Hi! I´m back to deliver chapter four. I had to cut it in half because it got too long, hahaha, so please be assured this is not over but is rather the beginning. I also have a few surprises concerning Akashi and another character whom I LOVE so much. 3 As always, I hope you like it and thanks for Reading! :D

Chapter 4: Overwhelming

Aomine stared at the two bags Kise was carrying. Two gift bags. Not one, not three. Two.

"Giving Akashi twice the gifts you gave me and the rest won´t win him over. He´s not the bribable type of guy, you know," he said, and snorted.

Kise looked offended. "I´m not trying to win Akashicchi over," he said. "It´d be attempted suicide."

He couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Agreed. So, what´s with the second bag? More gifts, right?"

"Yes."

"For who, Santa?"

Topaz eyes went to the floor, then around the busy train station where they´d agreed to meet before heading to Akashi´s. A meaningless sound came out of Kise´s mouth.

Aomine leaned in closer. "Eh?"

"I said… I said the second bag isn't for Akashicchi." A resigned sigh. "It´s for Midorimacchi."

"… Okay. Are we stopping at the post office so you can mail it to him?"

"No."

"Leaving it with a friend of his?"

"Nope."

"Meeting him at the next train station?"

"I´m afraid not."

Aomine frowned. "I´m not in the mood to deal with this crap, Kise. Spit it out already."

The blonde decided he might as well inform Aomine of his change of plans.

"I´m dropping by Midorimacchi´s place after we´re done at Akashicchi´s," he said in the end.

The frown deepened. "When did we agree on this?"

"We didn't, because I´m the only one going to his place."

"So you´re ditching me before this date even begins?"

Kise paled. Honest to God, Kise paled, and once more Aomine realized what he´d said.

Groaning, he rubbed his hand over his face. "Okay," he said, "that was my bad… again. But while we´re at it, and like I told you on the phone, you and I need to talk about…"

"Oh, look. The train´s here. Better hop in before it gets too cramped," the blonde interrupted, and walked into it as soon as the doors opened.

Aomine had no choice but to follow him.

Five minutes later, Kise regretted getting into the train first, because he was now pressed up against a window with Aomine in front of him and a thousand people around them. Neither had space to move, and even if they had, he didn't think he could have moved a finger. Damn Aomine and his intensity.

"Why don't you want to talk about it?" the bluehead asked as they swayed with the train´s movements, his voice lower than usual.

Kise gave a dry laugh. "The truth, Aominecchi? I´m surprised you remember enough to want to talk about it."

"I never forgot."

"Yeah, well, it seemed like you did the moment it happened. Kurokocchi´s quitting didn't help either."

"It didn't, but now nothing´s standing on the way, so we have to clear things up."

"Clear what up, damn it?! You were sad and curious; I was stupid and idolatrized you. We kissed and then you…" Kise frowned. "No, I´m stopping there. I won´t take the trip down memory lane."

"You´re getting on my nerves, blondie."

"Deal with it."

Aomine made a sour face. "Then I´ll get down at the next stop and let you deal with Akashi alone."

"Fine." Kise looked angry, which was weird. As weird as it was to see Aomine laugh.

"Oh, damn you, Kise. What´s with the attitude? Aren´t you man enough to have a straight talk with me about the little kisses?"

"I was going to talk to you about it but the very next day Kurokocchi…"

"I´m not talking about the past, I´m talking about the present, as in, both of us in this train fighting because you don't want to face me."

"I am facing you."

Oh, to hell with it.

"You want to be a kid about it? Fine, You want to pretend you match your blond-and-empty looks? Fine. Do it. But you better remember I tried to fix this situation."

"And why would you want it fixed, anyway? It´s not like we have to clear that up to stay… acquaintances. We managed through high school didn't we?"

Acquaintances?

"So no we´re acquaintances," he spat out. "Not even friends, but acquaintances."

Kise still looked angry. "What do you want me to do so you´ll leave this alone?"

"I want you to be straightforward with me and tell me why you don't even want to say 'we kissed' out loud."

Kise flinched, then shook his head. "It´s all in the past."

"Uh-huh."

"A memory from when we were kids."

"Right."

"Water under the river."

"Bullshit," Aomine said with a growl.

Kise glowered. "Go to hell then, Aomine. I already said I´m not going to have this conversation, and I really won´t." He unglued himself from the train´s side, and after giving the bluehead a good dose of those beautiful but angry topaz eyes he slid away. Like a snake, he maneuvered between the crowd of people, and in no time he was on the other side of the train, giving Aomine his back.

In the latter´s head one phrase kept repeating itself in his mind.

"Go to hell then, Aomine."

Aomine. Not Aominecchi. Aomine.

He felt as if Kise had just insulted him.

.-'¨'-..-'¨'-..-'¨'-..-'¨'-..-'¨'-..-'¨'-..-'¨'-..-'¨'-..-'¨'-..-'¨'-..-'¨'-.

By the time they got off the train and had made their way to the address Akashi had given Kise, Aomine noticed that as long as he didn't talk about the Teikou incident Kise acted like his cheerful usual self. In fact, he acted as if the conversation on the train hadn't happened either.

His attitude was getting on Aomine´s nerves. He didn't remember the blonde being so damn evasive and snappy.

"It´s here," the man in question said out of the blue. Aomine blinked, then they both stared up at the skyscraper in front of them.

The bluehead let out a whistle. "Akashi lives here now?"

"This is the address he gave me, but considering it´s him it shouldn't surprise us. He really is Japanese royalty, isn't he?"

"Japanese emperor more like it." He squinted at the enormous building. "A hundred yen and a straight answer to what I asked before says he lives in the penthouse."

The blonde blinked, frowned. "Take out the last part and it´s a bet. I say anywhere but the penthouse"

"As if. Come on, if you´re confident enough you should accept, If you win I won´t bring it up again. Ever. If I win…" His voice trailed off.

The deal tempted Kise. At the same time it terrified him. After a couple seconds he said, "You got it," and pressed a number on the panel on the outer wall.

There was a buzzing sound, then a receiver being picked up. A female voice came.

"Yes."

The men exchanged glances, the blonde cleared his throat and said, "Um, hi… we´re looking for Akashi Seijuurou? Does he live here?"

"Who is this?"

"Aomine Daiki and Kise Ryouta. We…"

"Oh, the Teikou boys! Yes, yes, Akashi-sama lives here. He´s expecting you, as it turns out. Come on in. The elevator will be down in a minute." The woman hung up.

Another glance exchange.

"Akashi-sama?" Kise murmured.

"What did you expect of the guy?" Aomine shrugged. They stepped into the building in time to hear an elevator arriving. Its doors opened. Next to it there was another elevator. It didn't take a genius to figure out which one they had to get into.

"This one is private," Aomine said as they went up.

"I´m not an idiot, Aominecchi. I know it´s private."

"And where do private elevators go in places like this? Only to one place, of course." He gave a rather sadistic grin. "Looks like you owe me, and not only money."

"Don't get ahead of yourself. We don't know yet if he…"

The elevator stopped, the doors opened…

And they were now standing on the entrance of the building´s penthouse.

"Ha," Aomine whispered near the blonde´s ear, smirked and stepped off.

Kise gritted his teeth. He huffed, then did the same.

A woman in her forties came walking to them. "Aomine-san? Kise-san?" she said.

"Aomine," the bluehead said, and waved his hand.

"Kise," the blonde said, and flashed his professional grin.

"Good afternoon to you both. My name is Fujimoto Kou. I´m Akashi-sama´s housekeeper. If you´ll follow me? He´s waiting in the office."

Aomine snorted. Akashi had a housekeeper and an office? He´d expected it.

Since they had little choice, the men followed her through the huge, elegant and pristine penthouse.

"Akashi-sama has told me a lot about you," Fujimoto mused while they walked.

Aomine didn't answer. Kise, the one with manners, said, "Oh. He has?"

"Yes. About you both, his friends Midorima-san, Murasakibara-san and Kuroko-san. You´re all very dear to him."

"I doubt it."

"He may seem too arrogant to care about anyone but himself, but deep down he is a good and gentle person. He´s gotten even better lately."

"Did something happen to him? A life-changing event?"

"For him I suppose it was. He never thought he´d end up in such a common and human situation." She smiled at them, stopped in front of a lacquered door and knocked.

"Akashi-sama, your friends are here," she called.

"Send them in," came the immediate reply.

She opened the door.

Akashi sat behind a massive desk, surrounded by massive bookshelves and massive stacks of catalogues on his sides. He held a pen in one hand, a calculator on the other.

"Oh, good afternoon. Welcome to my home, Aomine. Kise." The redhead smiled, his eyes shining.

Both eyes were the color of his hair.

Aomine and Kise let out a synchronized sigh of relief. This was the original Akashi. It would make things easier.

"Hey there, Akashi," Aomine said.

"Good to see you, Akashicchi. Thanks for having us."

"No need to thank. I am glad you decided to visit." Akashi stood, stretched. "My muscles are stiff," he commented.

The blonde eyed the huge pile of papers. "Are you sure you´re free? Because if you aren't…"

"I said I was free after three, and it´s three-oh-five. My homework will wait." He went for the door. "Have you had lunch? I have not. Please join me with at least a cup of coffee even if you have."

They both admitted they hadn't had lunch.

"That is perfect. Fuji-san."

"Yes, Akashi-sama."

"Can you cook something for us? I am starving."

"Of course. But… what you usually eat takes a while to make. Can you wait?"

Akashi frowned.

Half-joking Aomine said, "Why don't you call for a pizza? There´s a pizza place half a block from here. I saw it on our way here."

The frown cleared. "Pizza," the redhead said, and turned to look at the woman. "That´s what he brings sometimes, isn't it?"

"Yes," Fujimoto said.

"Does he buy it from the place Aomine said?"

"Most of the times he gets here and then goes pick up a pair of boxes."

"Oh."

"I can have some delivered here if you want."

Akashi looked at Kise. "Would it be okay to have pizza for lunch or do you want something else?"

Wow. This was so weird. Akashi asking for opinions, Akashi speaking about a mysterious 'him', Akashi wanting to eat pizza of all things. Maybe 'weird' was too mild a word.

"Yes," the blonde said.

"Order up, Fuji-san. We will be waiting in the lounge. Follow me," he told the men, and walked out of the office.

Kise said, "Akashicchi?"

"Yes."

"You have eaten pizza before, right?"

"I had not until a little while ago. While it is tasty I must admit it is not food per se. He likes it a lot, though, and I have found out it fills you up for a while."

Kise opened his mouth, and Aomine´s hand landed over it.

"Don't ask who 'he' is. We don't care, and he won´t tell us even if we ask," he hissed.

"But…"

"Trust me this once. Don´t!"

For the second time in the day, Kise looked angry. He shoved the hand away. "Don't tell me what I can do and what I can´t. I have enough with your forcing me to talk about our… um…"

"Kiss," Aomine finished.

"Whatever, and besides, I already owe you a hundred yen and a serious talk. Stop controlling me."

"I am not controlling you. I´m…"

"Please do not shout. Fuji-san will think something is wrong," Akashi´s voice cut in. He sounded rather impatient. When two angry gazes fell upon him he arched an eyebrow.

"I do not care if you have a couple´s fight, but if you wish to keep going lower your voices. Fuji-san and I do our best to live in a peaceful home."

Kise looked appalled. "Who said this was a couple´s fight?" he asked.

Akashi tilted his head to the side, expression not curious, but almost. "Was it not?

"No! Aominecchi and I were talking about something we shouldn't even bring up because it´s in the past and he was the one who refused to clear things up back then," the blond cried.

"You never brought it up," the bluehead shot back just as loud.

"Because you became another person the moment Kurokocchi quit. I´m pretty sure you would have hit and insulted me if I had tried to reach out to you with the subject."

Aomine frowned. "What about high school?"

"You didn't appear to recall anything about the incident and to avoid awkward situations I decided to shut up."

"'The incident', 'the subject', what is wrong with you? Say it, damn it, say it. We kissed, and yeah, maybe I was the one who fucked things up, but at least say it. We kissed!"

"So we did! It doesn't mean…"

"Aomine, Kise, stop."

At the sharp command, the aforementioned men closed their mouths. In a mutual panic, they turned to face Akashi, whose brown was now slightly furrowed.

"I take back what I said. Enough with your quarreling. I will not allow you to keep fighting while in my home. Wait until you are outside to destroy each other´s eardrums." Akashi tilted his chin forward. "For now, take a deep breath, calm down and let´s have a civilized meeting."

Aomine and Kise glared at each other. "Fine," they both said at the same time.

"Good. Now please take a seat. The food will arrive soon." Akashi took a seat in a plush couch. The other two glanced around the room: various chairs, a sofa, a coffee table, more bookshelves, a home theater and the elegant air which surrounded the rest of the penthouse.

"I´ll take the sofa," Aomine said, and flopped down on it. Kise thought about taking a chair, decided he wanted the sofa as well and sat down next to the bluehead. He turned and held out his hand. "Truce until we´re done here," he said.

Sapphire eyes turned almost sadistic. "Sure," Aomine drawled, and shook the offered hand.

Satisfied with the apparent peace, Akashi nodded, then smiled the smile Aomine had first seen on the first year of high school. It was a superior, polite gesture, but it was honest… and human.

"Kise has souvenirs for me?" were the first words that came out of the redhead´s mouth. He sounded as intrigued as Akashi could, in Aomine´s opinion.

The blonde blinked, then nodded. "Yes, I do," he said, grabbed the shiniest bag and handed it over. "A small token of my time in Italy. My best wishes on your life from here on, Akashicchi, academic duties as well as professional." He´d told Kuroko, Kagami, Aomine and Momoi similar things with much less formality and a hundred more words, but given the receiver he felt he had to be formal and collected.

Akashi´s eyebrows went up. He took the bag, peered inside, and his lips quirked. "Designer´s clothes?" he murmured, eyeing one of the tags.

"Um, yes. I know it´s not the most useful thing on the world and that you can buy them yourself or even better clothes in no time and all but…"

"Thank you."

Kise stopped babbling. "Huh?"

"Thank you, Kise, for such lovely presents." The redhead took out a red shirt and a black jacket with crimson undertones. One of his cheeks lifted. "Any special reason for the colors?"

"Red seemed like the best choice, and I recall you also like blues and greens and black of course."

"My tastes have not changed. Once more, thank you." Akashi folded the clothes and laid them on his lap. "What were you doing in Italy, Kise? Some sort of modeling job, I presume."

Aomine snuggled into the couch and got ready to hear the story Kise had told him already. It had happened after he got his presents. He asked why Kise was in Italy and the blonde began a long monologue. Aomine didn't remember of what he´d said, but it had taken a while, and he´d enjoyed hearing Kise talk, reveled in watching a gazillion expression flick across the beautiful face, hearing occasional whines, groans or screams of excitement come out of the pale throat.

Yeah, he didn't remember why Kise had been in Italy, and he wouldn't listen this time either. He would just watch the blonde, and think of new ways to corner him, kiss him senseless and get rid of the skittish, angry Kise.

And so Kise began to talk, and so Aomine began to think. The blonde´s voice became a background lull, his gestures a distracting background. He felt himself drift away… and was brought back when the small telephone on the coffee table rang.

"Excuse me." Akashi held up a hand to pause Kise´s ramble and pick up the little phone. "Hello," he said into it. He listened for a few seconds, then said, "The elevator will be down in a minute."

"The food is here," he informed, and called, "Fuji-san."

There was some shuffling outside, and the woman poked her head into the lounge. "Akashi-sama?"

"Please send the elevator down. The, ah, pizza has arrived."

"Right away, Akashi-sama." She disappeared.

Aomine yawned, swam his way back to the couch and away from his internal niche, and stretched. "So how come you have a housekeeper?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"My father was very upset when I came to Tokyo for university instead of going to another country. On the off-chance I would do something to humiliate the Akashi family he sent a watcher."

"Her."

"Correct. However, Fuji-san has been an employee at the main house since I was a child. She was a close friend of my mother´s, and having her here is like having a surrogate. Not the same, of course. It will never be the same, but she is the best motherly figure I could ask for, to tell you the truth."

"And is your relationship with your father as bad as it was before?" Kise ventured.

"Mmm, in a way it is better. I see less of him now; he sees less of me and we plot at each other´s back."

"Oi, Seijuurou, did you really order pizza? I paid for it already and everything, but does this mean you've agreed to stop acting like freaking ancient royalty?"

The three of them jumped when they heard the voice, and stayed frozen as someone walked into the lounge with two boxes of pizza.

"Oh. Hello. You came very early," Akashi said, his voice only a bit surprised.

"I didn't think you´d get mad if I did." The boxes lowered, and lo and behold there stood…

"Huh. What a surprise," Aomine muttered. "I didn't expect to see him ever again."

"It is quite a shock, isn't it? I was taken aback the first time I spotted him on campus," Akashi said.

"I thought he´d moved overseas."

"Oh, he did, but he came back…"

"Nijimura-san?!" Kise cried, and almost sprung to his feet.

Nijimura Shuuzou, age twenty-one, raised an eyebrow. "Aomine. Kise. Hey there."

"You´re in Japan? I was told you were in America because of your dad."

"I was, but that was six years ago, kiddo." Nijimura´s face clouded over. "My father died the spring I went into high school, soon after Seijuurou got the captainship."

Aomine´s eyebrows went up at the 'Seijuurou'. Kise didn't notice.

"Oh. I´m very sorry," he said, then added, "It is nice to see you, though."

"I´d say it´s a huge surprise. You came to visit Seijuurou? I can leave…"

"You can stay unless Aomine or Kise mind," Akashi said.

"No, it´s okay. We´re supposed to go out in a few hours anyway and…" Nijimura shrugged, and the way they looked at each other made Kise shiver.

"Ah, excuse us!" he cried all of a sudden, grabbed Aomine´s wrist and pretty much dragged him out of the lounge and into the next room.

Aomine didn't put up any fight, only let himself be shoved into what appeared to be a laundry room.

"What is it?" he asked with a sigh, and leaned against the wall, arms crossed.

Kise looked appalled. "Do you think it would be rude to leave now?"

"… Leave? Why do you want to leave?"

"Because this is turning out to be a disastrous visit."

"Akashi has been a good host."

"But it´s creepy! I mean, Akashicchi being nice, this huge place, eating pizza with the person I never saw eat anything from the school cafeteria and now Nijimura-san."

"So I´m not the only one who understood to which 'he' Akashi was referring to."

"Of course not." Kise shook his head. "Contrary to popular belief, I´m not that stupid. So, you think it would be very rude?"

"You´re asking the wrong person." Aomine narrowed his eyes. "You´re feeling overwhelmed, aren't you?"

"It hasn't been a very good day for me. Too much stuff to think about. I need to calm down before going back there to see both Akashicchi and Nijimura-san."

Aomine´s lips quirked. Kise needed to calm down because he felt overwhelmed, and he felt in such a way because –Aomine was sure– he´d brought up their little moment in Teikou.

Kise was so transparent sometimes, no matter what he said, no matter what he did either.

"You want to calm down, Kise? I can´t help you with that. I´m not good at soothing people." He grabbed the blonde´s arm and pulled him closer. Blue eyes bore into gold. "But while we´re at it, let me try something. I do this, we sort our shit out, you tell me truth and then we go out to face the ridiculously powerful couple we just encountered, okay?"

"Uh…"

"Good." He gave an impish smile, slid his arms around Kise´s waist and locked their mouths together.

To be continued…