I AM FINALLY DONE WITH THIS CHAPTER OH MY GOD this has been so hard okay.
I hope you enjoy this. I'm really sorry I do so much terrible time skipping omg
We've been stuck here way too long.
This is the second thought that crosses Daiki's mind every morning after he wakes up in his home on Floor 35. He picked this place because it's close to a rather nice forest that has no creatures that could kill him in his sleep anymore, because the Inn on this floor sells nice food, and because he couldn't afford a house on Floor 22. Also because if he had a house on Floor 22 he'd probably spend the rest of the time spent in the game fishing and while that sounds nice, he wants to be able to protect Kise if he has to. He's not sure why he continues to have this niggling sense that he needs to be able to protect Kise, since Kise's definitely stronger than him, and has the advantage of a shield, but he hasn't been able to throw it off yet.
He hasn't had to protect Kise yet either; he and Kise haven't partied up since Kise's birthday last year, although the blond boy had bothered him almost incessantly on the lead up to his own birthday; and Kise still insists on fighting on the frontlines with his stupid guild. At least he had the sense to join the strongest one. Even though fighting on the frontlines is much safer than it used to be – people still die here and there, but there hasn't been any loss of life in a boss fight since March – Daiki still thinks it's stupid to risk your neck that way.
The first thought that crosses Daiki's mind every morning is please let Kise still be alive. His first action every morning is to check that his name is still comfortably and familiarly situated on his friends list. It's weird. It's definitely, definitely weird that he does this every day when he wakes.
Sometimes he can't help but wonder if Kise does the same thing in the mornings.
They've been here just about a year and a half. It's going to be Kise's birthday again soon. Daiki's still playing solo – it's not the best way of earning Col on his own, but he doesn't care enough and doesn't like people enough to be an information broker or a merchant or a blacksmith. Floor 35 is nice enough, and his home is comfortable enough, if spartan because he only comes here to sleep.
Kise would make all sorts of squawking noises about it, he's sure. Kise's house is probably well furnished and comfortable, even though Kise probably spends just about as much time in his home as Daiki does – which is to say, not all that much.
Daiki's learned to live with the perpetual ache that is missing Satsuki, missing Tetsu, missing Kagami, missing those bloody weirdos Midorima and Murasakibara and Akashi, and basketball. God but he misses basketball. Sword fighting and battle is all well and good for making his blood sing, but he doesn't like to take risks with his chances of survival, and he doesn't push for a challenge very often. So the days have passed by. He's reasonably strong, although he probably couldn't solo the frontlines like the Black Swordsman. He could do it with Kise, he's pretty sure.
Daiki pulls himself out of bed, once he's reassured himself of Kise's continued existence. It's summer in Aincrad at the moment; not the blistering, sweltering, humid kind of summer that he's more familiar with, but it's comfortable, with sunny skies and the occasional cool breeze. It's napping weather if he'd ever heard of it. He's always more than half tempted to sleep the days away. But really, it wasn't exactly safe to go napping outside. It wasn't that he had enemies, exactly; Daiki wasn't high profile or rich enough to have enemies. It's just... he might have pissed off a few guys here and there. It's not his fault people don't like his attitude towards the game. Okay, and maybe some of them got a bit offended when he told them they were going to die.
A few frontline guilds have tried to scout him – he maintains a few floors distance from the frontlines, but at this point, he's been heard of, even if he's not famous. The frontline guilds are always hungry for more players to fill out their frontline ranks. Even Kise's guild has tried to rope him in. He didn't have the heart to tell their recruiter that they needed to be a little bit blonder for him to even bother considering the proposal. But really, he doesn't want to join a guild, even the big guilds where there isn't quite so much camaraderie anymore, because they're more like an army than a group of people getting along and working and fighting together. He's managed to successfully avoid getting too close to anyone, and so there is no death to fear.
Except for Kise.
Of course, the idea of Kise dying is ludicrous, because Kise promised, and because Daiki simply can't imagine a world without Kise in it. It's just so impossible, to think there could ever be a time when Kise would not cheerfully call out his name, or beg to play basketball with him, or whine about whatever it is that he's whining about today, or look at Daiki with golden eyes hardened with determination. And besides, the idea of it makes his stomach twist up in knots, so why dwell on something that's never going to happen?
Daiki's morning routine has led him through the motions of equipping his clothes and light armour that doesn't inhibit his movements, and out the door of his house. It's a later start than most people get to, so there aren't a lot of people around. That suits Daiki fine, as he wanders towards the teleport gate and warps to the Floor whose dungeon he's working through at the moment. It's a long journey to the dungeon from the main town on this floor, and it's boring. Walking everywhere sucks, but teleport crystals for anywhere but towns are expensive as hell, and just not worth it.
Still, it's such a nice day. Daiki really wants to give in to his urge to throw himself down on the grass and nap, except that now that he's pulled up his map data, he's noticed that Kise is on this floor at the moment.
It's weird – usually when Kise's in a hunting party with his guild, he'll be on a frontline floor. Almost unthinkingly, Daiki finds himself rerouting himself to coincide with Kise's party in the dungeon. They're heading towards a quest boss Daiki hasn't cleared yet, but knows of – he's not quite strong enough to solo this one.
He'd been keeping an absent eye on the map, keeping track of the group of players and Kise as he wandered through the labyrinth of caves, when one of them disappeared.
Dread curled its way into Daiki's stomach and his step faltered, staring dumbly at the map. Maybe it was a mistake; maybe someone was just stupid, maybe—
Another one disappeared. Daiki felt as if he was going to throw up, except he was pretty sure that's not a thing you can actually do here, and he pulled himself together and starts to run as a third disappeared.
He's not too far away. He's not, he will make it in time, he will. Kise looks like he's throwing himself in front of people, and then presumably being knocked back, and Daiki has never felt so panicked before.
Kise is going to get himself killed. Why hadn't Daiki seen this coming and done something about it sooner? Kise would never let himself be okay with standing by and letting other people die, he'd try to protect them and fight for them, just like on the basketball court and Daiki would never have let this happen if he hadn't let the weirdness settle between them, if he hadn't let them split up. If Kise died he was never going to be able to forgive himself...
He arrived at the chamber only to watch another player staring at him with wide, terrified eyes, before they burst into blue light. They quest boss they were battling was a large skeleton thing, and still had far too much health, and those players remaining from the hunting party were cowering towards the back. Kise was lying on the ground, his shield gone – likely it had taken so much damage that it had become irreparable.
Daiki didn't even think before he barrelled over to where Kise was lying and dropping to his knees to get a closer look at him. His health was red, but not dropping. He was alive.
He didn't have the time to sit on that, or get out any healing items, because at that moment a shadow fell across them both. Daiki drew his sword and turned on his knees, jabbing at the monster and pushing it backwards.
"What are you doing," he hissed at the players who were still hiding towards the back. "You need to help me if Kise's going to get out of here alive!"
Behind him, he heard Kise groan.
"Are you up, sleeping beauty?" Daiki asked, looking behind him. The words, ones he'd used to greet Kise in the morning sometimes before they'd split, felt comforting and familiar on his tongue.
The boss creature roared. The players hadn't made any move to engage it in battle.
"Guess I have to do everything myself," Daiki muttered, before throwing himself towards it. He could feel his blood singing, every nerve in his body thrumming with the knowledge that this was a life and death battle – this monster could kill him, this monster could kill Kise, and if he failed they were both dead.
It would be foolhardy to engage any long combinations, he figured – even if he dealt the damage, he might not survive the retaliatory attack while stuck in the post-skill cooldown. Better was to attempt short combinations he was sure he could survive. It would make the battle longer, but he wouldn't be doing either of them any favours by dying now.
What he hadn't counted on was Kise jumping back into battle.
A low-grade healing item had shored his health back into the yellow zone, and a second shield had been recovered from his inventory. They weren't partied up, so switching properly wasn't an option, but his shield took the blow aimed for Daiki.
"Idiot, get back and heal more!"
Kise smiled at him. "Don't have any more healing items," he told him. "And there's no sense in you needlessly taking damage."
"I wouldn't have to if those morons over there would fucking do something," Daiki snapped, turning and running towards the beast again, feeling the rapier thrum beneath his fingers as the skill activated. Three rapid hits, and then he was sent flying from a punch, and landed heavily on his back. Damn.
He pulled himself up and readied his blade again. Kise had rallied someone from the wall into the fight – they were switching, though Daiki noticed that Kise was taking the forward position significantly more often than the boy he'd gotten to join him, and was taking damage again.
Fuck.
Daiki ran forward, executing one of his longer, and more powerful, skill combinations. With its attention on Kise and the other kid, who were actually actively on the quest, it was unlikely that he would take too much damage while he was stuck in the cooldown. He watched as it descended upon Kise and his party member furiously, its health dropping low and triggering a second battle phase.
It was just too bad that Kise's friend picked that moment to freeze again in terror. Kise was in front of the boy in an instant, him and his shield taking the blow meant for the boy.
Daiki launched another attack. "Finish it!"
"I'll cover you," Kise promised his teammate.
Daiki wanted to tell Kise not to do it, that he was stupid, that he should just kill it himself because they'd all be spared a whole bunch of grief and this kid was going to botch it and get both of them killed...
Daiki watched, frozen in cooldown, as the two of them approached the monster. Kise swung his sword for the first attack, and knocked it off balance.
"Switch!"
This was almost painful to watch. The boy switched, but he seemed too frightened to make the final hit and kill it. The monster swung at him, and Kise charged in to take the hit on his shield. It threw him back.
"What are you doing?" Daiki roared, "One hit will do it!"
He didn't watch to check that the kid did as he was told. Kise had taken damage in that hit, and he didn't have a lot of health to spare right now. He dropped down to his knees beside him. Kise was groaning.
"I bet that would have hurt," Kise said, and looked up at him. Wordlessly, Daiki reached into his pouch and took out a healing crystal.
"You're so stupid," he told Kise. "Stupid Kise, still always doing these stupid things."
Kise laughed. "Yeah." He used the healing crystal, and Daiki heaved a private sigh of relief, seeing Kise's health bar return to a safe green.
"Clearly this guild of yours can't protect you properly," he added. "So obviously I'm going to have to do it."
Kise stared at him, his mouth parted and eyes widened in shock. Daiki rubbed the back of his neck, feeling awkward.
"Aominecchi..."
It was at this point that the rest of Kise's party members approached. Daiki scowled at them (these useless bastards almost got Kise killed), but to his annoyance, this didn't make them back off.
"Give us a minute, okay?" Kise asked Daiki in a low tone. "I'll send them all home, and then we can talk, okay?"
Daiki nodded, and backed away and leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes, and let the sound of Kise's voice, words indistinct, wash over him. When he heard the sound of footsteps, he opened his eyes and looked up.
Now that he had the time, he looked Kise over. He looked worn out, somehow. There was a defeated line to his shoulders that Daiki was familiar with from times when Kise had walked off the basketball court in defeat.
Kise's smile was small but honest as he came to a stop in front of him. "We should take this somewhere a little more private," he offered. "I have a nice place in Algade, on Floor 50."
"Okay."
The walk from the dungeon was long and quiet. Kise didn't fill the silence the way that he usually would; Daiki didn't even try his hand at it. The walk through Algade was almost maddening; the biggest populated city in Aincrad these days, and the place was maddeningly confusing to navigate. People called out greetings to Kise as he walked through the streets, a few commenting on how early he had decided to come home today, and one or two asking who Daiki was. Kise laughed and waved at them, but didn't answer any questions.
Kise's place was small, when they finally arrived, but it felt somehow comfortable. Kise waved him over to the couch, then took the opportunity to change into something more casual than his flashy Knight uniform and stow away his equipment.
Kise sat down heavily on the couch next to him, and leaned back. They sat in silence for a moment. Daiki wasn't sure how to start this conversation.
"I was really happy, you know," Kise started. "When I saw Aominecchi in front of me, when I thought I was going to die."
Daiki reached over to knock his fist gently against Kise's head. "Idiot. You scared the life out of me. What happened to that promise, huh?"
Kise smiled and brushed Daiki's hand away. "Aominecchi, that day..."
Daiki tensed. This was the reason why they had come here, and they both knew it.
"I thought you would be safer," Daiki muttered. "And... you know, your reputation..."
Kise's forehead crinkled as he processed that, and then he seemed to have some kind of realisation; he laughed, and it was probably the best sound Daiki had ever heard in this world, full and honest and real like nothing had felt since that day they split up.
"Aominecchi, you're too much!" he said, grinning. "Ah, there was something I wanted to say, but I guess... well, I guess I underestimated Aominecchi. I didn't think that was something I would do."
Kise stood up. "I'm not going to leave the Knights of the Blood Oath," he informed Daiki. "So, if you want to be a big man and protect me, then Aominecchi's going to have to join us."
Daiki crossed his arms and scowled. "I'm not protecting you! I'm making sure you keep your promise to me."
Kise smiled at him as if he saw right through him. "Sure, Aominecchi."
The next morning, Daiki woke up to the sound of banging on his front door.
"What the fuck," he groaned as he hauled himself up. Blinking sleepily, he stumbled towards the door and wrenched it open.
"Good morning, Aominecchi!"
Daiki stared at Kise for a moment. "I shouldn't have told you where I lived," he grumbled. "Come in, then."
Kise looked around with interest as Daiki stretched and opened up his menu and start equipping things. His fingers itched to check his friend list like he did every morning, but Kise was right there in front of him. There was no need to check if he was alive.
That made him feel kind of warm inside.
"Aominecchi, I got given the ability to invite you into the guild. Just for today! So you need to accept my invitation when I give it to you, and then we're going to go to Grandzam and get you a uniform, and then we'll go and clear the dungeon on Floor 55 with Godfree so he can get an idea about your strength! You're probably not as fast as Asunacchi, but we need all the help we can get on the frontlines, you know."
Daiki frowned, but nodded. Honestly, he felt a little bit of trepidation about going to fight on the frontlines, but clearly he wasn't going to be able to talk Kise out of it, and given yesterday's debacle with the quest boss, there was no way he was going to let Kise walk into a Floor Boss fight without him.
A message popped up on his menu screen. Kisery has invited you to join the guild 'Knights of the Blood Oath'. Do you accept?
Daiki's finger hovered over the blue acceptance button for a moment, and then he pressed it. Kise beamed.
"Hurry up then, Aominecchi!"
"I haven't eaten breakfast yet," Daiki complained. "What's got you in such a rush, model-san?"
Kise went pink and pouted. "It's already so late in the morning, though, Aominecchi! Were you seriously still asleep?"
"Of course."
Kise sighed. "Your house is so boring too. You must have the Col to spare for some nice furniture and decorations! You're living out in the sticks on Floor 35, do you realise what a pain it is to get here?"
"I didn't miss you at all," Daiki muttered under his breath. Louder, he added, "I forgot how much you complain about everything."
"I missed partying with you, Aominecchi," Kise told him, "so I don't even mind that you're being mean to me today, because I get to play with you again!"
Daiki sighed. "As long as we stop to get something to eat, I don't care."
"We can find something at Grandzam. Come on, Aominecchi!"
Daiki let Kise tug on his wrist as he finished equipping his items and skills. "Yeah, okay, I'm ready already."
"You should move somewhere more convenient, Aominecchi," Kise complained again as they left his house.
"Too expensive," Daiki grunted.
"I don't want to have to come and fetch you every day!" Kise wailed. "It takes forever and you won't even be ready! I know I'm good, but I can't take this much time out from working on the frontlines you know, Aominecchi!"
"Are you trying to get to a point here, Kise?"
There was a sly smile on Kise's face. "We should room together like before! I know you kind of wanted to rip my head off, but you know, it was so convenient, and you can't use the excuse you don't have enough money!"
Daiki frowned. "Living together, Kise? That's probably not very good for your reputation, is it?"
He got a hand waved in his face for the trouble of bringing up this particular train of thought. "Don't be ridiculous, Aominecchi. If you're really concerned, I suppose we could pass it off as you being my bodyguard, since the guild leaders all have one, though most people know I'm not quite that high on our command chain."
"I certainly wouldn't trust you with any decision making," Daiki commented.
"You're so mean to me, Aominecchi."
Daiki slung an arm around Kise's neck and grinned at him. "You enjoy being teased," he countered. "It's okay, I know you missed me, you don't have to say anything."
Kise shoved him off, pouting, and Daiki couldn't help wondering if the sound of Kise's breathing at night would still be just as soothing as it was before.
"Alright," Daiki decided, smirking at Kise. "I'll live in your house. But only because I can't be bothered figuring out how the fuck to get anywhere in Algade, that place is a fucking maze."
Kise grins and Daiki notices that some time during their exchange, they've arrived at the teleport gate.
"Teleport: Grandzam!" Kise ordered it.
Kise is easier to live with this time.
He's not entirely sure what the difference is. Kise himself hasn't changed his habits, and he's just as headache-inducing-ly bubbly and energetic in the mornings, but somehow it's not quite as aggravating as it used to be.
(Daiki's starting to think all this time spent alone has fucked with his brain, because he likes being with Kise all the time now. Kise's smiles have reached back into his golden eyes, and playing with Kise on the frontline makes him feel alive again the way he does on a basketball court.)
Neither of them can cook. Kise laments this nightly, but they take turns paying for the NPC meals, and neither of them is willing to devote precious skill points into something useless like cooking when levelling up takes as much work as it does now.
"Asunacchi can cook," Kise confides in him one evening as they're lazing in their beds. Kise's home in Algade only had one small bedroom, but they've managed to squeeze two beds in there somehow. (There isn't much space between them; Daiki could reach over and touch Kise at any point. He never does, but it's nice to know that he can reach over and have solid, tangible proof that Kise is alive and beside him.)
"She cooked for me once, though her skill wasn't as high as it is these days. It was back when the guild was a bit smaller, you know? I miss those days. Even though everyone was really determined, it was nice, feeling close with everyone. The guild feels so big and lonely." Kise turned his head and smiled and Daiki – Daiki thought for a moment his heart was beating a little faster.
"I never joined a guild," Daiki informed Kise.
"You never change, Aominecchi," Kise replied, laughing. "You still don't play very well with others."
I only need to play well with you felt as if it was on the tip of his tongue. He swallowed it and threw his pillow at Kise's face instead.
Kise threw it back and turned to lie sprawled out on his back. "My birthday's next week, Aominecchi," he said, changing their conversation topic. "But I don't know what to ask for."
Daiki sighed. "Then I don't know, save it for when we get home or something."
"That could take forever though, Aominecchi!" Kise complained. "We're on Floor 62, and we've been here for almost a year and a half. It could be another year and a half or longer until we get home."
They fell to silence as Kise finished speaking.
"Ugh, but I want to play basketball," Daiki grumbled. "Another year and a half until I can play basketball again?"
Kise looked as if he wanted to say something, and then seemed to decide against it. "I wonder how good everyone has gotten while we've been gone. It's going to be a bitch to learn all their new tricks." He looked over at Daiki again, and a sly smirk made its way onto his face. "I bet you'll lose fantastically to Kagamicchi in a one on one."
Daiki sat up in outrage. "No way will that idiot beat me!"
"Aominecchi, he already did..."
Still, Daiki couldn't help the thrill of anticipation that tore through him as he thought about how much their old teammates, and Kagami, would have grown, how incredible it would be to fight against them.
"Ah, shit," he said, falling back onto the bed. "I don't want to think about it anymore, it just makes me miss basketball too much."
"You're still the same basketball idiot as ever," Kise commented. Daiki looked across – there was a small smile on Kise's face. It wasn't an expression he was familiar with, and it wasn't what Daiki would call cheerful, but it wasn't unhappy either, so Daiki put it out of his mind.
They ended up spending Kise's birthday just like they spent most of their days these days, and the same way that they had spent his birthday last year. Daiki almost felt bad, because it didn't seem to be special, but Kise seemed happy, so he put it aside.
Daiki's first Floor Boss fight happened just days after Kise's birthday. Kise was called into Headquarters, and so Daiki reluctantly found himself trailing behind him. He would never, ever, ever admit as much, but he was nervous. This was dangerous. People died in boss fights. Sure, maybe none had died since Floor 56, but that didn't mean the streak wouldn't be broken in this fight.
He wanted to ask Kise not to fight. He wanted to tell Kise to stay home with him. But that would come off really cowardly, and he couldn't bear to let Kise see him that way. Kise had weathered a number of these battles, anyway. Surely, with Daiki by his side, there was absolutely nothing to worry about.
The boss was a warrior type, wielding a large axe. Daiki and Kise had ended up, somehow, in a group, despite Daiki's attitude towards working with anyone other than Kise.
"Shut up, Aominecchi," Kise had said rather sweetly as they'd walked down the corridors towards the boss room.
Despite being in a group of eight, for the most part, Daiki found that people had preferred partners to switch with, though obviously if someone looked as though they might be in trouble, someone would jump in. The strategy for dealing with this boss was largely for sword and shield users to take and deflect the swings of the axe, and the other players to focus on offense. There was something really comfortable about the routine with which the players executed their strategy that settled Daiki's fear that someone stupid would get him or Kise killed, and let him relax into the adrenaline thrum caused by the battle.
It was almost too easy, Daiki wanted to say after the battle was won with no loss of life, but he didn't. He simply followed as the group walked on to activate the portal, and watched as Kise grinned and chatted tiredly with the guildmates he was friendliest with.
"Come on, Aominecchi, I really want to watch Kirito-kun fight the Commander! Didn't you hear about him?"
"Do you think the kid will beat the Commander?" Daiki asked, yawning, as Kise pulled him through the crowd by his wrist anyway.
Kise hummed. "I don't know," he answered finally. "I've seen the Commander use his Unique Skill before in a few of the more difficult Boss fights, but like pretty much everyone else, I've only heard rumours about Kirito-kun's Dual Blades. It's hard to imagine the Commander losing, though."
Daiki had to agree; while not personally acquainted with the Commander, he had seen him in action over the past few months and Floor Boss fights. It was hard to miss him, after all, dressed all in red with his distinctive shield. He was fairly certain he'd seen Kirito in a few Floor Boss fights as well – the Black Swordsman was also a distinctive presence on the battlefield – but he'd never had more than the single black sword in those battles.
Kise threaded them through the crowd and into the seating area. "I heard there's a wager on the battle."
"I don't care."
"I heard Asunacchi was going to take some time off from the guild, but the Commander said he had to win her leave, but if he loses he'll have to join our guild."
"I still don't care, Kise."
Kise shoved Daiki down into a seat. "It's going be a good duel, Aominecchi! Come on!"
"Yeah, probably," he agreed.
Kise watched avidly as the Commander and the Black Swordsman walked out into the centre of the arena, and Daiki felt warm. It was rare to see Kise so happily invested in something here. Being invested in surviving was grim rather than enjoyable.
He looked away, and caught the start of the battle, Kirito attempting the first attack, and being completely repelled by the Commander's shield.
"They're both so strong," Kise commented; there was a tinge of respect to his tone. "But the Commander's defence is insane."
"The Swordsman reacts quickly. I'd almost say he has the instincts."
"But even if he's fast, can he really get through that defence?"
Daiki grinned. "If I can get through Murasakibara's defence, I bet the Swordsman can get through the Commander's."
"This is not basketball, Aominecchi!"
"Look, there's an opening! Oh, wait... no." Daiki frowned. "I didn't think the Commander would be that fast. I guess it must have been a feint to catch the Swordsman. Still, for a moment I thought he'd broken the Commander's defence."
Kise hummed thoughtfully. "That was a little anti-climactic though," he complained. "Ah, but this means we got another strong player to add to our ranks! The Divine Dragon Alliance will be seething when they see Kiritocchi in the white of the Knights."
"Weren't you calling him Kirito-kun like five minutes ago?"
Kise elbowed him. Daiki elbowed him back.
"I have to respect him after that battle, Aominecchi!" Kise whined. "Did you even see what I just saw?"
Okay, maybe it was impressive. Still, he didn't have to say so.
"Ah, but poor Asunacchi won't get her leave from the guild," Kise realised as he stood up. "That must suck."
"We have our work cut out for us clearing this floor, Kise, I can't feel all that bad about two strong frontline players having to stay here and help us get out of here faster," Daiki said, voice flat as he stood to follow Kise out of the stadium. "Now come on, how much Col did you drop on the tickets to watch this? We'll need to go earn that back now."
Kise smiled over his shoulder. "It'll be fine. Besides, other than being a little bit small, I think our house is good."
Daiki prodded Kise's ribs. "Come on. You've had your fun for the day. Dungeon time now."
It was as they walked home through the maze of streets that Algade comprised of three days later that Kise got a message.
"Ah... I've been called into Headquarters," he said to Daiki, apologetic. "I'll meet you at home?"
"Yeah. Try not to take too long, I don't want to wait to eat," Daiki grumbled.
"Aominecchi, you don't have to have dinner with me..." Kise pointed out.
"It's your turn to pay for dinner," he answered, feeling flustered. He wasn't even sure that was true (actually he was fairly certain it was his turn to pay for dinner, and he was also fairly certain Kise knew that), but somehow he felt the need to cover up for the sentiment.
"Well, if it takes too long, feel free to go without me," Kise said. "I'll pay next time."
With that, he turned around and returned to the warp gate, and Daiki trudged moodily back to their house.
(He wasn't sure when it stopped being Kise's and started being theirs; it was just one of those things that he shoved from his mind, like the way he felt lonely for the first time in ages now that Kise was gone, and the way he had stopped checking the friends list every morning and night because he could hear Kise breathing practically right next to him, and how some nights he gave into the desire to touch his hand where it laid palm up and fingers loosely curled, and refused to think about why he wanted to do it and why it made his stomach feel jittery)
He ended up sitting on his bed waiting for Kise, who returned wearing his model smile, which he dropped immediately once in the safety of their home.
"Godfree's dead," he informed Daiki bluntly, collapsing on Daiki's bed. He squawked, looking up from his menu screen where he'd been looking over his inventory for anything worth selling.
"What happened?" Daiki asked quietly, closing the menu. He didn't care, not really – despite having been a member of the Knights of the Blood Oath for just over four months, he wasn't really close with anyone. But he knew Godfree, because he organised a lot of their battle strategies and formations. And he knew that Kise was very friendly with a lot of the frontline fighters in the guild.
"Murdered," Kise mumbled, turning over onto his side to curl up below Daiki's feet. "That creepy guy who used to be Asunacchi's body guard did it as a part of his plan to get revenge on Kiritocchi for being humiliated. Apparently he almost killed them both too, but Kiritocchi killed him. The two of them are taking leave from the guild. I've been asked to handle some of the responsibilities of forward command, since I'm an older member who fights on the frontlines, and I'm well known and recognisable."
Daiki frowned. "That's a lot of firepower we're losing on the frontlines," he mumbled. Then, hesitating for a moment then pushing through the indecision, he asked, "How are you doing with it?"
"I'm scared I'll get people killed," he admitted quietly. "And... I mean, Godfree and I weren't good friends or anything, but he was still... he was still someone I knew. He was kind, and friendly, and I don't think he had a bad bone in his body. He wanted people to get along."
Kise hauled himself up into a sitting position. Daiki felt at a loss for what to do. Kise had that look about him, the one that was a little bit haunted and usually came when he was dwelling too much on their imminent mortality.
He reacted pretty much purely on instinct, reaching over to tug Kise back and over between his knees, then resting his hands awkwardly on Kise's side and shoulder. Okay, so this was a lot weirder than when it was with Satsuki, but it was kind of nice, too. He ignored the way Kise was staring at him like he'd grown a second head and looked away.
"When Satsuki's really worked up about something I..." he started to say, and then stopped, unable to finish the sentence. He lifted one of his hands to rub the back of his neck for a moment, then put it back on Kise's shoulder. "Yeah," he finished, lamely.
Kise closed his eyes and let his head drop against Daiki's shoulder. "Yeah."
Daiki is with Kise almost two weeks later in the cave where the major frontline guilds are waiting for the boss room scouting party to come back when they've found out about Floor 75's boss, and is therefore there when the news is broken that the doors opened to the boss room again and it was empty, and that the players sent inside, a joint venture of all the big frontline guilds, have not teleported either to Collinia, or their respective Headquarters. Someone is sent to the Monument of Life to validate what they all sense in their guts to be true; that they were killed in the boss room, unable to teleport away.
Kise's almost beside himself, and if this wasn't a very public forum, Daiki's pretty sure he'd be pulling Kise into another really awkward hug. They didn't talk about that night, and they didn't talk about the fact they fell asleep that way (and Daiki certainly didn't even think about how comfortable it had felt and how warm he'd felt with Kise beneath his hands, and the way that he wanted that again, wanted to feel the way Kise breathed as he slept as well as hear it).
Daiki wasn't sure what they would say about it anyway.
The guild commanders are all in an uproar. Boss rooms have never been trapped like this before; this makes everything so much more dangerous.
Eventually, when everyone calms down, it's decided that the largest attack force that can be mustered will have to be sent in. Everyone who was on the frontlines at the time remembers Floor 25 and 50, and the difficult battles of those floors. No one, even those who weren't at those battles, believes this one will be any easier.
Kirito and Asuna are called back from their honeymoon for the boss raid. Everyone is given time to prepare themselves before they go to battle.
Daiki is lying on a couch staring at the ceiling in their Headquarters when Kise approaches.
"Aominecchi..."
He looked over. Kise was fiddling with the edge of his white coat, a nervous tic if there ever was one. There's a heavy feeling in the air all over Headquarters; Daiki has almost been expecting this.
"Are you here to say something in case one of us dies in the boss room?" Daiki asked bluntly. Kise chewed at his bottom lip and fiddled with the earring on his left ear. He's not sure when Kise got it done on his avatar here, he realised.
He sat up and stretched, then walked over to where Kise stood, and lifted his hand to rest on Kise's head.
"You're not going to say it," Daiki ordered him. "You're not going to say it because we're going to survive. You promised me, blondie, remember? We're going to play basketball again."
He paused, and let his hand drop from Kise's head to his shoulder, and then curled it around him. Kise's shaking again.
"If you absolutely have to say it," he added, "you'll tell me when we get to Floor 76, okay? But we're gonna make it out, pretty boy. I won't let you die."
Kise nodded into his shoulder, and Daiki guessed that was the best he could do.
Beeping was the sound that Daiki woke to.
His eyes felt heavy, but somehow he managed to pry them open. The helmet he'd put on that fateful day, just barely over two years ago, was what he saw, and for a moment it felt so surreal.
His body felt sluggish and heavy. Just lifting his arm was difficult, and it wasn't worth the trouble when his hand was in his sight and fuck was that his fucking hand what the fuck.
He let it drop, and took a few deep breaths. Okay. So he hadn't actually thought about what it meant that his physical body wasn't moving and wasn't eating or drinking. He'd never actually thought about how his body could still be alive when his consciousness wasn't there to take care of it.
His stomach felt empty, but nausea felt as if it was coming in waves.
Daiki wondered if Kise had thought about this.
He eventually managed to haul himself up into a sitting position. He felt like he should call a nurse or something so they could get in contact with his parents and Satsuki, but if everyone was logged out, surely people would know and have started to make their way towards the hospitals?
Somehow, he was sure Satsuki would be here soon. He could help the smile that crept on him at the thought.
Not long after, the door to his room was thrown open. Standing in the doorway was a sweaty girl gasping for breath, pink hair falling messily all over her face.
And then she started crying.
"Don't cry!" Daiki croaked. Satsuki ran over to his bed and buried her head in the blankets near his leg. It took her a moment to gather herself, and finally, she managed to look up at him with something that was probably supposed to resemble an angry or scolding face.
"You are never allowed to scare me like that ever again, do you hear me, Aomine Daiki?" she whispered. Her voice broke on his name. "Never."
Daiki reached out to rest a hand on her head. "Yeah, okay. I promise."
"I missed you so much," Satsuki said her voice thick. Her eyes were bright with tears still.
"I missed you too," Daiki admitted quietly.
Satsuki's phone buzzed. Reluctantly, she lifted her head, and Daiki let his hand slip from it back onto the bed. She looked at it and frowned, then sent a rapid response.
"Who's that?"
"Tetsu-kun," she answered. "He was asking if I was here with you and if you were awake yet. I told them they have to come tomorrow. Today you're mine until your family and doctor take you."
Daiki smiled at her. "Come on," he said, shifting over as much as he could. "Come here and tell me what everyone's doing and who won which tournaments. I know you want to."
Satsuki rubbed her eyes and clambered onto the bed to sit beside him. Daiki leaned against her, and wished that he felt he could keep an arm around her shoulder.
It wasn't until after the flurry of doctors' appointments and tearful reunions with his parents and a visit from the rest of the Miracles, that Daiki realised that no one had said anything about Kise.
"How's Kise going?" he asked Satsuki that afternoon. She'd come in with a satchel full of her university things, and had told him she often studied in here.
She froze, and Daiki got a very bad feeling.
"I guess... well, I should have known... I thought..." she mumbled, before biting her lip and taking a deep breath.
"Ki-chan... hasn't woken up yet."
Daiki felt like his stomach was bottoming out of his body. "He what?"
Satsuki twisted her fingers together. "From what Se—Akashi-kun has been able to determine, three hundred players from Sword Art Online have yet to wake up. Ki-chan is one of them."
sorry not sorry for that chapter ending please don't kill me