Hallo! So, I come to deliver chapter three! I had a lot of fun writing this one, especially the tiny KuroKaga details. Such a precious couple, what with Kuroko being so freaking adorable and all… :3 Anyways, I hope you like it and thanks for reading!
Chapter 3: Don't Go There Again
"What do you mean you don't know!?"
Kise stopped in his tracks when he heard Kagami´s outburst. His eyes widened when he saw the redhead towering over Kuroko and Nigou right over the table, the former looking shocked, the latter looking as impassive as always.
"Kurokocchi? Kagamicchi?" he asked, and resumed his walking.
Kagami froze, looked at him over his shoulder, and a faint blush covered his cheeks.
"Oh, you´re blushing! That´s two people in two minutes," the blonde teased, and flashed a half-hearted grin. "It must be the jacket, or is it my mere presence?"
"Idiot. It´s not what you think." Red eyes went to Kuroko, then softened. The small bluehead ducked his head, his cheeks turning pink as well.
Kise shrugged. "Just kidding. Thanks for confirming my suspicions, and congrats to you both. I knew you´d end up together sooner or later."
Kagami´s jaw drops. "Huh?!"
"Well, it didn't take a genius to figure out the chemistry or whatever between you two, and like I knew about Momocchi´s crush on Kurokocchi I…"
"Kise-kun, please stop." His red cheeks and wide eyes were all the reaction Kuroko showed, but his voice carried much more feeling.
"Oh, okay, sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. What was Kagamicchi screaming about anyway?"
The redhead sputtered. Kuroko said, "He was curious is all."
"About?"
"About something I couldn't answer, but I´m sure you can. Kise-kun, what did you and Ao…"
"Kuroko!" Kagami cried in an embarrassed panic, and ran behind the bluehead´s chair to hug both the object and him. His palm landed over the slim mouth. Nigou began barking and jumping.
Kise burst out laughing.
"Alright, whatever. So, where were we?" he asked as he took his seat.
Aomine came out of the café seconds later. On one hand he held a bag with doughnuts. On the other he carried a container with three cups. He flopped down into his chair, his trademark frown on his face.
"Oh, you brought drinks for us?" Kagami said, and released Kuroko.
Annoyed blue eyes flickered to him. "Screw you. These are all for me."
"You´re going to drink all that!"
"I think better while eating," he said, and he looked at Kise, who flinched and looked the other way. "And trust me, right now, I need to think a lot."
Kuroko and Kagami exchanged glances.
"Is this what you asked about?" the bluehead said in a softer tone than usual.
"Yeah."
"Interesting; not surprising, but interesting all the same. Now I want to know what happened too."
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Before the get-together ended, Kise had to excuse himself because he couldn't take Aomine´s intensity anymore. Since bringing his bag of food, the bluehead hadn't said a word to him or anyone else on the table. While the other three –or Kagami and him, really– kept on making small talk, Aomine had stayed quiet, drinking and biting. He had also looked at Kise at least a thousand times, and the blonde could have sworn he saw the wheels turning in his head.
He doesn't remember.
The thought had crept into his mind all of a sudden and it hadn't gone away. Aomine didn't remember what had happened in Teikou, because if he had, he wouldn't have been so lost in thought.
Kise wasn't very surprised. He knew Aomine very well, knew he only paid attention to basketball, sometimes his "friends"… not much beyond that. Still, it kind of hurt to know the man who´d kissed you silly didn't remember doing it.
"Don't go there, don' t go there!" Kise cried half an hour later as he shoved his keys into the lock and pushed open his apartment door. He cursed under his breath, then stepped inside.
He wasn't going to take the trip down memory lane; he refused to, for his own good. He wouldn't deny he admired the bluehead, cared for him as much as he did for his other friends and teammates. He wouldn't and he couldn't, but he wasn't going to admit he thought of Aomine in that way. Because he didn't. He never had, and never would…
"Enough, Kise Ryouta! You´re not thinking about it again, okay? You had enough in middle school, end of the story."
As he continued to rant, he kicked off his shoes and ditched his jacket on the floor. He ignored the many boxes he had scattered all around the apartment. He hadn't had enough time to unpack, and neither did he have the will. Besides, he had to deliver some more gifts before he could start thinking about his own belongings and…
"Whoa!" His foot got tangled with the strings of another gift bag that had fallen to the floor, and down he went. He ended up staring at wrinkled red clothes. Those were the most elegant and expensive of the bunch because they were…
"Akashicchi´s!" Eyes wide as saucers, Kise sat on the floor and pulled out his phone. He had to give the redhead his gift bag, and with the former captain of the Generation of Miracles… Kise would rather get it over with as soon as possible.
He began calling Akashi, realized he didn't have the number, then frowned. He decided he´d call Kuroko so he could get the number, but he didn't want to talk to anybody. In the end, he sent a text.
There was an immediate reply; Kuroko sending him the number and a simple, 'I hope you´re feeling better than when you left the café'.
"Ah, Kurokocchi. Not a lot gets past you, does it?" he said, then dialed Akashi.
His heart skipped a bit when someone picked up on the other end of the line. "Hello."
"Ah, hi!" he blurted out.
Silence.
"Um, Akashicchi, this Ryouta." The last time they´d seen each other Akashi had been on a first name basis, hadn't he?
"Oh, Kise, good evening," the redhead replied in his educated and cool voice.
Kise? So they were back to last names? Not that he cared, because he always called Akashi by his special nickname.
"How are you doing?" Akashi went on.
The Emperor asking him a personal question? This call was a disaster already.
"I´m fine, Akashicchi, tired, but fine." He wrinkled his nose. "What about you?"
"Oh, quite stressed to tell you the truth. University and business management are tough tasks." Akashi sighed. "Your call came in at the perfect moment, in fact. Reading economic jargon was getting tedious. To what do I owe the miracle of your call?"
"Nothing very important. I came back from Italy a week ago and I brought you some…" Souvenirs? Gifts? Geez, when speaking to the real deal it sounded stupid to even have brought him back stuff.
"Souvenirs?" Akashi sounded both surprised and a tiny little bit curious. "How nice of you."
"Yeah, so I was wondering if you have some free time for me to drop by and give them to your or if you want to give me an address and send it over. You are busy, after all."
"I am indeed." There was some paper-ruffling noises. "I am afraid my agenda is full both tomorrow and the day after."
Kise wasn't fazed. "Give me your address and I´ll send it by mail," he said.
"Nonsense. If you were kind enough to have brought back gifts for me then the least I can do is treat you to a cup of tea in return. Please bring them yourself. Today is Wednesday and given what I already mentioned, how about you come visit me on Saturday? I have a couple hours free on the afternoon."
Kise was getting a stomachache. This nice Akashi threw him off balance, but no way was he rejecting the invitation. Not only would it be rude, he also wanted to see which Akashi Seijuurou he was talking to.
"Yes, Akashicchi, I´ll go. At what time?"
"From three to five or six."
"Alright. I´ll be there. Thanks for having me already." He hesitated, then added, "Am I allowed to bring company?"
"It depends," the redhead said.
The words flew out of Kise´s mouth before he processed them. "Aominecchi and I are enrolled in the same college. Is it okay if he comes?"
"Aomine? Hmm. Of course. It will be nice to see you both. I will await you then. Have a good night, Kise."
"You, too."
The blonde hung up and stared at his phone. He shook his head, then looked up Aomine´s number, which Momoi had added to his contact list and fired off a text message. It described, more or less, the call he´d made, the meeting he´d set up and it also asked for his help and support on meeting Akashi.
He hadn't expected an answer, so he jumped when his phone beeped, and his jaw fell to the floor when he saw what Aomine had typed back.
'What type of idiot brings back souvenirs for Akashi?'
Kise frowned, but before he could even hit the screen to answer another message popped up.
'I´ll go with you anyway. Where and when?.'
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This. Was. Getting. Boring.
Way too boring and annoying, to be precise.
Aomine sighed, then moved his body into a defensive position. He gave a weak and single nod. "Bring it," he muttered.
Kise´s smile vanished. He stopped dribbling and clutched the basketball between his hands. "Do you want me to?" he asked.
"Mmm."
"Aominecchi."
The bluehead glared. "Stop talking and keep playing. That's why you dragged me back to the gym, isn't it, even though it´s exam week and we´re not allowed to stay so late?"
"Yes, but I did in hoping it would cheer you up. You´ve been angry and depressed these past few weeks. Ever since your supposed friend…"
"Don't say it!" he growled. "I don't want to hear it."
"I know you don't but it´s because you believe it. You believe you're a monster when you play, and you've even pushed Kurokocchi away because of your attitude."
Aomine flinched as he remembered the way Kuroko had looked when he´d said he didn't need him anymore, when he said he could win all by himself. It was the truth, and it had hurt him to say it.
"Aominecchi, look." Kise placed the ball under one arm and took a few steps forward. "Maybe people have told you this before, but one day you´ll meet the rival you need so bad. It´ll be soon."
"You don't know that."
"Yes I do." The ball hit the court, and in the second Aomine´s eyes slid to the object, Kise´s hands gripped his shoulders to give him a strong yet gentle shake.
"You´re strong, Aominecchi, the strongest person I know, but not the strongest person in the world. You´ll see. A year from now on you´ll be back to your old self because you have a true opponent."
Again, he glared. "So what, in high school everything will be fixed?"
"I´m sure it will." Kise grinned, his eyes soft and honest, not cheerful and bouncy like they usually were.
He cursed under his breath, then put his hands on Kise´s wrists. He began to tug them off, but as soon as he touched the pale skin, he became aware of how close they were.
His eyes widened at his own thought, and he raised his head. Kise´s liquid topaz eyes stared back at him, those thin lips still pursed into a sympathetic grin, his posture relaxed, waiting. The boy screamed shelter, comfort.
And because Aomine needed comfort so badly right now, because he was angry with himself and the world for making him so strong, because he was confused as to whether he should play basketball or not, because his mind was a jumble of feeling and doubts…
His hands ended up cupping Kise´s sides, muttering, "You just have to make yourself noticeable, don't you?" and before he could regret what he was about to do, his mouth landed over the blonde´s.
Kise gasped in utter shock, and his hands rose. He was about to shove Aomine across the court, but the neediness in the chaste kiss kept him from doing it. That and the fact he didn't find it awful to have another boy´s mouth on top of his. It was Aomine after all; the boy he adored, idolatrized, even loved…
Oh geez! Love?
His mouth parted in surprise, and it was enough for a hesitant, even shy tongue to slide into his mouth.
He let out a garbled sound because he couldn't believe this was happening, but his mind turned up blank because though doubtful, Aomine was kissing him… and it felt way too good.
One of his hands ended up in the short blue hair. The other rested on Aomine´s shoulder. He gave an internal shrug, then gave himself over to the kiss.
By the time their lips parted, Kise was out of breath, baffled and even felt butterflies in his stomach.
He blinked a couple of times, then felt his cheeks flush as he found himself under the scrutiny of deep blue eyes.
"Ao…" he began.
"Shush." Aomine, looking as curious as a five year old, shook his head. "Keep still," he instructed, then kissed him again.
Sort of expecting it this time, Kise´s lips gave right away. And this time he clung tighter to Aomine´s hair.
When the parted, the blonde gasped. He was about to open his mouth to say who knows what, but the intensity on those blue eyes stopped him.
"Aominecchi," he whispered. His head was a mess of feelings.
"Kise," the bluehead replied, and a million expressions fluttered across his face: confusion, happiness, confusion again, anger… and it stayed there.
His trademark frown on his forehead, Aomine took some steps back. Without uttering a word, he turned and strode out of the gym.
A part of Kise had been expecting it, so he shuddered, raised his hand to his lips and waited a good five minutes before picking up his basketball and walking out, his eyes fixed on the ground.
"I´ll talk to him tomorrow to see what the hell that was about," he muttered.
But he couldn't. The very next morning Kuroko announced his resignation from the basketball team to the Generation of Miracles.
At first glance, no one seemed to care. Midorima and Murasakibara dismissed his words with a wave and a snort. Akashi shrugged and told him if it was what he wanted he would not stop him. Kise didn't know what to say, so he kept quiet for once in his life.
Aomine was a different story. After a violent outburst, some name-calling and lots of insults to basketball in general, the bluehead strode off. Kuroko, looking defeated, let him go. The other three did the same.
Kise couldn't. He let out a choked cry, then ran after Aomine, and found him sitting on the grass outside the gym the first stringers used, expression tight.
"Aominecchi…" he whispered, and took a step closer, but the bluehead´s sharp voice froze him cold.
"Don't come near me, Kise. Leave me alone."
"But…"
"Don´t repeat what Tetsu just said. The idiot already made his choice and he won´t take it back." Hard blue eyes turned to glare at him. "It´s over, Kise. All this basketball bullshit is over. I´m through with all this."
The blonde flinched, and he would have brought up the kissing thing, but Aomine´s expression kept him from doing it.
It was over. Basketball was over. The Generation of Miracles was over. The Aomine Daiki that had existed until then, the one who´d laughed and enjoyed practice was gone, leaving this new, aggressive and jaded person behind.
It meant the Aomine that had kissed him last night was also gone.
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"So that's why he never brought it up again," Aomine muttered in the here and now as he stared at his reflection in his bedroom. He frowned.
Of course that had to be it. He´d probably freaked Kise out the day after those stupid and intimate kisses, and with reason. Aomine did change when Kuroko resigned. It was like his last bit of hope died, and he stopped clinging to his old self, the Aomine who first entered Teikou. He became irritable, unreachable. He had the feeling Kise had tried to talk to him about it, but with since he´d already dug up a hole and was living in it he didn't notice, which made Kise think that it had all been a mistake and a bad memory for them both.
It wasn't for him, and he had never forgotten. True, he´d never brought up the subject, but it didn't mean he didn't look back on it from time to time. Every match against Kaijou, every meeting with his Teikou teammates, every time he saw or heard from Kise and his annoying modeling jobs… he´d look back at that day. He´d never regretted kissing the blonde, either. It had felt nice, it had given him the soothing he needed at the time.
Why he´d never talked about it? Part of it was he felt ashamed about the whole thing, part of him refused to talk about it because Kise never talked either.
"Silence fucked everything up, huh?" he said, sighed, then pulled at the neck of his polo shirt. It felt awful, like having a rope around his neck, and he´d decided to put in on for two reason. The first, it was Saturday already and he was meeting Akashi. Tank top and shorts didn't seem like the right outfit to meet the financial freak. Second, the shirt was one of the souvenirs Kise had given him, and to stop the blonde´s complaints he decided to wear at least one clothing item.
He looked terrible, felt even worse, but it was for a good cause… sort of.
His phone rang. He raised an eyebrow, then plucked it from his bed.
"Yeah," he growled.
"Aominecchi! Are you ready to leave? We have to be at Akashicchi´s at three on the dot."
"Who the hell do you think I am? Your freaking prom date?"
Silence on the other end of the line, then a forced and somewhat strangled laugh. "Good one," was all Kise replied.
Aomine realized what he´d said, realized the weight it carried. It was the first time they spoke since Wednesday at the small get-together. They´d texted a couple of times, both too wrapped in their own thoughts to give each other a call.
Which reminded him…
"Oi, Kise, forget what I said. I have one thing to ask you," he said.
"… What?"
"I´ll tell you on our way to Akashi´s, and yes, it has to do with…"
And then Kise hung up on him.
Which was totally fine. They had to meet each other in a few minutes anyway.
"He´s an airhead," Aomine said, then picked up his keys and exited his apartment.
To be continued…