"Aominecchi."
Hearing that nickname after five years startled and scared Aomine. He could feel the hairs on his arms stand up and he swallowed.
"Long time... no see," he replied.
Kise's expression was unreadable as he stood there silently, before he reached down to pick up the shaken child.
"Everything's all right now, Takicchi," he cooed, eyes softening, crinkling at the edges. In the man's embrace, the girl wrapped her own tiny arms around him and buried her face in his chest.
Clueless, Aomine wondered why the two of them were so intimate. Kise didn't have a younger sister... so cousin, perhaps? It took a moment for him to digest all that had happened, and then he recalled that four letter word she had uttered.
"Papa."
The basketball pro bit his bottom lip and squinted his eyes. No, that couldn't have been possible. Kise couldn't have a child because that would mean that...
But it was possible, and he knew it.
Summoning a lifetime's worth of courage, he struggled to stand up. Looking his ex-lover in the eyes, he said, barely audible, "She... she's your daughter?"
The other man didn't bother to look at him, sight glued to the infant that he held, "Yes."
"Don't lie!" he shouted, hand shooting out to grab the blonde by the collar, "There's no way that can be true."
The sudden action caused the child to whimper, and Kise murmured comforting words to her before removing the enraged man's hand. "You can see for yourself, she's mine."
In his mind he had knew, but hearing it come out of Kise's lips hurt him more than he thought it would. For five years, he remained in love with this man. For five years, he endured the heart break and pain. For five fucking years, he still believed that maybe his boyfriend broke up with him for a good reason.
No, he had left him because he had a child... and when there was a child, there was a mother.
Kise had left him for a woman.
Gritting his teeth, Aomine drew back his right fist and was about to punch this asshole when a voice screamed.
"Don't hurt papa!"
He didn't know why it stopped him. He didn't know why her voice shook him to the core and made him want to curl up in a ball and cry. Trembling in uncertaincy, he lowered his hand and looked to the floor, unsure of what to do.
"Are you done?" a cold, unfamiliar voice said. Kise's voice wasn't like that, it was happy and sweet, at least in his memories.
Aomine didn't answer – no, he couldn't answer. A heavy silence ensued, before the man heard the sound of footsteps heading past him. "Goodbye, Aominecchi. It was nice to meet you again."
When the sounds faded in the distance, Aomine's legs finally gave out. He fell to the asphalt for a second time, knees under him and palms on the ground as if he was looking for stability. Tears didn't fall, but he could feel the tear of his heart.
"Damn it!" He shouted as he grabbed a rock and threw it against the metal fence, creating a loud, metallic ring in the quiet court.
"Papa, papa," the blonde little girl sang sadly.
"What is it, sweetie?" Kise smiled at his little angel.
"Isn't that Tetsu-kun?"
"Kurokocchi? Where?"
Taki raised her stubby finger and pointed out towards the traffic light. There, as she had said, was a small man with light blue hair.
Coincidentally, the other man had turned and noticed the pair as soon as Kise had and began sprinting towards them. Panting, he desperately asked, "Kise-kun, Taki-san, have you seen Aomine-kun?"
Kise winced, "He's at the basketball court."
"Thank you, Kise-kun," Kuroko heaved before turning.
"Kurokocchi?"
The man stopped mid-step, "Yes, Kise-kun?"
"I told him about Takicchi."
"So he knows that she's –"
Kise smiled ruefully. "My daughter," he finished Kuroko's sentence.
The two men exchanged looks and the smaller man turned around to leave. Before running towards the courts, he said over his shoulder, "It's about time you tell him the truth, Kise-kun. He deserves to know."
Kise watched as his former team mate shrunk and disappeared into the crowd. When he was no longer in sight, the model too, returned to walking in the direction of his home. Small arms clutched him harder, and he was grateful for Taki's warmth.
"Papa," she said, "Did that bad man hurt you?"
"No," he said, kissing her forehead.
"But papa is crying," she reached up and wiped away a single tear that rolled down. "If papa is crying, then papa is hurting."
Kise stayed silent.
"That bad man almost hit papa and raised his voice... is papa crying because he shouted at you?" she continued, "but papa doesn't have to cry because Taki will teach that bad man a lesson. Taki will protect papa."
Kise let out a sad chuckle and lifted her to eye level. "Thank you, Takicchi... but it's not Aominecchi's fault. Papa is the bad man. Papa is the one who is hurting Aominecchi."
Taki frowned, "What did Papa do?"
"I denied him an angel, thinking that it was the right thing to do."
Kuroko felt suffocated by the tense atmosphere in Aomine's hotel room. Through his peripheral vision, he could see the basketball player laying on the king-sized bed. They had decided last minute to book a suite for the tanned man instead of going to Kuroko's house to crash. Even if it wasn't said in so many words, Kuroko knew that it was because of Kise.
Unable to take the awkward silence any longer, he decided to dive right into the shark's mouth.
"I saw Kise today," he started, "And it seems that you did too."
"Shut up," the man responded, "I don't want to talk about this."
Kuroko knew that Aomine needed to talk, more than the other man let on, so he continued, "You must have met Taki-san too."
Aomine threw a pillow and the smaller man and growled, "I said, that I don't want to talk about this. Are you deaf, Tetsu?"
Kuroko returned the glare with his own calm and levelled expression, telling his friend that he knew better – that while he didn't want to talk about it, he needed to.
The taller man leaned his head onto the wall and gently felt his swollen cheek. After Kuroko treated it, the pain had slightly subsided. As each man fell into his own thoughts, the room fell still once more.
"Why didn't you tell me?" This time, it was Aomine who broke the quietness. He asked this question in an uncharacteristic fashion: quietly, and with a hint of the pain he usually hid deep down inside of him.
"Kise-kun wanted to keep her a secret," he replied, "He made us all promise him."
Aomine slid off his bed and walked towards the fridge. Hand on the handle, he spoke, "So you thought that honouring his promise was more important than telling me the truth?"
"Aomine-kun, that's not – "
"Get out."
He didn't say it loudly, or menacingly, but something about his tone made Kuroko oblige. Almost as if on automatic, he opened the door and stepped out into the red carpet corridor. Finally recognizing that what he heard was the tone of extreme angst, he watched solemnly as the door closed, taking away his last image of Aomine-kun who stood with his back facing him with a can of beer in his hand.
"And you haven't heard of him since then?" Kuroko could hear the dismay in Akashi's voice.
"No. He doesn't pick up his phone, or answer his door. When I talked to the front desk, they were no help. He's even asked them to keep all of his activities private."
It has been almost a week since Kuroko saw the basketball player. Ever since finding out that Kise had a child in his absence, the pro had withdrawn. Now, without another option, he turned to their former captain, Akashi, for help.
On the other line, he could almost hear the wheels in the red headed man's mind turn. Since they met, Kuroko had seen first hand as to how much of a genius the other man was, and prayed desperately that he'd come up with a plan.
"All right, Tetsuya," Kuroko perked up at the sound of Akashi's voice, "I'll help. Bring Daiki to the address I tell you, and make sure he stays there until it closes."
Kuroko listened attentively to the former captain's words, while also making notes with a scrap of paper and a pen that he found on his wooden desk.
"Wait, Akashi-kun... This address, are you sure it's the right one?"
"I don't make mistakes, Tetsuya."
"Yes, I apologize, Akashi-kun." He thanked the man and said his goodbye. Staring at the scribbles on the flimsy material, he sighed. He didn't understand Akashi's plan just yet, but he did get that this was his last hope.
Tomorrow brought a day of warm sunshine, and Kuroko felt the sweat drip down his brows. Raising a hand to wipe his face, he quickly glanced towards Aomine who stood unhappily to his right. Although the basketball player had agreed to come (thanks to Akashi's orders), he could tell that the man was infuriated. Kuroko was also anxious: on one hand, he wanted to trust Akashi and help his best friend get it together; but on the other hand, he really didn't want to allow the pro to enter this building in his current mood.
Looming in front of them stood a large, white building, with walls covered in an array of colourful drawings. Large windows allowed the pair to look into some of the front rooms. In the center, through double doors, there was the front desk. A familiar, beautiful lady sat there, taking a phone call with a bright smile plastered on her face. To the left, was a large, spacious room filled with soft mats and a great variety of toys. Currently, it was empty, but Kuroko knew that it was only because it was mid-afternoon, which meant nap time. Yes, the smaller man was very familiar with this building, because he came here on a daily basis.
Akashi Child Care Center, a facility Akashi had built for Kise-kun, and also Kuroko's workplace.
"It's hot," Aomine complained.
"Yes," Kuroko agreed.
"Are we going in or what? Let's just get whatever Akashi wants over with."
"Yes..."
Leading the way, Kuroko walked nervously up to the secretary.
"Good morning, Tetsu-kun, Dai-chan!" she chirped.
"Good morning, Momoi-san," Kuroko smiled.
Aomine grunted, "Satsuki."
Momoi winced, worry creased on her large pink eyes but quickly returned to her cheerful disposition, "Akashi-kun is waiting for you two in the gym."
"Thank you, Momoi-san."
From memory, Kuroko knew that the gym was further in the back, behind the cafeteria and classrooms and just before the garden. Once again taking the lead, he ushered the apathetic man to follow him through the corridors which were lined with cubbies that had little backpacks hanging from each one and tiny shoes the size of Aomine's fist. Aomine scoffed at the works of messy artwork that hung above each one.
After a taking a left turn, the smaller man opened a heavy door and the two walked in to find Akashi standing in the center of the high ceiling gymnasium. Next to the red head, was a basketball rack filled with impossibly tiny balls, as well as kid-sized hoops that were about as tall as Aomine himself. Raising an eyebrow, the tanned man asked, "What the hell's all this?"
"Long time no see, Daiki," Akashi tilted his head, "And this is what it looks like – the equipment needed for a game of basketball."
The pro scoffed, "You want me to play with these toys? Why don't I just go connect the dots and colour between the lines while we're at it."
Letting out a wry smile, the former captain ignored Aomine's sarcasm. "No, you won't be playing. As for the other two activities, you're free to do those – but only on your own time. I'm sure it'll be good exercise for your brain."
Aomine's eye twitched in annoyance.
"However, the reason why you're here is, indeed, related to basketball though," he continued, "From today on, until the moment you leave for America again, you will work here."
"Work?"
"Yes, coincidentally, the sport for this month for our precious children is basketball."
Akashi threw one of the mini-sized balls at Aomine who caught it, fingers easily wrapping around it.
"Unfortunately, our instructor got into an... unfortunate accident."
The red head's grin gave Aomine goose bumps.
"So, I will be relying on you, Aomine-sensei. Oh but don't worry... I'll have Tetsuya teach along side you."
He must have heard it wrong, was what the pro thought, but those heterochromatic eyes said else wise. Squinting his eyes, he growled, "Quit joking, this is bullshit – and I won't do it, just so you know."
"Oh," his former captain strode towards him and from out of nowhere, whipped a pair of scissors, lightly grazing his tanned skin. The shorter man then pulled Aomine down to his knees and brought their faces close together. "But you will, Daiki. You can not defy me, my orders are absolute."
Wanting to say otherwise, but too afraid to open his mouth, Aomine glared at him... just as he heard the shuffles of light steps from across the hall. The door slid open, and with a wave of horror, Aomine groaned in defeat as he saw ten pairs of curious, wide eyes stare at him.
A/N: So here's chapter 2! It's another dramatic chapter! Sorry it's a bit shorter than chapter one, but you can look forward to a long-ish chapter 3. I hope you enjoyed it. Writing this, I wondered how long this series would be but honestly, I don't have a clue. Not too long, I know, but the story is still far from over too. Anyways, please look forward to Aomine-sensei in the next chapter as well as the interaction between him and a familiar little girl!