Standing nervously, Aomine's hand struggled to turn the knob. He had left Kise alone, but now he didn't know where to go. To the living room to watch television? No, that'd be weird. To the kitchen? And what, make the model a sandwich? No thanks. Tired, he had decided to explore the little girl's bedroom, since it was the most foreign to him. Everything else in the house had remained the same, much to his discomfort.

After a couple of fails, he clicked his tongue and rubbed the sweat off of his palms onto his shorts. He never felt this nervous, not even when he entered the rooms of his girlfriends from before he met Kise. Determined, he pushed open the door with force (but quietly, lest he wake up the blonde) and flicked on the light.

The room before him was... well... shocking to say the least.

What was the most eye-catching of everything were the walls. They looked straight out of a home decor magazine as they were so professionally painted, despite the pro knowing that the model would have never let anyone but himself paint the room. Kise was always one who thought that it meant more if you did it with your own hands.

Aomine could make out that it was a scene of the sky, with blue skies and fluffy, white clouds. Other things decorated the wall, but what made him stop and stare was a drawing of an airplane, with a man and little girl sitting happily in the pilot seats. The two people had yellow hair, so he assumed that it was Kise and Taki, which made sense with Kise's dream to be a pilot. Above it, was a messier, sloppy, but similar drawing on an eight and a half by eleven piece of paper. "Taki" had been written on the bottom right corner in red crayon.

Aside from the paint, there were many more things that surprised him. Clothes, toys, paper and what not were all scattered around the room. The sheets on the bed – which he thought, by the way, was much too big for a puny five-year old – were strewn across it, unmade. Looking at the contents, Aomine couldn't really picture what kind of girl Taki really was. Everything about her room was contradictory and it was hard to really brand her with any stereotype.

Taking a step forward, he stepped on something squishy and heard a pop, accompanied with the sound of something deflating. It was a child size basketball.

Near the door, where he was, there was a mini basketball hoop and a basket full of mini balls. Most of them were basketballs, but near the bottom were balls for soccer, foot ball, tennis, baseball, water polo, volley ball – even some birdies for badminton. Next to it, he also found numerous swimsuits and goggles.

Definitely the athletic type, he thought.

Except, in the corner next to what he dubbed "The Sports Area," stood a small vanity mirror packed with girly trinkets. Kise really spoiled her, as he found countless necklaces, bracelets, rings and even earrings. Aomine didn't recall her having piercings yet though, and then found that many of them were clip-ons. She also had an array of cute little hair accessories. He smiled, imagining the model struggling to do her hair so that she'd be the '"cutest little princess ever!"

A girly-girl? and he remembered the sports equipment, A girly athlete... is that even a clique?

Next to that, was a bookshelf stacked with books.

Okay, a girly, athletic nerd. The question should be, what doesn't she like?

Her clothes in the closet on the opposite side of the large room mirrored the different objects he had seen. This child had everything from baggy t-shirts and shorts for sports, to stylish clothes that must be brand-name and "in right now" to frilly dresses, most likely courtesy of her father's modelling career.

Closing the closet door, he sat down at the desk, which was the neatest part of the room. Pondering about his findings, he saw that the more he explored, the more he came to see that this was yet another trait the girl had inherited from her amber-eyed father. Both of them had many interests, and were open to almost anything. The many sides of them was what made them – them. They had an infinite amount of love and curiosity to give, which was what made them so charming to him. It was one of the things that made him fall for Kise, and what made him grow fond of a child he should have hated.

He placed his head on the desk and rested, before remembering that this was the last place to inspect. Lazily, he scanned the surface. There was a lamp, and a pencil holder filled with writing utensils – but was scarce of anything more. The tanned man glanced down and discovered three drawers, growing in size the lower they went. He started with the top one, only to be disappointed. Only spare notebooks, stacks of paper and a couple of boxes of pens, pencils and colour pencils sat there. With the second, medium-sized drawer, he found 3 more notebooks – but this time, they were labelled and signs of wear were noticeable. He shouldn't have, but curiosity overwhelmed him and he pulled out the oldest dated book, labelled "April."

Wahh! Takicchi has turned five years old today! It's time for papa to teach you to write! Takicchi speaks so well, but I'm sure many people want to be able to read your thoughts as well! Like now! Papa is here in your room but you're sleeping! Naughty girl, ignoring me! Haha, Papa is joking! Takicchi is a good girl for sleeping by her bedtime. But at times like these, Papa wants to hear your voice~ If Takicchi writes, Papa can hear your 'voice' even if you're sleeping!

hard

Don't worry about not being to write a lot, okay sweetie? Papa will make sure to practice with you everyday, and read my messages to you! What would you like to eat for breakfast tomorrow?

food

Mm, Papa will need to teach you how to write different food names, huh? It's okay! We'll just wake up earlier and decide together!

like basketball

Today was fun, wasn't it? Takicchi is a genius, I say! Just like your parents...

Aomine glanced through the rest of the book, filled with the model's paragraphs of text in his neat handwriting, and the short, sloppily written thoughts of the child's. He could imagine the many nights and days they spent, both pondering on what to write. Kise, carefully choosing his words to match her vocabulary. Taki, who has so much to say, but can't find the words to express them all.

He put the book down and switched to the most current one, flipping through nonchalantly. He didn't pay much attention to the text, until he reached the section dated for two weeks ago.

papa okay? bad man gone. don't cry. taki loves papa.

Papa is fine. See? ^^ A happy face!

Looking at the scribbled date, the pro figured that they were talking to me. Guiltily, he felt relieved that Kise had acted strangely enough that his daughter would ask him if he was all right. At least, he wasn't the only one affected. Skipping a couple of lines, he read:

papa box

What box, Takicchi?

down what is it

The bottom drawer...?

taki papa and ?

It's nothing, Takicchi. You don't need to know. Papa promises to tell you one day, but not now okay?

Kise was keeping a secret from her? Curious, he closed up the book and returned them to their place inside the second drawer. Closing it slowly, he reached to pull open the last drawer, as large as the previous two combined. Inside, was a black, metallic box. Heavy as it seemed, when the basketball pro shook it, the contents did not make a sound. Strangely, it was the box itself that was responsible for most of the weight. He lifted the lid, but found it resisting. Eyes bulging, he stuck his fingers deep under the lid and wrenched the heavy top with all of his might. With a subdued grunt, he heaved, before hearing a pop and feeling something shoot at him, just barely skinning his ear. In his hands, the lid had come off, but then he realized something a little too late.

The reason that it had not open was not because it was stuck... but because the box had been locked. Stupefied, he tried closing the top again, and it still fit. It didn't lock but hey – how would Kise know it was him who broke it? Alls well that ends well.

Finally, he was able to see what the other man had so desperately wanted to hide, from even his own daughter.

With his long fingers, he felt the inside of the box and was sure that his eyes weren't tricking him when he saw that only a single sheet of paper was hidden away.

His shoulders sagged and he groaned, all that for this?

"Well might as well read it,"he grumbled.

Birth Certificate

It is certified that Kise Taki

Child Description:

Sex: Female

Weight: 7 lbs

Height: 18 inches

Parents' Description:

Mother [Special Case: Father Who Conceived]

Given Name: Ryouta

Family Name: Kise

Father

Given Name: Daiki

Family Name: Aomine

Date of Birth: April 2, 2009

Place of Birth: Akashi Residence

Doctor Signature: -

MS Signature: -

Aomine didn't move. He didn't put the paper down or close the box or say anything at all, not even when he heard a voice call out. He had been tricked – no – led to believe a lie. All of those years, he had believed that Kise had left him for another woman. Now, what will he do? Frozen, he processed the information again.

Kise never had another woman... (well, technically, he never had a woman)

He didn't leave him because he stopped loving him

Taki is his daughter

"What the hell, Kise," Aomine muttered, covering his face with his large, tanned hands and crumpling the certificate in his hand.

Kise woke up coughing, only slightly aware of his parched throat and throbbing head. Barely, could he piece together the events that transpired that day, leaving him here on his bed.

Akashi and Kuroko had called him out earlier that afternoon, asking him to get a drink with them. He refused, obviously, because it was his rare chance to spend the whole day with his beloved daughter. However, the pair had come shortly over and seduced his little girl with their son and well, he couldn't refuse her when her eyes glowed like that. It made him a little sad that she chose to go play with Souta rather than spend time with him. Pouting, he wondered if this was how fathers felt when their daughters began dating.

Yawning, the model pushed that thought out of his mind. He would address that another day. For now, his heart couldn't handle the thought of some evil little turkey-head snatching away Taki.

Rubbing his aching temples, he proceeded to remember what happened afterwards.

Happy that their plan had worked, the two shorter men kidnapped Kise and dragged him to a bar. There, ignoring his protests, they ordered countless times, forcing Kise to consume drink after drink. Eventually, he passed out and ... well he woke up here.

Unfortunately, it seemed that he had passed out and couldn't remember a lick of what happened in the past couple of hours. Seeing as he was in his own bed though, he guessed that the couple had brought him home.

"Ugh..." he struggled to speak. He cleared his voice a couple of times, and it got better, but it still sounded scratchy. Stretching his arms above his head, he got up and stumbled his way towards his door.

Water, he thought, cupping his head with his large hands. Yes, water was going to relieve the dang hangover of his for a bit.

When he left his room though, closing the door with a click, a bright halo came to sight. As he squinted, he found that Taki's door was slightly open, lights on.

Geez, how could they leave her here with me when I'm this wasted? he thought angrily.

The couple was probably long gone now, so Kise decided to drop the subject until tomorrow. Knocking on the door, he called out sweetly, "Takicchi! Papa's going to come in!"

He didn't receive a response, which was odd.

"Takicchi? What's wrong?" He said louder, knocking once again.

"Takicchi, are you in pain somewhere?" He started to push open the door, "Let papa help yo – "

In place of his three-foot tall child, sat a tanned six-foot giant.

"Aominecchi... how did you – ah, no – what are you doing in here?"

Anxiety built up in his chest and he could feel his palms sweat. When the blue haired man didn't move, or speak, he walked cautiously towards him. The blonde stopped several centimetres away, feeling self-conscious. Awkwardly, he reached out but froze – he couldn't bring himself to touch the other man.

"A-Aominecchi?" the sound of his past boyfriend's name felt strange and painful on the model's tongue.

"Kise."

He recoiled. Aomine had only said his name but... it was the way he said it that made him retreat. The man's voice had been low, but filled with so much intensity and ferociousness that Kise's knees almost gave way right there.

"What is it, Aominecchi?"

"I need to ask you something."

"I-it's not really a good time..."

"No," he barked, "You'll answer me here and now. Don't try to run away."

Kise whimpered, and understood that he could not defy this man right now. There was something different about him. Aomine was usually domineering, but at this moment he would not take anything but a yes from him – like Akashi.

"What do you want to ask?" he squeaked.

"This," the man was taking slow, deep breaths and looked to be struggling to find the proper words, "What is this?"

"I can't see it, Aominecchi."

Trembling, the taller man stood up and turned to face him. The screech of the chair caused the model to take a step back. He tilted his head to try and look at the other man's face, but it was lowered, so Kise couldn't see his expression well. With an outstretched arm, Aomine unravelled his tanned hand to reveal a crumpled piece of paper.

Hesitantly, the blonde took the ball of paper and watched as Aomine winced when his finger grazed the man's skin. With his own long, pale fingers, he smoothed out the material and his eyes bulged out. In his hands, was Taki's birth certificate in which their names were printed clearly.

"This...How did you – !" Kise bolted behind the man to discover his safety box pried open.

"Answer my question," the pro said, flatly.

"Why did you do that! It's an invasion of my privacy!"

"Answer my question."

"You had no business being in here and – "

"Kise!"

The model trembled in fear at the raw voice he heard, and felt a strong force push him, making him unbalanced and causing him to fall onto the bed. Before he could regain his senses, he felt his hands being restrained above his head and saw a large body loom over him, covering the light.

"Aominecchi, let go of me," he snarled.

"After you answer my damn question!"

"A birth certificate, okay? That's what it is! Now let go of me!"

"That's not it, you bastard!" his voice grew louder, "What the hell is she? What the hell are you?"

"It's what you think it is, goddammit!" the blonde felt tears well in his eyes. He couldn't hold it anymore and blurted, "She's your daughter... she's our daughter!"

Disbelief flickered across the man's face, "Don't shit with me, Kise! You expect me to believe that?"

"Believe what you will!" the tears were streaming down his face now, but he didn't care anymore, "You've seen her, you've read that document. It's right before your stupid eyes!"

Aomine looked ready to slug him, "Fuck!"

No other words in his vocabulary could express what he wanted to say.

"I was supposed to have been a girl," Kise snarled, "But I developed into a boy while still keeping the inner female reproductive system. Funny, isn't it? If I hadn't become a freak of nature, we could have been a normal couple."

The model laughed bitterly, cursing his own life.

"Hah," he continued, "Actually, even if I was still born a boy, if only these stupid things inside of me weren't there, at least we could have been a normal gay couple. The million dollar question here is why couldn't I have been normal!"

Aomine's straight face didn't change – devoid of emotion.

"How long have you known?"

Kise turned his face away, "Since that summer."

"That summer, five years ago?"

"Yes."

"So you've known before I even left, that you wouldn't be going with me," the pro whispered, more of a statement than a question.

Kise closed his eyes and said, sadly, "That's right – I never planned on going with you."

"Why?"

Warm liquid fell onto the blonde's cheeks, quickly turning cold. He looked up surprise, and saw the most heart-breaking expression plastered all over Aomine's face. The man looked betrayed, tears spilling out of the edges of his eyes. It was the expression someone wore when the shock had finally gone and the truth has sunk in. It was the expression someone only wore when they couldn't hold it in any longer, and Kise knew even without being told, that this pain was what's been bottled up in the man for five years.

"Why?" Aomine repeated, "Why?!"

He was shouting now, shoulders shaking from the raw emotions pouring out.

"Did you not trust me? Was I not good enough?"

"Aominecchi..." the model swallowed. He had no idea what to say. All that came to his mind sounded like excuses.

"Did I not love you enough?"

Kise frantically shook his head to deny that, "No.. no, that could never be it. You loved me so much that I could never have asked more. Those years we spent together were – no – still are the happiest time in my life. Don't ever think like that!"

"Then why, Kise? Tell me why. How should I think? Why won't you tell me the reason? I've been waiting for five damn years!"

"I..."

Kise bit his bottom lip. Now was the time to put those reasons into words, those reasons that had sounded so justified in his own mind. He had held onto them so strongly to try to cover up the pain and guilt.

"I was afraid you'd hate me, reject me..."

"Bullshit."

"I know," he felt the familiar ache, "But that's what I told the others."

"So?" He snapped, "Hurry up and spit it out the real reason, damn it!"

"I-," he had to hold back his tears, so he could sound legible, "I didn't want to be the reason you didn't go to America. The reason you'd give up your chance."

He waited for it, for the tanned man to dismiss it. He waited for the man to say that he wouldn't have not gone. But Aomine didn't give him any of that.

In its place, he said, "What would you do now then, if I quit basketball now?"

"You can't!" Kise struggled against him, trying to force him off of himself.

Aomine's grip tightened instead, and he remained stable above the man.

"Oh," his azure eyes grew hard, "but I can, Kise. This sport caused me to lose you for all of these years. It caused me to miss five years of my first-born daughter's life. Why should I continue playing it, when nothing good has come out of it?"

Hearing this, Kise only fought harder. He was speechless... and so afraid.

"Did you ever think about that, Kise? What I would do if I found out?"

"You wouldn't have gone to America, I knew that!" he shouted in frustration, "I thought so hard about it and I was so afraid."

"Well you didn't think hard enough!"

The pro let go of other man's arms, and leaned back until he sat on his knees with Kise between his legs. Holding onto the model's face, he positioned it so their eyes met.

"Don't turn away. Look at me."

Kise obeyed.

"You were right – I would have stayed."

The blonde tried to say "I knew it," but Aomine covered his mouth with a hand.

"What you didn't understand, is that not going to America then didn't mean I'd give up basketball. Don't give me the crap about it being a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Do you not remember who the hell I am? I am a one-in-a-thousand-million miracle. As long as I kept playing, no matter where I am, I'd be noticed, and one day I'd play in the big leagues anyways. It was never a matter of if, but when."

His words took it's time to sink into Kise, who began to stop squirming. Aomine watched as the realization dawned onto the model, and dropped his hand.

"You..." Kise looked up at him, confused and with eyes filled with regret, "I... never thought about it. Never thought deep enough, far enough..."

Kise covered his eyes with as his tears of shock fell down.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." he kept murmuring.

Aomine with the same sad dazed expression watched him in solemnity, not quite being there at the moment. Without a sound, he got off the man and walked towards the doorway.

After reaching the hallway, the pro lingered there for a second. Without turning his back, he spoke quietly, just loud enough for Kise to hear.

"Kise," he said in a grave voice, "I'm leaving in less than a month, when my vacation ends."

The blonde didn't respond.

"When the time comes, I'll be taking Taki with me to America. I'm prepared to take you into court to do so."

With dead eyes, the man left the room and in the blackness of his closed eyelids, Kise continued to let the tears fall as he heard the sombre footsteps fade. His door chimed open, then clicked close.

"I'm sorry..." he cried, clutching onto his shirt, "I'm so sorry."

A/N: Hello! Chapter 6~ The inevitable finally happened! Aomine found out! Ahh, Aomine was more heart-broken than angry here. But I hope you don't dislike Kise too much (or me for the matter xD)! He was young and naïve. I've kind of made him become a teenage girl it seems... although it's kind of befitting. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, even with all of the build-up (I'm sorry if it was a bit boring OTL) Until next time ~

P.S To the guest that reviewed, thank you for reviewing! There's no such thing as an unimportant review. I'm always happy to hear from my readers ! :DD Sorry that I can't reply to you, but if you don't have an account I can't PM you. OTL.