Kise tried his best to focus on what the coach was explaining to the first string players, but in truth his mind was more focused on getting Kagami alone before Aomine had an opportunity to talk to him. He didn't think that the navy haired would confront Kagami directly, but he wasn't going to take the chance and risk Aomine finding out about his little white lie.
"Oi, get your head out of the clouds." Aomine said over his shoulders. "We have a game to play and don't go easy on your little boyfriend or else I'll crush him for you."
Kise shivered at the warning.
"Aomine-cchi, don't worry. When it comes to basketball, I'd never go easy on Kagami-cchi." He said with a small smile.
Although he was in a mess, he almost forgot how he looked up to the other teen. Kagami was the first person to show Kise that in basketball there were endless possibilities, where he could continue to evolve and grow stronger. Maybe that's why he felt excitement as he waited for the game to start. It had been too long since they're gone up against one another. He was looking forward to it.
"Kagami-cchi isn't one to let me go easy on him anyways." Kise said before he walked towards the court. He missed the slightly sour look Aomine gave him. Kise smiled as he recalled the times he used to play basketball with his red-headed friend.
"Kagami-cchi let's play another one!" He said hopefully. They were outside on the old courts of their school, the streetlights flickering on as the sun began to set. The students had long gone home. But despite all that, Kise looked up hopefully at his friend, waiting for the middle schooler to answer.
"Ugh, fine Kise." Kagami said as he passed the ball towards the boy. "But this is the last time. Midorima left a while back. And we have early morning practice so I don't want to stay too late."
"Of course Kagami-cchi." Kise said happily as he began to dribble the ball. The game went back and forth, each of them not letting the other keep the lead for long and both of them refusing to give up.
"You're getting better." Kagami said, he charging towards the other expecting Kise to back up as he slammed the ball into the net. Instead the boy stood firm and fell backwards at the impact of Kagami's dunk.
"Ahh." Kise grunted, looking down to see his knee bleeding. Kagami dropped from where he was hanging onto the rim of the net as he heard his friend's pained moan.
"Hey, you alright?" Kagami asked, concern clear in his voice.
"I—I think I landed on my knee wrong." Kise said as he tried to get up. "Ouch, it hurts."
"Oh man, I'm so sorry Kise. I didn't think you—" Kagami began, trying his best to make the other feel better.
"I don't have anything to wrap your knee in, but I think I might have something at my apartment. Here." Kagami said before he extended a hand towards the blonde, his smile reassuring and gentle.
"Thanks, it's no problem Kagami-cchi." Kise chuckled as he watched his friend fuss over the injury. Slowly Kagami helped the boy up before he slung one of Kise's arms around his shoulders to give him some support.
"Let's head to my apartment and then you could call your parents to pick you up alright?" Kagami suggested and Kise gave him a nod.
As they began to walk Kise felt a sharp pain shoot through his body and he groaned. "Kagami-cchi."
After a few more steps Kise moaned out in pain. "Kagami-cchi. Ah. Don't. I—It hurts. You're going to fas—"
"Oh, sorry. You alright?" He asked before he slowed his pace. Eventually they arrived at his apartment, where Kagami stopped to pull out his keys and unlock the door whilst holding Kise up.
"We're here." The red-head said.
"Thanks again for the help, I really don't mean to be such a bother." Kise said a small smile on his face.
"Idiot, you're not a bother." Kagami said before they made their way into the apartment.
"Wow, I never get over the fact that you live alone here." Kise said as he settled himself on the couch.
"It's seriously no big deal. I never get how you get so surprised every time. Midorima got over his shock after the first time."
"Midorima-cchi probably is the same as me, but doesn't want to admit it. Honestly, I don't see how you could live alone here and you're only in middle school." Kise said he made himself comfortable as Kagami went to go retrieve the first aid kit.
"It's not like I live alone, Alex comes by to visit when she's in Japan. And I'm sure I could pass for at least a high schooler." Kagami tried to defend himself. "Plus the lease is under my parents name, and the landlord doesn't really check up on me that much. So I'm good."
"Yeah, yeah. I see your point." Kise said before Kagami walked back towards him with the kit in hand.
"Okay, pretty boy, let's see your knee." Kagami said before he knelled down to look at Kise's injured knee.
"Aw, Kagami-cchi you think I'm pretty. I'm flattered." Kise teased. The reaction he got was worth it, even if it caused Kagami to drop his leg which resulted in it hitting the floor and causing more pain.
"Shut up, I—I didn't mean it like that." Kagami said with an obvious blush on his face.
"Oh, so what did you mean?" Kise asked, enjoying how Kagami's face began to grow redder and redder.
"Idiot, anyone can tell that your pretty." Kagami said as he began to clean the wound before he started to wrap the bandage around.
Kise sat there a bit shocked at the small statement. He hadn't realized that he was staring but he noticed the way Kagami gently held his leg and wrapped it, making sure he wasn't feeling any pain. And although he loved to tease the boy, he couldn't help but appreciate the small gesture of kindness.
"There, all done." Kagami said as he looked down at his handiwork and smiled. "Hey, y—you alright?"
"Ah, yeah. Sorry. I just zoned out for a bit there." Kise said, hoping his cheeks weren't red as he realized he had been staring.
"You should call your parents, their probably worried." Kagami said as he got up to put away the first aid kit. With a nod, Kise pulled out his phone and did just that.
Kise smiled at the memory, he hadn't noticed at the time, but that was the moment he had developed his crush on Kagami. Although it didn't amount to anything, he realized that the traits Kagami had showed him that day were ones he wanted in a lover.
"Kise, there's no time to be zoning out in the middle of the court." He heard a familiar voice and looked up to see Kagami with a smirk plastered on his face.
"Hm, I was not." he said pouting a bit as he crossed his arms across his chest.
"Don't get so mad, you gotta loosen up a bit or else it would be too easy." Kagami said as he slung an arm around the blondes shoulder before ruffling his hair.
"Ah, don't mess up my hair!" Kise said as he patted his hair down, back into place.
"Oh, sorry princess." Kagami teased playfully. Kise smiled and laughed a bit. He had truly missed their friendship.
"Fine then Bakagami, just you wait until we crush you in this game!" Kise said before he turned and made his way towards his team mates. As soon as he approached the others, the whistle sounded and everyone lined up.
Once they greeted and bowed, the players made their way to their respective positions on the court. Kise watched as the ball was thrown into the air as soon as the whistle was blown. The players jumped and almost immediately the ball landed into the hands of a boy with short black hair and glasses. He began to dribble it, buying sometime for his teammates to make their way to the other side of the court. Kise ran forward and began to block a boy with brown hair. After a few seconds he realized that the brunette looked familiar and soon recalled where he had seen the boy before.
The party on Friday. Wasn't he the host?
"Hello there." The boy said happily before to the blonde who was blocking him. Kise tried to stay focus as he was greeted.
"Hi." Kise responded as he surveyed the others movements. "You're from the other night, right?"
"Wow, I'm surprised you remembered me, I'm flattered." Kiyoshi said happily as he laughed wholeheartedly. "Man, it took me the weekend to clean up the mess from Friday." He said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Oi, Kiyoshi. Stay focused!" Hyuuga, the boy who was dribbling the ball towards him yelled.
"Oh, yeah. I guess we are playing a game." He said before he attempted to pass Kise. The blonde however, wouldn't allow that. Kiyoshi stopped for a second before he looked the other over and smiled. Kise glanced sideways as he noticed the raven was blocked by none other than Aomine. It didn't take long before the navy haired snatched the ball out of the others hands. It looked almost effortless as he watched the boy speed down the court and dunk the ball into the net.
"That's what you get for not paying attention." Hyuuga yelled towards Kiyoshi.
"Why is it my fault?" Kiyoshi said before Hyuuga hit him in the head.
"If you were paying attention, you would've been open so I could pass the ball to you."
"I couldn't though, the blonde that was blocking me was really good." Kiyoshi said before he lowered his voice a bit. "It seems like we might have a bit of a challenge. Not just with Aomine."
"Really now..." the raven said as he looked towards the blonde and nodded. "Well, lets see what they're made of."
The game went on and both teams noticed that although this was just a practice game, they were not going to let the other win. Kise noticed specifically that the short navy haired that he had met on Friday was probably the glue that melded the team together. At first, he wasn't sure what the other was doing, but he soon figured it out. The boys lack of presence worked to his benefit as he made his way around the court, avoiding being blocked by others, which made it easy for him to pass the ball to his teammates.
"They're better than expected." Imayoshi said as they made their way off the court when the whistle sounded that indicated halftime.
"Tch." Aomine scoffed as he grabbed his wiped sweat off his forehead.
"Well, I'm not sure about the other players but Kagami-cchi did transfer from America. He did say he played a lot back when he was a kid." Kise said as he grabbed his water bottle and took a large gulp.
"That explains why he's better than an average player." Momoi said as she wrote that down on her clipboard. "Not to mention, Tetsu-kun and Kiyoshi-senpai used to play on our team back in middle school."
"Hn, Tetsu hasn't changed much, but that asshole Kiyoshi has." Aomine grumbled as he looked around for his water bottle, but came up empty.
"Ah, fuck. I forgot my water bottle." Aomine muttered to himself before he looked over at Kise.
"Hey, let me have some." He asked as he motioned to the bottle in his hand. Kise hesitated as he looked around to see his teammates not paying attention to them. "Hey, are you listening. Fine, I'll just ask someone else. Hey, Sakurai le—"
"Here." Kise said handing the bottle over. He watched as the boy grabbed the bottle and took a long drink before handing it back. "Ah, thanks."
"No problem." Kise said before he looked down at the bottle and took another small sip from before he put it away.
Not long after the game resumed and once again the intensity was high. Kise could tell that the players were trying their best to crush their opponents, himself included, as he ran down the court standing close to the net as the brunette from earlier blocked him again. He faintly recalled Momoi calling his Kiyoshi. The boy was taller than him and Kise frowned as his view was blocked by the others large build.
"Well, look at that match up." The boy whistled and Kise tried to look around to see what he was referring to.
Fuck. He watched as Aomine, ball in hand, stopped in front of Kagami. He could tell the two were exchanging words but was out of ear shot to actually hear what they were saying. Luckily it wasn't too long, and Aomine soon made his way pass Kagami, shooting the ball from the side and making it in. Throughout the rest of the game, it felt more like a battle between Aomine and Kagami because of the back and forth shots from the two. Every time Aomine got a shot, Kagami would get one, and despite working together with their teammates to get the shots it was obvious that the two were playing their own game.
Before they knew it the game had come to an end, and not so surprisingly it ended with a tie. Kise sighed as he stood in the line up. He felt a bit unfulfilled at the fact that he wasn't able to make as many shots as was used to, but considering he was being blocked by Kiyoshi he guessed he had done well.
After they bowed and thanked each other for the game, the players made their way to the changing rooms.
"Hey, Kagami-cchi!" Kise said as he ran over to his friend. "Want to go grab something to eat?" He asked as they walked to the changing room.
"Oh, sure. I think I had promised Kuroko to eat dinner. Do you mind if he tags along?" Kagami said as he slung his gym bag over his shoulder.
"Yeah, no problem." He said before finally arriving at his teams changing room.
"Okay, I'll meet you here after I'm done changing." Kise nodded as he walked into the changing room, noticing Aomine already stripping out of his uniform.
"Aomine-cchi." Kise said nervously as he began to change, he didn't bother to turn around to look at the boy. "What are you going to do now?"
"Suddenly curious about me?" Aomine asked before he walked over to Kise who had just pulled off his shirt. "What would you like to come home with me? We could always start lesson two. I could even show you my bed...room." Aomine said in his deep husky voice that Kise thought was nothing but sexy.
"Ah, no. I was just curious." Kise said before he began to button up his dress shirt. "I'm about to go out to dinner anyways."
"Dinner?" Aomine asked before he slung an arm around his shoulder, much like what Kagami had done earlier.
"With who?" he whispered and Kise cursed mentally at just how alluring Aomine could be.
"Kagami-cchi." Kise whispered, feeling a guilty once again. "and Kuroko-kun." He added hoping to show Aomine that they weren't going to be alone.
"Hmm, well." Aomine said before he turned around and grabbed his bag. "Have fun."
Kise stood there for a few seconds before he closed his locker and half walked half ran after the navy haired that was leaving the changing room.
What does he mean by that. Isn't he going to ask where we're going or why? Isn't he going to say something rude or tease me. Doesn't he care what I do with Kagami? Kise thought, he knew he was being selfish bit he didn't care.
"Aomine-cchi." Kise said grabbing his arm. He watched as the boy turned and looked down at him. "Did you want to join us?"
"Wouldn't I be intruding on your little date?" Aomine asked, Kise could tell the boy was teasing him but as he looked into the others eyes they were serious, almost cold.
"No, it's not like that. It's not the two of us and your friend is going to be there. Don't you want to talk to him." Kise said trying his best not to sound desperate.
"Tetsu? No. He probably doesn't care if he sees me or not." Aomine said but stopped as he realized the grip on his arm was tightening.
"I have to go meet someone" He said and turned to leave.
Aomine tried his best to not to smirk as he walked off leaving the blonde behind.
So, Kise really did have a thing for me. Aomine thought as he recalled the short conversation he had had with Kagami.
"Aomine, right?" Kagami said as he stopped the boy from passing him. "You were with Kise at that party."
Aomine didn't bother to respond instead he tried to find an opening. "And?"
"Oh." Kagami began, "I just meant that Kise seemed really interest with you."
"Me?" Aomine questioned but kept the indifferent expression on his face. "What do you mean?"
"Ah, I bet that idiot didn't tell you, but he's got a thing for you." Kagami said. He knew he shouldn't meddle into his friends business but he knew Kise had a bad habit of letting someone he liked go, without telling them his true feelings. "He probably wouldn't tell you though. He's stubborn that way."
"Really, and how would you know that." Aomine said trying to hide his shock. Before he got his answer he noticed the blonde watching them from the corner of his eye and decided that he probably should focus on the game. A little while later, the two were once again locked into a one on one.
"Hm, distract me and then shot, is that your plan?" Aomine asked before he tried to snatch the ball, but failed.
"No, but to answer your earlier question, it was obvious by the way he looks at you." Kagami said. "I guess he has a thing for basketball players, considering he had a thing for me."
"You?" Aomine asked, wondering just how the red-head had taken the news of Kise's confession. Had he told the boy he wasn't interested or that he needed some time? Aomine hadn't thought much about it considering that the confession had been enough for Aomine to see red.
"Well, in middle school that is." Kagami said before he passed Aomine and shot. "But he's long over it. More like puppy love he said."
Wait. What?
Kise had a thing for him. Not Kagami?
"Oh, but don't tell him I said that." Kagami said before he made his way down to the other side of the court.
"Hm, don't worry. I won't." Aomine hummed as he finally began to focus on the game.