Author's note:
WARNING: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE -points to M rating-
I think I've written quite a predictable storyline so I'm sure that you can easily guess what's going to happen next. I am so sorry if the HaiKise content from the previous chapter had made any of you upset but I thought that it was necessary to show a side of Kise that not many would have known. I noticed that even in the manga, Kise has quite a mean streak to him from time to time. Haizaki also happens to be one of my favourite KNB characters. I just think he's often misunderstood. Although I am writing him out to be a jerk in this story but somebody has to play the bad guy here. If he was the good guy, this would have ended up as HaiKise fanfiction.
Anyway, it gets worse in this chapter because that's the way this story was meant to go in the first place. Kise is trying to pick up the pieces of his life and Haizaki is basically the reset button. Aomine realizes his true feelings too late and will still fail to act on it.
This chapter takes place in late October/late November as we're moving into winter. This series will end on the next chapter.
Autumn: Broken
Kise was snapped out from his daydreaming when he heard his name being repeatedly called out over the calling system. He glanced around to realize that he was sitting in the waiting area of a hospital before he caught sight of a concerned-looking receptionist. Kise adjusted the scarf around his neck as he stood up and proceeded to flash a blinding smile to the people working at reception counter causing them to swoon and chatter excitedly among themselves that the popular model, Kise Ryouta, had just looked in their direction. Kise passed by a huge digital clock that stated the time to be 3 pm. He had remembered coming in as early as 1 pm to see the doctor and wondered how he didn't realize the time go by.
He knocked lightly on the doctor's door which was swiftly opened by a cheerful male nurse beckoning him to come in and have a seat near the doctor. Kise saw that the doctor was a tall, serious-looking man with glasses and green hair. He also noticed that the doctor has his right hand on top of a stuffed racoon doll, whatever that means.
"Kise-kun! So nice to see you again! Awake that is!" greeted the male nurse. "I'm Takao, the nurse on duty today and I'll be assisting the doctor, Shin-chan—"
"Midorima Shintarou," said the doctor in an annoyed tone, obviously not happy to be referred to as 'Shin-chan'.
"Nice to see me again? Have we met?" Kise asked curiously.
"Yep, we did! Although you weren't awake back then… Glad to see that you're looking good now and… I'm just thankful that the scary-looking guy isn't here with you this time!" said Takao as he looked as if he was recalling a bad memory.
"Scary-looking guy?"
"What's his name? Ah— Aomine-kun I think? He was the one who brought you here the last time and it just so happened that you were assigned to us as well. I guess if he's not here, then that means you're not here for anything serious. If it was something bad, I'm sure he'll be carrying you in his arms and making a huge fuss in this hospital while questioning our medical expertise as he tries to tell us—"
"How can we help you Kise-kun?" said Midorima cutting Takao off as he was starting to talk too much when they should have been working.
"Uh right… My… Ah… My anu— Uh, I feel pain when I try to use the toilet… And sometimes… There's a little bit of blood when I— Uggh, it's just painful. There might be a tear or something… I'm not sure how to get around it…" Kise said embarrassed.
"Aomine-kun is rough no—" said Takao amused before he caught sight of Midorima giving him a disapproving look.
"No… Not him… My current boyfriend… Is impatient so uh…"
Takao's amused grin dropped flat before his expression turned to confused and then to concerned as he turned towards Midorima for help.
"Let me take a look Kise-kun," said Midorima as he got up from his seat and gestured at Kise to pull down his pants and lie flat on his stomach on the trolley bed.
After Midorima had taken a look at Kise's problem, he adjusted his glasses and was deep in thought before he started scribbling on a piece of prescription note.
"It's not bad enough to need stitches. It's like a tiny papercut, I could have missed it too if I hadn't taken a second look. It will heal on its own within a couple of weeks but I'll prescribe you some ointment to slather on it so that it can heal faster. I'll get you to take some antibiotics too just in case. Also try to eat more fibre, drink lots of water and avoid any vigorous activities for a while. If it still doesn't heal within six weeks, come back to see us," said Midorima.
"Withhold sex from that jerk until you heal Kise-kun. Or he's just not worth it," Takao said irritated.
"Ah… I…"
"Use lots and lots of water-based lubricants and prepare yourself well if you still have to," Takao muttered without looking at Kise.
"Ha… Haha. Is that from your medical expertise or from your own bedroom experience?" giggled Kise as he tried to ease the tension in the room.
Aomine was on guard duty with Wakamatsu for a book convention in Odaiba since early morning. He looked at his watch briefly and cursed the fact that he still has about four more hours to go.
"Think about it Aomine-kun. This is the last dull police work that you get to do for this month. Next month, you'll be promoted to Police Sergeant and rule our station. Damn, that also means that you can order me around as you like too! I hate you for being able to make it at such a young age!" said Wakamatsu sarcastically.
"That's only because the other officer that they had in mind for the job had sent in his resignation last week so he could get married. I guess they must be really desperate to fill the vacant post with just about anyone," said Aomine.
"Is Aomine-kun being humble? Haha. That's a big change of attitude!" laughs Wakamatsu as he avoids an air punch from Aomine. "Kise-kun is doing well too huh? He's doing that amazing campaign for Shiseido Men and I can't help but buy a whole set of their new skincare products! Do I look flawless to you now?"
"You can drink a whole bottle of that face moisturizer and still not look a single bit as Kise at his worst!" snaps an annoyed Aomine. "Anyway, the promotion is only perfect for single men who have nothing else to do but work all day and night. I'm hardly celebrating over it. That also means more paperwork and I hate paperwork. I would rather just do patrols, catch bad guys and even this dull guard duty job—OUCH" Aomine's sentence was cut off when he was hit on his head from behind.
Gripping his police baton to face his attacker, all he saw was a familiar-looking girl in Gothic Lolita attire. Aomine also realized that he had just been hit by a frilly, dark purple umbrella much to his embarrassment.
"Huh? What was that all about? Aren't you Kise's sister? The less crazy one?"
"Rika."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. What's with the all-black attire? You looked much better when you were all pink and girly last time."
"This is my mourning outfit."
"Huh?"
"My poor Ryou-chan is in pain and it's all your fault for not protecting him!" said Rika as she hits Aomine again with her umbrella.
"Ouch— Oi! Just stop it! You're making me look bad here! I'm supposed to be looking after the public here and I'm getting beaten up by a little girl!"
By then, Wakamatsu has already excused himself to go somewhere else safer.
"What are you doing here Rika-san?"
"Hmph. This is a Boys' Love manga convention. I'm here to receive a 'Best Newcomer' award for my 'Model Mayhem' yaoi manga series."
"Wha—? What is that even about?"
"It's about a top model who is in a love triangle between a rock star and a police officer."
"Huh? Why does it piss me off to hear that all of a sudden?"
"Grrr… I'm having a major writer's block now about how to end the series and my publishers has been putting a lot of pressure on me! I… I can't decide on an ending and it's freaking me out!"
"Oi, oi. Is the story based on your brother's life?"
"I guess… My Ryou-chan has always been an inspiration to me."
"That's just plain disturbing! Hmph. I guess if you want my honest opinion, maybe your main character is better off with his rock star lover!" scoffs Aomine.
"But, but… The police officer ranked second in the character popularity poll! And most of my fans have been writing in to tell me that they are rooting for him to win Ryuu's love!"
"Ryuu?"
"Yeah, that's the name of my main character. The police officer is Daichi and the rock star is Shuji."
"You are drawing your manga based on real life events?"
"I… I guess… It felt more realistic that way. The fangirls love it. I've just put the series on hiatus since I'm out of ideas at the moment. So… Aomine-kun, what are you going to do now?"
"Wha—? Do what?"
"How are you going to win back his love?"
"Are we still talking about your manga series?"
"A bit. But I'm referring to Ryou-chan now."
"What makes you think that I have anything to do with him anymore?"
"So it's true that Ryou-chan is back with Haizaki for good? That's… That's not good," said Rika as she started to sulk.
"Oi, oi. Don't start crying on me now! Is there something in your family DNA that can make you switch on the waterworks anytime you like?"
"But… But… Poor Ryou-chan. I wished he had made more friends back in those days but he chose to be friends with Haizaki only. And now… Now…"
"Rika-chan… Kise is an adult. He's perfectly capable of making his own life decisions… I haven't actually seen or spoken to him lately. He's rarely at the apartment now… But the couple of times that I saw him, he looked perfectly fine to me…"
"How would you know that when you're not even in Ryou-chan's life anymore? Haizaki was the reason he was such a mess in the first place! I don't trust him at all! Ryou-chan… Uh… We thought that it was all over when Haizaki dumped him last year but Ryou-chan took it really bad… He ran away from us, from all of us and… It took us a while to find him. We… We're just afraid that he would do something stupid next!" sulks Rika.
"Why are you telling me all this now?"
"Be… Because… We didn't know anything when we helped Ryou-chan move back into his place… We thought you're just some ganguro who is trying to take advantage of our precious Ryou-chan… But then the landlady told us that you saved him when he got into trouble… And that you have always treated him well… We… We even received a postcard and pictures from him when he spent his summer with you in Aomori. We've never seen him with such a happy expression… And we thought that things are going well now… Until we started reading in the gossip magazines about Haizaki and Ryou-chan getting back together… And… Ryou-chan has now stopped accepting our calls…"
"I'm truly sorry Rika-san… But I don't plan to be any part of this anymore. Kise is on his own now…" said Aomine glumly as Rika hits him with her umbrella again.
Kise was woken up slightly when he heard Haizaki rummaging through his bag before he found his wallet.
"Nggh… Shougo-kun? What are you doing with my things?" he asked sleepily.
"I need to get some cigarettes from the vending machine," Haizaki replied bluntly as he took out a 1000 yen note from Kise's wallet before throwing the wallet back into the bag.
Kise was too exhausted to say anything in return and fell back into a deep sleep.
Despite the clear sky, it was still a very chilly Saturday morning. The temperatures were starting to drop drastically as winter is nearing and Aomine cursed his bad luck when he found out that his heater is no longer working. He hates shopping for household items but he knew that it had to be done if he doesn't want to turn into a human popsicle by the time the year is over. It was only the beginning of November and since he wasn't working that day, he thought that he might as well get this over and done with quickly. He remembered seeing advertisements in the newspapers that the end-of-year sales have just begun so he thought that this could end up to be an opportunity to pick up a good bargain.
As he boarded the train to go to one of the shopping malls in Shibuya, he tried to recall the last time he went on a shopping trip. Aomine had never liked shopping finding it to be a chore but when Kise used to live with him, that was all they ever do over the weekends. Aomine admits that he is still a bit upset from the time he met Haizaki for the first time and saw Kise following the latter without any hesitance. Work was the only thing that could distract Aomine from thinking about Kise. Since he was worried about Kise, he had tried to knock on his door a few times only to find find that that either nobody home's or Haizaki would be the one to open the door and slam it in his face upon seeing that it was Aomine. He never got a reply from the few messages that he had tried sending to Kise asking him how he was doing. Sighing to himself, he flipped open his mobile phone to type another text message to Kise, asking him if he has any free time to meet up for a drink. It was a long shot for Aomine but he has no idea what is going on in the former's life and it just worries him.
Aomine grabbed a hot coffee on his way out of the station. As he was about to cross the road and make his way towards Tokyu Department Store, he glanced around the intersection in front of the station's exit to see the place looking lively as usual with its neon advertisements and giant video screens. One of the larger billboards caught his eye. It was an advertisement featuring Kise endorsing a Seiko watch. In that picture, Kise had the most brilliant smile that Aomine has ever seen. A sight that he was starting to see less of. Aomine took a few steps back and found a bench that has a good view of the billboard. He decided that he should sit there for a while and finish his coffee. As he stared at the billboard, he almost forgot the real reason he was even there in the first place.
Kise had just wrapped up shooting another TV commercial in downtown Shibuya and was walking with the filming crew to the station when his phone buzzed with a message.
From: Aominecchi
In Shibuya now, looking for a heater. Help please?
Kise smiled at the message thinking that it was just like Aomine to type out his messages like that. When he realized that Aomine had mentioned that he was in Shibuya, Kise pondered for a bit on how he should respond. He hasn't been replying to any of Aomine's messages as he was still embarrassed over Aomine's rejection during summer and things are just awkward now with Haizaki back in his life. He remembered Haizaki's warning that he didn't like Kise being in contact with Aomine and it just made sense that he was jealous since they're supposed to be in a steady relationship now.
"Kise-kun, isn't that your friend, Aomine-kun?" whispered Keiko while Kise was still pondering over the text message.
As he looked at the direction Keiko was pointing to, he caught sight of Aomine sitting lazily on a bench watching the commercials played by a giant video screen at the pedestrian intersection. Kise felt nervous all of a sudden when Reina spoke up.
"We're all finished here, Kise-kun. Thanks for your good work. Go have some fun now," she winked at Kise while gesturing with her head towards Aomine.
Kise didn't get the chance to reply as his colleagues parted ways from him and Kise found himself taking slow steps towards Aomine, wondering what it was that has caught Aomine's full attention and turned his head upwards to look at what Aomine was staring at. He blushed a bit when he saw his own billboard staring back at him but quickly brushed off the thought that Aomine would even show any interest in that.
"Aominecchi?" he called out.
Kise's voice took Aomine by surprise as he stood up immediately to look at Kise.
"Huh? Kise? What? That was quick! Did you tell me you were coming?" Aomine asked as he looked back at his phone to check for any unread messages.
"I… I didn't tell you anything. I happened to be around the area and my colleagues pointed you out to me… So I thought… That I should say hello. It's been a long time Aominecchi…" he smiled faintly.
"Yeah, yeah… It's been a long time… I don't see you much at the apartment too…"
"That's because I'm spending more time at Haizaki's… He's living in a hotel room just nearby… And apparently, I heard that there has been complaints about our activities from the other tenants…"
"Yeah, I've heard of that too… Haizaki didn't come with you to see you work?" grumbles Aomine.
"Nah. He has a meeting with his music producer today. I think he's run into a few problems with their next album—"
"Hey, what is this?" Aomine asked as he held out his hand to touch Kise's left cheek after noticing a light bruise on his face.
Kise flinched when he felt Aomine's cold hand touch his left cheek and took a step back.
"Ah— This one you mean? Just a small bruise—"
"Did that bastard Haizaki do this to you?" yells an infuriated Aomine.
"No— It isn't like that. I… I hit my face on the bedpost while we were… Uh… It was my fault. Haizaki has nothing to do with this," said Kise as he tried to cover the bruise with his own hand while wondering how Aomine could have noticed it when Keiko had already done a good job concealing it with makeup in the first place.
"No, no. I don't buy that. He did this to you didn't he? That low-life!" Aomine continued.
"Aominecchi! Listen to me! He didn't–"
"Why are you trying so hard to defend him? He's bad news—"
"Aominecchi! Stop putting Shougo-kun down! He really didn't do anything! We're both doing just fine!" snaps Kise back, clearly upset with Aomine's sudden outburst.
Aomine proceeded to ignore Kise's remarks and grabbed his left arm to pull him closer so that he can have a better look on his face only to be pushed back roughly by Kise.
"Ah… I see now. You like to be in that kind of a relationship. I would have never guessed… Does this means that those feelings that you had for me meant nothing at all in the end? And all this while I was actually worried about you. That I may have hurt your feelings but you were already over it quickly as soon as Haizaki comes back into the picture. Did you plan all this from the very beginning? Was I just a distraction until you sorted out your own love problems with Haizaki? Are you both playing some kind of cruel game on me? I should have known… The truth about you Kise, is that just about anyone would do—"
SLAP.
"…"
"Ao… Aomine… You…" stammered a tearful Kise as his hand trembled nervously from having just slapped Aomine in the face. "I don't ever want to see you anymore."
Aomine took one last look at Kise and left without a single word.
That same night, Haizaki was left wondering why Kise was much more accepting of him and difficult to please at the same time.
"Damn Ryouta… Mmm… Shit," as he felt Kise's hips move eagerly in response to his own thrusts before he came faster than he would have liked to.
"Nggh? Ryouta? You're not done yet?" asked an exhausted Haizaki as Kise pushed him off from him so that he was now lying down on his back on the bed.
"Shut up Shougo-kun and just let me ride you," said Kise as he assumed control and climbed onto Haizaki for another round.
Haizaki knew that he was currently being used as a distraction to something that was bothering Kise but he had no complaints at all as he indulged in the feeling of Kise's sweet mouth against his own.
Aomine has been tossing and turning in his sleep ever since his chance encounter with Kise. The slap on the face didn't hurt Aomine at all. But the look on Kise's face did. And it has been haunting him ever since.
He didn't know where this feeling of possessiveness over Kise came from but he was definitely hating the fact that Kise is with Haizaki now. He barely knew the latter but his gut instinct told him that there is something fishy about Haizaki to appear at this time in Kise's life. Wasn't that guy's life peachy already now that he is a famous musician? Why did he have to suddenly come back into Kise's life? And why the hell is Kise so receptive of that bastard?
Aomine had even abused his police privileges to dig out any information he could find on Haizaki. He came up with a couple of complaints filed against him for assault but they were only minor cases from drunken fights which wasn't really anything worth looking into. He had asked for Momoi's opinion since she has always been keeping up with the gossip among celebrities but even Momoi has very little information for him. All she has is that the media are now fully aware about Haizaki and Kise being in a relationship right now and surprisingly, there was very little or no backlash at all against the duo. Society seems to be accepting of this kind of relationship or maybe Kise was so well-liked that anything he does will get a positive response from his fans. Kise's popularity is rising high at the moment especially after having been signed up as an endorser for Shiseido Men. He had just signed a 2-year deal with them worth 160 million yen. There was no need for Kise to take up any other work after that endorsement deal but Kise was a hard worker and he never stopped accepting work from other interested parties. Currently, he is the best paid model in the country and there is even a rumour going around about him getting scouted by a high-end French brand to endorse their products in Japan. Haizaki on the other hand does not have much on his plate nowadays ever since his tour around the country ended sometime in June and was supposed to be working on a new album scheduled for release in September only to have it delayed to an unknown date due to unforeseen circumstances.
At one point, Aomine was tempted to storm the couple and just take Kise away by force from Haizaki but he didn't actually have a good reason to commit such an act that it only ended up as just a passing thought. He finally came to a conclusion that there was nothing wrong with Kise being with Haizaki. That he was only imagining the worst for them because he hated the fact that Kise is with Haizaki.
Aomine pulled his blanket over his head and tried to force his horrible thoughts away while cursing the cold air at the same time. He hasn't replaced his heater yet.
It was a slow evening for Kise as he flipped through his work contracts from boredom while having the room service that he had just ordered after Haizaki cancelled their dinner plans due to work commitments. The phone rang and it was from the reception downstairs asking him to see them if he had some free time. Kise took his last bite and decided to find out why the reception had asked for him.
"Kise-kun! We truly apologize for having to disturb you but uh… We need to sort out the bill for the hotel room first. Your card company has just rejected our bill so do you have another form of payment?" said the girl at the reception.
"Huh? I… I don't understand. I'm not paying for Haizaki's room," said a confused Kise. "Isn't the room paid by the music label or something?"
"Eh? We know nothing about that! The room may be under Haizaki's name but it's currently being charged to your credit card!"
"No… That can't be right. I never knew—"
"Kise-kun?" a voice called out.
Kise turned towards voice and tried his best to recall the guy's name but failed miserably at it. The only clue that he had was that this guy is the drummer in Haizaki's band.
"Ah—sorry. I think I know you but I can't really remember—"
"Eh? That's fine Kise-kun. You meet too many people in this business anyway that you're bound to forget some of us. Hehe. It's Hino. Hey, is Haizaki-kun upstairs right now?" he asked.
"No, no. He said that he's out to see the music producer. I'm not sure when he'll be back but it could be late… Sorry, I have to deal with this right now," Kise apologized to Hino as he turned his attention back to the receptionist.
"Sorry, you were saying? That I've been paying for Shougo-kun's stay here the whole time? How did he even have my card?" Kise asked.
"He was paying for the room out of his own pocket money for the first week but after that, he changed the method of payment and informed us to swipe everything under your card… We have the details right here…" said the receptionist as she pointed to her computer screen which showed Kise's credit card details. "Maybe we have reached the card limit and you have not cleared the balance yet? After all, the room has been in use for almost three months now."
Kise was still confused over the whole thing when Hino, who hasn't left, spoke up.
"Ah, so you're the reason he can afford to stay at this hotel. The rest of the guys in the band were wondering how Haizaki-kun could afford to stay in this 5-star hotel for so long. Even we guys don't have such luxury anymore," Hino commented sadly.
"What? What do you mean Hino-san? Isn't the band doing well?" Kise asked surprised with this turn of events.
"That's the reason I'm here to see Haizaki-kun. I'm pulling out from the band, I'm tired of this crap. Well, no offense to you though. You have absolutely nothing to do with this."
"I honestly don't know what's going on Hino-san… What happened?"
"Well, I guess after everything… We only ended up being a one-hit wonder. After the end of the tour, we released a new promotional single, meant to be for the new album but it fell off the charts within one week… We're kind of struggling right now. Even the other songs that we've written did not sit well with our music producer. So there won't be any new album. The record label is not willing to fund such a risky project and said that if we still want to carry on with recording a new album, we can still go ahead but we will have to pay for it out of our own pockets. Which to say is, we don't have much in our pockets too. We've been spending a lot on partying while we were on tour and we lacked a future plan so now that we're back in Tokyo, it's like we're starting back at square one. Haizaki-kun isn't taking our situation very well. He has been throwing tantrums lately and we hate that. Also, my wife has just filed for divorce against me but I'm trying to set things right… Which is why I'm leaving the band to pursue other things that can support my family… At least Haizaki-kun is still the lucky one among us since he has you to look out for him… We kind of envy that…"
Kise found himself speechless before he took out another credit card to settle the bill at the reception. After settling the bill, Kise was fuming with anger as he got back to the room to wait for Haizaki's return and demand an explanation.
Kise was getting more upset as he started to confirm the worse from the calls he had just made to the card company and the bank. He was angry with himself for not noticing that something has been off with Haizaki lately. He has caught Haizaki taking money out from his wallet but had never given much thought of it. He assumed that since they are together now, it only makes sense that they can take things from each other too.
He was angry with himself for not keeping a careful eye on his finances as he only found out that he was missing one credit card. The card company called him back to inform him that his missing credit card is still active and has already reached the maximum spending limit which is why it can no longer be used until the balance has been cleared. Kise rarely used that card and knew that those purchases could not have come from him. Another call from his bank revealed that about 2 million yen was also withdrawn in cash over a few intervals for the past couple of months. According to them, the person who withdrew his money has his bank card, driver's license and his personal bank stamp which is why they had no issues with releasing the amount of money and had never raised a red flag.
Kise could not believe that all this was happening without his knowledge and he called up his manager, Reina, to air out his grievances and help him sort out this mess. Just as he was about to hang up on Reina, he heard the front door open to Haizaki returning in a drunk state.
"SHOUGO-KUN! Explain yourself! What have you been doing behind my back?" yelled Kise angrily at Haizaki.
"Huh? What are you talking about Ryouta?" he slurred his sentences.
"You have been taking money from me without my knowledge! Why didn't you say anything?"
"You have a looottt of money now Ryouta— You won't miss the amount I've taken. Plus, your things are my things too…"
"There's no such thing! What's happening with your band now too? I heard that things are not going well for you guys. Why am I just hearing about this now? And from other people too for God's sake!"
"You don't want to know about it."
"Of course I would! We're together now! If you had discussed this with me in the first place, I could have figured something out for us!"
"Gosh Ryouta… Are you enjoying this now? That you now have more power and control over me? Like in the old days?" growled Haizaki with venom in his voice.
"Huh? Wha— No, I mean—"
"You can never understand what I'm going through! YOU— YOU who is so used to having things fall into your lap at the blink of an eye. YOU who never have to work hard for anything in your life! YOU who knew nothing about the struggles of others!"
"Shougo-kun. You're drunk. Sit down and let's talk about this in a civilised manner—" Kise's words were cut short when he felt the sudden impact of Shougo's fist on the left side of his face which caused him to tumble onto the floor.
"I've always hated you Ryouta. The way you flaunt yourself continuously to me. Even from back then, you were never really interested in my own struggles. In fact, you were probably amused from seeing me even try to make it—" said Haizaki as he proceeded to kick Kise in the stomach while he was on the floor.
"Stop— Wait— Uggh," writhes Kise in pain as he clutched his stomach tightly on the floor only to be dragged back up by Haizaki.
"You know, I thought I can finally show you that hard work trumps natural-born talent but I guess it was only a short-lived thing… I thought I have gotten rid of you last year so that you can suffer on your own, to know how it feels like to have doors closed in your face… But it seems that a lot of people interfered, as usual. People who couldn't bear to see their precious Kise Ryouta suffer. Your goddamn family… That… That new agency of yours that's throwing all these work back into your lap… That guy… The guy that you used to replace me…"
"Shou… Shougo-kun… Ple— Please stop. You're hurting me," begged Kise in tears only to be pushed roughly against a wall this time.
"That stupid music producer that you introduced me to is pulling back their support. Saying something about wanting to sign up other bands better than us…"
"I'm sorry— Shougo-kun… I'm sorry—"
"Said he didn't like our new material. Said that my band isn't getting any better. While we were on tour… He said all that. I couldn't care less what he thinks about me and then… Then I saw you. Everywhere. On TV, in the magazines, on those giant billboards— As if mocking me for being unable to succeed. I hate that even when you're with me or without me, you can still thrive on your own. The natural sunshine you are—"
"Sto— Stop this Shougo-kun. It doesn't have to be this way— We can figure something out— Both of us. I won't leave you suffering like this— You're a good person—" cried Kise desperately.
"No Ryouta. I've never been a good person. You were never one too. I know you very well Ryouta… We're both bad people. We don't deserve happiness."
"Please Shougo-kun… I beg you… Please… Stop. I… Can't… Breathe…" said Kise as he struggled to loosen himself from Haizaki's tight grip.
"We're the same Ryouta… The only difference is… That… You're born with a face of an angel— But what happens when you don't have that anymore?" growls Haizaki as he lets go of Kise before grabbing hold of a bedside lamp and hitting Kise's head with it.
After that hit, all Kise felt was a tremendous amount of pain as his ears started ringing and his vision started to blur. He cried, he begged but Haizaki didn't stop. He then tried to fight back, to run towards the front door but Haizaki was stronger than him and he was immediately pinned down on the floor as Haizaki released his utmost rage on Kise.
He thought that it was all over when he felt Haizaki's hands start to squeeze tightly on his throat and Kise was beginning to faint for not being able to breath. For a brief moment, he could hear someone shouting and knocking on the front door but then again, Kise was no longer in a normal state of mind that he could have just imagined those things. He had given up with the begging and is now crying uncontrollably as he thought about what was going to happen to his family if they found out about this. There were a lot of regrets going through his mind but he couldn't really make out what they were. All he could think of was that he was sorry for something, maybe everything. Just before the world turned pitch black for Kise, he cried out for Aomine to save him and cried even harder when it dawned on him that there was no chance of that ever happening.
Aomine was awoken from his sleep when his phone buzzed at an ungodly hour. He looked at the screen and saw that it was a call from Wakamatsu which prompted Aomine to wonder why Wakamatsu would even call him at this late hour.
"What?" Aomine answered with an annoyed tone.
"Aomine-kun. You need to get here now. There's been an incident… Hotel Okura," Wakamatsu said with panic in his voice.
Aomine couldn't make much sense to it but Wakamatsu hung up before he could even ask anything. His worst fear had come true. He knew that when he took that promotion recently that his workload is bound to increase. He was just annoyed that even his sleeping hours are being disturbed now. What is it that the other officers on-duty at that time could not handle that they still find it necessary to call him out on the field?
Aomine forced himself to wake up and was glad that he had ironed his uniform earlier that night.
Aomine was delayed for some time when he arrived at Hotel Okura. It was raining heavily making the night feel even colder, a clear indication that winter is coming. Even with an umbrella and a raincoat, he was still wet as it was also windy that night.
When he arrived at the scene, he noticed that there were a lot of people gathered there. The police, the ambulance and a lot of people who looked as if they worked for a TV station or something. Must be a huge story here, he thought to himself as he approached one of his underlings who was busy taking things out from the police car.
"Oi— Where's Wakamatsu? He's the one who called me out here at this time of the night. What's going on here?"
"Wakamatsu-san? Ah, I think he's at the hotel. He's on the scene as we speak. We received a distress call about a fight in one of the hotel rooms," said the underling.
"Huh? I got called out for a lovers quarrel? You should know better how to handle this kind of things without calling me out! How bad is it? I hope nobody died. Is that why the media people is here too?" Aomine asked disgruntled.
"The media? I guess I can understand why this is big news for them. It's that singer and model couple. I can't recall the singer's name… But the model is the famous Kise Ryouta—"
Aomine's heart stopped at the mention of Kise's name as he dropped his umbrella and pushed himself through the crowd as he tried to get into the hotel as fast as he could.
As soon as he got out the elevator on the 17th floor, there was already lot of activity going around in the corridor. It took Aomine a while before he could start to make sense of the current situation. The other hotel room tenants were peeking through their door obviously curious on the activities taking place on their floor. It was suddenly reminiscent to Aomine of the first time he met Kise, when the yakuza had tried to beat him up but Aomine came at exactly the right moment to prevent anything bad from happening. Aomine prayed hard in his heart that the same thing would happen too this time, that he will walk through that door and Kise will just be a ball of crying mess from being scared but unhurt. He had a bad feeling that it might not be the same case this time but he still hoped that he would be proven wrong.
After he was able to go through the sea of people, he finally reached the door and went underneath the yellow crime scene tape. Aomine could not understand why he was shaking as he walked in and saw all the people gathered in that room. There were shattered items on the floor and the room basically looked as if a typhoon was in it for a visit. He was only thinking of Kise by then. He spotted a drunk-looking Haizaki seated against the wall with handcuffs over his bloody fists while a police officer was by his side taking down a statement.
"Aomine-kun!" Wakamatsu called out as soon as he saw Aomine standing at the front door.
Aomine didn't respond to Wakamatsu as he finally caught sight of what looked like Kise on an ambulance stretcher where a couple of paramedics were working frantically over him. He recognized one of them to be Takao, the male nurse that he had met before at the hospital. When Takao spotted Aomine, he shook his head sadly prompting Aomine to push the people out of his way as he tried to get closer to Kise.
When Aomine saw the state Kise was in, he dropped on his knees on the floor and felt his heart sank into the gallows. Kise was a bludgeoned mess. His face was badly bruised and swollen with blood mixed with dried tears painted on his face. He noticed a deep gash on Kise's upper lip and a large knot in his hair due to the sticky dried blood. One of his arms appeared to be bent in an abnormal position and there were dark bruises all over his exposed skin. Despite the state that he was in, Kise still looked like he was at peace.
Just as Aomine began to think of the worst, he felt Takao's hand on his shoulder.
"He's still breathing Aomine-kun. Barely though. Can you please move out of the way? We need to get him back to the hospital as fast as we could," Takao said.
Aomine could only nod in weak agreement as he made way for them. After Kise was removed from the scene, Aomine was at loss as to whether he should follow Kise or settle things with Haizaki once for all. He was more tempted to do the latter when Wakamatsu interrupted his thoughts to update him about the current situation.
"That guy and a few neighbouring hotel tenants helped broke up the fight before we arrived…" Wakamatsu pointed to Hino. "I still need to get a proper statement from him."
Hino approached them when Wakamatsu beckoned for him so he could write his statement.
"Uh, hello. Ah, I'm Hino, Haizaki's band member… I kind of know the both of them… I happened to be here because I was going to see Haizaki. Personal matters. I heard shouting when I was about to knock on the door and then I heard a fight broke out… The fight was so bad and I feared for the worse. I tried to knock on the door but nobody opened up. I think one of the other tenants called the reception and security came up here to help open the door. When we got in, Haizaki was beating up Kise… And Kise seemed unconscious so we intervened. Haizaki seems to be pretty drunk though, he might not realize what he just did—"
Aomine could barely process what Hino was saying as he grabbed a fallen chair from the floor and walked towards Haizaki to slam it down on him.
There was a lot of uncontrollable rage in Aomine and it took quite a number of people to pull him back from accidentally killing Haizaki who would now have a good idea on how it feels like to be on the receiving end.
It was an unfamiliar view for Aomine who was used to putting criminals behind the bars. Now, it was his turn to be behind bars at the local police station. It didn't really matter to Aomine as he wasn't thinking straight anyway. All he could remember was the sight of Kise's battered body and there was nothing he could do to remove that sight from his mind. It was only when he heard the sound of the cell being unlocked by Wakamatsu that he started to become aware of where we was and what was going on. Aomine turned to Wakamatsu and saw both Momoi and Kuroko standing behind him.
Momoi's eyes were puffy probably from crying too much prior to getting there and she was slightly trembling as if trying to contain herself while Kuroko still looked the same, distant and lacking a soul.
"Please don't hold a grudge on me for throwing you in here. It had to be done. You were out of control last night. You almost had blood on your hands," said Wakamatsu in a low voice. "I'll be acting on your job for now. Order from headquarters… They're taking a disciplinary action against you so you're not allowed to come back to work until further notice."
"Daiki, I brought you a change of clothes. You should clean yourself up first… Then… Then we can head to the hospital to see Kise-kun…"
"Kise… How is he?" Aomine asked in a sorrowful voice.
"He will be out of surgery soon. He'll live. That's why we're here to grab you first. We can visit Kise-kun together," answered Kuroko.
There was nothing else for him to say as he grabbed the clothes from Momoi and proceeded to find a sink where he could wash his face with cold water.
Takao spotted them as soon as they arrived at the hospital and took them to the 6th floor where Kise had just left surgery and is currently being placed under intensive care in a private room.
When they arrived outside his room, they saw Midorima speaking to what looked like all of Kise's family members. Aomine noticed Ryoko at first looking as if she had just left her workplace in a rush to get to Tokyo after hearing the news on her little brother. Aomine saw an older couple and guessed that they could be Kise's parents as he noted a few resemblances to Kise. Kise's father had a grim expression on his face as he listened carefully to every word Midorima was saying while Kise's mother was still sobbing softly as Rika tried her best to console her. Rika was the first to notice Aomine and she threw him a disappointed look, as if blaming Aomine for everything that has happened to Kise. Aomine didn't mind though. He's doing the exact same thing too.
The family went into the room as soon as they finished their discussion Midorima.
"I'm sorry. But they just told me that you guys are not allowed to be anywhere near Kise…" said Midorima as he adjusted his glasses.
"What? How can that be? I came all the way from Osaka to see Kise-kun as soon as I saw the news on TV!" Momoi protested angrily.
"Truly sorry. But this is the family's request… They just want a moment of their own. I'm only doing what I was told to…" Midorima said. "Although there shouldn't be any restriction for you guys to hang around here. If there is an opening, I could try to get you guys in."
"How is Kise-kun?" Kuroko asked the obvious question.
"He was in surgery because of a ruptured liver from the blunt trauma but we were able to control the bleeding before it got any worse. He had a few broken ribs and there was also blood in his lungs… But none of his other injuries are life-threatening. He has a broken right forearm, probably from trying to defend himself… And a dislocated shoulder which we fixed before the surgery. His face was badly bashed in but there were no broken facial bones, the worst of that bit being just a chipped tooth. The superficial injuries to his face should heal with time. There might be some scarring though. He also suffered a mild concussion and his brain scan showed a small bleed but we're planning to treat that conservatively. He's pretty much knocked out at this stage so we're putting him on a ventilator to help with his breathing… He should wake up in a day or two, depending on how fast his body recovers."
At this stage, Aomine was barely listening to the doctor as he stared through the large window of Kise's private room trying to catch a glimpse of Kise inside when Rika pulled the curtains closed.
Momoi was able to reason with Kise's family and both she and Kuroko were allowed to come in for a while with the exception of Aomine. Rika must have said something to her parents as they were constantly giving him a disapproving look. Aomine couldn't care less by what Kise's family thought of him as he lounged around the waiting area on the ground floor of the hospital. He had fallen asleep on the chair when Takao woke him up to smuggle him towards an empty patient bed that he can use discretely. Kise's family never left Kise on his own so Aomine's mission to get in for even a short while was starting to feel like a lost cause.
By the fifth day, Aomine was still camping on the hospital grounds. He was starting to get along with most of the people working there. When Takao couldn't sneak Aomine onto an empty patient bed, he would borrow him a couple of blankets for him to brave the cold through the night. Aomine was quite thankful that he hasn't heard anything about being asked to come back to work as it only means more free time for him to spend at the hospital. He was especially grateful with Takao who was constantly checking up on him despite both of them having a rough start when they first met back in summer.
Momoi had left for Osaka after her first visit while Kuroko had come to visit Kise twice. Murasakibara had stopped by on the third day with Himuro bringing sliced cakes for the hospital staff as a way to thank them for their hard work on looking after Kise. Aomine saw Reina and Keiko a few times too but they too suffered the same fate as Aomine, suffering the wrath of Kise's family who blamed them for not looking out for Kise well enough. Kise's incident was all over the news in the country when it first happened that Aomine's relatives in Aomori had reached out to him asking him if Kise was going to be okay. Aomine wasn't able to give them a straight answer and just repeated what the doctors have been telling him, that "he'll live".
Aomine was sleeping in the freezing waiting area when somebody shook him awake.
"Aomine-kun, Kise's family just left… I heard they're going out to have a late dinner together… Somewhere nearby… This is your chance," whispered Takao.
Aomine leaped at the opportunity given to him and found himself trying to catch his breath after having run up six flights of stairs when he was too impatient to wait for the elevator.
He noticed that the curtains were still closed obstructing any view of the patient inside from outside.
He was shaking nervously as he turned the doorknob and stepped inside the large but fairly empty private room. Kise was resting on a large bed and it made him look smaller. They have taken him off the ventilator so he was no longer connected to any unsightly tubes. At first glance, Kise looked perfectly normal as if he was just sleeping, barely making a sound or any slight movement. Upon closer inspection, Aomine noticed how pale Kise looked and that there was still some slight swelling and dark bruising on the left side of his face.
Aomine dragged a chair to seat himself closer to Kise. He reached out his fingers to touch Kise's face lightly and wondered how much it must have hurt. Kise didn't seem to be the type who can tolerate much pain. He must have been in agony when this first happened to him. There was a lot of guilt in Aomine as he thought of what he could have done differently in the past to prevent this from happening. Should he have just accepted Kise's feelings when they were Aomori? If he did, Kise would have never gotten back with Haizaki. Or maybe he should have trusted his gut instinct regarding Haizaki and dealt with the problem from the very beginning. He still had no clue on why Haizaki would hurt Kise like this. And even if Kise must have wronged Haizaki, he certainly didn't deserve any of this.
He recalled Midorima mentioning that Kise would have woken up within a couple of days but it has already been five days and he has still not woken up. What if he doesn't wake up ever? What if he won't be the same person anymore when he wakes up? All those worst case scenarios kept playing repeatedly in his head.
He recalled his last meeting with Kise. He had asked the latter out and when he showed up, Aomine only had harsh words for him. Kise left with anger towards him. What if that was the last memory Kise will ever have of him?
He tried to look for Kise's hand. There was a cast on his right forearm and Aomine remembered some mention of Kise breaking his right arm while trying to defend himself. He remembered the sight of Haizaki in the room looking fine without a single scratch on him before Aomine proceeded to make up for what he was lacking. Aomine's head hurt from trying to imagine what Kise must have gone through that night. He must have been so scared and so helpless, unable to fight back. He shivered at the thought of what could have happened if nobody had intervened before it turned for the worst.
"I'm sorry Kise…" Aomine whispered with utmost regret while grabbing Kise's hand tightly as he felt warm tears run down his face.
Not long after that, Takao knocked on the door to remind him that it was almost time to leave. Before he left, he kissed Kise's forehead lightly and called out to him to wake up soon.
The next morning, Aomine woke up cold and hungry for breakfast. He decided to buy some snacks from the vending machine on the 6th floor. He purposely planned that trip just so he has an excuse to walk past Kise's room and hoped that by some luck, the curtains would be open today and he would have the chance to see Kise from outside.
As he was coming from a distance, Aomine was surprised to see that curtains were opened today but as he got closer, he panicked when he saw that the room was empty. Completely forgetting about breakfast, Aomine rushed back to the reception downstairs to ask them on what happened to Kise.
"Oi! What happen to the patient in Room 608?" yells Aomine startling the reception staff on duty.
"Uh— Kise-kun you mean? I'm not quite sure…" said the receptionist as she glanced at another nurse nervously signalling her for assistance.
"Kise-kun woke up early this morning and his family requested for an immediate transfer. A private transport came to pick them up just over an hour ago," said the other nurse.
"Wha—? He woke up?"
"We don't know where he was taken to. His family refused to indulge any details with us as they are afraid that the media might follow them there. They are appealing for a moment of privacy for now…" the nurse continued.
Aomine's first thought was that he may never see Kise again and he slammed both his fists on the reception counter as he tried to contain his rage before leaving the hospital in a hurry without any idea on what to do next.