Bloop! Wasn't lying when I said I would update soon... Though not as soon as I had planned. Yesterday, I got stuck in traffic for four hours and crap because it rained outside for like three hours and ah I'm tired.

Some of you may not find what you're looking for in this chapter, but soon, my duckies. Be patient.

Aside from my creepiness, please enjoy this chapter! ^^

Aomine merely gazed on in a dazed stupor, body unwilling to move as his brain registered the sight of Kise. Kei and the girl he assumed to be Mai were caught up in their obliviously happy reunion nearby. The ace wanted to slink away unnoticed, but it was far too late for that; the model's face had already descended to scowling at the realization that he was there. Wordlessly, Aomine understood that he was not to contact the blond—verbally, physically, or otherwise—unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Maicchi, who is that?" Kise inquired, resuming his gleeful disposition. The dark bluenet quietly approached the group, minding his distance all the while.

"Momma, this is Kei-nicchi, the one I was telling you about! He looks just like—Poppa!" the young girl exclaimed.

Oh boy, Aomine sighed, they're both like their mother.

But he accepted the eager hug from his daughter all the same, grateful and relieved that she was safe.

"Hey, kiddo," he tried, attempting a natural and friendly approach. It wasn't difficult; this was his daughter. It didn't matter that he shared her with Kise or that she wasn't actually his or that she was only about a year younger than he was. Aomine Mai was his child and it was only natural that he felt so protective of her. And, he recognized, he cared for Kei in the same way.

"Mai, are you here alone?" Kei asked, glancing at the strangers in the crowd. His sister hit him with the loose sleeve of the large jacket she was wearing. Exasperation showed in her amber eyes.

"Nicchi, you aren't even paying attention, are you? Momma's right here!"

She forcefully turned his head in Kise's direction, eyebrows knitted in anger.

Kei's dark cobalt eyes blinked absently before registering the blond who smiled weakly and waved slightly at him. The reality-jumper took his time examining the golden locks, molten eyes, lengthy eyelashes, and the lone sterling piercing.

"Momma!"

Aomine silently palmed his forehead; if Kei was to inherit any of his behavioral traits, of course it had to be his failure at facial recognition.

Looking at them, Kei stood about an inch shorter than the blond Miracle, taking the ace by surprise. He'd thought that Kei would inherit both his and Kise's monstrous height and surpass at least the shorter player.

And there it was again—the damned automatic blush that colored his face whenever he dared think about his former teammate as—as the mother of his children.

No, seriously, because the existence of their offspring meant they had been intimate on (at least) two separate occasions. And that conjured heated images of Kise, strewn beneath, in front of, and over him… blond tresses wildly out of place… cheeks flushed in their joined heat… pale skin shimmering in sweat… marigold eyes lewdly clouded and half-closed… and his—

Aomine jarred himself back to reality, stifling a decidedly uncomfortable groan. He really didn't want to be there any longer than was necessary considering his body reacted to Kise so inappropriately despite being in public. Weight shifted from one foot to the other uneasily.

"Well, then," Mai sighed, "let's get going. We have a lot of things to buy, and I wanna get lunch by one."

Kise obliged, taking Mai's arm in his own, chattering on about what to get for her and Kei as they headed into the closest department store. The blond reality-jumper bounded after them like a hyperactive puppy. The Touou ace began to sidle away until the blond Miracle caught sight of him and sent a menacing glare his way.

Grumbling to himself, Aomine reluctantly trailed behind, attempting to rid himself of the blush that had been revived.

Kise's kinda… hot when he's angry.

Kise couldn't help but feel annoyed at how the day had turned out thus far.

Well, to begin with, he had run into Mai two days before, on Wednesday, discovering she was being badgered by scouts from his modeling agency. Simply being curious and nosy, he'd stepped up to intervene, causing the agents to skulk away due to the fact that, hey, they couldn't upset their biggest benefactor.

The copycat had originally intended to ask her out to distract himself from Ao—a certain person, but upon consideration the notion felt… wrong. He'd settled for escorting her to her destination instead when she demanded that he take her to his home.

He'd been surprised as all hell, of course, more so by the fact that she seemed more hostile than suggestive about it. A café nearby allowed them time to sort out her story, wherein she'd bluntly declared her name and parentage and world of origin.

Kise had tried his damnest to write her off as a delusional street urchin, but there had been something all too familiar in her honey eyes, something composed, cold, calculating…

Besides, he couldn't exactly ignore her porcelain mocha complexion, caught somewhere between his own rosy pallor and Ao—a certain person's rugged tan. Her hair was like that person's, too, all dark and shimmering with detached cruelty. In addition to all that, Kise had witnessed closely enough how she acted when alone in public: guarded, ignorant of others, head held high as though everyone else was insignificant.

Aomine Mai was, in every way possible, his and a certain ace's daughter.

And, just like her father, Kise could tell that her ultimatum was something she wished to bury deeply. There was a greater purpose behind her actions. Kise resigned to helping her, but unfortunately that involved him.

It was a rather unfortunate circumstance that accompanied having a daughter—and now a son as well—but he was sort of glad to have the opportunity to meet them.

And maybe he could clear things up with Aominecchi.

No.

Kise squashed the inkling of hoped that had begun to form. The ace had made it very clear that he'd wanted nothing more to do with him. And Kise wasn't too keen on being heartbroken a second time.

Aomine wanted to talk to Kise. He knew the reason they weren't on speaking terms was himself and his own actions. It had all been for a greater purpose, but he felt it was too late for an explanation now, given Kise's new line of defense: avoidance.

Still, they needed a truce. Temporarily, of course, since their kids were there, but…

The bluenet sighed. It wasn't going to be easy.

"Oi," he called. "I need to talk to—"

Amber eyes glared, blazing off the last half to the ace's demand. In a single fluid motion, he turned back to Mai and Kei, who were presenting possible phones and patterned cases. The duo quickly whirled back into the aisles, eyes caught on the many products displayed. Aomine swallowed and tried again.

"Kise, I need to—"

"No," he retorted immediately. "We're here to get Mai's and Kei's things, get lunch, and go home. Separately. That's it."

The ace frowned at the snippy response; he couldn't get a damn word in! He dug into the pocket of his jeans (which were loose and a little more than baggy) and withdrew the wad of cash his dad had given him. Then he snatched the white plastic shopping basket out of Kise's manicured fingers, threw in the money, and shoved it into Kei's chest.

"Here," Aomine huffed. "Put in whatever you and Mai need, get a cart if you want. There's money in the basket, but don't spend it all. Pay when you're set and we'll meet you back at the house. Tell my parents the truth. I need to talk to your mom."

Kei turned tail and shuffled away with purpose, scuttling Mai along as she fiddled with the hem of her skirt.

"Hey," Kise spat, visibly aggravated. He pounded a palm against Aomine's shoulder to get his attention. "What the heel was that for, jacka—"

The tan ace sealed the blond's mouth with a hand of his own.

"I wasn't lying when I said I needed to talk to you." Aomine slipped his hand from Kise's mouth down to his hand, tugging him along without further explanation.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the miniscule pout played on the model's lips before it evaporated into a hard-pressed scowl. He could tell the cute gesture had been out of habit; he'd known the blond long enough to tell. The ace forced his gaze away; even if he wanted a truce, he had no grounds to stare at Kise's mouth, let alone think of what he wanted to do with it.

Nonetheless, the blond didn't fight as much as Aomine had anticipated, dragging behind him silently.

"…you could at least tell me where you're taking me, jerk."

Aomine didn't answer.

Kise frowned and repeated what he had said.

Still no answer.

Instead, he allowed himself to be led out of the department store after practically skipping down two flights of stairs. They ignored the odd stares they received on their way—half he believed were due to the fact that they were good-looking, the other half due to the fact that they were… holding hands. Kise wrenched his hand away, not bothering with the slight pause the ace took when he did. They hastened out the automatic doors all the same, and only when Aomine hailed a taxi and shoved him in did he start to panic a little.

"Aomine, where the hell—"

But the bluenet clamped a calloused hand over his mouth again. The next words the ace spoke were directed at the driver, but it was worrisome for Kise all the same: the destination was the apartment entrusted to him by his modeling agency.

Kise yanked Aomine's hand off his mouth. "Ao—"

"Doesn't feel good to be ignored, does it?"

"Shut up and don't touch me ever again," he snarled in response.

Sensing the heavy atmosphere in the conversation, the driver put on soft music, attempting to drown out the conversation in order not to overhear.

The model settled for a silent glare and put his arms up defensively.

"Don't worry, sunshine, I ain't gonna touch you."

"What the hell do you want, then? If it's an apology, stuff it. Do yourself a favor and don't waste your energy."

"Not to burst your bubble, but I'm not apologizing for anything. I just need to talk to you, like I said."

Kise crossed his arms and sank into the door of the taxi, away from the ace. "Can't we just talk somewhere that's not my apartment, then?"

Aomine scoffed and mirrored him, taking refuge against the opposing exit. "Not unless you're okay with this driver or the press getting wind of Kei and Mai and who they really are."

No response was given and the rest of the distance was traveled in quiet. Aomine pressed a bill into the driver's palm, not waiting for change as he ushered Kise out of the car.

They only spoke once inside the apartment. The blond locked the door, then changed his mind and leaned against the entrance warily. Amber monitored the ace prowling around the enclosed space.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Aomine wandered to the nearest seat—the couch—and waited for Kise's consent to sit, which was given begrudgingly.

"We need to talk about…" he made a sloppy sweeping gesture at nothing in particular, "…this."

The model snorted from his spot at the door. "And pray tell, what is 'this'?" Dark cobalt eyes shot an annoyed look at the ochre pair.

"Do you really need me to specify? I mean all of this. Mai and Kei, our kids. How to take care of them. Making sure they get what they need so they can go back to their real parents. And we need to talk about us."

Kise shifted his weight to the other foot. "Why do we need to talk about us? There's nothing between us, nothing to talk about."

"That's why we need to talk," Aomine said.

"No, we don't."

"Yes, we do!" the ace yelled. "How are we supposed to raise two of our children if we can't work together?"

Kise averted his molten gold gaze. "We don't. We work separately. That's how you wanted… this to be, isn't it?"

The Touou player heaved a sigh; to have thought that this wouldn't be easy was an understatement. He rubbed the nape of his neck thoughtfully. "Please sit down."

"…what?"

"Please sit down," repeated Aomine. "I don't want to end up standing and cornering you if I lose my temper. And I need you to understand how important this is."

Cautiously, Kise obliged and inched towards the other end of the couch.

"This isn't about you and me. It's about Kei and Mai."

"Then why—"

"Have you looked them in the eye? Have you talked properly, listened to them? Have you watched them closely enough to notice? They're trying so hard to make us feel like they're normal, like everything is just peaches and cream back home. Those kids wouldn't be here, in this world, looking for us if we were able to take care of them properly. There's too much sadness in their eyes for us to not be concerned."

Cornwall eyes bore into Kise, expecting some kind of reaction. The model uncrossed and re-crossed his legs, staring pensively at the ebony shag carpet.

"What does all that have to do with us, exactly?"

…but not that kind of reaction.

Aomine palmed his forehead in frustration. He wanted to stand up and yell at the blond for being so indifferent, uncooperative, thick, and for not grasping his meaning. However, he had given his word that he wouldn't.

"Kei and Mai's problems have everything to do with this. With us. They're our kids. They're our kids. Does that bring to mind anything at all? Anything about... us in particular?" The ace studied Kise's face, scrutinizing for any hint of realization. He struggled to hide the blush on his own.

Thankfully, the copycat seemed to understand what he was getting at and met Aomine's eyes in disbelief. A brief second passed and they both turned away, heat flooding their cheeks. As if things between them weren't awkward enough. The ace closed his eyes and tried to regainh is composure in certain places.

"We're… well, in the other world, we're married. Kei told me as much. I don't think it'll help them if we're always acting like we're on the brink of divorce."

That last statement took Kise by surprise; he hadn't actually considered his personal relationships to be a benefactor of Kei and Mai's well-being. And he certainly hadn't expected to be told something so profound by someone like Aomine. The dark-haired teen didn't wait for a reaction and went on.

"The last thing I want is to fail them a second time."

Kise cautiously lifted his eyes aback to the other's face, studying the morose expression that had settled there. It was highly unlike the Miracle to look so down-hearted, guilty, and regretful. Even when he knew that what he was doing hurt others, it seemed that the ace rather enjoyed being a chaotic and sadistic exhibitionist.

This was something Kise knew from experience. Personal experience.

And if this much raw emotion was true, then Aomine definitely wasn't lying. The blond breathed deeply and audibly.

"Fine," he conceded at last. "But this truce will only last for the duration of their stay. In fact, the truce will only be in effect if one of the two kids is present. Otherwise, you will keep your distance. Capiche?" He heard the forfeiting albeit hesitant sigh the bluenet gave.

"Capiche," he echoed.

Kise nodded, "Good. Glad we have an understanding. Let's return to Kei and Mai."

In wordless agreement, Aomine mirrored Kise's efforts to get up and head to the door. As they reached their shoes at the entrance landing, the blond pressed an accusing finger against Aomine's chest.

"And don't you ever come here without my say-so again."

The ace gave a noncommittal shrug and they proceeded to reconvene with their children.

However, Kise only got so far as locking the front door when his cellphone chimed loudly. He answered without checking the caller ID.

"Hello?" he chirped, feigning glee. "Eh—Kurokocchi? You never call, so I—" The model's face blanched ominously. He shot Aomine a panicked glance. "You have Kai and Mai—why are you at Midorimacchi's…? Are they okay? Are they hurt? No? Then wha— Who? Oh. Oh my God. Yes, we'll be there right away. I'm so sorry, Kuroko."

Aomine, who had been listening and trying to piece the conversation together, was more than surprised when the blond grabbed his hand and started for the nearest busy street. Were they getting a taxi?

"What's going on?"

"Change of plans. We're going to the hospital. Kurokocchi's there with the kids.

The ace's eyes widened, alarms clanging inside his head. "They're fine, right? Don't tell me they're hurt." Don't tell me we already failed to protect them.

Kise shook his head, voice squeaking out, "No, they're fine." His grip on Aomine's hand tightened. "But Naoya isn't." The ace wondered briefly how Kise knew about Naoya, but let the matter go in greater interest of the situation at hand.

"What happened to Naoya? How are Kei and Mai involved?" The tanned figure spun the model to face him, gently turning his chin up until midnight met high noon.

"Naoya's in the ER. He was hit by a car," he choked. "Aomine, Mai was the one that pushed him into it."

Ah, so yes. This is how Aomine and Kise are involved... Bloop. :D

Sorry if it isn't what you all were expecting, but I'll have the next part up soon as well, and then I'll resume my update schedule! (Though I may change it to Tuesdays and Fridays because it's more convenient with my stupid hectic schedule.)

BECKY WHERE ARE YOU

rii96: YOU WERE LEFT ON A CLIFF BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE I DROVE THE STORY. SORRY. Look forward to the next chapter for an apology gift! 3O

hitomi65: Thank you~

cesajules: navfiajeinfadnvanfa *melts from kindness* Thank you! I try to write well, but I didn't know it could be perceived as wonderful... uvu

loliconkawaii (5): You do?! Thank you~ I try to get the characters down pat as best as I can, so it's great to hear that I'm doing okay! I'll keep trying my best!

forgotten music lover: Naoya? Well, he won't die, that's for sure... And thank you! I try to make the children be a mix of their parents, but not exactly like them either. And yeah, the time that they all appear is staggered, but the reason behind that will be explained at a later date. And the AoKise angst?! Woo! Just a different take on how their relationship could turn out... but it has its reasons, too! Please look forward to it!

Divine Cluster: OMG XD Sorry it took so long! Please don't kidnap me, I have college to tend to... OvO your MidoTaka comment about them being the quiet ones... WAHHHH! Now I wanna write some smutty epilogue. (Though I can't write smut and the end is a long, long way off.) Maybe I can get someone I know to write one for me... Hopefully she'll agree. (Now look what you made me do, you made me plan a smutastic end for those who want one. *hides under a rock*) AND YES, look forward to the fourth MiraGen pairing! Thanks for your well-wishes, too. uvu

MikaE123: Hahah! Maybe I am a sadist... But my beautiful ships will have to brave the storms before they get to smooth sailing~ And yes, I do feel bad about throwing my boy Naoya under the bus (figure of speech) but this is important! It'll make things happen next chapter, BIG things! Just wait and see! And I do feel guilty that I didn't update long enough that you forgot about this story, but that won't be happening again anytime soon (hopefully). And boo to my personal info on the net. I don't even tell my real name when I order food at restaurants. But I'm glad to hear that I was able to hook you back on board with my story, though I do apologize for ruining your fangirl/fanboy giggles. Keep trying to find the happiness, darling, it's going to be overcast for a while longer.

HeArTzCrImSoNaNdGoLd: Yeah, sorry about him... And yes, he does have a sis to find, but he'll need to recover a bit before that happens. OvO Sorry! Please read as many times as you wish, it makes me happy to know that this is worth rereading! (Even if it's just to get familiar with storyline events again.) Thank you~

Fantita: Woot! Hooray for cliffhangers! /shot But yeah, MidoTaka is just one of those fluff-loaded couples—I don't understand how they can be so adorabeezles! And a gratitude kiss, you say? How is it that you readers can pinpoint some obscure details of future events?! Heh, glad Midorin's mom is kickin', I figured he had to get his quirks from somewhere. Please look forward tot he next chapter!

Little Strawberry RiRin Chan: YES I AM A GUTSY NUT. I feel bad about doing that to Naoya, but it's necessary (as messed up as that sounds)! Glad you like Midorin's family, and see you next chapter~