On Saturday evening, when Kise entered the bustling bar full of people in various colourful garments, elaborate costumes of stories of the old and times long ago, he was ecstatic.

"I knew coming here was a great idea! Oh My God, Aominecchi! Look at that person there! That helmet, she is definitely Athena!"

"Ugh... She looks weird. How do you know all this strange Greek names and stuff anyway?"

"Don't call it strange; it is Greek mythology. And unlike you, I read a bit, sometimes."

"Yeah, sure, I bet you learnt it all because you had a Greek mythology themed photoshoot or something."

"It was a Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology theme. And I rocked the looks. As you can still see."

"Yeah I figured. And whatever, if you feel comfortable in that weird thing, but did I really have to wear this? It looks... weird."

"God! Why do you have to complain?! It is perfect for you! With your sword and helmet and well crafted armour. Do you know how much I paid for that?"

"No I don't and I don't think I want to know... We could just go to one of the bars we always go you know, did we really have to come here?"

"Jeez Aominecchi! You are like an old man sometimes..."

"Oi! I am nothing like an old man..."

"Yeah, sure."

"And old man wouldn't be able to take care of you all night long y'know. Like I did last night."

"And that is exactly what an old man would say..."

"Huh?! No way..."

"Yes. Plus you have wrinkles."

"They are not wrinkles... of old age at least, it's just... because my face is like that..."

"It is not because 'your face is like that'; it is because you've donned this grumpy, half pissed half bored expression for most of the time since you were a teenager and that caused those weird wrinkles near your forehead."

Aomine unconsciously brought his hand over his "wrinkles", though they were covered by the ornate helmet he was wearing, and mumbled,

"Do they really look that bad?"

Kise giggled and wrapped his arm around Aomine's as he dragged him further into the club,

"I personally grew very fond of them over the years. To me they are a proof of how you are my Grumpy Bear."

"What? I am what?"

"Grumpy Bear."

"What the heck is that?"

"It is a bear, duh! He is blue too."

"I don't look like a bear..."

"Oh, really now?"

Kise was laughing wholeheartedly and Aomine was partially irritated and partially amused so he just "tch"ed a little loudly as a response and at that moment Kise saw the second reason why he had been so adamant in coming to this particular club: Takao Kazunari was standing near the bar area talking with a tall man who had reddish brown hair. "Yukimura Kaede!" thought Kise and smirked, walking up towards them while dragging Aomine alongside and just when he was within their sight, he shouted a little loudly,

"Taka-chan!"

Takao could never, would never mistake the cheerful voice that reminded one of birds tweeting in a lovely Spring morning, he turned his gaze towards where the voice was coming and gave a look of judgement alongside happiness: "Ki-chan!"

"Oh I see..." was what Aomine mumbled, irritated a bit.

"I never thought I'd meet you here!" Kise exclaimed once he was near Takao, and as if in a choir, both Takao and Aomine mumbled in unison,

"Sure..."

"Oh come on..."

Takao giggled and hugged the blond while Aomine carefully detached himself from Kise,

"It is great to see you regardless. And you look fabulous!"

"You yourself too! Let me guess: Date Masamune!"

"Wow, how did you guess it? Eye patch? I didn't even wear the iconic helmet so that it wouldn't be so easy to catch!"

"Ah you see, I am not just a pretty face, I do read now and then."

"He played the role of Date Masamune for a series of adverts a few years ago. Plus we used to play a lot of Sengoku Basara."

"Aominecchi!"

"Why? Is it a lie?"

"Jeez, you're so mean..."

Kise pouted a little while Takao laughed,

"You are amazing Ki-chan... oh, but I can guess both of you very easily too!"

"Is that so? Well I think they particularly suit us so it must not be hard, especially for a historian like yourself"

"Ah, I am a mere history teacher, please. And yeah, I agree that they particularly suit you too: you are Apollo, the Greek god of the light and sun, of arts and sports, and a perfection of youth. And Aomine is Ares, the Greek god of... war. It suits him a lot actually."

"It suits me? I am not even a violent person. Why would it suit me?!"

"Well you definitely have the potential and you always look angry and ferocious."

Aomine was about to retort to Takao but then Kise almost hopped a little further and offered his hand to a bit amused a bit surprised Yukimura,

"Ah how rude of us not introducing ourselves properly! I am Kise Ryouta, Takao's close friend. And this is Aominecch- I mean Aomine Daiki."

"Ah, no problem. I am Yukimura Kaede, a friend and colleague of Takao's."

The name "Yukimura Kaede" flashed in Aomine's mind and he knew right away just what was going on: it wasn't only to see Takao that Kise had dragged him here, it was also to see this man. He was sure that he had heard his name while Kise was complaining about yet another complexity Takao was facing in his seemingly endless platonic love for the weirdest dork around, Midorima Shintarou. He reluctantly shook Yukimura's hand; it was not that he had a particular dislike for the man, he was just really tired of Takao's crush on Midorima and anything related to it bothered him a bit.

"So I guess you finally managed to get Aomine to agree to come here, huh? How did you guys get the tickets?"

"Well, I pulled some strings, being in the entertainment industry helps you know" Kise winked and Yukimura couldn't help but think that "that explains": blond was strikingly good looking and had a charismatic and charming nature. Takao explained further,

"You see Yuki, Ki-chan is a model and Aomine is a professional basketball player."

"Oh wow!"

"Yeah right! I have all these extraordinary friends. I even know the Vice President of the Akashi Corporation. You could say I am the most ordinary among this folk!"

"Ah please, you are nothing but ordinary Taka-chan" Kise chimed in and Aomine followed,

"Plus, to be frank, I don't think anybody who is not a greedy bastard or an utter fool would actually want to know or be acquainted with Akashi."

"Oh, I'll tell that to Akashicci the next time I see him!"

"So what... it's not like... I am afraid of him."

"Oh you should be. Even Shin-chan is still a little afraid of him."

"I concur. Akashicchi: definitely somebody to be afraid of."

"Whatever..." Aomine mumbled grumpily and inside he knew that the young "lord" of the famous international enterprise was indeed somebody to be afraid of even if their ties were much better now compared to high school and the redhead was also much less serious.

"Ah enough about us and our quirky little troupe. So, um Yukimura-san? What do you do?"

Kise said with eyes sparkling with curiosity as he started sipping from the newly arrived cocktail that Aomine had ordered for him – a Sex on the Beach, one of Kise's favourite cocktails, while Aomine himself had a Dry Martini.

"Well, I am a teacher."

"Yeah you did say you were a colleague; what do you teach?"

"PE"

"How nice! Are you fond of sports by any chance? Do you play any?"

Takao rolled his eyes slightly but he was more amused than irritated at the mock interrogation Kise was doing and really, Kise's acting skills were amazing when he wanted them to be; nobody would guess from his gestures that he actually knew all of these pieces of information he was asking Yukimura, because, in all frankness, he had learnt everything Takao knew about Yukimura already from Takao. At that moment, Takao found that it was perhaps more interesting to watch Aomine who obviously hated it whenever his boyfriend worked his charm over other people – other men, to be specific – but acted as though he did not care at all: he was idly watching the dance floor and the strangers in various outfits. The theme of the night was myths and the figures of the past and quite a few people had gone all out like Kise did; their costumes were very elaborate. Not that interested Aomine much, he simply needed something else to focus on.

"Yes, I like being active... I like baseball the most, I played as a pitcher during high school and university."

"Baseball huh? Do you still play?"

Takao gave a knowing glance to Kise who continued acting so innocently curious that Takao thought Kise would make an amazing secret spy.

"Uh, well I do play for fun... with my friends from university now and then. Oh and I coach our school's high school team. It is really fun."

"I am sure it is. I love sports by the way, I've been rather talented at them all my life. But my favourite is basketball; I was actually a basketball player till the end of high school. That's how I met all others and Taka-chan. Ah Aominecchi was the one who introduced me to basketball, really..." Kise smiled and turned his gaze to Aomine for a second, pointing his finger playfully to the tall ace who was still watching the dance floor rather indifferently and hearing Kise's comment just nodded. At that moment, before Takao or anybody else could realise, Kise had realised something crucial that called for a quicker end to his little interrogation even though he enjoying it quite a bit.

"It is nice getting to know you but hey, we came here to have fun partying, right? Sorry but I'll be stealing Taka-chan!" Kise said smiling devilishly and dragged a surprised Takao to the dance floor and just when they were about to reach the middle of it, he gave a side glance that neither Takao nor Yukimura registered fully, but Aomine caught it right away and knew what was going on very well. As he had been aimlessly gazing upon the dance floor, his eyesight had fallen squarely onto the exposed bosom of a lovely lady in Victorian garb, the intricate corset she wore only helping to punctuate her large breasts. While Kise often joked about Aomine's little fetish, he would be seriously jealous due to it sometimes and jealousy of Kise was never a simple and blunt fight of words; oh no, it was an intricate dance of vengeance and a sharp play of displeasure. Aomine swallowed with anxiety as he focused his eyes on Kise who was now dancing with Takao and gulped down his drink, and asked for another.

"Wow... they really know how to dance huh?"

"Well one is a professional model who can pretty much copy any dance he wants to try and the other... the other is pretty much a freak of nature who loves to party – he can party for a whole day without getting tired."

"You are referring to... Takao?"

"Yeah." Aomine grumbled, Takao and Kise were giggling too much; it was sincere giggling too. Not that Aomine minded them having fun but knowing the greater context of it, he knew soon things he would mind would happen... "One wonders how he could stick with that dork all these years" Aomine mumbled within his mouth and never imagined Yukimura to be able to hear it but he somehow did,

"Are you, by any chance, referring to um... Shin-chan?"

"Huh? You know about him?"

"Yeah... You do as well, I guess?"

"I went to same middle school with him, Midorima Shintarou, he is called by the way, not 'Shin-chan'. Only Takao calls him that. We were in the same basketball team too. He was... pretty decent. Then for high school he went to Shuutoku where Takao met him and they became team mates."

"Oh so that's how you know him... and that's what Kise-san meant with 'meeting all others and Takao'... Takao had mentioned about Kise-san before, they are best friends I guess, huh?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Well, Midorima trumps all in Takao's life but oh well." Aomine said, a little dazed, Kise was dancing in a sexually alluring manner and each move of his body was reminding something else to Aomine, of moments shared together, of passionate moments from the past and the recent...

"So... you guys are all pretty close then?" Yukimura asked, he sounded a little anxious and when Aomine turned his face he realised that the man had his eyes glued over Takao. Aomine smirked at that a bit – he found anybody who would be able to overlook somebody like Kise and look at somebody else when Kise was dancing like that to be an utter fool, but it was nice that the man was an utter fool. Not that Takao was not attractive, he was very attractive, and Aomine was obviously biased but he still thought that Kise would be the immediate attention grabber.

"Not really. Kise is Takao's friend, I guess I just come with the package."

"Oh..."

"I am Kise's boyfriend."

"I see..."

"You are gay, aren't you?"

"Huh? Well yeah... but how did you guess it?"

"You weren't surprised at all to my statement. Plus, you have been watching Kise and Takao dance rather provocatively without any surprise in your face or voice."

"Ah... you are observant."

"Not really. Probably only because it involved Kise."

"Ah I see..."

"You know, Takao is a very straight forward person."

"So?"

"So, if you want something with him, you should go for it head on."

"Oh, and you say you are not observant?"

"You are just too obvious. Takao probably already guesses but he does not like his friends coming onto him much so he is probably ignoring it unknowingly."

"And you say you are not that close with Takao?"

"I am not but unfortunately Kise is so I am bombarded with random fact like this every day. Whatever. Not trying meddle in your affairs. I don't care at all, to be honest. I'd just be happy if he found somebody else to vent with, instead of Kise. Whether as a friend or boyfriend, does not matter for me."

"Uh I see... Thanks for the advice... But you know, it is just... now is not a good time for him. I feel I especially cannot now..."

"Oh... so you know? He told you?"

"Um, yeah? I know he has been 'troubled' for a long time and it is especially bad 'now'."

"Wow, you really don't need to talk in code. You know, pretty much all of us know that Takao is head over heels for Midorima."

"Huh? Really? He told me he told nobody but Kise-san."

"Yeah, he did not but Midorima is not a guy you would glue yourself to for years unless you are madly in love with him so it was always rather obvious to those of us who knew both... Why would anybody be madly in love with Midorima in the first place is a big mystery though."

"Is he that bad?"

"Not bad necessarily he is just... weird. Yeah, that's it: super weird."

"I see..."

After a pause of silence Aomine said in a quite voice,

"If you wait for him to be over Midorima, you may have to wait a lot. If you think time will work for your advantage, you are wrong. Anyway, I don't believe in passivity in love."

Yukimura played around with the highball glass in his hands, devoid of any drink for some time now, as his eyes followed each and every move of Takao's body, who by now was being caressed rather intimately by Kise as part of their little play... at one point Kise slightly made a hump movement and even though body of the neither touched each other it was evoking enough for Yukimura to utter a "Wow" and Aomine to angrily grumble a "just kill me already" and he stomped across to the dance floor, leaving his half full martini on the bar, and stuck himself between Kise and Takao rather forcefully, giving a particularly disgruntled look at Takao who received it with a cheeky wink and a slight chuckle as he moved away.

"You are such a handful Kise..."

"Oh but not a handful that is nice to feel on the hands right, Aominecchi? Not all soft and smooth... like a pretty female bosom would be."

"Hmm, I don't know, you feel very soft and smooth to me and it feels nice to have my hands on you..." Aomine mumbled with a deep voice as he placed his hands on Kise's thin waist softly and gripped a little stronger as he pronounced the last few words, which surprised Kise a bit and a small blush formed on his cheeks,

"Aominecchi..."

"Oh look at that, are you shy? You didn't look shy at all shaking all you've got so crazily a minute ago... I can't help but wanting to devour you and then you guys call me 'ferocious', is it possible to be any other way with you?"

"Ah shut up..."

Kise said a little timidly and a little playfully and Aomine chuckled silently at that.

"They are so beautiful together, aren't they?" Takao said a little dazed as he watched Aomine and Kise dance a little slower than rest of the people.

"I guess so..."

"I sometimes envy them so much... they have been together for almost a decade, you know."

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah. It takes a lot of effort... and they both lead such public lives normally. But they still manage it."

"Taka-chan..."

"Yes?"

Takao did not break away his sight from Kise and Aomine and for the first time, in a long time, the sight of the beautiful couple did not make him imagine a similar sight of himself with Midorima, instead he was in a daze of sad sentimentality, if he knew what Yukimura was to utter, he would face Yukimura and look deeply and intently in his eyes for out of blue Yukimura uttered something that disturbed Takao greatly,

"Would you like to go out with me?"

"Huh?"

Takao turned his bewildered face to Yukimura, honestly, he was surprised for he had tried his best to ignore all the small signs Yukimura was giving and this was rather abrupt.

"Sorry for saying so suddenly. I like you a lot, since the first time I've met you."

"You do realise that I am a man who is still in love with his high school crush of over 10 years? An unrequited love?"

"Yes."

"How can you live with that? How can you accept that?"

"I don't know but I can try, most importantly I can try to help you get over him?"

"We are colleagues..."

"I think we are both mature enough to ensure that even if it fails, it will not affect our work environment."

Takao was silent for a second and turned his gaze back to Kise and Aomine, who were dancing very slowly and intimately to the slow and tender tune of the song that was playing now, very different than the upbeat clubbing regulars of the minutes before.

"No."

"Are you sure? Is there no chance?"

"Yes I am sure and no, there is no chance. I like you a lot as a friend Yuki and if we went out I would hurt you, I know I would and I do not want to. You would grow bitter, even if you did not want to, it is natural and I don't want to see you bitter..."

"I think I can handle it..."

"Perhaps, but I do not want you to handle it, go through it at all. And look, I tried this before: jumping into relationships to forget Shin-chan. And I even thought of it as a possibility these few days too. But now I realise it more than ever that no, I cannot run away, I cannot use another person as a shelter, I have to face my destiny myself, I have to end this myself. It will not work, I will not forget Shin-chan because of you or somebody else because none of you are him and I will only look for him in you... It is unfair, it is cruel, and I will not do that to you. I am sorry but really, there is no chance."

"I see... Okay then."

Yukimura paused for a second and then asked:

"Can we stay as friends?"

"If you agree, that would be my wish. But if you feel that is cruel, I can try to keep my distance with you from now on too... Because really, I will only be involved with you as a friend."

"No, I don't think it is cruel. And I think I can forget you even if we stay as friends. I am not yet deeply in love with you after all and it will not be the first time I got rejected by a friend. Don't worry about me."

"Okay, I am glad then because I really like you as a friend. But do tell me if you wish to stay away, I will respect that. I understand the troubles of unrequited affection the most. And I really am sorry..."

And Takao gulped the last drops of his drink as he continued staring at his friends dancing, the smile on his face was tinged with sadness. Yukimura now also had his eyes glued on Kise and Aomine and felt a deep envy; "how lucky" he thought.