A/N: Thanks to everyone who followed and favourited and reviewed! It makes me very happy. Special thanks to my very first beta reader, who's helping me with grammar. I hope the quality of my work will go up a bit.
Enjoy!
I never said I wanted a 'happy' life but an interesting one. From separation and loss, I have learned a lot. I have become strong and resilient, as is the case of almost every human being exposed to life and to the world. We don't even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward. – Isabel Allende
Happiness is a choice. You can choose to be happy. There's going to be stress in life, but it's your choice whether you let it affect you or not. – Valerie Bertinelli
My brother is one of my true heroes. Steady and sober where I am impulsive and emotional. – Mark McKinnon
I don't need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better. – Plutarch
"I need to make a call, Tai. I'm going out for a bit." Aya said after their morning run on a beach. They'd gone for a trip on Thursday evening and decided to skip classes on Friday. Katsunori covered for both of them. Being on the beach and close to the ocean had always calmed her down and made her feel at peace. So after that nightmare and two days of half-struggling at school, analyzing opposing teams, dealing with pre-preliminaries stress, small tests and work she wanted to get away, even if it was only for a little while.
"Who are you calling?" Taiga asked curiously while eating roughly his fourth portion of breakfast.
"Araki Masako, coach of Yosen." She shrugged, and looked at the number Katsunori had given her.
"Why?"
She was thinking about shrugging him off with 'business', but then again… Lying to Taiga, keeping things from him, she didn't see any good in it now. "… Tatsuya's coming back. He asked me to help him find a suitable school. And Yosen has a very good team that could use some shooting power – at least that's what Katsunori told me."
Taiga's food stopped in mid-air and he was staring at Aya with wide eyes. "WHAT?! WHEN?" He blurted out in English. "Why do I not know about it?!"
She shrugged innocently. "I thought you didn't want to know. You two aren't talking with each other, so…"
"That's not… I… You should've told me!"
"Why? Would it change something?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yes! I would have known!" He pouted.
"Now you do." She giggled and stole a bite from Taiga's breakfast, which he reflexively shielded from her.
"Do you have to do that?"
"Stealing your food?"
"No! …" Then he thought about it. "That too! But… Grrrr, you're doing it again! The topic change!" He rambled. "But not that…You always get the upper hand! It's unfair!"
She laughed and stole another bite.
"Stop it!" He smacked the back of her palm.
She sat on the corner of the table and smiled mischievously at him. "It is to my advantage when dealing with father's business! You should know how to do that too, dear brother."
Taiga narrowed his reddish eyes at her and it was burning with concentration. "When did he call you?"
She wondered whether she could make the same look. "Before the golden week. I think it was Saturday." She specified for him. "Then I called him two or three days ago."
"… How is he doing?" Taiga asked quietly, almost forcefully. He was worried for Tatsuya, and at the same time, he was still hurt and disappointed.
"Good. As good as he can be. His shoulder is healed and he is coming here with his father. If I can help, I want to."
His father? Huh... "Hmm. You want to help?" Taiga was observing his sister carefully. Maybe he was an idiot when it came to others, but he knew Aya better than anyone. "And you are completely okay with it?"
She smiled and it was genuine. Happy even. "Yes. We are still friends. If the two of you refuse to talk, then so be it, but Tatsuya is my friend too, and even if I do stand on your side in your dispute – and he knows it too – I don't need to be hostile, right?"
He sighed and scratched the back of his head. "As long as you're okay…" I don't really care. He added inwardly, and it seemed that Aya understood.
"Thanks." She patted his shoulder and stole yet another bite from his breakfast.
"Stop it!"
She laughed and elegantly ran away from his reach. "I'm calling Araki-sensei." She started to dial the number she had, hoping someone would pick up.
"Good! My food is safe!"
She chuckled and rolled her eyes at the amount of food her brother was able to consume. Then she got up and left to the balcony from where she could look at the ocean.
"Araki Masako here. How can I help?" The woman picked up almost immediately. Her voice indicated that she was rather strict.
"Hello. Kagami Aya from Touou academy here. I'm the manager of the basketball team and calling you to ask about your team."
"Kagami, huh... What do you want to know?"
"My friend, Himuro Tatsuya is returning from America and he wants to be a part of some good team. He prefers living in the dormitory too. I've seen some of your plays and I think you could use a good shooting guard." She summed it up, because from Katsunori she knew that this coach didn't like chatty girls, and she didn't want to ruin Tatsuya's chances. He liked the idea of going to Yosen.
"Ah, the boy Harasawa's mentioned?" She pronounced the name as if it burned her tongue.
Aya blinked in surprise. Had Katsunori talked with Araki already? "I believe so. I can send you some videos of Tatsuya's plays, so you can decide whether he is worth being on your team or not."
"That sounds good. But i only take strong guys in, so don't be disappointed if I reject him, little girl."
A vein popped on Aya's forehead. Little girl, you say… "I don't think you will." She said sweetly, but there was a dare underneath it and if Masako was as scary as Katsunori claimed, there was no way she would not notice that.
"We'll see about that. Have a good day." She hung up.
Aya hoped she didn't piss Araki-sensei off too much. She walked back and Taiga gave her a that-was-quick look.
"Don't even ask." She took out her laptop and started to browse through the videos she had, in order to send it. She gave one quick call to Alex, asking for the most recent footage of Tatsuya's skills. The quick call turned into an hour long discussion with Taiga included.
######
"Don't you know what happened to Aya-chan? Is she sick, or what?" Kano asked in the changing room in the morning. So far, Aya hadn't missed a single practise without a damn good reason.
"I don't know. Do you, captain?" Ishii turned his eyes to Imayoshi. As the captain, he was usually informed about absences.
"No. But she seemed off for the past few days." He said. When it came to reading people he was an expert. Aya played it well, but he could see the slight change in her expression. "Maybe she just needs a day off. She has a lot of work after all."
"Maybe you are right." Ishii nodded, and they headed for their morning classes.
######
Aomine walked into the classroom just as the bell rang. He didn't feel like seeing Aya in the morning, but when he found her seat empty; to his surprise he wasn't happy about it at all. Classes took much longer when he couldn't observe her from behind, so he slept during most of it. His mind wandered to the goukon, which was planned for the next day, but he couldn't care less. He hoped Kise would invite at least one big chested girl that he could stare at. That would be enough for him not to get bored to death. Otherwise, he wasn't interested in the event in the slightest. He wasn't the type to attend goukons and fool around with girls he just met.
The others didn't talk to him, obviously worried for their suddenly absent manager.
"Kiku-chan." Ishii tried to get the girl's attention.
"Y-yes?" She stuttered again.
He blinked at her in surprise. He had thought they were already past stuttering, but it seemed that when Aya wasn't there, Kiku reverted to her closed-off state.
"Don't you know why Aya-chan isn't here?" Kano, who was just coming back from a cafeteria, asked.
Kiku turned her big brown eyes at Kano, almost immediately she looked away as if noticing something behind his back, and tried to hide behind her glasses. He wanted to shake her to make her answer, but he controlled his urge after Ishii had given him a scolding look. It could be difficult to be around overly-shy people.
"A-aya-san said s-s-she was g-going to the o-o-ocean. T-to… T-to c-clear her head." Kiku managed to get out in a quiet voice almost choking on her words.
Kano and Ishii exchanged looks. They were sure Kiku was okay talking with them normally by now. She was Ishii's partner and she seemed to enjoy Kano's humorous nature.
"Eh? The ocean? What happened?" Kano asked curiously. His voice was impatient, but he tried to speak nicely.
Under the steady glare of the two stormy eyes of Aomine, Kiku felt so small, so weak. His glare was scary. She couldn't handle it like Aya, she couldn't even ignore it. Those eyes were drowning her, and so she was trying to hide. Invisible hand was gripping at her insides, squeezing them and making her unable to talk properly, or look up. It was embarrassing to stutter in front of her friends, but she couldn't help it.
"I-i-i…" She tried to start and then she suddenly wanted to get up and run away.
Before she could get up, Ishii noticed Aomine's stare and guessed that was the problem.
"Could you stop burning a hole into Kiku-chan?" He frowned at the ace. "If you want to know, why don't you just ask?" … "Politely." He added.
"Tch. Useless Scaredy-cat." He mumbled and frowned even more. He wouldn't bite her, but if he scared her this much, it was better he got out. He wanted his banana milk and Kano would tell him later. And so he got up, his chair almost falling backwards at his sudden move. "You'll tell me later." He looked at Kano and headed out.
"Did he just…" Kano started, unable to finish his sentence.
"… take Kiku-chan's feelings into consideration?" Ishii filled in. "Seems like it." But he still insulted her.
"Soo… Now when the big bad wolf is away. Will you tell us?" Kano's tone changed almost immediately. It was burning with curiosity and impatience.
"S-s-sorry." She said with a blush. Then Kiku took a deep breath, exhaled and shook her head slightly. Aomine's comment stung. "H-he is scary."
Both boys nodded, and Kano took Aya's seat. He was fidgeting like a little kid.
"I-I don't know her exact reasons. She said she needed the ocean and that she should be back for afternoon practise." Kiku said. She wasn't sure about Aya's reasons either, so she just shrugged it off. Their friendship was strange. The girls were so different, and yet, they had the invisible bond of understanding between one another.
"But why?"
Kiku shrugged. "I-I don't know that, Kano-kun. And I didn't ask. Sorry."
"No, it's fine… We'll ask her later." He said. Then he groaned in annoyance. "I'm gonna look for Mr. Ace…" He reluctantly headed out to look for Aomine.
"Are they friends?" Kiku peeped quietly.
"I don't think they are, but they might be… Aomine is complicated…"
"Scary." She repeated. "And he doesn't like me at all."
Kiku said it with sadness and bitterness that made Ishii look at her expression. It wasn't sad in particular, more like accepting the obvious – she wasn't likeable, and it hurt her. Or so Ishii thought. He questioned her mental processes inwardly. Outwardly he smiled, "He doesn't like any of us." He said encouragingly.
Kano was stomping down the halls, looking for Aomine. It should've been easy to find the tall ace in a flood of much shorter schoolmates. Still, the ace sure had a talent to go by unnoticed. Kano almost gave up, when he spotted him sitting on the ground under a window. Well, he spotted long outstretched legs at first, and after he leaned over the window he saw the navy hair and yawning Aomine.
"There you are!" He exclaimed. "Do you always have to hide?"
Aomine just looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, wordlessly saying 'no-one-asked-you-to-look-for-me'.
"Nah." He jumped over the low window, joining Aomine. "Kiku-chan doesn't know Aya-chan's reasons. She went to the ocean to clear her head, as you've heard. Maaaan, why would Aya-chan need that? Oh. And she should be back for afternoon practise…" He said, not really looking at Aomine. "Why do you even want to know? Do you have a thing for Aya-chan?" Kano asked teasingly.
Behaviour of those two could be viewed as a pure competition, but it wasn't just that. It was more. Aomine would stare at Aya-chan during classes and she would stand for him when someone spoke behind his back. She could be a mere friend, she did the same for Kiku-chan, but Kano wondered if it wasn't more. Aomine was, after all, trying to push everyone aside. Except Aya-chan.
"Tch. As if." He grumbled and sipped from his banana milk.
Kano chuckled. "If you say so."
"Aomine-kuuuun!" Satsuki's high pitched voice reached them and Aomine groaned in annoyance. She found him once again.
"What?" He answered when her head popped up above them.
"You are coming to practise, right?"
"Maybe."
"You are! Aya-chan should be back by then."
"So?" His eyebrow went up.
Satsuki puffed her cheeks. "So, you should apologise!"
"Hah? Why should I apologise?" There was no reason for that.
"Because you must've done something! Otherwise she wouldn't leave like that!" She accused him. "She didn't even tell me!"
"Or you ignored her when she did." He jabbed back and got up to leave. He was not in the mood to argue with Satsuki about him apologising. He did nothing wrong and if the redhead needed to clear her head, then something else must have happened.
Satsuki gasped, huffed in anger and left. Stupid Dai-chan.
######
Now when Aya was standing in the ocean, she felt so small. It was like the water was making all her troubles insignificant. Her mom was long gone; there was no reason to mourn anymore. Taiga was right. Let go, forgive, but never forget… She thought. But still... Easier said than done.
The small argument with Aomine, which wasn't even an argument, was so stupid. And Aomine was right, she was just running away. Maybe he hadn't meant to hurt her, maybe he had, she didn't know, but it had triggered her nightmares. She sighed. Whatever... It didn't matter, sooner or later the nightmares would've resurfaced on their own anyway. They always had.
Why do I even care? Who exactly was Aomine to her? She knew when she had a crush, but this was somehow different. She found him attractive, there was no doubt about it, but she was trying to understand him, find out more about him, befriend him, not date him. Right? When she compared it to what she'd had with Tatsuya, it was different. Then again, she had known Tatsuya for years before they had started 'going out'. Why was she even comparing it?
She sighed and tried to not think about anything.
The salty smell of the ocean invaded her nose and she inhaled deeply. She took a few more steps into the water; it soaked the ends of her capri jeans. The idea of jumping into the cold water was tempting but she wouldn't have the time to get changed afterwards. And after she had done it the previous night... Taiga would kill her this time.
"We should go, if we want to catch our train." He came to Aya, who was standing in the water and looking towards the horizon. He had taken their stuff from the hotel and checked them out.
"Mhm. Five more minutes." She said softly.
"You really like water." Taiga chuckled. He took off his shoes and joined her. It was cold, but it felt nice.
"Mhm. It calms me down."
"We should go surfing sometime." It'd been quite some time since he'd last stood on a surfboard.
"We should. You have to teach me how to stay on it for more than five seconds." She laughed at her mediocre surfing skills. Aya was good when it came to sports where she had a firm ground beneath her feet, but surfing… Taiga was thousand times better.
"It's a matter of balance, Robin. You should be an expert when it comes to that."
"It's different, when you have a mischievous, ever-changing water beneath your board!" She said accusingly and frowned at the water swirling around her calves.
He laughed at her. "I'll try to teach you next time we get here. I suppose waves aren't so bad."
"Deal." She grinned widely and high-fived with Taiga. "Now we should really go."
######
In the afternoon, she went straight to school and basketball practise. The boys were already warming up.
She didn't bother with changing into her school uniform. She appeared at the door wearing her capri jeans with white stains from dried salt and a simple white t-shirt. Her small bag was hung over her shoulder and her hair was tied into a high ponytail.
"Hey!" She greeted everyone with a happy smile.
"Hello!" The boys greeted her back in unison. Her smile was somehow brighter than before, but they couldn't say what had changed.
The first years wanted to go to Aya and figure out what exactly made her miss the morning practise and classes, but Wakamatsu's firm voice stopped them before they could take two steps.
"Don't slack off on your warm-up!" Aya told them from the side. "We can talk later!"
To her surprise, Aomine was there. The first time in the entire week he showed up for the afternoon practise, and it was on Friday. Interesting…
"Did it help?" Katsunori appeared next to her and leaned against the wall. Satsuki stayed on the other side of the gym, carefully observing the boys and taking notes. She was fully immersed in her analysis. With preliminaries closing in, it was more important than ever.
"The ocean?"
"Mhm." He hummed and pulled at his curly fringe.
"As always." She nodded with a smile. "But Taiga's presence helped the most."
"What was it about anyways?" He asked. "I don't mind covering for you, since I'm almost your guardian here, but I'd like to know." The squeaking of shoes and balls dribbling were giving them enough privacy to speak about whatever, without being heard, so he hoped Aya would talk.
"We don't need a guardian, but you are our only family in Tokyo now… More or less... I argued with Aomine a bit and then I dreamt about mom, I had tasks to finish, a club to lead and all that preliminaries stuff that is slowly piling up. I just needed some time, some rest. A few hours for myself. It feels like three weeks have passed since Monday."
So Keiko… He thought back about Keiko's bright smile, but he didn't want to bring it up when talking with Aya. The girl had to deal with lot. So instead of poking the dream he added one more activity to Aya's list. "And to top it you deal with finding a suitable school for your ex…"
"Tatsuya is my friend."
"That too… Have you talked with Masako?"
"I have. And I hope I didn't kill Tatsuya's chances…" She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.
From that he knew Aya must have said something... "Masako is brash, but she likes bold people, so if you said something daring you might have as well gotten on her good side."
Aya was scanning his expression with a scrutinizing look in her reddish eyes. "Do you two have a thing? You and Araki-sensei?"
His eyes widened and he coughed. "No way. Why would you think that? We are just old acquaintances."
"But you did have something with her, right? If not a relationship then maybe..." She raised an eyebrow.
Why could his god-daughter read so well in people? He sighed in defeat, those few shared nights had been nice. "We annoyed each other to no ends, so…"
"Oh… Too bad. You'd probably need someone caring. "
Why am I discussing this with her? "None of your business, Robin." He flicked her nose and she rubbed the sore spot. "The bruise is almost gone." He said when he noticed a yellowish stain on Aya's cheek.
As a coach he had heard about the heated volleyball match, but he never saw the actual bruise due to Aya's magical skills with make-up. Now, when she hadn't had time to apply it, or she had forgotten, he could see how big it actually was.
"Thank god. I don't mind make-up, but doing it so thoroughly every morning is tiresome." She complained. "Ne…"
She was staring at the boys, who started doing drills, at Aomine in particular. He was too preoccupied to notice her stare, but Katsunori did. "What did you argue about?" He asked before she could form her own question, because he felt she would ask about Aomine anyways.
"I didn't want to tell him about the world championships. Or rather I didn't want to explain why I keep it 'secret', though it's not… Not really. And he told me I'm running away…" She bit into her thumb nail. "I don't know. Am I? Running away…"
"That put you off?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes! I'm the last person to run away… But…"
"You think he was right."
"Maybe? I don't know. Ok? So… Should I explain myself? And how do I even talk to him now? We've been avoiding each other since Monday."
"It's only been four days." He said with a humorous spark in his grey eyes. "And I believe, because surprisingly I was a teenager too, that he is just as confused as you are. Talk with him. You can probably overcome that awkwardness much better than him."
She nodded in agreement. Katsunori gave her a similar answer to the one she'd reached on her own. They'd have to talk.
If only he didn't go home right after practise…
Oh well… I'll talk to him on Monday. She thought when it was only the usual guys and her staying over-practise. It was most of the first years and some second years, who wanted to play a bit more on their Friday evening. Aya didn't have much time to be with them out of practises, so she gladly stayed longer.
"Aya-chan, wanna play with us?" Tada asked her. "We need one more player."
One team was made up from Kano, Ishii, Naito, Arai and Sakurai. Oyama and Hasegawa rarely ever stayed over-practise. On the other team were the second years; Wakamatsu, Tada, Shoda and Morihata. While the first year team was missing a center, the second years didn't have a power forward.
"Sure!" They didn't need to invite her twice. Aomine had left, and there was nothing better to do. Just taking notes and waiting till they'd finish was never her cup of tea anyways.
######
Michiko was surprised when someone rang at her doorbell past eight in the evening. She didn't have a night-shift and so she was watching movies with her husband and Kurome and Akari laying at their feet.
"Who could that be?" She asked as she was getting up.
"I have no idea." It must have been someone familiar though, because the dogs weren't making ruckus.
She opened the door and stared at the young blond model.
"G-good evening, Ryouta-kun." She stuttered in surprise, but she quickly overcame it. "How unexpected to see you here! Come on in!" She cheerfully invited him, happy that at least someone would come to see her son.
"Good evening!" He greeted her with a bright smile. "I'm sorry to bother you this late, but I just got out of work and I want to speak with Aominecchi." He explained. "And he's been ignoring his phone." Kise pouted.
"Do you have some plans or something?" She asked curiously, while Kise took off his shoes and greeted the dogs.
"Y-"
"Ryouta." Daisuke's voice rumbled from the living room, interrupting Kise's answer. "Welcome. If you want to talk with Daiki he should be in his room."
The boy bowed to him as if they were in jiu-jitsu practise out of habit. He didn't get to meet Aominecchi's father outside those practises anyways. "Thanks. I got him to agree to go with me to a goukon tomorrow." He answered to both of them with a sly smirk. "And I think I should tell him some details, because he'll kill me tomorrow if I don't."
Michiko squealed, pleased by this turn of events. "Please do! And tell him how to treat those girls properly. I thought I taught him well, but when I heard Satsuki-chan's complaints…" She shook her head in disappointment. "Anyways… It's 'bout time he brought home some girlfriend. Don't you think, anata?"
Daisuke rolled his eyes. "He has time for that… Well… Not that I would mind." He shrugged and returned to his spot in the living room, followed by the dogs.
"Make yourself at home, Ryouta. You know where Daiki's room is. I'll bring you some tea later." Michiko said and winked at the young model. She liked this cheerful and slightly childish boy. It'd been a long time since he'd come over.
"Sure. Thank you."
He went up the stairs and towards Aomnecchi's room. The door was closed and Kise wondered how to approach him and whether to tell him that Ayacchi was coming tomorrow as well. If they had argued, as Momocchi had said, maybe it would be wise to warn him in advance, so the things between them wouldn't get worse. Hmmm…
He knocked, but didn't wait for an invitation. "Aominecchi! Hello!" He barged in with a bright smile, and got immediately attacked by Shiro, who wanted to greet her old friend.
"Kise! What the hell?!" Aomine was frowning at him. He had ignored his phone calls and messages for a reason – he didn't want to deal with him. And there he was, barging into his room like he owned the place.
"Oh?" He looked up at him from the ground where Shiro pinned him as he was rubbing her fur. Samoyed's tail was furiously hitting the wooden floor and she was smiling, so happy to see Kise after so long. "Were you jerking off?" Kise asked teasingly, playing innocence.
"Wha-?!" It'd been some time since he had this sort of conversation. "'f course not, stupid."
"Really? Hmmm…" Kise looked all around.
The room was different than what he remembered. The bed was new, bigger and probably custom made, so Aomine would fit into it. It had been moved to the other side, so it wasn't facing the door anymore. Shiro too, had a new dog bed in the corner of the room, under Aomine's feet, hidden by a wardrobe from the prying eyes of whoever would enter the room. A desk with a laptop was under the window and Daiki was apparently watching some movie, which was now paused. A bookshelf was added and now it hosted a number of books; Kise had no idea Aominecchi was reading books. Before he hadn't had any books in his room. And those were mostly history books and historical novels, but some manga and comics appeared there too.
"… it changed here."
"Why are you here, Kise?" Aomine grumbled, ignoring Kise's statement. It was true after all. His room had gotten renovated during the last summer break in Teiko. And he'd just moved his books to his room from the shared library downstairs.
"You've been ignoring my calls!" He whined. "No girl has ever done that to me! Not even Ayacchi!"
Aomine rolled his eyes at Kise's usual tantrum. "I ain't a girl, if you haven't noticed. And why is Kagami coming up here?"
"You curious?" Kise asked with a mischief in his golden eyes.
Daiki was considering killing this stupid idiot, who invaded his room, made himself at home and who was grinning at him while scratching his dog.
"You're thinking about hitting me, aren't you?" Kise felt Aominecchi's murderous thoughts and shivered. "So mean!"
Aomine glared at him. It was a glare saying spit-it-out-or-I'll-seriously-punch-you.
"I'm here because of our plans for tomorrow. I'm organizing it and so, you can't show up in cargo pants and a plain t-shirt." Kise said and sat up into a more comfortable position, while Shiro laid over his lap.
"Why not?" He frowned, Kagami momentarily forgotten, because Kise wanted him to dress up. What a nightmare! "What's wrong with cargo pants?"
"U-uh. No way. It is a group date, Aominecchi! A date! You might end up with a girlfriend…" His voice trailed off when Aomine raised an eyebrow incredulously and rolled his eyes. "Anyways! Your clothes are the first thing a girl will notice. You need to look serious, but not too serious. And you certainly can't show up in clothes you would wear while walking the dogs."
"Well said, Ryouta-kun." Michiko's head peeked into the room carrying a tray with steaming tea and some snacks she found. "Just dress him up however you want. I'll make sure he'll wear it tomorrow." She winked at him.
"Urgh. Mooom!" Daiki protested. "Why'd you even tell her?!"
Ryouta had the most innocent look he could produce. "She guessed it on her own!" He said.
"I did, I did." She was nodding. If anyone was a great comrade when it came to teasing Aominecchi, it would be his parents. "I'll leave you two alone then." She waved and exited the room.
Daiki tensed. Shiro, as if sensing her master's mood got up and hid in her bed. Kise was looking at her with a sad expression.
"So?" When Aomine was sure his mother was out of earshot, he attacked. "Why are you involving my mother?"
"Gah!" Kise groaned when the air got forcibly pushed out of his lungs. "Un-fair." He squeezed out, while wrestling Aominecchi off him.
Aomine sure had the weight advantage and the experience advantage. He went to jiu-jitsu practises more often than Kise, and his father drilled him outside of practises too. Kise managed to grasp Aomine's lower ribs into scissors with his knees, but it was pointless. Aomine stood up, holding Kise's collar and pulling him up. Kise loosened his grip, before Aominecchi could hit him against the floor; with Daisuke downstairs, they couldn't make noise, or they would get into trouble. Kise managed to pull Aominecchi back down, with only a quiet 'thud', which could also be caused by a falling book. Aomine quickly switched into a strangling hold. Kise knew how to get out of it, but the more he'd struggle the more noise they'd make.
Shit. I so hate doing this! "Okay, okay. Yield!" Kise tapped out.
With a satisfied smirk Aomine let go. "Afraid of my father much?"
"Like you aren't." He massaged his neck, hoping there wouldn't be any bruise. His uniform was slightly wrinkled, but nothing could be done about that. "I don't feel like having a round against him today."
I'm so gonna regret this. "Tch. What do you want me to wear then?" Aomine asked, yielding too.
Kise's expression brightened and he got up to rummage through Aominecchi's wardrobe. "Huh, it's surprisingly neat... Something…" Then he spotted black fitting trousers that felt soft under the touch. "This!" He pulled it out and set it on Aomine's chair.
Aomine was sitting on his bed and he frowned at those trousers. His mother had bought it for him but so far, he hadn't worn it. It wasn't skin tight, but too tight for Aomine's tastes.
"Aaand some fitting white shirt." Kise added. "Liiike this one!"
It was, again, a piece his mother had bought.
"You'll roll up your sleeves to show your forearms – girls find it attractive. And you'll need some accessories. Like a leather bracelet or a necklace, to make it look sporty enough… and let the first two buttons opened. And wear those leather shoes you have – good for free time – not sneakers."
"Really? This looks so uncomfortable." He grumbled.
"Don't worry. You'll get used to it."
"No necklace though. I can't have that thing around my neck."
"Ah, right! I forgot you hate necklaces. How can you wear a necktie then?"
"Hate that too, but school uniform…"
"Mhm… but necklaces are nice." Kise argued, this time with a smile, because he knew Aominecchi yielded and he would wear what he chose.
"So what about you calling Kagami?"
Kise scratched his cheek. He was hoping Aominecchi wouldn't mention it. "Actually… I invited Ayacchi for the goukon."
"You WHAT?! I'm not going!" He freaked out. He couldn't bring himself to talk to her in school and this was basically a date. "No. No way!"
"I'm only telling you, because Momocchi told me you had some argument with Ayacchi. Tell me. Maybe I can help." He said seriously. There was no reason for teasing now, he'd tease his friend later on, but Aominecchi looked worried. And it wasn't like the bluenette to freak out.
"I'm not going tomorrow."
"Mai-chan's photo book."
"Not worth it."
"Aominecchi. It's surely not that serious. Why are you avoiding Ayacchi?"
"…" He was frowning and refusing to cooperate. Opening up wasn't his forte.
"Is it something about her past? She talked about something in the park that time… Did she refuse to tell you?"
"…"
Kise took it as a 'yes'. He had known Aominecchi only for two years, but he could understand him. A sigh escaped him and he frowned at his friend.
"And because you are avoiding her, you aren't giving her a chance to explain herself even if she wanted to… From what Momocchi told me, you have much closer relationship with Ayacchi than you've admitted. I'm really disappointed now. Do you not trust me at all?" He whined in childishly, but his eyes had a scolding look in them.
Aomine was well aware of Kise's two faced nature, but he knew that deep down, Kise was a good person. There was a difference between Kise being nice to people and Kise being kind to people – he'd been kind only to those who were nicknamed with –cchi attached to their names. Now he was playing childish, meant scolding and beneath all that, he was worried and trying to help.
But Satsuki running her mouth – even though it was normal – it pissed Aomine off.
"You sure seem to have a great relationship with Satsuki, if she tells you everything." The bitterness in his voice was almost touchable.
"Oh, don't. She's just worried about you. And don't change the topic."
"I've never asked for it. I can take care of myself." He felt like he was suddenly left out of everything, and he was mostly angry at himself. He pushed people away, because he wanted this, right? So why did it stung when his friends discussed him without confronting the real person?
"Of course you can. And because of that you will come tomorrow and face Ayacchi like a man. And it's been only four days. I wouldn't worry too much. Ayacchi is probably just as confused as you are."
He sighed. Kise was probably right. "Does she know?"
"That you're coming? No. I haven't told her and neither has Momocchi, so her reaction to seeing you there will be genuine. Doesn't it interest you?"
Aomine groaned and let his back hit the mattress. "I give up. I'll be there."
"Very well." He hummed victoriously and sipped from his, already cold, tea. Dealing with Aominecchi's inner struggles was damn difficult.
"Did she agree immediately when you invited her?"
"Is it jealousy I hear?" Kise chuckled and spread himself next to Aomine staring at the ceiling.
Jealousy? Hmph… As if… "Curiosity."
"Sure… If you say so." He chuckled. "Yeah, she agreed to come, out of curiosity. To come to 'different thoughts'. I suppose she would agree no matter who asked her, so don't worry. I ain't gonna steal her from you."
"No one said–"
"Oh, stop it." Kise rolled his eyes, which he did only when he was extremely annoyed. "You should know by now that you have a crush at least."
"No. Definitely not. She is annoying."
"You almost refused Mai-chan's photo book over some small argument with Ayacchi, and you dare to claim you don't have a crush?"
"Tch."
That one Tch was as good as any agreement. Kise grinned in satisfaction. "I planned the goukon to be at a chocolate shop I know. It should be neutral, cosy and good for talking. Maybe Ayacchi will feel good enough to talk about herself more. Afterwards, there is this big dance party Shiracchi is organizing. I believe Ayacchi would be delighted to go there."
"Shi- … Who?"
"Shiranui Hikaru." Kise repeated without his nickname. "The stylist from my work. He is a fashion designer, who happens to love dancing too. He invited me, actually. And I can bring some friends if I want to. So…"
"Definitely not." Daiki refused immediately. Dancing and him in one room was not going to end up well.
Kise shrugged, giving him a look If-you-say-so. "I will ask Ayacchi though. I want to see her dance."
"What do you know?"
"Errr… That she dances? Momocchi happened to tell me… Probably by accident, but we did see her dance in the park. I want to see her when she gets serious."
A soft knock on the door reached their ears.
Daisuke's head peeked in. "No porn, good." He said with a teasing sparkle in his eyes and entered. At his comment Aomine grabbed the closest pillow and threw it at his father, who caught it without trouble.
"What do you think of us?!"
"Teenage boys? Pretty normal to jerk off…" He avoided another pillow. "Michiko just wants to know if you'll stay the night, Ryouta."
"Ah. I don't want to trouble you, so I should be going." He said and abruptly sat up.
"Oh don't worry 'bout it. It's rare for our son to bring any friends, so feel free to stay. You can chat 'bout girls all night long if you wish. And you'll be sure he won't run away from that goukon."
"Urgh…" Daiki groaned in annoyance. "Not you too."
But both men ignored his comment.
"Oh he wouldn't. There is someone interesting coming, so…" Kise said with a wink.
"Hmmm…" The older man rubbed his chin while thinking. "Someone interesting enough that Daiki wouldn't bail out… Could she be Kagami Aya-san?"
"Wha-?" Kise asked with wide eyes. "Even you know?! Aominecchi!" He whined and shook his shocked friend who was staring at his own father with wide eyes.
"Not hard to guess…" He laughed. "You can of course borrow Daiki's clothes and you know where the spare futon is... If you don't want to share the bed, that is…" He exited the room, chuckling all the way to the bedroom.
"I hate this." Aomine grumbled and covered his blushing face.
"You seriously told your father about Ayacchi, and not me?!"
"Go get that futon or you'll sleep on the floor."
"Why would you do that?!" He protested again when his friend ignored his previous complaints. "Unfaiiir!"
"And grab those pillows on your way."
"Aominecchiiiii!"
Daiki frowned at him. He had an annoyed expression on his face and he continued to ignore Kise's whining. God he could be worse than Satsuki sometimes. His eyebrow went up sending the blonde a clear message Continue-whining-and-I'll-attack-you-again.
Kise shook his head in disappointment. "Hai, hai…"
A/N: That's it for now. I hope Aomine isn't becoming too OOC. I'm really trying to keep him in character, but these are some situations which don't occur in manga or anime, so...
The goukon is going to happen next! And a dancing party? Are you curious?
/sentence structure, grammar minor wording changed on 19.4.2021/
Let me know what you think and remember, reviews are appreciated, but never necessary.
S.