When the night of the dance came, Kise was a total wreck. Aomine simply laughed under his breath as he watched the blonde run back and forth around his room, trying to make sure he had everything he needed. Finally, Kise heaved a heavy sigh, taking a long, hard look in the full length mirror Aomine had recently provided. (A model needs such a thing, he'd claimed.)

The blonde ran a hand through his hair, groaning. "I still look like shit!"

Aomine rolled his eyes. "The bet was that you bring a date, not look like a prince. Who ya trying to impress?"

Kise sighed, his eyes running over his body's reflection, mentally picking out every flaw.

"… And you don't look bad, Kise. You look better than most people at that damn school. Isn't that why you're a model, after all?"

The blonde's eyes widened, and he turned to find Aomine blushing once more, avoiding his gaze. He smiled. "Ah, you're right, Aomine-cchi. I bet I even look better than you!"

"Oi, you wish!"

XXX

The blonde was calm for a full twenty minutes, until he stood in the center of the school's ball room, surrounded by gawking girls. They weren't the problem, though. His golden eyes scanned the room for Kotaro, not really wanting to see him, but also wanting to get the winning over with.

Finally, his eyes fell upon the said male, grinning mischievously from across the room. He slowly walked over to the blonde, bowing slightly as he made his greeting.

"Good evening, Ryouta. I see you did in fact show up. But, hm, where is your date?"

Kise forced a smile, laughing melodiously. "My date? Why, he's right over there~" he sang, pointing toward Aomine just a few feet away. The tanned male was currently greeting Akashi and Kuroko, not paying attention to the blonde- or so it seemed. Aomine was very aware of the two pairs of eyes on him, and he soon glanced over toward Kise, shooting him a broad grin.

Kise held back a sigh of relief as he watched Kotaro's smile falter slightly.

"Your date is Aomine?"

"Mhmm."

He laughed, the sound hurting Kise's chest. "I bet he only came with you because you bribed him, right? Because really, Ryouta," he smirked, "who could love a man like you?"

Kise's smile slowly broke, revealing a small piece of the pain he felt, when Aomine suddenly wrapped an arm around the blonde, pulling him into his chest.

"Hey, baby," he said, just before pressing his lips firmly onto Kise's, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The blonde was shocked, to say the least, but he didn't hesitate in kissing back full force, doing his best to go along with the act.

Kotaro stood in shocked silence until the two broke away, Aomine finally looking at him.

"Oh! Sorry, man, I didn't see you there."

He smiled, but it was weak. "A-ah, yeah. No problem. Um…" He turned toward Kise, nodding. "We'll d-discuss the details, later then?"

Kise grinned, shaking his head. "I can tell you right now, Yori. All I want is for you to leave me the hell alone."

A spark of anger lit up in Kotaro's emerald eyes, but he pushed it down, putting on an apologetic mask. "Of course, Ryouta. I'm sorry I hurt you."

Kise couldn't help the cringe that coursed through his body then. It hurt even more to hear those words, knowing full well that Kotaro held absolutely no remorse. There was no doubt in Kise's mind that he still wanted to hurt him, and he would, if given the chance.

But now that Kotaro was gone, there was another pressing matter to address: the pounding of his heart as Aomine had kissed him. Turning wide eyes and a broad smile to the bluenette, he squealed quietly, hiding that concern for the moment.

"Shit, Aomine-cchi, that was great! I didn't expect you to kiss me like that! He totally bought it!"

Aomine smiled slightly, though it seemed a bit off to the blonde. "Y-yeah, he really did, didn't he?" He laughed. "You're uh, a really good actor, Kise."

The blonde smiled. "Thank you, Aomine-cchi. You have no idea how much this meant to me."

XXX

A week passed by after that night, and Kise's good mood quickly fell to its lowest. Not only was he still being haunted by Kotaro's previous words and actions, but now Aomine wouldn't even look at him. It hurt, especially since he had no idea what he had done wrong.

One day, whilst Aomine was being held back in class, Kise paused his dressing in the locker room, turning to his friends. "Guys, does Aomine-cchi seem different to any of you?"

Kuroko blinked. "No, he seems as self-loving as usual."

Akashi nodded in agreement. "Though I did notice that he's been a bit more aggressive in practice this past week. But as long as it doesn't interfere with his basketball, I don't care."

Midorima raised a brow toward the blonde, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Why does such a thing concern you anyway, Kise?"

The blonde shrugged. "Well, I'm currently living with him, and he's seemed rather cold and distant toward me lately. It makes our situation slightly uncomfortable."

The conversation was ended then as the bluenette entered the room.

During practice, however, things only escalated. In the middle of one of Kise's plays, Aomine ran straight into him, sending both of them to the floor with a loud crash. Groaning, Kise rubbed at his head, having hit it on the way down.

"A-ah, Aomine-cchi…"

Aomine merely grunted as he pushed himself to his feet. "You're a really good actor, Kise."

The blonde blinked up at the boy, his brows furrowing. "Wha-?"

He rolled his eyes. "And as dense as I thought," he added, turning and running back to the opposite side of the court.

Kise stared into space for a long while before remembering he was still on the floor. Pulling himself up, he decided to push the matter aside, only momentarily, and resume practice. But once practice had ended, and the group gathered in the locker room once more, Kise made up his mind.

Just as he turned to confront the bluenette, he found him darting out of the room. Groaning to himself, Kise sprinted out as well, easily catching up with his friend.

"Aomine-cchi!"

Aomine swatted a hand at him. "Leave me alone."

"No, Aomine-cchi! Tell me what's wrong!"

"Leave me alone, Kise!"

"What did I do wrong?"

Aomine sighed exasperatedly, turning on his heels and almost knocking the blonde back onto the floor with how close he'd been trailing him. "You did nothing wrong, you stupid blonde! Don't you get it? That's the problem!"

Kise stared up at his friend, dumbfounded. "Wh-"

He groaned, rolling his eyes. "You wouldn't understand!"

"Then make me understand!"

"I can't! How could you possibly understand how much I love you?!"

Kise's heart stopped, leaping into his throat. His eyes were as wide as they could be as he stared at Aomine, watching as the tanned man gradually grew a blush the colour of Akashi's hair.

"Tch. Forget I said that. You can do that, right? With your fantastic acting?"

He turned to leave, but Kise threw himself before him, blocking his way. "Is that what this is about? You think I was acting that night? Fine, I'll admit it, I was trying to put on a show! But these last few weeks with you have been amazing, and when you kissed me, I felt something too!"

Aomine was stunned into silence at the blonde's outburst, and his words replayed over and over in his head.

"… Stupid Aomine," he muttered. "Let me assure you this time, I am not acting." And without any hesitation, the blonde firmly grasped the slightly taller male's face, pulling his lips onto his own. He put all of his heart and soul into that kiss, praying that Aomine could feel his true feelings being poured into his soul. When the two finally broke apart, they were panting slightly, both donning crimson cheeks.

Aomine laughed breathlessly for a moment, before a large grin stretched onto his face. "You have no.. idea… how long-"

Kise shook his head, "Shut up-" and pressed their lips together once more.