A/N:
xXmini-chibiXx: Thank you so much! Glad you noticed the little bits and liked them/are interested in them!
To Lock on Lockon and moonlightclock: here it is! thank you for your excitement haha
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It was as if a rubber band had been pulled and pulled to its longest stretch, then suddenly released. And the moments it took for the tension to ease—the whiplash back into its normal state—was like a wave right before it broke; and a loud, piercing crash resounded in reaction, bringing with it a heavy and roaring torrent.
Just so, the audience had been held in suspense when the hosts introduced their "special guest", and the intensity only grew when Kise had suddenly gotten off his seat, coupled with the revelation of the guest—who turned out to be Aomine Daiki—and Kise ran across the stage and hugged him.
The happenings seemed to tumble out as if they were tripping down the stairs, and it took a few beats before everything more or less crashed, and the audience was squealing and cheering and exclaiming in surprise and excitement; eyes were wide, mouths were agape, and Kise had just lost a bet but he didn't care.
The hosts had exclaimed too, but they recovered quick, shaking their heads and trying to tame the overexcited crowd. It took almost a whole minute or two just to calm everyone down, and Kise had to blink himself back into attention when he'd realized he was still on national television.
Just be yourself, his sister had told him. Kise almost laughed at how he almost didn't quite know how to do that until then.
"Alright, alright, has everyone settled down?!" the female host laughed. "Gosh, that was loud. I know you're all amazed 'cause wow we are too."
Kise sidestepped to Aomine's side, withdrawing his arms and smiling sheepishly. "Sorry about that," he chuckled, and he just knew his grin was way too wide because he could feel it reach his eyes, but he couldn't reign it down. "It's just—" he looked at Aomine. "It's been a long time!"
Aomine looked at him, that same playful, cocky smirk on his lips as he brought a hand over Kise's hair and ruffled it. "Yeah, long time no see, Kise."
The audience was squealing again, and Kise wailed as he ducked away from Aomine's hand, trying to save his hair. They were both laughing, and the sight sent the viewers tumbling down their hypothetical stairs of emotion again, swept in the wave that was the Kise Ryouta and Aomine Daiki's reunion.
"Get back on your seat, idiot," Aomine said as he shoved Kise, who laughed as he skittered back to his seat. The audience seemed to thrive on their every interaction, thoroughly delighted by the two personalities.
"Right, well, again," the host cleared his throat. "We'd like to introduce our surprise special guest of our show—and for Kise-kun—the basketball star Aomine Daiki!"
Applause and cheer rang out again, this time directed solely at Aomine, who stared at the crowd like he was trying to figure out what kind of animal they were. Kise covered his mouth under his knuckles, cheeks puffing as he held back another laugh. Aomine was used to thousands of onlookers watching his every move on a basketball court, but the small audience in a small studio in their hometown seemed to be more foreign to him than the courts halfway across the Earth where he'd play.
Kise could see the unguarded and unfiltered emotions in Aomine's expressions, honest and straightforward like he always was. The almost constant scowl, the sharp, piercing eyes, the laid back, casual stance—it was as if Kise was meeting Aomine again like it was just yesterday that they'd graduated high school.
But sitting across him, Kise could see that Aomine wasn't all the same. His hair was longer, almost reaching his brows, and he was bigger, more built, and carried himself with a more solid air of strength and dominance. He was intimidating, but not in the same way as he was back in their early high school days—this time Aomine wasn't an unapproachable, menacing figure of raw power; but a strong, bright, almost daunting presence. Kise couldn't help but think of likening him to the sun: this big ball of warm light and radiance that you couldn't help but be amazed at, but also regard as something so far away.
Maybe it was because they hadn't seen each other in so long, maybe it was because of the dozens of studio lights shining down on them, and the fact that Aomine was right there but somehow still too far out of Kise's reach—but Aomine was so brilliant, it was dazzling.
"Well that's definitely an athlete's build," Kisaragi commented from the side. "And so handsome!"
"Please don't try to pull him into your clutches," Ryouma spat at him. "But I rest my case, athletes are really a different story. I'm actually a bit jealous."
"Don't worry Ryouma, like I said, you've still got a great body!" Izumi tried to comfort him, only resulting in Ryouma's blood to fill his whole face in response.
"We agree with you there, Izumi-kun," the host agreed. "And with you too, Kisaragi-san and Ryouma-kun! Aomine-san is one of the best athletes we have the pleasure of having here!"
"And for those of you who might not know," his partner host continued. "Aomine-san was last year's NBA Rookie of the Year, whose stunning performance in his official seasonal debut in the latter half of the previous year rocked the basketball world and spurred it into a frenzy. His streetball, freeform play practically made the sport's popularity shoot up and has since become the signature of Aomine-san's style of basketball."
"Let's check out some clips of this amazing athlete!" the other host provided.
The lights dimmed as the screen on center stage blinked into a recording of a basketball match, starting off with the huddle of a team dressed in black. They all roared, like a battle cry, and stirred the audience into equally roaring cheers. The team broke the huddle and turned, five players marching towards the court as their teammates sent them off with firm fists pushing their backs forward. Aomine was put into focus on the screen, the commentator noting how he was a surprise rookie addition into the starting lineup of a national team—a shocking decision from the seasoned coach. The video cut to a scene of the tip-off, and Aomine's team took possession of the ball in a flash, their tall center slamming the ball to their point guard as the whole team drove forward without pause. The ball went from the point guard to their shooter, who feinted against his mark, passing to their power forward who made a cut towards the basket.
The opposing team's forward was fast, and managed to steal the ball from the double-teamed power forward, immediately shifting into a drive towards the opposite goal. They almost matched the black team's performance in offense, switching gears in an instant and moving into a full court drive, quickly crossing into the opposite half of the court.
And it was a sudden moment, almost too fast to follow, when the ball was stolen from them in a rapid and abrupt flash, and Aomine had torn right through two players as he completely shattered the team's momentum.
The sudden turn revealed Aomine to have been the actual power forward of the team, a shocking revelation given their team's more experienced roster. The crowd was a mix of gasps and hoots, and Aomine was so fast, plowing through the defenders with fakes and dribbles and crossovers so agile, it almost made the rest look like turtles. When he neared the goal, two players managed to get back to defend, and everyone's eyes were on Aomine, completely missing the split second where the ball just disappeared from his hands and appeared in his teammate's, and the moment it took for the opposing team to realize that Aomine had made a pass was the moment Aomine stepped into their defense's opening and jumped.
The ball was in the air just above Aomine's head when he had soared right above the opponent's, and he brought his hand down over it and slammed the ball straight through the hoop.
The sound of the dunk was loud and powerful, emphasized by the silence of the crowd. Aomine landed on the ground, and the basketball bounced once before the audience erupted into a crashing wave of applause and cheer, the shock and awe reverberating through the air so much that even Kise, just watching the recording, could feel the energy course through him.
The next cuts of the video were a montage of scenes from different games—the commentators screaming Aomine's name as he broke through teams' formations and took possession of the ball, the rapid change of pace he did to tear past a defender; Aomine flying to the air and landing dunk after dunk as his name became a chant and his light only grew into this blazing fire that enchanted everyone who saw him.
"There it is! Aomine's formless shot!"
"Aomine Daiki's just broken through a four-man defense!"
"The rookie sensation is now one of the top scorers of this season!"
Kise was mesmerized. The flurry of video clips showcasing Aomine playing in all these games and completely dominating—it was Aominecchi. Kise could only stare, jaw hanging open, and just watch all these heart-stopping moments of Aomine playing basketball. He was blazing so brightly, setting the basketball audience's hearts on fire, making them jump out of their seats and scream their lungs out. It was Aomine's basketball, and Kise felt his heart pound just from a few minutes of watching, heat and energy flowing through him; and an invisible fist squeezed at his heart.
On the video, Aomine had launched into the air and shot a basketball into the hoop like it was a shooting star, and the audio was a crescendo of screaming and cheering, Aomine and his teammates roaring to the skies as the buzzer sounded, signaling their win. The whole team pounced on Aomine and his fellow starters, the video cutting into a clip where Aomine was handed a trophy, and he raised it up with a look of triumph, mouth wide open in a huge, joyous smile as he was hoisted onto the shoulders of his team and showered in the light of the arena and the cheers of the crowd.
The video flickered off, and Kise had to blink out of his daze as the studio's occupants gushed into a chorus of applause and cheer. Kise was still staring at the screen, letting go of a breath he didn't know he held, then looked at Aomine. He had taken a seat across Kise and the other celebrity guests, nose scrunched as he rubbed the back of his neck with a hand, looking half-humble and half-suspicious at watching videos of himself on such a large screen.
"Aominecchi's amazing," Kise breathed, an involuntary slip of his tongue. He blinked when he realized that shit he said that out loud, but Aomine was looking at him, and a corner of his lips quirked up into a crooked smirk, and Kise's heart jumped.
"That he is," the host agreed. "What do you feel about meeting again after so long?"
Kise shifted in his seat. Right, he was supposed to be the featured star on this show. "It's such a surprise!" he answered easily. "And it's so great to see him again! It really has been long."
The hosts smiled, nodding, then turned to Aomine, who looked like he was ready to fight them. Kise had to hold back his laugh again. "What about you, Aomine-san?"
Aomine huffed, lips downturned in its natural state. "It has been a while, but you haven't changed."
Kise pouted. "Is that supposed to be a good thing?"
Aomine grinned. "Yeah, it is. What, do you want me to say I missed you?"
The crowd was giggling and squealing, and Kise felt his cheeks heat up. He pouted again, crossing his arms. "Well whatever, if you don't, then fine, but for the record I missed you!" he said stubbornly, puffing his cheeks and turning away.
The eruption of squeals from the audience almost made Kise jump with how sudden and high it was, and he couldn't control his confused expression for a second before he turned his head away from the audience to rearrange it. In turning his gaze away, he was met with Aomine's, eyebrows raised and staring at Kise with an unreadable expression. A beat passed, then Aomine snorted, lightly chuckling, looking more at ease now.
"Fine, fine," Aomine said. "I missed you too, you big idiot. It's really been too long, and it's great to be back."
If Kise was barely holding onto the controls of his expressions before that, then he'd lost control of them just then, eyes widening, taken aback, as the blood pooled to his cheeks. He flinched out of his surprise and covered his cheeks with the back of his forearm, brows furrowing as he tried to reign in his emotions. He could barely hear his thoughts under the loud squealing and cheering of the fans, and he managed an indignant pout just in time for the hosts to calm the audience down again.
"Man you guys have got a lot of catching up to do, I see," the host laughed. "But let's rewind a little. Tell us, how did you two meet?"
Aomine and Kise suddenly blinked into the same expression, and for a moment Kise pondered about how he would go about answering—he got hit in the head with a basketball. Would saying that on live TV hurt Aomine's reputation? Would that turn Kise's fans into Aomine's enemies? Would it—
"I accidentally hit him with a basketball."
Kise almost fell out of his seat. His head snapped to look at Aomine, who just shrugged, scratching the tip of his nose with a finger like it was obvious that that was how they'd meet.
"Eh?" the hosts tried.
"I was at practice, at the gym. We were doing some matches," Aomine supplied, as if he was teaching children. "The ball flew out then hit Kise behind the head."
Kise smacked a palm over his face. Why did he even bother with Aomine. A weight flew right out of his chest, replaced by the weird feeling of realizing that Aomine remembered, and he sighed, grinning in defeat. "Yeah, that's right. I was just minding my own business when suddenly I get pummeled by a basketball. When I picked it up Aominecchi was there."
"That's…well, that's definitely interesting," the female host gaped.
Kise laughed. "I'm kind of glad that happened, though?" he smiled. "I became curious about basketball because I hadn't tried that yet, so I peeked at the basketball club's practice, then saw Aominecchi go for this amazing drive into the line and then just score like it was nothing. I got hooked into basketball since then."
"Ohhh!" the hosts reacted, looking fascinated. "So Aomine-san inspired you to play basketball?"
Kise shrugged. He didn't even bother to think about how to go about presenting himself any longer. "I guess so."
The audience was clapping, and Kise grinned, not at all conscious anymore. He spotted Aomine in the corner of his eye and turned to find Aomine staring at him again, cheeks just a little bit darker—Kise blinked, not quite understanding the expression Aomine had on. Kise went on.
"I joined the club and got into the first string pretty quickly because I wanted to catch up to him," he said fondly. "Then officially joined the team after a while, then we went on to become three-time champions."
More applause. "That's amazing!" one of the hosts praised. "If I remember correctly, Kise-kun and Aomine-san were once part of a team called the "Generation of Miracles", am I right? It was pretty popular in the sports scene before."
Kise grimaced, and Aomine mirrored his expression. "There was a term like that, yeah," Kise said.
"Just some name made up by the media guys," Aomine waved his hand, clearly wanting to dismiss the issue. "We all more or less separated after middle school."
"That's right!" one host agreed. "That generation of high school basketball was so well-known! Some of the best games no one could believe was in the high school level!"
"Aah, yeah, those were fun," Aomine spoke, reminiscing.
The memories were easy to recall, but Kise wasn't too keen on remembering. "Aominecchi was such a lone wolf back then! He was the ace of their team but he'd say stuff like—" and Kise furrowed his brows, dipping his voice down a few octaves in an imitation of Aomine. "The only one who can beat me—guah!"
Suddenly Kise was met with a face full of jacket, which Aomine had apparently lobbed right at him. "Shut up you," he heard Aomine spat, and scrambled to pull off the fabric from his face.
"Aominecchi!" Kise wailed, clutching the jacket in his fists. The audience laughed and cheered, and Kise spotted Aomine's faint blush as he stared daggers at Kise.
Kise couldn't help but think it was cute.
He looked at the bundle of cloth in his hands and then laughed without restraint. "You really haven't changed either, Aominecchi!"
Aomine stared at him like he was growing a second head, then gave a snort, smirking.
One of the hosts cleared their throat. "Well," he coughed. "I'd hate to third-wheel, but I'd like to ask—what was your relationship like, before?"
The audience flew into a fit of 'kyaa!'s and hoots, and Kise actually did jerk back in his seat just as Aomine did, the athlete staring at the overexcited crowd like they'd all turned into aliens.
Kise laughed at the sight again—he's been laughing way too much today—and waved his hand. "We were in the same year, on the same team, and Aominecchi was my idol, but I also wanted to beat him."
"You don't know how many times this idiot asked to play one-on-one," Aomine sighed, pointing at Kise.
"I just said I wanted to beat you!" Kise repeated. "So of course I'd want to play with you."
"Every. Single. Day." Aomine pointed out.
"So you definitely spent a lot of time together, huh?" the host noted.
"Well, yeah," Kise nodded, then narrowed his eyes. "God, yeah, we spent a heck of a lot of time together."
"I still remember you stealing my popsicle that one time, by the way," Aomine suddenly accused. "You still owe me for that."
Kise gaped at him. "Buy it yourself! You even ate one of my popsicles before, right off of my hand!"
"Huh? When was that?" Aomine's brows furrowed.
"I think it was your birthday?" Kise's eyebrows scrunched in thought. "It was after practice, at the convenience store. You still had like half a popsicle and you just grabbed my wrist and went to chomp on my popsicle from behind my shoulder."
"Oh, that? You let me eat it though," Aomine pouted at him.
"I—? Okay, right, it was your birthday so I let you," Kise groaned. "But that should make us even!"
"Hey, you took one of mine without permission! You owe me one."
"Geez, you could buy it yourself!" Kise complained.
"Hey, you owe me a popsicle," Aomine was seriously staring him down.
Kise threw up his hands. "Fine! I'll get you your stupid popsicle," he gave up. "Even though you're a big shot basketball player now…"
"A popsicle's a popsicle."
"You make no sense."
"You're just stupid."
"Says the grown-ass man still hung up over a popsicle!"
"That was an expensive popsicle."
"Like I said, you're a big shot basketball player now, you can afford hundreds of those."
"You still owe me. A debt's a debt."
"It's a popsicle."
"A debt's a debt."
Kise threw Aomine's jacket back at his face, but the big shot basketball player in him caught it in midair right before it hit him. Aomine started laughing, and Kise was pouting, but Aomine's laugh sounded so infectious, so carefree and happy, that Kise started laughing too. He could barely notice the crowd laughing and cheering in the background, and just left it up to the hosts to handle it instead.
"Fine, you win, jeez," Kise sighed.
"Aah, It's great to see how nothing seems to have changed between you two!" the female host gushed, eyes all sparkly. "Kise-kun, what can you say about Aomine-san's success as a basketball player?"
Kise shrugged. "I'm not really surprised," he answered easily. "I knew that if there was anyone who could make it in the international basketball scene, it's Aominecchi."
Somehow, without really noticing, Kise had lost all the nervousness he had accumulated before the show, getting filled instead with a sense of light happiness that calmed him and made him just forget about all the pretenses he had to keep up. He just felt that he didn't need to, not with Aominecchi right there.
Just be yourself, his sister had told him.
"Well, that's definitely true, given how successful he is right now," the host said. "But what about you, Aomine-san, what do you think of Kise-kun's success in his career?"
Aomine thought for a moment, cocking his head as he considered the question. "Nothing, really? Kise was always popular, and he could always do anything, so I guess I'm not surprised either?"
Kise found himself smiling. 'He could always do anything,' Aomine said. It made Kise feel a bit warm inside.
"What do you think about Kise-kun and basketball? About how he used to play but didn't pursue it?"
Kise's chest tightened, and he averted his eyes.
"Kise and basketball…?" he heard Aomine say. After a moment Aomine sighed, then jabbed a finger at Kise's direction. "Okay you dumbass, I'll only say this once so listen up."
Kise's head snapped up to look at Aomine, surprised. Aomine looked him square in the face. "You're a good basketball player and there were some close matches between us, okay, I admit it. And about not pursuing it, well it was your choice but it wasn't a stupid one, considering all your other stupid-ass decisions."
Kise made a face. "I heard the compliment—somewhere in there, but—"
"Don't make that face, that was a compliment. Like, three compliments, even." Aomine sat back, huffing. "Be grateful."
Kise furrowed his brows, then snorted, breaking out into another laugh. "Okay, thanks. It means a lot, coming from Mr. Big Shot Basketball Superstar and—do not throw that at me again."
Aomine squinted at Kise, one arm raised with the bunched up jacket ready to be fired at the blonde. He lowered it with a puff and softened when Kise let out a small chuckle.
"Well, that's really…sweet? Aomine-san," the host tried, laughing. "And you're right, we thank Kise-kun from the bottom of our hearts for choosing this side of the spectrum and gracing us with his presence."
Applause and cheers of agreement. Kise sighed, flashing another bright smile. "Well I wouldn't want to leave any of my fans!" More applause, more cheer.
To the side, Aomine snorted.
"Quiet, you," Kise snapped playfully at him.
"But now basketball's back in Kise-kun's life!" the host announced. "With the new role he'll be playing for the upcoming super-anticipated drama!"
"And again, we are happy to have the honor to present to you all the full preview of this popular series' adaptation! And finally, we'll get to see it!"
Kise beamed, sitting up. "Yay!" he echoed the crowd's excitement, but his heart started to thump loudly in his chest again, feeling his pulse make his limbs restless.
The lights dimmed again and the large screen blinked into a black image, letters fading into the introduction of the story. After a few seconds, the screen faded into a school setting, then an outdoor area of the school, then the outside of the gym, where the sounds of rubber shoes squeaking and basketballs bouncing flittered through. Then there was a horde of students cheering as boys played on the court, and Kise showed up on screen (the studio audience started squealing in delight), doing a crossover feint before going in for a jump shot, making the students hoot and cheer as the screen went back to a shot of Kise, with shorter hair and without any piercings, but it wasn't really Kise—it was his character, Takanashi Hiranobu, looking all proud and condescending, and almost completely stuck up. The screen flashed into a few scenes that showed how great this Takanashi was—smart, athletic, popular with the ladies, effortlessly talented and skilled, but more or less full of himself—and then he was riding on a bicycle with a girl, being chased by some huge guy, while then they were crossing the road, and a truck was coming right at them.
The scene cut out just before the truck collided with them, and suddenly Kise—Takanashi—was being wheeled in the hospital, looking completely battered, bloodied and broken, the music swelling into a flurry of strings and heavy notes as the doctors and nurses spoke in rapid, panicked succession, and Takanashi's hand went limp against the side of the hospital bed.
Then there was another shot of Takanashi covered up in bandages and bruises and breathing through a tube, unconscious on a hospital bed, and a voice over saying that his spine was damaged. That he was paralyzed. A montage of scenes followed it—a basketball game against a delinquent and a guy on a wheelchair, the roaring tires of the chair as fierce as the eyes of the man riding it, reflected in Takanashi's eyes as scenes of his awakening showed how his legs weren't his anymore, where he fell limp and helpless without any control of his lower body, where he burned his arms to their limits rolling a wheelchair down a hall and towards a glass door, the screen going black right before the sound of shattering glass broke through the music. There was blood, and Takanashi's face was twisted in anger and hopelessness, expression as shattered as the glass, and the sound of his panting and gasping was the only sound heard, his gasps building up as he brought a bloodied hand to his face, covering his eyes, and he took a sharp breath, one that was meant to tumble out of him into a scream, as tears started leaking under his hands, but the scene was cut to the title card with a muffled beat, the sad notes of a piano silently ending the preview.
And it was silent. The studio gently lit up, the audience quiet, small murmurs whispered here and there. Then they applauded, their clapping growing louder and louder as the seconds passed, and some people stood up, and Kise was able to breathe.
After a few moments, the hosts perked back up. "Wh-whoa! That was great! That was so intense! I'm feeling so emotional right now!" one flailed.
"Oh my god, I am so excited to see the drama now!" his partner flailed alongside him. "I'm so excited to see your performance, Kise-kun! And your directing, Kisaragi-san!"
"Please look forward to it," both Kise and Kisaragi said as they bowed, smiling.
The crowd was cheering, and Kise was bowing in gratitude until the applause started to die down. Then he turned to Aomine, face slightly flushed, and asked, "What did you think, Aominecchi?"
Aomine blinked at him, eyes slowly focusing back to Kise. "That—" he breathed. "Holy shit Kise, that was amazing."
Kise's eyes widened, and a blush bloomed in his cheeks almost instantly. "You think so?" he almost stuttered.
"Yeah," Aomine's eyes were shining. "I could feel what was going on. I didn't think you were that good an actor, what the hell."
Kise spluttered, trying to force himself to recover from his flustered blushing. "Well thanks," he managed.
"Kise-san, that was amazing!" Izumi piped up. "It was only a few clips but I could feel every emotion and that last scene—" the younger actor made motions with his hands. "—there was so much suspense and just—wow."
Kise couldn't fight his blush down anymore, the happiness boiling up his system as much as his blood was. "Coming from you, Izumi-chan, that means a lot! Thank you!" Izumi was definitely a more seasoned actor than Kise, having come from a celebrity family and everything, so it was a big deal for Kise. Beside him, another more experienced actor, Ryouma, was nodding fervently.
"That was really intense," Ryouma was saying excitedly. "I agree with Izumi. I can't wait to see your performance!"
KIse was bowing over and over in honest gratitude, the fullness in his chest welling up even more and stomping away his nerves. "Thank you," he kept saying, all sincerity.
The other guest celebrities and the hosts continued to give their comments about the preview and the little bits of Kise's performance that was shown. They all expressed their excitement, and Aomine threw his jacket at him again ('Stop that face you're still stupid'), and Kise was smiling so much that his cheeks started to hurt. When had he last smiled so widely and laughed so freely? Kise couldn't quite remember.
The show ended on a high note, the energy still buzzing and sparking through the air, and it seemed to go by in a flash when they all said their goodbyes to the viewers and the cameras started rolling off.
"We hope you enjoyed today's episode! Show your support for Aomine Daiki in the upcoming preseason games, and look forward to our very own Kise Ryouta and his hugely popular TV adaptation coming soon on our channel!" the hosts had said, the cameras showing a shot each of every guest in the show, ending with Aomine scowling, then Kise winking and waving goodbye. "Have a great weekend, everyone!"
# # #
Backstage
"Ryoutaaaa!"
The air was knocked right out of Kise's lungs when his sister pounced on him in a running hug, and Kise stumbled back and sucked in a breath before gasping out, "Rika-nee!"
"I'm so proud of you, little bro," Rika said, squeezing her taller brother tight. "You did great and that preview was great!"
Kise smiled, hugging her back. "Thanks, nee-chan—"
"And you lost the bet! Ha!" Rika jumped back and put her fists on her hips.
Kise visibly slumped, but remained smiling. "Yeah yeah, just grab the ten thousand from one of my accounts," he sighed. "So? You can get me to do one thing you want. What'll it be? A photo shoot? A commercial? An audition?" Kise's sister never tried to push him to do certain jobs, especially if he really didn't want to—a bit of persuasion and motivation sometimes let her get her way, but not always, and she didn't want to force him into anything—but an agreement like this, even a bet, was something Kise would see through to the end.
Rika looked thoughtful. "Hmm," she mumbled. "Let me think about it."
Kise raised an eyebrow. "…Alright. Consider it an IOU."
His sister stuck out her pinky. "Pinky promise?"
It was childish, but Kise was sticking out his finger anyway. "Pinky promise."
Their little fingers locked, and they shook on it, then Rika reached up and ruffled her brother's hair fondly, squealing. "Aah you were so great today, Ryou! Did you like my surprise?!"
Kise grabbed his sister and practically started wrestling her head under his arms. "You—you really surprised me there, you!" he gushed. "I was so happy! How did you even get Aominecchi here?!"
"I have my connections!" she said, struggling in Kise's grip but then attacking him with another hug. They were both laughing and celebrating like dorks and nothing bad could penetrate the wall of positivity the siblings had formed between them.
Kise was still hugging his sister when he spotted Aomine's tall head sticking out of a small group of people surrounding him. They were a mix of some of the guest stars and production staff getting autographs and asking questions, and Kise took that moment to just stare at Aomine's profile. He was definitely bigger, seemingly taller, and still so bright, maybe brighter than before. When Aomine caught his eye, his face twisted into an expression that screamed "Get me out of here," and Kise had to hold back his laugh when he nudged his sister from his arms.
"Thanks again, nee-chan," Kise smiled sweetly at her. "I think I'll go and help your surprise before he gets dragged away."
Rika followed his gaze and giggled, stepping to the side with a nod. "Alright, I'll be around back in a bit. You've got a few minutes!"
Kise waved as she retreated, then turned to approach Aomine.
"Aominecchi!" Kise called out.
Aomine snapped his head to look at him, expression easing after their eyes met. The people surrounding Aomine turned to look at Kise as well, then greeted him. Kise graciously greeted them back, shaking the hands of some, getting pictures with others, and tugging away their attention for Aomine.
"Thanks everyone," Kise told them, bright smile lighting up his face. "I hope you'll support the new drama!" The small group of people agreed wholeheartedly. "And I hope you'll excuse me, but I'd like to borrow Aominecchi now."
He flashed them his billboard-worthy smile, and they all stopped to gaze for a moment before agreeing, saying eager goodbyes and waving as they left. Kise heard Aomine sigh as soon as they were out of ear's reach, and Kise couldn't help but chuckle, feeling his energy pulse through him in another wave with the excitement of meeting Aomine again.
"Oh hey, Aominecchi," Kise stepped in front of him. "Sorry about earlier."
Aomine raised an eyebrow. "Earlier?"
"When I kinda…jumped on you," Kise scratched the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly. "Something happened to your foot, didn't it?"
Aomine stared at him, open surprise on his face, then sighed through his nose. "You really picked up on a lot of habits, huh."
Kise smirked, cocking his head innocently. All those years of copying his basketball peers gave him a bunch of different skills he somehow got stuck with, like Kuroko's observation. Aomine sighed again. "It's my ankle. I thought I was hiding it pretty well." No one but Satsuki and his basketball team knew. It was supposed to be a secret.
Kise didn't push the issue, chuckling. "You are, you are. I'm just that observant," he said, with no shortage of pride. Learning to become a shadow on the court had been one of the more challenging copies for Kise, who naturally got attention like a magnet. It took him more time and focus, he almost didn't notice himself stepping into the shadow of his team, using both his sharpened observation skills for misdirection and for strategy. And now he was just the right amount of perceptive and observant for the industry he's found himself working in.
Aomine ruffled his hair. "Cocky idiot," he smirked.
Kise smiled back. "Is that why you're here? Your ankle?"
They started walking across the backstage, maneuvering through the busybodies buzzing about. "Yeah, it's not that bad, but everyone's in a damn frenzy about it. They got me to vacation here for a while mostly to keep people over there from finding out I got hurt."
"The competition sounds scary," Kise almost shuddered.
"Eh, it's my team being way too damn careful," Aomine shrugged. "Feels like I'm being treated like a kid."
Kise leaned close to peer at Aomine's expression, then his lips curled into a knowing smile. "It's because they care about you, isn't it? They want to take care of you, Mr. Superstar."
Aomine side-eyed him, brows furrowed. He squinted at Kise, then shoved his hand over the blonde's face.
"Geh!" Kise spluttered, flailing away. "Aominecchi!"
Aomine snorted at him, a smile playing at his lips. Kise huffed but smiled back, and they both started laughing again, relaxing into each other's company as the years in which they hadn't seen each other seemed to finally sink in, and suddenly it felt like they needed more time.
A flash of pink flittered into Kise's vision, and this time when he looked, he caught sight of a pink-haired lady chattering with his older sister by the door, her laugh all too familiar.
"Is that—" Kise started, stepping ahead. The pink-haired person turned slightly, eyes meeting Kise's. "Momocchi!"
Momoi gasped, bouncing in place as an excited smile took over her face. "Ki-chan!"
She ran up to him and gave him a hug, Kise's happiness bubbling up as much as Momoi squeezed him like she was trying to make up for all the years she hadn't hugged him. After a while Momoi pulled her head back and looked up at him, and Kise felt his heart clench. "Momocchi, are you crying?"
Momoi sniffed, withdrawing her hand and rubbing her eyes furiously. "No, I just—I missed you Ki-chan!"
Kise's smile only grew. "I missed you too, Momocchi," he said, gently stroking his hand through her hair. "It was you nee-chan was talking to about this surprise, wasn't it?"
Momoi sniffed one more time, then smiled up at him. "Yep! We sure got you!"
Behind her, Rika stuffed some paper down her pockets with a sheepish grin. Kise raised an eyebrow. "Did you—did you both bet on it?"
Momoi pulled back and stuck out her tongue, just as Rika did the same, both of them flashing a peace sign. "Momoi-chan's future predictions sure are great," Rika grinned.
"You two…" Kise groaned. Eh, he lost the bet either way.
It was then that he realized that Aomine was no longer beside him. Kise looked around, finding Aomine standing a little ways back from where they came from, speaking to the producer-writer-director Kisaragi Jin. Aomine didn't even bother to act pleasant, but accepted the business card Kisaragi handed to him. He caught sight of Kise and glanced in their direction. Kisaragi followed his gaze and waved when he spotted Kise, giving a thumbs up before nodding and leaving the other direction.
"I take my eyes off of you for a few seconds and now you're getting offers from super-producers? Aren't you a busy guy," Kise said as Aomine approached.
"Bah," Aomine spat, stuffing a hand into his pocket. "I don't know how you do it."
"It's called "being friendly", you should try it."
Aomine flicked Kise's nose. Kise yelped, hand flying to cover his instantly sore nose. "You brute," Kise pouted.
Aomine only laughed. Kise blinked at how nice that sounded to him, realizing how rarely he got to hear it.
"Aomine-chan!" Rika clapped delightedly when they neared. "Thanks so much for coming today!"
Momoi bumped sides with Rika, and Aomine looked at them. Rika stood less than a foot shorter than Kise, with the same blonde hair and long fluttering eyelashes. She had bigger, rounder eyes a bit more on the caramel side, and a slender body, torso pinched into a slim waist befitting a model like herself.
"Sure," Aomine said. "To make up for it, your number—"
Kise was in front of his sister in a flash, all pouty lips and furrowed brows staring straight at Aomine. "Oh no you don't."
"What," Aomine frowned, shifting his leveled to meet his eyes.
"You are not hitting on my sister," Kise said decisively.
Aomine stared at Kise, still that tiny bit shorter than him, with impeccably soft hair and fair skin, and fiery amber eyes, like jewels backlit by the sun. His lips looked soft, and the tufts of his hair fell over his brows with so much grace, Aomine wanted to tug on a clump and pull until Kise falls over.
He raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, can't blame a guy for trying," Aomine said, smirking slightly, stepping around the Kise siblings and walking ahead of them.
Kise narrowed his eyes. That seemed too easy. But he'd be there for his sister anyway, so it's not like Aominecchi would have a chance to get a pass at her. Kise was determined.
Behind him, his sister was giggling. "You guys are so cute," she said. "It's like more than half a decade hasn't passed between you two. That's nice."
Kise had to agree with her, but at the same time, watching Aomine walk ahead of them towards the exit, pulling the door open and getting struck by the light of the outside sun, Kise was filled with the urge to reach out and grab his shirt, and keep him there. He stared at that broad back, that strong silhouette being lined by the setting sunlight, and somehow felt like the hours in the day were too short, too fleeting, and that Aomine was just going to disappear again, for years. Kise had never quite felt the truth in realizing how important something was until it's gone, right there. His words started bubbling up in his throat, and for a moment Kise was afraid they were all going to spill out into a horrible mess of syllables, when Aomine turned and held the door open.
"Ooh, what a gentleman," Rika giggled, walking ahead.
"Don't let that fool you," Momoi muttered, pushing her forward. She gave a pointed look to Aomine, who shrugged, mischievous. When he turned to Kise, almost letting go of the door, he stopped upon seeing his face.
"What's with the face?" Aomine asked, one eyebrow raised.
Kise pushed his feet forward, stopping a few steps short of the exit where Aomine held the door open. "Nothing," Kise mumbled, shaking his head and pulling on a wide smile. "Let's go."
Aomine's brows furrowed slightly, staring at Kise's smile and getting the urge to throw something at it. Maybe then it would turn into a different face that didn't make Aomine want to get rid of it. Maybe it'll look less weird, more…Kise.
They stepped outside and walked towards the parking lot, where there were cars waiting for the two pairs. Rika spun around and gave Momoi a tight hug, thanking her again for that day and promising to meet again for cakes sometime. Kise and Aomine both rolled their eyes at the girls, at wonder over the amazing ritual that was female bonding and how…fluffy it seemed. Rika bade farewell to Aomine, while Kise got another hug from Momoi, another tight one to compensate for the years they hadn't seen each other.
Momoi was being ushered into the car, and Kise was waving, but he was stuck. He couldn't move. When Aomine moved towards the car after speaking to Rika, Kise's hand flew to the edge of his shirt, but stopped short of grabbing it. But before Kise could step back and turn away, Aomine stopped.
"Hey, Kise," he said, turning.
Kise almost jumped, and looked him, saw the shadows shaping Aomine's face frame those midnight blue eyes. "Hm?"
"Give me your number."
Kise stared at him, not quite processing what Aomine had just said. "What."
"Give me your number, or your e-mail," Aomine said, almost impatient.
"Oh," Kise managed to say. "Oh, okay. Sure." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at it, then stuck it back in his pants.
"What, are you—"
"Shush," Kise interrupted. He stuck his hand in his other pocket and pulled out a different phone, swiping it open.
"Wow, two phones," Aomine commented. "Who's the big shot now?"
"Shut up," Kise snapped, pouting. "I got too used to pulling out the other one—that's my work phone. This is my personal phone."
"Oh," Aomine said this time. "Alright, cool, I guess. So I'm special?"
"Are we exchanging numbers or—"
"Yeah yeah, calm your pretty face, send it over," Aomine stuck out his phone and they sent their numbers to each other. Kise looked at the digits for a moment before raising his phone to Aomine's face and taking a photo.
Aomine blinked. "What did you just—"
"Contact photo!" Kise smiled, setting the photo over Aomine's number. "Nice face."
Aomine looked like he was about to wrestle with Kise for his phone, but instead took a picture of Kise's face in revenge.
"Hey!" Kise complained.
"Geh, I'm not good at this," Aomine frowned at the picture. "It's blurry."
"Here, let me," Kise offered, snatching Aomine's phone from him. He poked the screen a couple of times then positioned it in front of him, flashing a smile right as he took a photo of himself. "There," he said, satisfied. "Now you have an official selfie from me."
Aomine snatched back his phone, then looked at the photo above Kise's name and number. The sunlight cast a gold halo onto Kise, making him glow, his smile bright and sparkly and stupid. Aomine's frown pulled lower, but he settled for grunting out a sigh, stuffing his phone back in his pocket and running a hand through his hair. "Well thanks, superstar, I feel so blessed," Aomine said flatly, but a smirk pulled at his lips. He moved to grab the car door.
"Um, will we—" Kise suddenly blurt out, eyes falling to stare at his feet. "No, I mean—" he looked back up, straight at Aomine's eyes. "Can we meet again?"
Aomine saw the sun reflect in Kise's eyes, so bright and honest and full of hope. For a moment he just stood there and stared, almost at wonder at how sunlight really suited Kise. He found himself smiling, wide. "Yeah. Let's meet again. I'll call you."
Kise looked like a fire that was fed more air, flaring up with so much brightness, Aomine was almost dazzled. "I'll see you soon, then," he said, grinning wide. Aomine couldn't help but smile in return. That was a face he didn't want to get rid of.
"Oi, Aomine! Are you hitting on my brother?!" they heard Rika yell from their car a few parking spaces down.
"Yeah, and you can't stop me!" Aomine yelled back, mischievous and playful.
"Why you little—! Ryouta get away from him I'm coming!"
Rika started stomping towards them. Aomine pulled the car door open and stuck a foot inside. "I already have his number!" he called out, getting out a final tease before jumping into the backseat and looking at Kise with that huge grin. "I'll see you, Kise."
"Yeah..." Kise muttered. "See you."
Aomine nodded once then closed the door, the car rolling out of the parking slot and veering to the exit. Kise watched the car, and Aomine, just drive away into the distance, and vaguely registered his sister reaching his side to tug him into their car.
He was lugged along and dumped into the backseat, and his sister drove happily, humming sweetly as the sun set. It was then that Kise realized how hot his face felt, and that his heart was pounding in his chest so hard it almost hurt. The skies darkened into night, and the moon and stars were twinkling bright above them, but all Kise could see were midnight blue eyes.
[tbc]
A/N: Please refer to this blessing of an official art for the popsicle imagery: 38 . media . tumblr d2af5745542833d9e3006337b805c5c5/tumblr_inline_nidocwCySu1rprg13 . jpg (remove the spaces)