Hello, everyone!

Thanks for your awesome reviews, seriously :') THEY MADE MY DAY. (Especially the ones about Kaito killing Aomine, I LOVE YOU GUYS)

Here's the ninth chapter, I hope you like it! I'm feeling so stupid for publishing this only two days after the eighth, but I can't resist the temptation... :X

Disclaimer: I do not own KnB nor its characters.

Enjoy! :D

CHAPTER 9: STORM (2)

TIME: 8:30 DAY: 07/25/20XX

XX

It was another sunny day of that hot summer. The sun rays entered the room, up to the bed, filtered by the polarizing panoramic glass, that intensified them while making it impossible for people on the outside to see inside the apartment. The curtains were moving softly, like creasing waves, following the wisps of wind penetrating the small slots.

His cellphone rang, waking him up. He raised his hand and dropped it on the small nightstand with a loud noise.

"Who the hell calls at this hour?! Damn." He read the caller's name and grunted. This woman...

-Dai-chan! You haven't called me once since you left! Shame on you!-

-Satsuki, why the fuck do you always call when I'm sleeping?! Anyway, I've been busy lately, I didn't have time, really.-

-Yeah, sure... probably going after girls right?- He could almost see her pouty face through the phone call, in some way she was right though.

-Shut up, what's up with the team? Any news?-

-We're working hard, and I hope you're following your practice schedule too... How's Kagamin?-

-He's- He sighed and realized something. -I don't really know...-

-What? What do you mean?-

-...-

-Dai-chan?-

-Sorry, gotta go now. Bye.-

He hung up and tilted his head towards the edge of the the pillow.

Three days had passed since their fight, and nothing had changed between them. Kagami kept avoiding him, and every time their paths would cross, he'd change direction and go somewhere else, far from him.

But the truth was that he was feeling like shit after saying those things. Aomine knew he'd hurt him bad, and he wouldn't be surprised to find out the redhead hated him now. He probably did anyway.

"You're the worst, and this time I mean it" Kagami's last words echoed in his mind, his brain, always, always making him remember the asshole he was. He'd slept with two, random girls just to make the guy jealous, and he hadn't even succeeded since his rival went to sleep at his friend's place, the same friend he'd found him making out with at the party. Although he knew Kagami wasn't someone to sleep with random people just to make someone else jealous (unlike him), he couldn't not think the worst had happened, since the redhead was drunk and he didn't trust the blond guy. And the thought of them together pissed him off, and not just a bit, but very, very much. In those three days, he was always following his rival's movements, and he noticed how he kept talking to Josh and Chris with his usual grin on his face. On top of that, a new guy had joined them too, it was the gigantic dude they'd seen on the first day. They looked like the BBFs squad, always walking around together.

Maybe Kagami had moved on. Maybe he'd realized how much of an asshole-ganguro he was and decided to let go of his feelings. What had he done for him, after all? NOTHING. He'd just kept him hanging, then hurt him with the Kise-business, then raised his hopes at Kaito's party, then destroyed them at Saturday's party.

But somehow, he didn't want Kagami to let go of his love for him. Aomine wasn't sure if that was possessiveness or something else, something more than that, but he realized how much he cared for the redhead after he walked out that door, their door. Was that a symbolic gesture to say he was walking away from them, giving up on his feelings for him? He still wanted to be with him though, to see his cheerful grin everyday, to fight about trivial matters like entering the room first than the other one, stealing burgers, go for a one-on-one. But most of all, he missed him, all of him, his presence, his smell, his red locks, his flaming red eyes always up for a challenge.

Aomine was thinking way more than he was used to.

He dressed up and left the room to go to practice with his new team.

But what bothered him the most was the fact that Kagami was damn right about something: even though he knew the redhead liked him, he chose to hurt him. Why did he do that? Why did he say those things? And why did he sleep with those sluts just to get him jealous? He needed to find the missing piece of the intricate puzzle of his mind.

He entered the gym and observed his surroundings, immediately noticing a familiar player stretching on the floor.

Gosh, why him of all people?!

Josh spotted him and waved at him, just as a sign of courtesy though. He saw how the redhead looked sad and depressed every day since that day, even if the guy was always forcing himself not to show it.

The coach, an old man with a big white mustache, whistled, announcing the beginning of the training session. The players warmed up and ran across the court to shoot, queuing one after another.

"Now get ready for a quick match: it's going to be Sapphire vs. Amber and Opal vs. Turmaline, the first team that gets 50 points wins."

Aomine and Josh glared at each other: they would settle this their own way.

Sapphire got the tip-off and scored right away, they were surely the strongest team among the ones attending that practice match, but Amber was just slightly weaker, and when Aomine caught a pass, the real fight began. He stared in Josh's eyes, who glared back at him. They both had a reason to go full strength at the opponent. The blue-haired player moved forward, getting past the other players, then stopped in front of his enemy. Josh was waiting for him, his muscles were tensed and ready to snap at any of the guy's movements. Aomine dribbled the ball a couple of times, then he approached the guy, attempting to pass him.

"You're too weak, dude." He glared at the blond figure, sprinting forward. Josh wasn't so kind to let him go past himself, though: with a quick movement, he turned around and touched the ball, that fell off Aomine's hands and rolled away.

"You keep underestimating your opponents." Josh smirked. "Or maybe you just overestimate yourself. You can be the best player in Japan, but we're in America here."

"Tch!" Aomine clenched his teeth and ran after the ball.

After a few seconds, they found themselves going against each other again, with Aomine having the ball once again. He carefully looked at the hoop, at the distance between his body and the hanging net, then smirked at the blond opponent. He moved forward, imitating what he'd done just seconds before on purpose, then, just when Josh raised his hand to steal the ball, Aomine let his body fall horizontally towards the floor, making a surprising, formless shot.

"Who's overestimating whom?"

Josh snorted back at him.

The match went on for some minutes, but their level of strength and skill were different: Sapphire beat Amber with a score of 50-37, making Aomine feel proudly full of himself once again.

After taking shower, Aomine left the gym, followed by a blond figure.

"Yo, Aomine."

The bluenette glared at him. "What do you want? You've already lost."

"I know. I just wanted to talk about something."

"If it's about Kagami I don't have anything to say to you." He increased his pace, leaving the guy behind.

"Wait-!" Josh ran after him. "I need to tell you something. I think there's a misunderstanding here-"

"Shut up, I have nothing to say to you after you brought him to your room and fucked the hell out of him"

"WHAT?! Where did you hear that from?!"

"I don't need you to tell me, I can be pretty smart at times, you know?" He looked away. The guy was being damn annoying. He didn't want to be reminded about their fight, he didn't need to. And right when he thought he could feel relieved after the exhausting practice.

Josh sighed. "I don't know where you got that from, but we didn't do anything... I mean, I wanted to, really." He looked at Aomine, who looked back at him. The blue-haired guy had to know there was already someone after the redhead. "But he didn't want it. He kept saying you were an asshole all night, and we just slept."

Touou's ace looked at him. So they really didn't do anything... And if on one side he felt very relieved about that, on the other side it made him feel even more guilty about his one-night stand with those stupid girls.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I like Taiga and I know he likes you, and you seem to know it too. Plus, I'm tired of seeing him wearing that fake smile every day, you can't even imagine how heartbreaking his expression is these days..." He ran a hand through his short hair.

"I don't get your point." Oh he got it way too well.

Josh clenched his fists. "Can you... can you just stop being an asshole for ONCE? I'm being the nice guy here, and I'm taking a step back, but if you care about him you should treasure him more, YOU IDIOT!" He touched Aomine's chest with a finger, accusing him.

"I'm..." Aomine sighed. The guy was perfectly right, and he knew that. "I need to go. See ya around" He turned his back at him and waved.

"Hey! YOU!"

"Josh!" Chris appeared beside him. "I finally found you, where the hell did you go? Let's go eat!"

"Yeah, sorry..." That bastard.

Aomine unlocked the door. That simple gesture was enough to make his mind go crazy, recalling the unexpected but perfect race he had with Kagami on the first day and all the events before that. Everything made his thoughts go back to him, from his shoes to his toothbrush, that was now alone in the glass.

He lied on the bed and checked his phones: no missed calls.

What was the idiot doing right now? He wanted to see him. Aomine rested his arm on his eyes and relaxed, still feeling the adrenaline rushing through his veins. He still needed to write a message to Kise and Kuroko.

-To: Kise-

-You asked me to write you a message and so I did.

cya.-

"He'll probably get mad but I don't give a shit."

-To: Tetsu-

-Yo, Testu, what's up? Practice is great here, and the place is cool.

I'll call you someday.-

Sending that, he concluded he sucked at keeping friendships. The bluenette got up and walked to the main room, turning on the TV. He spent several minutes browsing the channels, but none of them was interesting enough. Without the redhead everything felt boring. It was like Kagami was the soul that used to possess everything, making even the smallest features interesting and enjoyable, with his living force and his grinning. Even the panoramic window didn't feel the same anymore. He remembered how excited they were the first day, looking at the wide, clear glass, observing everything together... now it was just a piece of glass like any other. And it wasn't just the glass: all the forniture seemed to have died after his rival left the place. He'd taken all of the awesomeness away with him, leaving both the apartment and the bluenette empty.

He closed his eyes, wishing he could take a nap, but was woken up by a sound coming from the door.

"Shit, who's it at this time?" He got up and froze. Could it be Kagami? Maybe he'd come to make up.

He hurried to the door and opened it, definitely not expecting a strong, firm hand taking a hold of his neck to pin him to the closest wall.

"YOU." Angry, teal eyes stared into his scared ones.

Aomine tried to talk but the sudden visit from the dark-haired man made his body feel paralyzed.

Kaito tightened his grip around the dark flesh. "What. did. you. do. You'd better explain yourself, Aomine, or else I'm afraid the next time you wake up will be in a cold, white room... if you wake up at all."

"..I-" Aomine gasped for air. "Can't..."

The taller man released his hand and the teen fell on the floor, gasping. "I remember warning you, Aomine. And not once, but twice already." Kaito grabbed his scalp and tilted his head behind with a harsh movement.

"I didn't... do anything..." Aomine looked into the guy's fierce eyes, and for the first time in his life he felt like the pray, instead of the predator. He was powerless, helpless, weak.

"Oh, really?" Kaito yanked the blue locks.

"The party.. and Josh was..."

The man sighed. "Okay. I'm giving you one chance to explain yourself to me, since I believe there's a rational reason behind this." He released his grasp once again and took a step back. "So?"

Aomine spit on the floor and laughed. What the fuck?! "So he's asked his brother to come to the rescue, huh?! You Bakagami..."

Kaito grabbed his shirt and lifted him up. "ONE. CHANCE." His stoic look penetrated Aomine's soul, making him shiver under his frightening tone. "And just so you know, he didn't ask me anything, I felt something was off, and it looks like I was fucking right." He punched the wall beside the guy's face.

"Okay, I'll explain!" The teen shoved him away. "There was a party, I drank, he did too, and then-"

"You know what happens when he drinks too much." He glared at him.

"I TOLD HIM NOT TO! He didn't listen to me, okay?! Then I went with some girls and-"

"YOU WHAT?!" Kaito grabbed him by his collar once again and shoved him against the opposite wall. "You fucking know he likes you!"

"I do, but... I was half-drunk, okay?! Gosh..." He sighed

"Go on."

"Then I went to look for him and I found him making out with Josh..."

"Josh?! Oh, I see, that Josh... wait, they were making out?!"

"YES."

Kaito relaxed his grip a bit. What the hell, Taiga?! "Then what?"

"Then we left the building and I met them again, and he was all pissed, seeing me with girls, but I was even more pissed because he'd been kissing that fucker! So-"

"SO WHAT?"

"HEY CALM DOWN! I'm getting to it, okay?!" He exhaled. "So I said I was going to take the girls to our room, but I didn't really mean to! But he said he was going to sleep at Josh's place, so I got pissed once again, and so did he. And I..." He was afraid of the consequences of the next line "I ended up fucking those girls."

"HERE?!" Kaito widened his eyes. "AOMINE WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"I know, okay! I know I shouldn't have! Shit! I already feel bad about it, you don't need to pour salt on the wound!"

"Oh I think I do" He tightened his clenched hand on the cloth. "And I'll tell you why: Taiga might be sensitive about certain topics, but he's NOT stupid. He knows what you're like, and he went to the party even though he knew you'd probably spend the night surrounded by girls."

Aomine looked at the man in a confused way. What did he mean by that?

"Don't play dumb with me, boy. What I'm saying is that Taiga had probably foreseen that outcome, and this means something else happened after that, something that involves YOU."

The bluenette widened his eyes. Oh... SHIT!

Kaito brought the guy's face close to his. "SPIT. IT. OUT."

Aomine looked away, averting the death glare. "We had a fight, the morning after it happened."

"I KNEW IT. And you said shitty things about him, RIGHT?!"

The younger teen showed a pained expression. He couldn't bring himself to answer that.

"Aomine, you're an asshole. I have no idea why Taiga likes you, really." The man released the boy.

The bluenette looked at him in surprise, he was expecting a harsher treatment from the man. When he raised his look, though, his face met the unpleasant weight of a human hand's knuckles.

Kaito punched him right on his cheekbone, where he knew it hurt the most, eliciting a suffocated gasp from the teen, that hit his back against the concrete wall.

Looking at the guy holding his face in pain, the man walked to the door. "You've hurt him bad, Aomine. The pain you're feeling is nothing compared to his. I don't even want to know what you've told him, since if I did, I'd beat the life out of you, and that would make Taiga hate me for the rest of his life. But I think I saw a small spark of regret and pain in your eyes, meaning you know you've hurt him, so one punch is definitely enough. I highly suggest that you find your answer quickly, or your face will become symmetrical thanks to my visits. See you." Kaito left the apartment, slamming the door.

Aomine lied on the floor, touching his swollen cheek. Even the wall wasn't supporting his body anymore. The emptiness he felt was increasing with every second passing by.

"I messed up big time..."

Kagami looked up to the sky and sighed. How many times had he done that the past few days? Many, for sure. He noticed the white, puffy clouds moving fast in the sky, carried by the refreshening wind, and he felt his anxiety leave him, even if just for a moment. The friends he was waiting for finally showed up.

"Yo, Taiga." Josh walked to him, followed by Chris.

"Hey" Things were going great between them, the incident of that night was easily forgotten... at least by Kagami. He wanted things to go this way, since he was already having a hard time dealing with another business. He was being utterly selfish, but he didn't have time to torment himself about Josh's feelings as well. "How did practice go?"

"Pretty bad, actually. We lost." Josh shrugged.

"What!? You lost?! How can that be! What team were you up against?"

Josh tried not to look in the redhead's eyes while saying the fateful name. "Sapphire."

Kagami widened his eyes "Oh..." He smiled nervously. "They're strong, huh?"

"Yeah, they're like wild beasts."

"I won." Chris looked at them with a cheerful expression.

"Nice, Chris! Who were you up against?"

"Hmmm... I don't remember their team's name, but they were pretty weak actually..."

Kagami ruffled his curly hair "Maybe you were just too strong."

"Hehe, who knows"

They laughed together, it was nice getting along like that, it reminded them of their childhood days.

"Hey, Taiga, doesn't that resemble your stepbrother?" Josh pointed at a figure walking by. The man was leaving light footprint on the shapable gravel, and he casually walked past them.

"That's true.." The redhead had to admit he saw the resemblance. "Speaking of which, you haven't seen him since I moved to Japan, right?"

"No: actually, I met him a couple of months ago. He was at a pub with some friends."

"I see, that's very like him." Kagami looked at the walking man once again. "He sure does look like Kaito, though. Wait a sec." He ran after the man and the closer he got, the more he felt it was his brother.

"Kaito!"

The tall man's body yanked from the surprise. This is bad. "Taiga!"

"So it was you. What are you doing here?" Seirin's ace grinned at the thought of his stepbrother paying him a visit.

"Err, I was... checking on your room change. They noticed us about your request so I came here to verify it myself"

"You came all the way here just for that?" The young Kagami raised an eyebrow.

Kaito needed some fast excuse. He hugged his brother. "I missed you soooo much, Taiga! I wanted to see you again!" His arms wrapped around his little brother's back, pulling him closer.

"Damn, I knew it had to be something like this..." Taiga rolled his eyes, faking annoyance, then he smiled at his stepbrother. His being there was the best thing that had happened to him since his fight with the bastard.

The man released the redhead from his hug. "Well, I have to go now, it was nice seeing you again, Taiga" He turned around, but his brother made him stop.

"Hey, what happened to your hand?" It looked red and a bit swollen.

Kaito's face paled. "Well I... tripped. Yes! I tripped and I fell on it. I'm so clumsy hehehe... See you." Kaito waved and ran away as fast as he could.

"See you."

Josh caught up to Kagami, looking at the running man. "So it was him"

"Yup, he was... kinda weird though."

"He's probably worried about work. Let's go eat now, you have a match in a few hours!" He wrapped his arm around Kagami's neck and they walked away together.

The referee whistled the end of the second quarter.

It was already his second match, and it was kinda late, but he wasn't feeling tired at all. Kagami sat on the bench next to his teammates, drinking some water and drying the sweat off himself. He kept searching through the crowd, searching for a familiar face he missed so much, but there was no trace of it. Every other player in the tournament was there, assisting to the matches to observe his future opponents, everyone but him. And what made Kagami feel the worst was the fact that, since Aomine knew his feelings for him, things between them would never stay the same. It was either going further ahead or taking a step back, and according to the bluenette's last words, the second option was more likely to happen.

"Fuck." Kagami rested his elbows on his knees and breather heavily. It had been a stressful day, but the matches were a great way to release the tension gathered in his body.

When the second quarter started, he had his time to shine. Riko was right: he had to learn how to improve his skills even when Kuroko wasn't around to play as his shadow, to shine bright thanks to his own skills. And with his high jumps and his powerful dunks he did just that, making everyone cheer for his team and, at the same time, fear the moment they would face them on that same court.

He wasn't the only one to win, though: his team was the best backup he could ask for, always helping him and making sure he would score, catching all the rebounds and passing the ball to him. He had promised himself he'd never become like the members of the GoM ended up being, full of themselves without relying on their teams.

Ruby won against Citrine with a score of 80-77. It was a great match, and the opponents were very strong, making the challenge even more exciting.

After the match, he walked the lonely path on the green grass that was now wet due to the humid night, thinking about the meeting with his brother. There was definitely something off with Kaito, he could feel it, being his stepbrother. He looked oddly nervous about something, plus that swollen hand... It reminded him of Aomine's fist after he punched Haizaki, to defend... Kise.

He sighed. How come everything ended up making him feel worse than he already was?

Kagami felt so lucky he got to meet with his brother, and the man happened to be right there, next to the F building! What a coincidence!

... wait.

Aomine punched Haizaki and got a swollen hand.

Kaito had a swollen hand.

Aomine's room was in the F building.

Kaito was near the F building.

"SHIT! Could it be...? But how did Kaito know?!"

Kagami ran to the high-classed building and took the stairs, the elevator would be too slow: as far as he knew, his brother could be very dangerous when he was mad. He reached the right floor and breathed heavily, still tired from the two consecutive matches. He walked to the room and knocked on the door.

The bluenette was sitting on the couch, pressing a small block of ice to his cheek, when he heard a powerful knock on the door.

"Aomine, are you there?"

That was Kagami's voice, the voice he'd been missing for the last three days.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Are you okay?"

Did the guy know he got punched by his demon-like brother? "Yeah, I'm okay" The last thing he wanted was Kagami entering and pitying him even after he'd acted like an asshole.

"Are you sure? Do you need anyth-"

"Go away. I don't wanna see you." Worst. Acting. Ever. He was being a bastard once again, great. But it was the only chance he had to make Kagami go away.

"...I see."

Aomine heard footsteps walking away from the door, and accepting the fact that his rival was gone again, he sighed, feeling the emptiness eating him up once again. Now the room felt like a place outside of space and time, where he was destined to stay alone, isolated forever.

"Shit, Bakagami." He looked down, resting the hand with the ice on his knee. "Now I'll miss you even more."

SOOOO...

What did you think of this chapter? Sorry for not killing Aomine hahahaha I still need him to complete the story. *such business*

WARNING: In a few chapters THE RATING WILL CHANGE TO "M" (brace yourself, smut is coming).

MORE TO COME: Will Ahomine make up his mind? Will Bakagami forgive him? And strong basketball players are on their way... hm...

Thanks for reading this! Please, review! :)

cya!

( ･ω･)ﾉ -BB33-