sleeping with everyone and that was what made Yukio furious. Didn't know why, just furious. Without second thoughts.

His fist flied towards Aomine's face without him thinking either. The ace tried to dodge, but was too slow and Yukio's hand hit him below the eyes, with less impact, but still a proper punch. As Aomine had good reflexes still, he launched his own fist and this time, Yukio didn't manage to get out of its way. Hit in the jaw, he cursed violently.

"What, you wanted me to tell that Kise is an angel? Fuck no! but what the hell you want with me?!"

Yukio was aware that the girl was shouting to her cell phone, but he couldn't care less. He just wished she wasn't calling reinforcements from Touou, but someone harmless, like the police.

"Or maybe you wanted to know if he was a decent fuck? If so, he…"

With powerful swing of his whole upper body, Yukio hit Aomine in the side of his head with curled fist. He heard Momoi scream and an abruptly ending feet patter, before Aomine's body fell down onto dusty path. And then, there was silence.

/

Not for long, though.

"Senpai!" Ryouta started running so violently that the dirt flied from under his shoes. Seeing that Aomine had problems with getting up, Satsuki also came back to life "Dai-chan!"

Kasamatsu turned to them, his lower lip swelling already, with trace of blood from the cut.

"What are you doing here, idiot?" he asked calmly, rubbing off the blood with the back of his hand.

"What do you mean, what I'm doing here!" Ryouta exclaimed, irritated. "What do you think you are doing, hitting Aominecchi!? You scared Momocchi…!"

Ryouta felt himself being pushed aside with great force and when he was falling back, he saw that Aomine already was standing on his own two feet. He was conscious enough to grab Kasamatsu-senpai's shirt and take a swing that would result in a terrifying punch if no one stopped him. But Ryouta was still falling, he felt as if it was a slow-motion time or something – he could just observe what was going on, how Aominecchi's fist was closing the gap to Kasamatsu senpai's face and how slowly senpai was rising his own hand in counter attack.

"Bastaaaaaard!" Aomine shouted, already losing his cool. A thin rivulet of blood trickled down his temple, he most likely hit some stones while on the ground. He looked like a predator, showing his fangs and growling dangerously down the throat, but Kasamatsu senpai wasn't the calm one either. They started to fight seriously and would end up even more seriously injured if it wasn't for an unexpected help.

"Oi! Kise! Where did that idiot go… ow fuck, Moriyama, Hayakawa, here! Quick!"

Ryouta didn't even manage to get up, before Aomine and Kasamatsu were separated by the rest of Kaijo basketball team. They both struggled, but couldn't get free from the powerful grip.

"Calm down captain! What's wrong with you?!" Moriyama barked, wrestling with him, helped by Hayakawa. Noticing that Kasamatsu was killing with his gaze, they forcefully dragged him further away.

"Stay still Aomine! Miss, you okay?!" Kobori put a lock on the Touou player, but even though he was taller and stronger, he had a hard time restraining fighting Aomine. Satsuki came closer, worried about her Dai-chan and his wounds.

Everything finished unexpectedly quick and swift. When they were still struggling, Imayoshi and the rest of the Touou team came, alarmed by Momoi and they took care of their screaming, brawling ace. The group broke into two schools and they left without goodbyes, only with Ryouta and Satsuki waving shortly to each other. 'Call you later', she mouthed, then turned and jogged to Aomine that leaned over Imayoshi. After previous hyper-activity, he seemed a little stunned, once the adrenaline wore out.

But Ryouta didn't have time to worry about his ex-teammate, as he had his present teammate to take care of. Kasamatsu senpai was standing more firmly on his feet that his younger opponent, even despite swelled lips and left cheek. He inattentively smeared the blood over his chin, so now it looked macabre. Ryouta shuddered.

"What was that all about, senpai! Why did you…"

"Yeah, Kasamatsu, what's all the fight about?" Kobori cut off Ryouta, pushing him aside and standing before the captain. "This kid is lazy, but he could have bit you to death!"

"That's none of your business."

Kasamatsu sighed. His players were disorientated and irritated, but he didn't plan on enlightening them. The subject of the talk that he wanted to have with Aomine was his personal matter and he didn't want someone else to discuss it. He didn't know why he was so obsessive over it, but he knew that if he didn't get to know the truth about Aomine and Kise, he wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

"Thanks for help everyone." He said with reproach. "Let's go back now."

/

Ryouta finished doing his homework just before his clock chimed nine p.m. Stretching on his chair, he went back to the events of the day.

There was something strange about Kasamatsu senpai, when they were going back to school. Ryouta got to know that senpais were practicing, when they saw him hurrying somewhere outside the school, nearly getting himself killed under the wheels of speeding cars. Deciding that he was a patented idiot, they followed him suit, losing tracks of him in the park alleys. If not so, they would be there at the same time, he reached the fight.

Asked why he threw himself at the Touous, senpai remained silent. But Ryouta saw glances thrown at him, when Kasamatsu senpai thought he wouldn't notice. Was that connected with him? Well, they were in the same team in Teikou, but why would senpai want to ask Aominecchi something, not Ryouta himself? What would that be? About basketball? Nah, too obvious and easy. What, then?

A bad feeling struck him in the second his cell buzzed. Grabbing it off the table, he noticed that it was Satsuki again.

Sorry for today Ki-chan! I didn't know it would turn out like this! Is your senpai alright?

Ryouta laughed and answered that everything was okay, that Kasamatsu senpai got some ice on his face and he looked nearly normal for the practice. They chattered a little in this tone, with Ryouta ensuring the girl that everything was perfectly alright. Then, he asked about Aomine.

This time, he had to wait a really long time for an answer.

I don't know. I don't talk to Aomine-kun.

Ryouta blinked, not understanding. They were friends since little kids! What could have happened that made Sat-chan ignore Aominecchi? He couldn't imagine such a thing! But asking about that, resulted in even longer silence from Momoi.

You don't know?

When she called him and told everything she was a witness of, Ryouta felt his head hurt. Putting down the cell, he now understood a lot more. Majority of things finally made sense and these which didn't were minor. Besides, he was already planning to get more information soon. Very soon. Sighing with relief, but also with a little remorse, Ryouta went to bed, prepared for another sleepless night. He had much planning to do.

/

When Yukio came out of the shower, still with a towel over his head, he heard his cell phone ring. Ignoring the sound, he started to rub his hair dry, careful not to hurt his hit cheek. Man, what a punch that kid had! But he was a bastard, nonetheless.

Thinking about Aomine angered Yukio. He had problems with understanding himself, he didn't need anyone like that to add to his load of worries. Remembering the today's fight carefully and brushing his teeth, Yukio tried to answer himself why he was so concerned about Kise? Why would he care so much, as to get furious when someone offended him? Even if it seemed true?

Maybe because of his eyes, after lost match? They were unconscious and dull, but at the same time bare and pleading for a little comfort. Is that what it looked like in Teikou? Was losing in that team more bearable than losing now? Or did he just couldn't afford losing to Aomine?

Yukio continued brushing his teeth in thought, watching to be careful about the left side jaw. It still hurt.

Why Kise had to do such a thing? It was obvious that he was more unconscious from exhaustion than not, so why it was a subconscious behavior? Did he do something like that previously, with Aomine? Why would he do it now, wanted to do it now with Kasamatsu? When Yukio tried to overpower him, Kise grew limp in his arms and slept like a dead man till morning. He even didn't move much at night, Yukio knew, because they slept together. His bed was too narrow, so it had to be too close for his comfort, but for some reason, he didn't mind much. He fell asleep listening to Kise breathing.

In his room, he remembered that someone wanted to contact so, he tried to find his cell. However, it wasn't a missed call, just a short message. Yukio frowned, when he saw that the sender was Kise.

Let's skip school, senpai. I'll come to your place in the morning. And believe me, you want me to.

Yukio snorted, annoyed. The only answer that came to his mind was 'DIE, idiot!' but he got a little curious why would he want Kise to come to his house.

What do you want?, he typed, then wanted to put his phone on the nightstand and prepare for sleep, but even before he let go of it, it rang again.

Talk with you. About Teikou and Aominecchi. About me and you, too.

Yukio didn't know why he didn't freak out at such formulation of the topic. Maybe he was just tired? Anyway, he would get his answers, because who would knew them better than Kise? However, how the talk was going to turn out, was a total mystery. Deciding that he didn't have to care about that, Yukio went to bed, planning to get a proper rest before tomorrow.

If he could fall asleep.

I hope you're not bored already? because this is it! the upcoming decisive talk! I made Aomine only a slight bastard in comparison to what I wanted to do at the beginning, because that was what you voted for :D what about another pool?

What should happen during the talk!