"What's wrong with you today, Ahomine?"
The small blonde kicked him in the back of his knee.
While trying to stay balanced, Aomine glared at her.
"Don't kick people, didn't your dad teach you better?"
"You're not a person. You're an Ahomine," she snorted, "You deserved it anyways. What a sloppy game you're playing."
"Hmph," he tapped her head with his knuckles, "For all your talk, you still haven't beaten me even though I'm playing half-heartedly."
"Geez, it's because you're acting like this. I'm showing you mercy. What will I do if I crush you so badly that you quit basketball?"
He ruffled her hair and smiled, "Yeah, yeah. You're a good girl, thanks."
"..." she gave him a disgusted scowl.
"What?"
Slapping his hand away, she backed away slowly before running towards Kuroko who had just returned to the gym.
"Hey, Tetsu-kun! I think Ahomine is sick. He's acting all nice and gross and stuff!"
"What – who you calling gross!"
The pro strode towards the girl who had climbed into the arms of the smaller man.
"Ahomine's gross, gross, yucky, creepy and gross!" she chanted playfully.
"Be quiet, you brat!" he reached to pinch her cheeks.
"Uwaa! Ahomine is a violent pervert!"
"Who'd want to perv on a kid like you!?"
"Don't be gross, Aomine-kun, calm down."
"Man, not you too, Tetsu."
The basketball player let out a muffled curse and looked away. He still couldn't get the fact that Taki was his biological daughter. Now that he looks at her, he could see himself in her better than before. Definitely, those azure eyes were his, and her personality came from him (unfortunately). Although he no longer hurt himself with thoughts of what the girl's non-existent mother was like when he looked at her, he felt awkward at times. Just how should he act around her? Should he dote on her more? Looking at the current situation, the answer would be no.
"Taki-san, Kise-kun has come for you," Kuroko's voice rang in the nearly empty gym, and Aomine snapped back into reality.
"Papa's here?" She jumped down and hopped up and down eagerly, "I've got to go then! See you, Ahomine, Tetsu-kun!"
He wanted to tell her goodbye, or to be safe, but she was gone before he could make up his mind.
"Ah – Aomine-kun,"
"What now, Tetsu?"
"You're free this evening, aren't you?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Don't go home just yet. Akashi-kun wants to talk to you about something. He told me to invite you to dinner."
"No need, I'll just tell him whatever he wants to hear about in his office."
"He insisted. Meet us in the lobby. We'll be going out to dine. 'Not buts.' Akashi-kun had told me to say."
"Yeah, all right, I got it," the man grumbled.
"Tell me what happened between you and Ryouta Saturday night."
Aomine choked on his wine, sputtering the liquid on the table, his food and his clothes messily. He was expecting the question to pop out, but it didn't unnerve him any less. Akashi looked at him thoughtfully, sizing up his reaction. Through those heterochromatic eyes, you could see him creating different scenarios and calculating what had occurred in that house behind the cover of the night.
"Ryouta won't talk, even when I threaten him. He's withdrawn, and is always flaunting that fake model smile around," the red-head continued.
Kuroko handed the choking man napkins to clean up his mess, "I think Aomine-kun's found out the truth about Taki-san."
"How'd you know?" he coughed.
"You've changed your attitude towards her," the smaller man grew irritated at Aomine's clumsy hands and began to wipe up the water for him, "Anyone can tell. Even Taki-san has come to notice the changes, Mr. Gross."
"Don't let Tetsu keep caring after you," Akashi said in a low threatening voice while glowering at the pro.
Scared, Aomine shifted himself slightly away from Kuroko.
"It's fine, let me," the light blue hair man said.
"Uh, no," he felt a killing intent in front of him, "I-I'm good..."
Shrugging ,the other man put down the napkins and continued sipping his milkshake.
"So you found out... well, it's about time," the former captain stated, "What did you do after?"
In his mind he recalled how angry and hurt he had been, and how forceful he had dealt with Kise. He blushed when he remembered how he forced Kise onto the bed and then was embarrassed by the next detail after.
"About that... I just said it on the spur of the moment," he murmured.
"And what did you say?" Akashi raised an eyebrow.
"Funny story...," he scratched his head, "I told him that at the end of my vacation, I'd take him to court to gain custody of Taki... and take her back to America."
Two pairs of blank eyes stared at him disappointingly.
"Aomine-kun, you're really stupid."
"Tetsu!?"
"Tetsuya is right, Daiki," Akashi shook his head, "Think about it, would you even be able to win the case? It'd be kind of pointless if you went, only to go back to America alone."
Kuroko agreed, "Kise-kun has the advantage. The court will rule in favour of the child's well-being. Kise-kun has been with Taki-san for the past five years, taking care of her. He knows everything there is to about her. Aomine-kun, you, on the other hand, don't know her or how to take care of children. Plus, you'd be removing a young child from her home country and dragging her into an unknown world. She'd be extremely lonely and uncomfortable without Kise-kun."
"Okay, yeah I get, okay?" Aomine grumbled, "Stupid move – I know. I was just really angry and hurt that he never told me."
"You sound like a teenage girl."
"Shut up, Tetsu."
"Well it wasn't a completely fruitless antic," Akashi stirred the contents of his drink, Ryouta is so dense that he probably doesn't realize that Daiki can't win."
"Kise-kun is probably heartbroken and dying of regret. You must be happy, Aomine-kun."
"Don't make me sound like the villain," he shot him a look, "Yeah, I'm pissed as hell because of that guy. I didn't mean to hurt him on purpose though, it just happened that way."
"What are you going to do now?"
He never thought of that. Staring at his pensive captain, he honestly spoke out, "I don't know."
"Do you really want to bring Taki-san back with you?" Kuroko asked.
"I don't know. I haven't even spent that much time with her. She's a great kid, I see that. I'm sure I'll eventually grow to love her but I just don't know."
"Even if you can grow to love her, that doesn't mean she will be able to do the same to you."
"That's true, too," Aomine leaned back, "If I take her away from her daddy-dearest, I'm sure she'll just grow up to hate me."
The tanned basketball player glanced away, focusing on anything but the two other men. Akashi and Kuroko could see that he was deep in his own thoughts, troubled with no idea of what he should do.
"What about Ryouta?"
"What about him?"
Akashi frowned, "How do you feel about him, now that you know the facts?"
"I hate him..."
Kuroko and his partner exchanged sombre glances.
"... Is what I'd like to say."
"Aomine-kun..."
The man rested his head against the chair and gave the couple a rueful smile.
"I find it strange myself too. That bastard's hidden something like this from me – he betrayed me. When I got home that night, you know what I did? I screamed, I shouted. I took a pair of scissors and slashed all of the pillows in that hotel room. I cursed my life, I cursed god, I cursed him – but still I couldn't being myself hate him. On the nights I couldn't sleep, I couldn't even imagine beating his sorry ass. Instead, I kept remembering the times we spent together. I remembered our kisses, how we made love, his annoying voice and how much I loved him."
"Have you thought about getting back together with him?"
He reached for his glass and swigged the remnants of his drink in one-shot.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't. But after all this, I don't even know if I can try. I get that he was scared, and – from the little knowledge I have about pregnancy – that those hormone things or whatever were messing with him, but he's not without blame. If only he had trusted me."
"Ryouta must think that way too."
Akashi looked at Aomine with purposeful eyes.
"He feels unworthy of you now. He feels that if he were to go after you now, you'd see him as a pathetic gold digger."
"I thought you said he wouldn't talk to you."
"He didn't tell me anything, but I know."
Knowing Akashi, that was probably true.
"Are you telling me that you want me to chase after him again?"
"What I want is irrelevant – Daiki, what do you want?"
"Jesus, stop it with this psychology crap. You're messing up my head."
"I won't pester you for an answer now, Daiki. But think about it long and hard. Now you know the facts – don't make a decision you know you will regret."
"... I don't need you to tell me that."
After dinner, Aomine laid on his bed, ruminating again on what he should do. His recent memories of Kise played in his head like a slideshow, before being overlapped with the past. Thinking through this now, he's come to see how much the model has changed, both physically and mentally. On the outside, the hard years of single parenting were ever-present, with the dark bags, sunken cheeks and light frown lines. He was paler and scrawnier – probably from the lack of sleep and exercise. Within, the other man had grown up more mature and dark. The high school Kise was always bubbly and cheery. This young man who should still have the energy of a youth was always hiding something behind his hazel eyes – a boundless sea of regret and guilt.
Covering his head with a pillow the staff was kind enough to replace, Aomine closed his eyes. He tried to picture what Kise would have felt all those years ago.
Kise, were you afraid? Ah, that was stupid to ask. Of course you were.
The blue head imagined how he'd feel to find out after sixteen years that he was technically female on the inside – was supposed to have been female. Worst yet, he would have had to find out pregnant. He shivered, horrified by that thought.
Were your parents shocked? Angry? Did your sisters freak out?
He thought of how they might have yelled at him, cursed at the blonde, and how hard Kise would have had to hold back his tears. He thought of how he'd have held Kise in his arms and spoke in his defence.
It's been hard on you too, hasn't it?
All this time, he's been blaming the blonde. If only, if only – what had he, himself done in these five years? Recalling the long years after he got to America, he reminded himself that not once did he try to meet up with Kise. When he got off, he called and he emailed... but why didn't he ever go back? In these five years, he's had multiple vacations... but only now had he returned to Japan. It would've been easy, to hop on a plane and come home – he could even just use the excuse of visiting his parents.
That's right... I was afraid, he thought, No. I wasn't just afraid, I was a coward. Scared to hear the truth, scared to be rejected...Kise, I felt the same way as you did.
Flipping his body so that he was laying face down, he forced the gate to his memories to unlock, consciously. Ignoring all of the heartache it brought him, he focused alternatively on each Kise-related memory.
"Aominecchi! Aominecchi! L-Look! We're so high up... oh my god we're going dooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooown!"
"Stop screaming like a girl, idiot! Ouch! You're squeezing my arm too tightly!"
That was the first time they rode a roller coaster together. Kise's grip did hurt but he didn't mind.
"Cheese!"
"Wet go ouf ma cheeks!"
Kise pouted, "If I don't do this, then you won't smile!"
The blonde let go and exited the booth.
"Besides, look! It's a cute picture, don't you think?"
"Tch," the tanned boy blushed, "Whatever. You're paying for it!"
"Eh," he whined, "Isn't the man supposed to pay for these things?"
"Huh?" Aomine rolled his eyes, "We're both 'the man' here!"
"Ah, you're right!" Kise let out a cheery laugh.
He loved that laugh. He wanted to hear it again so badly.
"Hey, Aominecchi?"
"What?"
"What would you think of us having a family?"
He raised his eyebrows.
"I meant like.. you know... if we had a baby of our own."
"I don't know. Never thought that far ahead. We're only sixteen anyways. Besides," he scoffed, "I think our kid will grow up weird, with no mom. I don't want to make a kid grow up ashamed to have gay parents."
Kise laughed nervously, "Hahaha... You're right..."
"Oh..."
Replaying that last memory again, he smothered his face in the fluffy pillow. Why hadn't he felt it before? Kise was discreetly trying to get his attention, to get some confidence that the other boy wouldn't reject him. Of course, it was kind of stupid to expect that the pro could pick up that something was wrong with only those vague hints but still... Kise did try, albeit not hard enough it seems.
He groaned, "Damn it, Kise. What do you want me to do?"
The next day, Aomine stood nervously in front of the white garage, pacing back and forth. He readjusted his collar, and cleared his voice a couple of times.
Just act cool, you can do this, Daiki.
"Ah, shit," he murmured to himself, "How lame did I get that I have to give myself pep talks?"
Inhaling deeply, he clenched his fist and stomped up the two steps. Shaking, he pushed the small doorbell with one of his long fingers. As the chime ringed, it took all of his willpower to not turn around and bolt.
Rapid footsteps could be heard from behind the door, followed by calm ones. With his heart racing, he reached a clammy hand to wipe the sweat off his brow. The lock clicked and the door slowly opened. Behind the door, in the entrance way, two pairs of eyes stared at him.
"Uh, 'sup, Kise."
"..." the model stood, frozen.
"Hmm? What's Ahomine doing here?"
The little girl let go of her father's pants and walked towards the pro.
"I, uh, have some things to talk about with your father."
"What? You better not be complaining to papa and asking him to make me go easy on you."
"As if, you brat," he reached down to ruffle her hair. Taki squealed and punched him in the stomach.
"Ah," the small exchange seemed to have brought Kise back to his senses, "C-come in..."
The blonde man awkwardly stepped aside, gesturing for him to enter.
Anxiously, Aomine walked inside and removed his shoes.
"Takicchi? Be a good girl and go play in your room, okay?"
"What? Why can't I stay here?"
"Please just listen to papa today, okay?"
Taki frowned and opened her mouth to retort, but chose to instead obey.
The two men watched as tiny feet clambered up the stairs and disappeared into a room.
"Um, this way," Kise started walking over to the kitchen. Aomine followed him to a quaint room with marble counters and pale yellow walls. Near the sliding door that led to the blonde's patio was a round table and he went to take a seat in one of the chairs.
"Would you like something to drink?" Kise's voice was high, filled with the same uneasiness that Aomine too was feeling.
"Just water is fine."
The fridge door popped open and the sound of water pouring could be heard. Kise soon after walked to the polished wooden table with two glasses of ice water. Accompanied with gentle clinking noises, he set a glass in front of the tanned man and held onto one for himself. Both of them stared at their own sights; Aomine fiddled with his glass and Kise stared out the window, absentmindedly.
"So," they both said at the same time.
"Ah, you first," Aomine said, voice cracking.
"N-no, you first. Please," Kise was acting jumpy, which was to be expected, considering how well their last meeting went. Flustered, the man took a straw from the holder and then started sipping his drink fervently.
"Okay," he put down his drink onto the table. "I've been... thinking about last Saturday."
He paused, and looked at Kise who avoided eye contact. Clearing his throat, he continued, "And well, I think that I should spend more time with your – no, our daughter. Like, take her places and uh, stuff."
Aomine hated how much he was stuttering.
"You want to bond with her more."
"Yeah, basically."
Kise winced, "I don't have much of a say in this matter, do I? I don't have the right to tell you that you can't spend time with her..."
"Yeah..."
Kise fell quiet again, and Aomine fidgeted in his seat. The silence made him uncomfortable.
"I was sort of thinking that, you know, I'd start today."
"You want to bring her somewhere today?" The blonde clutched his glass tightly, "It's kind of sudden, don't you think?"
"I know, but it's also not like I have a lot of time."
His grip loosened, "Oh... that's right. You're leaving in less than a month..."
Aomine lifted a fist and faked a cough, "But you know, I was well, kind of thinking of asking you to tag along."
"Me?" Kise looked at him with bewildered eyes.
"Don't get the wrong idea!" Aomine said, flushed, "It'll probably be easier for her to be comfortable if her pops around, you know. And you know what they say about kids! If someone they care about acts friendly to another person, they'd bond more quickly."
Kise's face fell in what the pro saw as disappointment. Aomine's felt butterflies in his stomach.
"I think that's the saying for dogs."
Was it? Aomine didn't know, "S-same thing!"
"Are you calling our daughter a dog?" Kise scowled at him.
Our daughter. The butterflies grew erratic, as if those two words gave them a caffeine boost.
"What, no –! T-that's not what I meant. Well, she is kind of but so were you and she's your daughter and, oh I meant that you just acted like a dog, in a good way, how you'd follow me around and since she's your kid and ah –"
Kise's eyes grew gentler, and he laughed quietly. The sweet sound of it made Aomine blush and heart flutter.
With a nostalgic expression, Kise said, "You haven't changed all that much, Aominecchi."
He looked away embarrassed, "You've changed a lot."
The blonde let out a chuckle, "I've become a jaded man."
"Uh, yeah, anyways, get moving. Um, I mean, if you could please hurry. If we don't go now, the sun will start setting."
He's acting so formal, Kise thought sadly.
"Where are we going?" The blonde asked.
"You'll see when we get there."
Kise dismissed this with a wave and got up from his chair. Before leaving, he looked Aomine in the eyes and asked, honestly, "Is it really all right if I go?"
The other man stared back firmly with his clear, determined eyes.
"I don't hate you, Kise. Even if I should, I don't."
Hearing these words, the model quickly mumbled that he needed to excuse himself to get the young girl. Sprinting up the stairs, he rushed to the Taki's room and slammed the door shut.
"Papa?" the girl looked at him with wide eyes.
Kise dropped to the floor and pulled her close.
"I don't hate you, Kise. Even if I should, I don't."
"What should I do?" he whimpered.
Warm hands wrapped around him and for the nth time, he was grateful for the comfort.
A/N: Lalalalala~ Back to school chapter (Thank god it was a late start. I was looking at Aokise fanart all night)~
This time, it's a dialogue heavy chapter~ Return of the AkaKuro couple! I really want to write smut for them hehehe.
Was that (the forgiving part) too fast? Did it seem unnatural that Aomine was able to ask Kise out so quickly? I hope it didn't seem too rushed. But I also didn't want to put in days worth of Aomine pondering. You can see a confused and ruminating Kise though. I hope to show Kise's good points soon lala. See you lovelies next time! And as always, I hope you had fun reading it!