It had been six weeks since the couple's confession, and Kise and Aomine were both happily dating one another. It was sometimes strange to the others to see an actual smile on Aomine's face, and not because he happened to be playing against a strong opponent. Though the two were never overly affectionate in the public eye, their friends could certainly see that they were almost always on the other's mind.

The only problem, was that Aomine was beginning to notice things about the blonde. Not like the little things that made him who he was, like how Kise loved to stop by Maji Burger in the mornings before school, sometimes with the actual longing for coffee, but many times simply because he wanted to brighten his friend Akina's day. But more like subtle hints that something was wrong.

He was suddenly always cold now, and no matter what Aomine did to warm him up, he always failed rather miserably. The two slept in the same bed now, partially for this very reason, and it hurt the bluenette to see his blonde violently trembling in his sleep.

Furthermore, Kise's skin was more sensitive now. He bruised far too easily. Aomine watched as he stumbled into a table once, lightly hitting his hip, and by morning, there was a very purple bruise in place. In fact, most of Kise's formerly pristine white skin was now covered in blotches of yellow and purple. It worried the tan man greatly.

These thoughts were still troubling Aomine's mind as he practiced with his team, though he continued sinking every shot he made. As practice came to an end, the group gathered in the locker room to change, and the bluenette kept a wary eye on his boyfriend. But as it were, there was no need to.

Kise came bounding up to him as soon as he was dressed, a large smile on his face. But something felt off to Aomine. His brows furrowed as he prepared to listen to what the blonde had to say.

"Daiki-cchi~ You'll have to walk home on your own today, okay?"

He blinked. "Eh? And where are you going to be?"

The blonde tilted his head. "I thought I told you, actually. I'm heading to the gym now~"

Aomine's eyes widened slightly, and he shook his head. "No, Ryouta, you're putting too much of a strain on yourself. You already practice for three and a half hours every afternoon, that's enough."

Kise frowned, and the look shot a pang through Aomine's chest, but he was going to stand firm on this. He had to. He had a terrible feeling in his gut.

"Daiki-cchiiii~ It's just a little extra workout~ Not every day, just twice a week. You guys are all so strong. I'm obviously the weakest of the bunch. Ne, besides Kuroko-cchi, but that's why he's here~ I thought maybe if I worked a little harder…"

Aomine sighed deeply, trying not to get sucked in by the large golden pools staring back at him. In the end, he couldn't help himself. "Alright, but you only get twenty minutes. Text me when you get there, and text me when you leave."

Kise grinned, flinging himself onto the tanned male. "Ah, thank you, Daiki-cchi~ I will, I promise!"

As Aomine watched the blonde disappear out of the room, his concerns only grew, and he worried he'd made a horrible mistake.

And yes, he had. By the next week, Kise had persuaded the bluenette to let him workout his extra twenty minutes every day. Aomine told himself every morning that he would definitely say no this time, but the look of absolute fear and sadness in Kise's eyes whenever he opened his mouth was too much for him to handle. And it was getting out of control.

The blonde barely ate as it was, and now he was burning an excessive amount of calories, energy, every day. Aomine could see the blonde getting thinner, as could everyone else on the team. Even Takao had mentioned it once when Kise was out of earshot. Not only that, but Kise was always tired now. He could barely keep up in practice. The bluenette didn't see how Kise even had the energy to suggest going to the gym.

And on top of that, Aomine was noticing an increasing amount of blonde hair in his home- not on Kise's head, where it should be. Every morning there would be loose strands on the blonde's pillow, and clumped in the shower's drain. Even looking at his boyfriend, it was obvious. His once shiny, healthy hair was suddenly too thin, stringy, brittle. Aomine had wondered why Kise's modeling career wasn't affected by it, but seeing the pictures in his latest magazine, he realized they'd had to use a lot of photoshop. In the pictures, Kise looked the way he always had, smiling bright and looking healthy. But compared to the real thing now, it was just a shadow of a memory.

The breaking point for Aomine's silent endurance, was when he found that Kise was always sleeping in class. Kotaro had been the one to tell him, as he'd said, "being class president, it is my job to ensure the well-being of my classmates." Aomine thought that was bullshit, but he'd been grateful for the information anyway. He now made a point to walk by the blonde's class at least three times a day, and sure enough, every time he slid past, Kise's head rested on the desk, fast asleep.

This continued for three days before Aomine said anything. During those three days, he'd contemplated the whole situation, and though he didn't quite know what was going on, he knew it was something bad. So when Kise made to leave the lockers, heading for his usual evening destination, Aomine was quick to pull the blonde back.

Kise's eyes were wide with what seemed to be fear, and though that's the very thing that usually broke Aomine's will, he would not let it today. "Ryouta, what's going on?"

The blonde blinked. "I'm going to the gym?"

"No, what's going on with your health?"

Kise was quiet for a long moment, very aware of his teammates' eyes on him, something Aomine seemed to have forgotten. "I don't know what you mean, Daiki-cchi."

Aomine rolled his eyes, and his fist collided with his locker, the sound pulling a violent cringe from the blonde. "How can you not know what I mean?" he said, but it didn't come out in the harsh tone everyone had expected. It was but a whisper, quiet and pained. It tore at Kise's heart.

"Dai-"

"You're always tired, you've even been sleeping in class."

"How do you-"

"Kotaro told me, and I saw you a few times. You're always freezing, you're becoming more clumsy, you're not eating, and have you seen your own body, Ryouta?"

The blonde flinched, but it wasn't because of Aomine's words, but because he'd made a point recently not to look at his own body. Until he heard Kotaro tell him he looked good, he wouldn't step foot in front of a mirror.

"Your skin is blotched with bruises, your hair is falling out, your fingernails are blue, for fuck's sake!"

Kise's eyes were wide as he turned his gaze to his fingers. He frowned, tears coming to his eyes as he realized that Aomine was right. His nails were an awful blue colour, the colour of Kuroko's hair- which looked good as hair, but not as fingernails. And even his wrists were yellow and brown with bruises.

"I-I…" He wanted to say something, to reassure his boyfriend as the tanned man stared at him worriedly, but the words wouldn't come, and he felt the now all too familiar weightlessness in his body, darkness creeping at the edge of his vision. The last thing he saw before falling unconscious, was Aomine's wide, horrified eyes.

In that moment, Kise regretted every decision he'd made regarding Kotaro. He resented himself for letting him change who he was. All he could see, were those dark worried eyes that had no business being troubled over someone like himself.

He should have known it was possible, to hurt the one you loved without placing a single hand on them.