Although both Takao and Aomine weren't store owners, they had apparently been attending this event ever since they were legally allowed to drink. The three bachelors walked in to town to one of the local bars and sat together next to Miyaji-san, the son of the owner of the convenience store and Wakamatsu-san, the son of the owner of another bar in town. Kise sat quietly as Takao made bag jokes and Aomine slammed down shots of sake and pints of beer.

Just as Kise was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol, when the front doors open and in came the young owner of the local grocery store accompanied by two tall dark haired men that seemed to be his friends; Kise had seen them around before, perhaps Kobori and Moriyama?

Anyways, all day Kise had been thinking about the Kasamatsu's and all the responsibilities the eldest son had to carry. Kise found himself standing, excusing himself from his roommates and wondering over to where Kasamatsu sat.

"'Evening, Senpai." Kise said as he slid into the sit next to Kasamatsu. He greeted the other two but they continued to talk with the others, something about one of the daughters at the temple.

"Hey." Kasamatsu looked completely comfortable surrounded by his friends with a can of beer in his hand.

Kise found himself smiling as Kasamatsu starting smiling into his drink: "So how's the job?"

"Great! Kurokocchi is really nice and helpful in teaching me." Kise was slurring his words a little but everything he was saying he said from the bottom of his heart. "I really love working there… It's way different than my previous job."

Kasamatsu stared at him for a moment before scoffing. "I don't get you."

"Huh? Why?"

"You come from the big city, right? People say you were some big shot businessman and now you move here to the boonies where there's nothing really going on. You work at a job that most high schoolers would fill and you love it. You greet me every morning and call me senpai."

Kise was silent before laughing: "Whoa, Senpai! You know me so well! I'm honored!"

"Shut up, you simpleton." Kise received a light slap on the head. "It's just weird."

"Ah, well we all have our reasons for doing things, right?" Kise shrugged, putting his drink down, feeling like he would soon say or do something that wouldn't be good: Senpai's eyes were just so captivating.

"So what's your reason?" Kasamatsu asked bluntly, taking another drink.

Kise opened his mouth because he really did want to tell Kasamatsu. Ever since he moved here, things changed. He was no longer Kise Ryouta, the idol, model and playboy turned engaged man. There were no cameras, no affairs, no shallow people. He had told no one about his past life, he hadn't told anyone why he had to run away, he told no one that he was heartbroken because his lover – who had happened to be a man – had betrayed him and tipped the press off. He told no one that he had been so stupid to invest everything he was into a reputation that was built off everything that was superficial in this world.

But he wanted to.

Takao and Aomine would surely be trusted but Kise didn't want things to change between him and his roommates. He liked how they drank beer and ate ramen while they watched baseball or game shows together. He liked hearing about Takao's little sister and her many boyfriends, about Aomine's parents, about the nursing home gossip or the latest news from the police box.

There was Kuroko, who Kise really respected. He didn't know much about the man, just that he had inherited the store from his granny after she moved into the nursing home that Takao worked at. He knew Kuroko was ill and unable to do many things a young man of twenty four should be able to do and there was a trust between them in that Kise never mentioned it or treated his boss any different.

And those three had probably become the closest to Kise over the past month, but the man that sat next to him, in a pair of worn jeans and a button up with a little stain on his collar, with the messy dark hair and striking blue eyes was something out of a dream. They barely talked but their morning routine had grabbed ahold of Kise that every time he'd have a day off, he found himself missing the dusting of pink across Senpai's face whenever he called out to him.

"Um, well," Although he had been consuming alcohol all night, Kise was alert and nervous; his palms were sweating and his heart was beating so fast he felt himself want to be sick. "It's a long story."

Kasamatsu gave him a look that Kise imaged his friends and brothers received it all the time. "Let me guess, you got your heart broken."

Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was just the fact that Kise hadn't really met someone like Kasamatsu Yukio during his short time here on earth but before he knew what he was doing, he was asking Kasamatsu-senpai out to have a smoke.

Now, Kise didn't smoke – bad for the hair, skin, voice, etc – he didn't even have a pack on him, but Kasamatsu still agreed and pulled out his own pack and handed an extra over to Kise. Kasamatsu inhaled deeply and sighed.

"It gets pretty crowded in there when you get all those idiots together."

"Yeah." Kise nodded numbly, the unlit cigarette still in his hands.

"Just wait a few more hours, they get really nosy and they all have to call their wives to come and get them."

"Do you have a wife, Senpai?" Kise found himself asking blindly – he had never seen a woman that could be a Mrs. Kasamatsu Yukio but you never knew.

"Eh?" Kasamatsu inhaled again, forcing back the red on his cheeks. "I don't have time for a relationship… Plus –"

"Yes?" Kise had let the cigarette slip from his fingers as he turned eagerly towards Kasamatsu.

"Um, well, my brothers wouldn't appreciate being pushed to the side burner if I had a, um, girlfriend." Kasamatsu was definitely blushing now that Kise's entire attention was on him. "They're my biggest priority right now."

"Senpai, you're so great." Kise breathed out, feeling his chest tighten.

"What? Are you an idiot? It's just my job as the eldest." Kasamatsu scoffed. "What about you? Have any siblings?"

"Three sisters, but they're older." Kise said quickly, wanting to return back to his senpai. "Wouldn't they understand if you had a girlfriend, though? Wouldn't they want you to be happy? I bet women really like that you're responsible."

Kasamatsu looked shocked for a second before looking away.

"I don't really talk to very many women." He admitted. Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was the fact that Kasamatsu had never really met anyone like Kise before, but he found his lips moving on their own. "I didn't grow up with any women in my life, so it's quite different to –"

"Oh my god, Senpai, you're so cute." Kise wailed, wanting desperately to grab ahold of the man before him.

"Shut the hell up, you moron." Kasamatsu stomped on his cigarette with his sneakers. "I don't even know why the hell I'm talking to you about this."

They were both silent for a moment as Kise tried to collect his thoughts and Kasamatsu tried to stop his ears from burning an even darker shade of red.

Finally, Kise broke the silence: "Yeah, I left the city cause the person I loved betrayed me."

"She cheat on you?"

"You're so blunt, Senpai." Kise didn't even pretend to be offended. "But no, they were actually my lover. They told, um, well they told some important people and it made my life hell."

Kasamatsu was silent this time, suddenly very interested in his pack of cigarettes.

"So I ran away to this place." Kise shrugged, suddenly wishing he had never said anything. "I left everything and came to this place to start over."

"I thought you looked familiar." Kasamatsu said, finally turning to face Kise, all red drained from his face.

"What?" Kise stuttered, feeling nervous under that icy grey stare.

"You dyed your hair and put on glasses, right?" Kasamatsu said it as if it were no big deal. "I recognized you the moment I saw you. Kise Ryouta, the idol that had the perfect life yet when his male lover came forward, disappeared into the abyss. Am I right?"

Kise sat there with his open hanging open, his heart pounding in his ears, and his knees beginning to go weak. His stomach was flopping in his stomach and he wanted nothing more than to go back into the bar and drink until he didn't remember who he was, where he ended up and the man before him.

"We get all the tabloids in the store," Kasamatsu shrugged, as if that explained it. He continued once he was met with only silence: "All the old ladies love them. Your face has been over them for awhile so it shouldn't be a surprise that I knew it was you."

Kise ducked his head, feeling his eyes burn. "Does anyone else know?"

Kasamatsu shrugged again. "I doubt Takao or Aomine know, they're as big of idiots as you. I haven't heard any gossip about you other than you're the most handsome face in town. Nothing out of the ordinary. If anyone else knows, it's probably Jun, although he wouldn't say anything. He may think you're an annoying idiot but there's no way he would do something like that."

Kise pressed his hand to his mouth and doubled over: "I think I'm going to be sick."

Kasamatsu called him an idiot and hit him on the head before leading him to the nearest trash can and placing Kise's head in it. He just patted his back once Kise had finished, not commenting on the tears that streamed down Kise's face.

"I'll walk you home."

The walk home was made in silence. Kise fiddled with the end of his t-shirt, wishing he had a glass of water to wash the bad taste from his mouth. Next to him, Kasamatsu lit another cigarette and kept his eyes on the road ahead of him. They walked back in silence and Kise wished he knew what to say. Before, when he lived back in the city, he hadn't had to ever worry about making conversation because, well, 1) most people didn't know his deepest secret like the man next to him did and 2) people would push each other out of the way just to make conversation with the Kise Ryouta.

But, as he's learned, Kasamatsu is completely and entirely another story altogether.

The house was quiet as they walked in through the front door. Kise immediately went to the bathroom to wash his mouth out and Kasamatsu followed behind, his shoes throw carelessly in the entry way.

"It's gotten neater since you've moved in," he noted as Kise finished gargling with some mouth wash.

"You've been here before?"

"Yeah." Kasamatsu said curtly, keeping his eyes on Kise, who had taken off his hat and glasses since entering the bathroom. "You really don't look all that good-looking in person, huh?"

Kise blinked: "Eh?! Senpai! You're joking, right?"

Kise turned to the mirror and looked at every inch of his face.

Kasamatsu laughed and reached out to ruffle Kise's dark hair. "I don't see why anyone would want to be your lover."

"Senpai!" Kise wailed, blushing at the gesture.

"And your personality isn't anything special either, huh?" Kasamatsu had a teasing smile on his lips, "This guy must've been a grade-A idiot to have liked you."

Kise wailed some more, stomping his foot as he insisted he was voted one of the best looking men in all Japan and that everyone said his personality was something to die for.