Chapter 15

Lunch breaks were always chaotic to Kise. Well, they were again now, since he was apparently once again single. Although he really didn't necessary lead girls on, he didn't normally push them away either. Sometimes though, he thought that he should.

"Kise kun, do you have a shoot scheduled today after school?" this girl from his class named Momo asked.

She innocently latched into his right arm as he struggled to get past the flock of girls that were surrounding him by the doorway of the classroom.

The blonde scratched his head helplessly as a strained smile formed on his lips. "Uh, no. We have basketball practice today."

"Oh, I was kinda looking forward to catch you during a photoshoot..." she mumbled while twirling the end of her short brown hair. "Listen, can we talk later? I can find you before your practice."

This was it. Kise knew a confession when he saw one. Although he was normally a snob to those who weren't really close to him, he didn't openly reject any of his fan girls. In fact, it was always awkward for him whenever he did so.

A soft sigh escaped his lips. He was about to gently give her a hint that he wasn't interested when he thought he suddenly saw a flash of white from not so far away. He tried to move aside to get a better view, but unfortunately the girls just kept on crowding on him even more. When he felt Momo pressing her chest onto his arm, he immediately got distracted and looked back at her.

"So? Is that fine with you?" she asked once again.

He opened his mouth but nothing came out of it. Then, his eyes went back to the spot where he thought he saw the white haired girl only to find that she was now gone.

"Great, I'll see you later then!" Momo beamed, not even bothering to wait for an answer.

Luckily, she finally had the decency to release him and left to have some lunch with her friends.

Kise stood in place for a couple of seconds and blinked. He was so distracted that he didn't seem to remember what the girl from his class had just asked him earlier. His mind was instead on what he thought he saw was Aimi.

Shaking his head, he concluded that he must have just been imagining things. It had been a while since they really last saw each other. Whenever they did, their conversations were always limited to one-liners.

Although he didn't like it that she was also obviously keeping her distance from him, he knew that it was for the best. After all, he was the one who first kept his distance. Seeing that she always rejected his subtle advances, he figured that Aimi didn't bear the same feelings he had.

Kise actually thought that it was ridiculous at first. Girls always fell at his feet and he was used to that sort of thing. Although he knew that Aimi was different and he didn't really see her as more than a friend at first, all of that eventually began to change. When he started to feel slightly irritated for no reason whenever he heard the boys in his class talk about her, he knew that something was not right.

Of course, he denied his own feelings repeatedly, assuring himself that it was probably natural for being protective of her since she was a close friend. He didn't even notice immediately that the more the days they spent together during breaks and after school, those pretend hugs and holding of hands eventually became the most natural thing for him. It was as if she fit perfectly with him.

No matter how hard he tried to deny the possibility, he somehow still found himself eventually caring for her in ways more than one.

He started to feel inexplicable anger when he learned that she hurt her wrist because of a couple of jealous girls from school. He found himself even more irritated when she always seemed to keep those kinds of issues to herself.

Kise knew that he was starting to charge into deep water when he wasn't able to stop himself from reacting during their reunion with Akashi at the Winter Cup Ceremony. That evening, he somewhat started to acknowledge the dangerous feeling that was starting to invade him. It was a bit foreign, clearly having been used to the fact that it was girls who usually showed affection towards him and not the other way around.

It honestly terrified the blonde. Not only because he wasn't used to taking girls seriously, but also because his pretend feelings for Aimi were starting to become real. Yes, they were close friends, but that's what made it more complicated. Besides, her behavior and actions clearly showed that she wasn't sharing the same sentiments as him.

Before things ended up even more complicated, Kise had decided to start distancing himself to keep him from falling.

However, he was too late.

Kise Ryota already fell, and he fell hard.

Her somewhat bipolar reactions didn't seem to help him either. One minute she pushed him away, then the next she would get angry for him being a bit distant.

Then came the day of his team's match with Haizaki. He was honestly surprised with himself that he had incredible self-control. When he saw Aimi trapped in the arms of that bastard, it was the first time ever in his life that he felt the urge to kill someone. Although it wasn't very obvious then, his emotions were all over the place.

And when he kissed the beautiful, white haired girl who was crying in front of him that time, he knew that he was a goner.

That was it. To hell with all the complications. He was going to make his feelings clear with her after he won the match and got his revenge.

Unfortunately, the odds were not on his side. It was with Akashi's.

The way the two of them stared at each other in close proximity was obvious proof that Aimi still had feelings for the red haired emperor.

Being proud as he were, he wouldn't have normally backed down. He was the Kise Ryota, for crying out loud. Girls fought among themselves just to get noticed by him. Getting the girl he wanted to fall for him should not have been a problem.

Oh, but it was. She was the only girl that had ever made him feel serious about his feelings with someone. She wasn't like those other girls. It was an actual insult to even compare them to her. She wasn't like those other girls, because unlike them, he couldn't get her to feel the same way he did.

But still, he genuinely cared for her. He wanted her to be happy, and he didn't want her to get caught up in a mess because of him again. Telling her that they should 'break up' was probably the right decision he had made that night.

Yes, it should have been the right decision. But why wasn't he able to stop thinking about the subtle hint of pain her face showed when he told her so? They were only pretending after all. Besides, Akashi had already made it clear that he still wanted her. Wasn't she still in love with him as well?

It was time for him to stop thinking about trivial stuff and start focusing on basketball. That was the logical thing to do and he thought that he had been doing a good job so far with being able to get on with his original normal routine. However, when he received a text message from Yui that told him Aimi had been injured, all reason abandoned him and what he only knew at that moment was to make sure that she was okay.

He realized that he had broken his own promise to finally distance himself from her but he didn't care. Seeing her pretty face as she smiled softly at him made his heart skip a beat one more time. When she admitted that Akashi was the one that had been troubling her thoughts lately, he should have just let it go and accepted it but he couldn't. Right then and there, while the two of them were alone at her room for probably the last time, he decided to give one last go.

"Aicchi. If I told you right now that I like you, what will you say?"

He remembered how she momentarily froze at his question. Her mouth opened up slightly as if she wanted to say something, but then it closed once again as her expression looked conflicted. He had to admit that it hurt when he saw her lips curled up into a bitter smile and gave him the answer that he somewhat expected.

"I'd say you're probably just shitting me."

That was his sign, he supposed. They had been nothing else since the beginning but friends. Aimi still loved Akashi, and his former captain probably felt the same. Who was he to get in the way of her love life?

Besides, it was better this way. The girls from school would finally stop harassing her, and she wouldn't get into trouble with some malicious guys like Haizaki because of him.

When classes had finally ended that day, he made a dash towards the gym before any girl could have a chance to stop him. He was in such a hurry that he didn't notice that the door to the storage room was slightly opened while making his way to the locker room.

A huge sigh of relief escaped his lips as he smirked in silent triumph upon realizing that he was the first one there. He immediately took off his uniform and started to change into his jersey, still half naked from the top when he heard the door creaked open.

At first, he paid no mind, thinking that it was probably one of his teammates. What caught him off guard however was the feminine voice who called out his name.

"Um, Kise kun...?"

"Momo san? What..." His voice trailed off in surprise to see his classmate standing in front of him.

The girl blushed and said, "I-I'm sorry! I should have knocked first, but I was hoping to be able to talk to you alone and your other team mates might come soon..."

Kise released a tired sigh, "You do know that this place is off-limits to non athletes right? Moreover, this is the male locker room."

"Please don't get the wrong idea. I didn't come here to see you get dressed," she mumbled and looked sideways. "I really just want to talk to you and I don't think I would ever get the chance to catch you alone!"

"Well, what is it?" Clearly, he was already getting impatient.

He was too annoyed to notice the tiny smirk that had barely graced the girl's lips. Finally, she left the doorway and took a few steps towards him when out of nowhere she suddenly tripped and came crashing forward.

Upon instinct, Kise immediately extended his arms to catch the girl who seemed to have landed perfectly on him as if the whole ordeal had been calculated. However, everything happened so sudden that he had no time to think. He even unconsciously dropped his jersey to the floor in a hurry to catch her, forgetting for a moment that he was still half naked.

"Oh."

Upon hearing another voice, he felt as if time suddenly froze and his heart stopped beating.

When he saw Aimi standing by the doorway staring at him and the girl in what looked like a compromising position, he wanted to be swallowed by the ground right then and there. He wanted to explain himself, but based on her expressionless face, he didn't know if she would have cared.

After a few seconds of staring blankly, she just turned around and left.

He had to admit that it hurt a bit to see her clearly unbothered. Was she really okay with what she just witnessed?

He found himself unconsciously clenching his fists when Momo suddenly brought him back to reality and said, "Listen, Kise kun. I've been finding a way to tell you this for some time, but I really like you!"

As she bowed her head and closed her eyes, the blonde picked up his jersey that lay on the floor and looked at the girl as if her words had fallen on deaf ears.

"Look, I appreciate your effort to confess and all, but this really isn't the right time and place for it. I'm sorry, but I really have other important things in my mind right now and I can't afford to be distracted," he said.

He didn't see her clench her jaw before she raised her head and shyly bit her lips before muttering, "Oh, okay. I'm sorry for bothering you, then."

What just happened shouldn't have been a big deal, yet he found himself subconsciously looking at Aimi's direction all throughout practice. He wanted to talk to her, but the way how she acted as if nothing happened made his inner conscience tell him not to.

Why did he need to talk to her anyway? It wasn't as if he owed her an explanation. Judging from her lack of any reaction, it didn't seem as if she needed one either.

Eventually, he decided to let it go and continued with his normal routine in school, barely acknowledging her except during basketball practice and when needed.

During a free day at school because of the preparations for the upcoming festival, he decided to skip the class meeting to escape from the possibility of him getting elected as a representative for their booth. Since he was a bit famous among the first years, he knew that his classmates would force him to act as the face of the class.

"There you are!" The door to an empty classroom where he was currently hiding at opened.

Looking sideways for a brief second while continuing to lean on the window frame, Kise sighed, "Momo san, I actually prefer to be left alone right now."

After he turned down her confession a week ago, he was mildly surprised that the girl still continued to stick by his side more often. When she appeared by his side again the day after the incident in the locker room, he made it clear that he wasn't interested in her. However, she just flashed him a smile and said that all she wanted was to be friends with him. Feeling like there was nothing he could do, he just shrugged it off and let her did what she wanted.

"I did not even say anything yet," the girl pouted. "However, you're not wrong if you thought that I am here because our class president is looking for you..."

"Tell her that you never found me."

She raised both of her arms in mock surrender, "Alright, alright. Fine... Say, Kise kun. Did you hear that Takamoto san is finally seeing someone new?"

Even though he tried to hide his surprise with the piece of news, it didn't go unnoticed by the girl.

The brunette smirked upon seeing him trying so hard to act casual and continued, "Apparently, she visited his school the other day which was why she was absent."

Kise remained impassive while his mind reeled with questions. She skipped school the other day? Who did she visit?

"Where did you get this rumor?"

She let out a sultry giggle and replied, "It's not a rumor. Apparently, someone from the other class saw her being dropped off by a fancy car near Yokohama park that evening.

The blonde froze for a split second. That said park was near Aimi's place. No one from their mutual friends had been to her house before except for him and one other...

"They said that she was with a boy with red hair."

That last comment had instantly confirmed all of his suspicions. What was Aimi doing with Akashi? he thought bitterly while immediately shaking his head and looking at Momo who was currently gauging his reaction.

No one knew that they had been in a fake relationship. Even so, he still refused to act affected.

"Oh? Is that so?" he managed to say.

Not satisfied with the answer, Momo pressed, "You're not curious with who the guy was? Or perhaps... Do you know him? Did Takamoto san perhaps cheat on you with him?"

"She's not that kind of girl," he snapped even before he realized what he had said. "I don't think it's anyone's business with who she chooses to be with, nor is it mine's."

As he directed his gaze once again at the field outside the window, he silently wished that he didn't sound too bitter with his reply.

"That's great— I, I mean...," the girl tried to immediately cover up her slip of tongue.

Kise sighed, "Momo san. I really meant it when I said that I'm not interested. I'm sorry, but I'm not just meant for serious or long-term relationships."

He then got down the window pane and walked out the door, not caring if he left the girl behind as he got lost in his own thoughts.