Hi! So I´m back with the fifth chapter, it´s kind of longish and full of emotional fluff but I hope you like it. Maybe it´s a little rushed to get to this part, though? I don't know, you guys tell me. :D And well, after this I think I really need to write some NijiAka. Those two are killing me, I swear. Anyhow, thanks so much reading!

Chapter 5: Love Me

The first thing Kise thought when Aomine´s lips met his was: 'What the fuck is he doing?'

The second was, 'Why am I letting him kiss me?'

And the third was, 'He´s a lot better than I remember.'

Of course, as soon as he thought the last words his pride took over because well, Aomine wasn't the only one who knew how to kiss and baffle somebody with it anymore.

Steeling himself internally, he brought his own arms to circle the bluehead´s neck, and his lips parted under the insisting tongue pressing against his mouth.

Truth be told, Aomine had half-expected Kise to pull away from him and kick him where it hurt the must, so when the blonde kissed him back he lost his own composure for a split second. However, he got it back soon enough and let out a deep, guttural laugh.

"You trying to best me, Kise?" he whispered, their breaths colliding with each other from millimeters away. "Well, I hate to say it, but if you can´t win against me in the court I doubt you can win against me here."

"Don't sound so sure, Aominecchi. It´s been almost five years since we did this for the first time."

The bluehead wanted to stop there so he could yell 'ha!' since Kise had talked about the subject, but he didn't because the tall, lean frame of said blonde pressed up against his and he felt a tongue intertwine with his.

Oh, this was fun.

When they separated due to lack of air, the first thing Aomine did was let out a snort, though he didn't let go of the other man´s waist.

"So what does this mean?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kise blinked a couple of times, and then his face began to turn white. His expression now showed a soft horror.

"Oh no you don't, Kise. You´re not going to turn all martyr and amnesic and me now. You fucking kissed me back this time, and we´re going to have a talk."

The blonde turned his face to the side. "Aominecchi, why do you want to do this?"

Aomine held him tighter. "I´m the one who asks the questions here. You do remember the time we kissed in Teikou…"

"I…"

"Yes or no."

Kise jerked, and this time he did pull away. Still pale he muttered, "I´ll tell Akashicchi I have to leave," and stomped out of the room… just as Nijimura appeared from behind the doorway.

The blonde took some steps back. "Nijimura-san!"

"Oi, are you two okay?" the black-haired man said. He looked as if he already knew the answer.

Aomine muttered what sounded like a negative. Kise forced a smile. "Of course. Why wouldn't we be?"

"You did get out of the room in a very sudden manner, which is unfair if you ask me because I gave no reason to make you uncomfortable. I mean, I didn't even kiss Seijuurou hello."

Both first-years pulled a face. That was one thought they could have both lived without. Akashi and Nijimura were like… their mother and father, Aomine thought, but he wasn't sure who was who.

"It wasn't about you," Kise said, "but I have to say I´m surprised you and Akashicchi are… um, dating. I really had no idea."

"I don't think anyone does," Aomine piped up, and stepped up beside the blonde. His face scrunched up. "Or have you told somebody?"

"Only the people who´ve asked, but no one from Teikou. I haven't seen you guys in years. I´m surprised Momoi doesn't."

"How do you know she doesn't?"

Nijimura gave the bluehead a look. "If she did she would have told you because that´s how you two are, and you would have made one of your annoying trademark comments as soon as you saw me. Since you kept your mouth shut, it´s only logical to assume you don't."

Aomine nodded once, a small smile playing along his lips. Oh, he´d missed Nijimura; snappiness and all. It was fun to be around him.

"So," the blackhead put his hands on his hips. "Leaving Seijuurou and me aside, are you two sure you´re okay? Seijuurou did tell me you guys were screaming at each other a little while ago."

"I still believe they were having a couple´s fight, but they have both denied it," Akashi said, appearing from behind his boyfriend –Kise winced at the mere thought– and gave them a patronizing look.

"Oh?" Nijimura looked surprised. "So you two are together now? Congratulations."

Aomine burst out laughing. He couldn't help it. Kise growled, "We´re not together."

"Only because you don't want to," the bluehead said.

"Ha! As if you´d want to date me."

"I kissed you twice, didn't I?"

The blonde frowned. "And what the hell do they prove? It only means you want me to say why I don't want to talk about it."

"You do remember you owe me an answer, don't you?"

"Get bent, Aominecchi. I´m not…"

"See?" Akashi murmured, giving Nijimura a look. An unsaid conversation went between them, then the latter bit his lip and cursed under his breath.

"Therapy time, boys," Nijimura muttered, hooked one hand under each of their shirts and with incredible strength he dragged them back to the lounge.

Too surprised and completely taken aback by the sudden movement, neither Kise nor Aomine began struggling until it was too late, and by the time they began moving, Nijimura had already thrown them down on the sofa.

"Right." The blackhead took a seat in front of them, opened a box of pizza and grabbed a slice. "Seijuurou, you joining in?" he asked after he´d taken a few bites.

"I do not see why not." Akashi hesitated for a few seconds, then got out of the room. He returned with napkins. The other three watched as he plucked a slice, dropped it into the paper, then folded the napkin around the corners before bringing it to his mouth and taking a small bite.

Nijimura rubbed his temples. "You can´t help it, can you?" he said.

"I did not bring a plate this time."

"Hmm… point taken. Anyhow." He focused his attention back on the younger boys. "Trouble in paradise, I see?"

Aomine shrugged. Kise said, "Aominecchi and I are not dating."

"But you've kissed."

"… Yes, but…"

"And you don't want to talk about it?"

"He doesn't," Aomine said. "And I don't get why." Blue eyes shifted to the blonde. "Are you hiding something from me?"

"What could I hide?"

"I don't know. Like, after I kissed you back in Teikou you had a wet dream about me and you don't want to remember it so you´d rather have me shut up."

"That´s the stupidest thing I´ve ever heard."

"You´re the one being stupid and immature. Coming from me, that should worry you."

They glared at each other.

Nijimura and Akashi exchanged glances. The redhead looked confused, which wasn't a very big surprise. He was just getting the hang of emotional dilemmas and heartaches. They were all strange concepts to him, but not as foreign as they had been all through high school.

Long story short, Akashi was confused and couldn't utter a word. Nijimura wasn't.

"Time out," he said, and raised his hand with the pizza slice in it. He took another bite before adding, "I don't know what happened between you two or what´s going on now, but you´re both being immature."

"He started!" Kise cried.

"And you've just empathized my point. Come on, Kise, if Aomine´s insisting on something why don't you cut him some slack?"

"Yeah, do it," the bluehead said, "I only need an answer."

"I don't want to give it to you."

"But why the hell not?"

Golden eyes hid behind eyelids. "Because even I´m not sure of why I don't want to."

Aomine gave him a confused frown. "Don't go all cryptic on me."

"Hey, you calm down. He´s begun to talk," Nijimura intervened.

Kise wrinkled his nose. "No disrespect meant, Nijimura-san, but I feel less like talking if you´re here acting like a moderator."

"Then Seijuurou and I will wait outside while you both sort your shit out." He got up, grabbed another slice and to the amazement of both Aomine and Kise he grabbed Akashi´s arm and pulled him out. He even closed the door.

The blonde felt his eyebrow twitch. "You are all pissing me off," he said.

"It´s your own fault." Aomine turned in the couch, then decided to be bolder and leaned forward. Kise pulled back, and he ended trapping the blonde between the couch and his body with both his hands and one knee.

"Tell me one thing," he whispered. "Just one."

Kise swallowed hard, but he kept his ground.

"Do you love me?"

He wanted the ground beneath him to open up and swallow him. "That´s what you want to know?" he said, voice hoarse.

"I think your answer would explain a lot of things. I´m not going to say 'I screwed up' anymore because I´ve said it enough for this lifetime, but we both know I did. I kissed you first back then and today."

He brought their faces closer. "In Teikou I did it because I was confused, you were there and you looked adorable. Now I did it because you´re hot, you´re stubborn but also because I wanted to make sure it still felt as good."

Kise´s face was as red as a tomato by now. Damn Aomine and his intensity, his honesty, his candor. It wasn't fair. He´d just confessed some important stuff. Yet he hadn't said 'love' even once.

And why was he thinking it anyway? Oh right, because Aomine had asked him the question.

Do you love me?

He did; of course he freaking did. He´d loved Aomine Daiki from the moment they met when he saw the smiley, excited and sweaty face and the way he held the basketball. He´d fallen deeper the moment he saw the amazing dunk, something a middle-schooler shouldn't have been able to do.

And all through their Teikou days his love grew. Even as Aomine became more jaded he didn't care. His faith and sheer love for the person he admired never wavered.

In high school he stopped idolatrizing Aomine and settled for admiring him, but the love was still there. Kisses or no kisses, he´d always, always…

"I´ve always loved you, but not in the way you might think," he heard himself say. His voice sounded hollow. His words tasted fake even to him.

Aomine´s eyes widened the slightest bit. "You do?"

"Of course. You´ve always been my role model, the person I respect and care for the most. Even my love for Kurokocchi doesn't describe the love I have for you." He sighed. This wasn't very hard. He could confess without a problem here because they weren't talking about romantic love.

"I´m not talking about admiration, Kise, I´m talking about love, like, Kuroko and Kagami and the two top dogs we encountered in this building."

Oh, come on!

He winced. "Then I´m afraid I can´t answer you, Aominecchi."

"Bullshit."

"I can´t because I don't know if my love for you applies in the romantic sense as well." Lies, all lies, yet he met the bluehead´s sharp gaze. "What about you? Do you love me?" His tone implied he didn't expect a positive answer.

"I´m getting there." Aomine shrugged. "You´re annoying, but you´re lovable, and I don't kiss people at random, you know. Whether you believe me or not, I´ve always liked you."

He was getting there? Aomine had always liked him? Oh, this was turning out to be such a terrible day for Kise. He couldn't deal with Aomine like this, all intense and focused on something other than basketball. He didn't know how to handle the emotional side of him.

He hadn't even believed Aomine had one anymore.

He frowned, then puffed out his cheeks and pushed the bluehead away with a hand on his chest.

"Now we´ve cleared our situation up," he said, "get off me and let me digest what you've said."

"On it." But before Aomine retracted he managed to touch his lips to Kise´s once more.

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

Akashi finished nipping at his slice of pizza, dabbed at his lips with his napkin and wiped his fingers with it. He´d somehow managed to get crumbs and grease on them.

Nijimura watched him with some sort of annoyed fondness. "You´re so damn weird, Seijuurou."

Crimson eyes met steel ones. "I am not weird, I am merely hygienic."

"Uh-huh." The older man walked forward and grasped one of the clean hands with his. Their fingers laced with each other, and he leaned his head down to kiss those royal lips. It was sweet as always, but much shorter than usual.

Akashi accepted it and let his hand rest with the other. "What was the kiss for?" he wondered when they had separated.

"For being so damn interesting, and because I didn't greet you when I arrived."

"Oh. I do not mind; neither of us is comfortable with public affection, correct?"

"Yeah, but still." Nijimura sighed. "And why did Aomine and Kise drop by? You hadn't seen any of them since before your high school graduation."

The redhead gave an elegant shrug. "Kise called. He told me had just returned from Italy from a modeling job and he had brought presents for his friends. He came to deliver mine and had Aomine come as company."

"You accepts presents? I´ll bring you one soon, then."

"Shuuzou-san, I do not need any presents from you. I am happy by being at your side, and there is no need for you to…"

"Hey, I´m kidding." Nijimura rolled his eyes. "And drop the –san, Seijuurou, please."

Akashi blinked at him.

The blackhead shook his head. "You Generation of Miracles are all so dense when it comes to stuff like these. And speaking of which, you think those two are finished confessing to each other?"

"I do not know." Akashi´s brow furrowed. "Was there any real need for you to intervene?"

"When you have two younger siblings you get used to meddling." Nijimura pondered for a whole minute, then decided it was time to intervene again. He got out of the office where both he and Akashi had been waiting and marched back to open the lounge door. Before he could grab the doorknob, however, Kise came walking out.

"Oomph!" The blonde frowned. "This is becoming a bad habit, Nijimura-san," he said.

"I know." Nijimura crossed his arms. "Are you two done? Can you have a normal visit from here on?"

"Not in the least." Wow, Kise had always been beautiful –Nijimura had never doubted why the guy was a model– but right now he was stunning, expression tight and eyes burning.

"This is a shame," Akashi said, crossing his arms. "It would have been a nice visit."

"I´m sorry, Akashicchi."

Nijimura looked from one of them to the other, then glanced into the room, where Aomine was still sitting on the sofa. The air was filled with things unsaid, but also with some sort of anxiety.

Nijimura knew only one way to deal with anxiety.

"Aomine, get up, Kise, stop sulking." He ran a hand through is hair. "Seijuurou, please join us."

"Huh?"

"We´re going to the court to play basketball. It looks like everyone needs it right now, and I won´t take no for an answer. Two-on-two, people. Come on, move it."

Though his words didn't carry as much power as Akashi´s, both Aomine and Kise complied. Yep, those two together were definitely dangerous… and scary

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

The game turned out to be what Kise needed right then. It was an opportunity to let out his confusion and frustration without it being too obvious. Besides, basketball was what he liked the most.

After arguing for a couple of minutes, he and Akashi ended up on the same team. Nijimura had said no to Kise´s Perfect Copy and Aomine´s Animal Instincts on the same team, but both he and Kise himself had screamed their heads off because no fucking way would Akashi and Aomine play together.

So they compromised, and Kise hadn't had so much fun in a very long time. Yeah, playing against Touou and Seirin while wearing the Kaijou jersey in high school had been fun, but it had also been a competition, the toughest of his life so far.

The game that day wasn't. His competitive streak was still there, yet this was different. He wanted to play, wanted to laugh and curse and just have fun with three men he respected and appreciated.

Of course, his softness were nothing against Aomine´s glee and Nijimura´s concentration. If it hadn't been for Akashi he would have lost the game by more than twenty points. As it was his team managed to win by two points… only because of Akashi and his Emperor Eye.

"You played worse than the day we did the one-on-one," Aomine laughed as he collapsed onto the court. The bluehead pressed his back against Kise´s, who had collapsed first, and arched backwards, making the blonde hunch over his own body.

"Shut up," Kise replied, but didn't shove the other man off, only kept his eyes focused on Nijimura and Akashi, who were throwing baskets across the court. He could see their lips moving. "And my team won, in case you've forgotten already."

"Only by two points, and because Akashi did most of the work. Your game is off, but you look much better than when we left the penthouse."

"I feel better." His lips quirked. "Your basketball is as amazing as always, Aominecchi."

"Sure is. I can´t lose to that jerk ever again," Aomine said.

Kise let out a tired chuckle. "I guess I have to thank both Kurokocchi and Kagamicchi for bringing you back. I missed the old you." And why was he saying all that? Oh, his tiredness and relief could be the reason. Maybe, he wasn't sure.

Aomine smirked, then leaned more of his weight on top of the blonde. Unable to help himself he said, "Would you love me in that sense if I revert to the middle-school kid I used to be?"

"Give me a break, Aominecchi."

"Would you?"

"Do you want me to?"

"I already told you I do though I didn't quite put in in a simple way."

Kise flinched. Oh yes, the conversation back in Akashi´s penthouse.

"Kise, would you?" the bluehead said again.

"You´re not going to leave me alone until I answer you." It was a statement, not a question.

"Nope."

The blonde sighed. "No, you´re fine the way you are."

"I know." Aomine turned his head to watch the blonde´s profile. "By the time our nights ends I´ll make you love me, Kise."

"More arrogant than usual, aren't we?"

"Meh. So, think you´ll confess to me tonight?" Aomine smiled, because this was a challenge already and he lived for challenges.

Kise, not one to back out either, said, "I won´t." And if he did Aomine would have to work really, really hard for him to say those two words in the way he wanted them said.

"You´re on, blondie."

But Aomine couldn't start his 'courting' yet. He held back while they went back to the penthouse to finish their pizza, held back while they said goodbye and during the train ride to where Midorima was.

And why did he hold back? Because according to Kise, they had to meet Midorima and Takao on a Friday night in Tokyo city.

Opportunities… here he went.

To be continued…