The next few weeks were tough on Kise, and his friends. Every day, they saw another piece of the blonde break apart, revealing how much pain he was truly in. Of course, Kise continued to deny this at all times, never once admitting to anything, even as tears streamed down his face.

As the group all sat around the school's basketball court, having just finished a game, Kise was once again doing his best to hold back tears. Every time he played, he was reminded of Kotaro. Not because Kotaro loved watching basketball, which he did, but because when Kotaro would watch him play, he would later criticize every little thing he did.

'You didn't move quick enough.'
'Your dribbling is off.'
'That dunk was unnecessary.'

And the worst-

'You'll never be as good as Aomine, Ryouta. Don't put so much pressure on yourself.'

Kotaro had known that Aomine was the one that introduced Kise to basketball. He had known that the blonde looked up to the bluenette the most when it came to his favorite sport. And his words were cold, and he had known they would sting.

That's what made it so hard for Kise to accept criticism now, in anything. Most of the time it was constructive criticism, but in his mind, the words twisted and came out in the voice of the man he once loved so dearly, trusted so much.

During practice, Akashi had given him a simple pointer- don't hesitate to do what you know is right. This should've been easy for the blonde. He was smart, tactical, but ever since Kotaro, he was also hesitant. When Akashi said those words, something snapped within himself. His movements had only gotten worse, and he'd made plenty of mistakes since then. When he tried not to think too much, he would rush into something and make a stupid mistake. When he tried to make sure no wrong could come from his actions, he was distracted long enough to blunder.

He couldn't win.

"Ryouta, why is your skill steadily decreasing in practice?"

Kise flinched from Akashi's words, but he smiled. A stupid grin, as stupid as he felt. "Sorry, Akashi-cchi. I'll do better next time!"

The redhead merely blinked at him. Kuroko sighed worriedly, noting the single tear threatening to spill out of the blonde's golden eye.

"Kise, is this because of Kotaro?"

Kise cringed again, but he laughed. "What? That again? As if~"

"Oi, we all know you still miss him, brat," Aomine said, looking off to the other side of the court. "It's still messing with your head, right?"

Kise blinked. He didn't miss Kotaro. He missed the man he thought he knew, but that was never Kotaro. It was all an act. As for his previous relationship being the reason behind his decrease in performance, he couldn't deny that. He frowned, turning his gaze to his lap. The blonde stared at his trembling fingers, wondering why the hell he'd ever let Kotaro damage him so much. He sighed, squeezing his eyes shut to keep the tears from overflowing.

"It's not that I miss him," he choked out, "I just don't see how I can be good at anything, if I wasn't good enough for him…"

Kise felt his heart break a little more as he himself realized how true that statement was. Kotaro was the kind of person who sought perfection. He had chosen Kise because the blonde obviously had that potential. He'd had the potential to make Kotaro the happiest person alive. And he had failed. He would never amount to anything, knowing that he couldn't make his love happy.

Midorima frowned, throwing his lucky stuffed lion at the blonde's head, effectively pulling him out of his stupor. "It's not that you weren't good enough for him. You two simply weren't meant to be. It's a matter of fate, nothing more."

Kise's eyes were wide as he stared at Midorima, wondering why he suddenly seemed to care so much. The green haired boy had told the blonde to die plenty of times before. There were many times Kise had thought he'd meant it. Yet here he was, trying to cheer him up.

Midorima blinked, ignoring the many shocked glances pointed toward him. "Kise, hand me back my lion. I need that."

The blonde smiled softly, wiping at his eyes as he sniffled before picking the lion up. He held it gingerly, as if it would break at the very touch of his finger- he really thought it would; it seemed as though everything he touched fell apart- as he carefully handed it back to Midorima.

The green haired boy pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, taking mental note of how careful Kise was being with a stuffed toy for his sake. "Thank you."

Kise smiled, "Eh, thank you, Midorima-cchi."

XXX

The spring formal was just around the corner, a single week away, and that seemed to be the only topic on everyone's lips. Kise tried to avoid any mention of the dance, but he simply could not. Many of his fans had confessed to him, asking him to be their date, but he politely declined each one. His excuse? 'I have fallen for another~' To which the girls would be disheartened and charmed all at the same time.

Girls were confusing.

In reality, Kise had no intention of going to the dance. Until a certain happenstance occurred. The blonde had been standing in line, waiting to get a sandwich for lunch, when Kotaro of all people appeared behind him, leaning down to breathe on his neck.

Kise instantly knew it was him, as this was how he'd often greeted him in the early stages of their relationship, and he'd pushed the pain that seemed to course throughout his body aside as he turned to his former love. "Yori-cchi. What are you doing?"

He'd smiled, the smile that once made Kise's heart melt. Now it just felt like a prickly cactus had been thrown into his heart. "I'm getting lunch."

Kise rolled his eyes. "Ah, that's not what I meant."

Kotaro's smile had only broadened to a grin. "Hey, Ryouta, you going to the dance?"

The blonde froze for but a moment, a sad look flashing in his golden eyes before replaced with that of apathy. He sighed boredly. "Ne, what's the point in such a thing? We spend so much money on fancy clothes trying to impress people that we won't even know in a couple of years."

Kotaro raised a brow at him. "Oh? Since when do you choose to see social events that way, Ryouta?"

'Since you made me into the person I hate the most.'

"It's not all social events. Just most of them."

Kotaro laughed softly, leaning closer to the blonde- too close. He could feel the man's breath on his face, and it made his heart flutter, but it made his stomach sick. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you couldn't find a date~"

Kise scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Me? Couldn't find a date? Do you realize how many fans I have just dying to even be in my presence?"

"Oh? You're that popular, Ryouta?"

He sighed. "Yes, and I could easily get a date to that stupid dance."

Kotaro laughed once more, a wicked tone to it that only Kise would recognize. "Mind if we have a little bet on that~"

The rules were simple enough. If Kise brought a date to the dance, Kotaro would do anything he asked of him for a week. If the blonde failed to retrieve a date, he still had to show up, fully clothed as if he were accompanied by someone, and tell the student body his deepest darkest secret.

What Kotaro didn't know was that Kise's darkest secret was what he'd done to him during their relationship, but that didn't matter, as the blonde was determined to win- just for the sake of making Kotaro lose.

But who was he going to take? He couldn't ask such a thing of his precious fans. No matter how badly they wished to be his date, he couldn't simply use them like that. But there was no one in the whole school that Kise even remotely liked. In fact, out of everyone he knew, he hardly liked any of them enough to even call him a friend. Hence why he only had five.

And he couldn't even ask one of them. Midorima would of course be going with Takao, not that he would have even considered the blonde's offer to begin with. Murasakibara would be accompanied by Himuro, and Akashi would certainly be taking Kuroko. That only left Aomine, and Kise nearly laughed at the very idea.

As if that tanned brute would ever agree to such a thing.

Kise groaned, slamming his head on his locker door. "What am I gonna' do…"

"Oi, the hell you beating yourself up for?"

Kise jumped, startled by the sudden voice. His wide eyes turned to find none other than Aomine himself, the bluenette's brow raised toward him.

"A-Aomine-cchi. I didn't know you were still here."

The tanned man grunted, shoving his hands into his pockets as he looked away. "Yeah, well. I started walking home, but I realized I didn't see you leave. So I came back."

Kise blinked up at him, nearly in awe. "Y-you came back for m-me?"

Aomine's cheeks suddenly burned a light shade of red. "Ah, don't say it like that, moron! Tch. I was just wondering why the hell you hadn't left yet, you freak. And why are you beating your head on the lockers?"

The blonde couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his face. Though if anyone else had called him those things, he would be crying by now, he knew Aomine well enough to see past the façade. Aomine was a good guy, he just didn't like to show it often. Kise sighed, looking at his feet.

"I was just trying to figure something out."

"…What was it?"

"Eh, I made a bet with Yori-cchi that I could find a date to the dance."

Aomine blinked at him, but it wasn't long before his usual grouchy expression was back in place, and when he spoke, he sounded almost angry to the blonde. "And? I'm sure you already have one, so what's the problem?"

Kise smiled softly, sadly. "That's just it, though. I don't have one. Can you believe it, Aomine-cchi, I even considered asking you."

The space between the two suddenly felt very heavy, and Kise refused to lift his head, though his smile was still intact. "I'm sorry, that was a stupid thing to say," he murmured, turning to leave.

Aomine shot his hand forward, catching the blonde by the shoulder, and out of habit, Kise winced, readying himself for the next blow. After a moment, he remembered who this was, and he turned his now curious gaze to the bluenette behind him.

The tanned male wouldn't quite meet his gaze, and his cheeks were burning as he continuously shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I-I… I can be your date," he mumbled, "just, just for the bet."

Kise stared at him incredulously. "You would do that? For me, Aomine-cchi?"

"Tch, for you? Hell no! I only agreed 'cause I don't like people like Kotaro winning shit like that! Don't be stupid!"

Kise smiled softly, shaking his head at his friend's antics. He was very grateful for his friends, especially Aomine. They were always there to cheer him up, even when he felt he didn't deserve it.