Why did this take so long, you ask? Because Aomine is an ass for messing with Kuroko and I hate him so intensely right now, how do I write a romance between the two when all I want to do is strangle him to death or until he gets down on his knees and apologizes to Kuroko.

Anyway, on a happier note, I spent the whole day writing and literally only just realized that it's past midnight. And here I was, thinking it was ten past eight. It also only recently dawned on me that our evil mastermind shares the same first name as Haizaki. Why I didn't see this before, I have no idea. But I can tell you that it was completely unintentional.

Hope this is to your satisfaction! I've reread it so many times that I've probably missed a few mistakes here and there so let me know if you spot any!

As always, enjoy and do let me know what you think!

"They met when my mum was pretty young. He was on a job in Germany and she was there on holiday with her family."

"Wait," Kuroko interrupted, putting his mug of tea down with a click on the dining table that divided them. "What do you mean he was on a job?"

"He's ex-yakuza. That was when he still worked for them." Aomine replied, stirring his untouched tea absentmindedly. "He quit after mum got pregnant."

Kuroko nodded for him to continue. "Anyway, it was straight out of a chick-lit book. They fell for each other and then when they came back to Japan, he found her and they started going out officially. He was pretty high-ranked in the yakuza, which was why my gramps was against the relationship, but mum was completely into him. Couple of years later they got married and had me. He left the yakuza, and started working for the government instead."

"What did he do?"

Aomine shrugged. "I never found out. According to gramps, it was some pretty shady stuff but mum said it was mostly office work. Whatever it was, he was good at it and he climbed up the ladder pretty fast. He got harder jobs and had to stay back to work late every night. It was around then that mum found out that he was having affairs."

"Affairs?"

"Affairs," Aomine confirmed with a sardonic tilt of his lips. "He was sleeping with nearly every female in the whole damn building."

"You mother must have been upset." Kuroko said softly. He watched as dark eyes softened with sadness. Aomine shook his head.

"Gramps was probably more upset than she was. Mum's the kind of person who'd bless the jackass who robbed her on the streets." Glancing away, Aomine made a face. "She was convinced it was just the stress of work. Even when he came home at night stinking of booze and perfume she'd wait on him hand and foot. Then one day he showed up with this chick with blonde hair and a face and body made out of plastic and told my mum that he was gonna marry her."

"Mum was upset, but she didn't resist it. He promised that he'd take care of us and make sure that we never wanted for anything. But after the wedding the bitch convinced him that we were leeching off him and that we were 'interrupting their personal time together'," Aomine nearly spat out the last few words. He stopped to take a deep breath, unclenching the hand he hadn't realized that he had fisted. "Long story short, he screwed up on his promise and mum and I ended up on the streets with practically nothing."

Aomine fell silent. Kuroko slid his hand across the table and hooked their fingers together. His words were soft, "What happened then?"

"We moved in with gramps. Mum raised me by working two jobs. I was a pretty messed up kid, though." This time his smile was less mocking as he stared off into space. "I got in with the wrong crowd and nearly got the life beaten out of me at one point. A cop scraped me off the sidewalk and put me back together and then whacked some sense into me. He said, 'Even if you ain't got any sense of self-preservation, at least think about your parents.' And then I remembered how mum would cry every night. Every night for a year, I could hear her sobbing through the walls. It pissed me off, 'cause I knew that it was because she missed him. He didn't deserve her, not when he hurt her so bad. I told myself after that that I'd make something of myself, just so she'd be proud."

"Then a few years ago around the time I got my badge, he showed up again. I heard he married a couple of chicks after the blonde, but when he came looking for my mum he was in the middle of a divorce." His eyes suddenly lit up with glee and he leaned forward almost conspirationally. "You should've seen the bashing gramps gave him. Never piss off any man with a walking stick, I tell ya'. By the time the neighbours dragged him away the thing was in splinters all over the street. Mum cried, but no one else did. I kinda wished I had a walking stick, too. Anyway, he spewed some crap about repenting and coming to his senses, that after all his marriages, none of them ever measured up to her and mum being the bleeding heart that she is, took him back."

Kuroko could feel the loathing radiating off the taller man. "They remarried?"

"Hell no," Aomine growled. "Gramps and I made her swear she wouldn't marry him."

"Why?" He queried. The taller of the two gave him a strange look.

"He was obviously only trying to get back in her good grace because I'm the only kid he has." Aomine sighed heavily. "The yakuza are really big on lineage and tradition and all that."

"I know," Kuroko said with a wry smile. "But maybe he really meant what he said."

"Tetsu," Aomine began with a long-suffering huff. "He tossed us out without a thought. You don't do that to someone you love."

"Even so, perhaps he really is sorry."

"I don't care if he is," he said, untangling their fingers and leaning back in his seat. "He doesn't deserve to be forgiven. 'sides, he hasn't done anything to prove it besides showing up every now and then to stick his nose into my business."

Kuroko was the one to shake his head this time, standing and walking to the sink bearing his empty mug. Aomine watched his back as he rinsed out the mug and placed it on a stand to dry.

"So," he started casually, eyes keen on the narrow back. "Do I get pity sex now?"

The slim body stilled and bright blue eyes turned to him in confusion. "What?"

"Isn't that what usually follows huge revelations of a troubled past?" He asked, earning himself a snort.

"Is that how you scored women?" Kuroko asked sarcastically.

Aomine shrugged nonchalantly, not looking the least bit embarrassed. "Maybe."

Kuroko clicked his tongue, looking disappointed. "And here I was starting to rework my opinion of you."

"Opinion?" The tan man perked up at his words. "What do you mean by opinion?"

"I was beginning to believe that the promiscuous cop with an absurdly gorgeous smile was really just a misunderstood sweetheart who had trouble expressing himself properly," Kuroko said, hanging his head forlornly. "Alas, it seems my first impression of you was accurate."

"Oi, oi," Aomine muttered, hand held up to stop Kuroko who was struggling against the urge to smile. The crease of a frown between the taller man's eyebrows made him want to kiss him. That was, until he heard the next words. "Why is my smile absurd?"

Kuroko stared at him for a while before rolling his eyes and pushing away from the counter he had been leaning against, intending to leave the kitchen. "That's not the part you should be concerned with, Ahomine."

There was the scrape of the chair and the next second he was being tugged back and spun around into a nicely muscled chest with strong arms wrapped firmly around him. He gave the detective a deadpan look, making it clear that he was unimpressed. Aomine bumped their noses together.

"I was just kidding," he murmured with a teasing tilt to his lips. "I admit that my smile tends to dazzle people."

"Blowing your own trumpet is not attractive," Kuroko said, pushing the detective's face away.

Aomine hummed, undeterred by the hand against his cheek. "Then what if I blow you?"

The hand shoving at the side of his face froze. Seconds of complete silence passed before Kuroko burst out into uncontrollable laughter, retracting his hand and pressing it against his mouth in an effort to muffle the sounds. Aomine just watched the smaller man, enraptured by the tears that pooled in aquamarine eyes as Kuroko still failed to control his laughs. He reached up and pressed Kuroko's face into his chest, savouring the rumbling he felt as Kuroko continued giggling, unintentionally nuzzling into him when he shook his head in disbelief.

"I can't decide if that was suave or just really lame," Kuroko finally managed, the laughter giving way to a sigh.

"Probably the latter," Aomine grinned down at him. "But it did the job."

"Did wh—" Kuroko's words were cut off as the taller of the two leaned down and locked their lips in a slow, searing kiss that seemed to go on forever. When they finally pulled apart, both were breathing heavily, the earlier playfulness completely forgotten. Kuroko wrapped his arms around the tan neck, tugging him closer and resumed the kiss. Aomine's hands explored the contours of the petite frame, enjoying the delicate firmness that he had committed to memory. He could barely recall a time when his body recognized another that wasn't Kuroko's. It had only been months since they began their relationship, but he felt like a lifetime had passed and his memory knew of no other besides the figure in his arms. And he found that he didn't mind that in the least.

Kuroko moaned when his fingers ran a trail up the side of his body and he rotated his thumb over a perked nipple, sending a jolt through Aomine when he pressed closer. He did the same on the other side of Kuroko's body, making him squirm. Moving suddenly, he wrapped his hands around slim thighs and hoisted the blue-haired man up, garnering a surprised squeak as he made his way down the hallway and into the bedroom, where he unceremoniously dropped Kuroko onto the bed and tugged his own shirt off before joining him.

Slipping a thigh between Kuroko's legs, he ground it against him, drinking in the soft mewling sounds the pale man made. With a combination of tugging and pushing, they managed to get rid of the rest of their clothes with their lips connected for the most part of it. Aomine leaned over the side of the bed, fumbling through the drawer of the bedside table he knew Kuroko kept the lube in. Tossing the bottle to the side to be used later, he returned his attention to the smaller body below him. Running a wet trail down the column of Kuroko's neck to his chest, Aomine slid his teeth over the nub of one nipple and bit lightly as he circled the tip with his tongue. Kuroko squirmed under him with a small cry, fingers tangling in the short navy blue strands.

Aomine turned his attention to the other nipple, repeating the action until Kuroko was writhing, begging him to stop. Slipping a hand between their bodies, Aomine wrapped long fingers around Kuroko's length, copying the motion his tongue had been following with his thumb. The other hand reached for the discarded bottle of lube and he rocked back on his heels, pouring out a generous amount. He took the time to memorize how Kuroko looked right then, face and neck flushed, reddened and well-kissed lips parted slightly as he fought to catch his breath, and eyes hooded with lust as he returned the stare. Capturing Kuroko's lips in another kiss, he hooked one of the smaller man's legs over his shoulder and nudged a slicked finger in.

There was a sharp intake of breath and Kuroko clenched his eyes shut, breathing hard. Aomine moved slowly, mindful of the fact that it had been a few days since they'd last had sex. To distract the pale-skinned man, he deepened the kiss, tangling their tongues in a heated dance while he ran his free hand tantalizingly over Kuroko's length. His goal was accomplished when Kuroko inhaled again, this time from the pleasure and frustration as Aomine continued to tease him with fluttering touches that did nothing to sedate the heat.

"Aomine-kun." He said, a whine colouring the plea.

The said man hummed, nibbling along the shell of Kuroko's ear. "What?"

"Enough with that," he huffed, almost not noticing the second finger Aomine added. He moaned, body arching upwards as the mix of pain and pleasure rocketed through him when Aomine crooked his fingers slightly.

"Enough with what?" Aomine asked, enjoying the irritated look he received for his feigned ignorance.

"Teasing," Kuroko snapped, pulling at a bunch of dark blue hair for good measure.

"But you're enjoying it," he murmured huskily, lips fractions of an inch away from light blue locks.

Kuroko trembled at the puff of hot air against sensitized skin. "Not… enough…."

Humming again in response, Aomine quickened his pace, scissoring his fingers to stretch Kuroko more before adding a third finger. He was fast reaching his own limit.

"Lift up your hips," he said, hooking the other leg over his shoulder while he aligned their bodies. He leaned forward until the tip of his cock pressed into Kuroko who curled his fingers into the bed sheet as he did what he was told. Knees digging into the mattress, Aomine thrust into the smaller body completely, making Kuroko tighten around him as his body arched with a strangled cry. Aomine didn't stop to let Kuroko adjust to his size, giving him no chance to reproach him for the sudden movement. He thrust hard and fast, rotating his hips until he found Kuroko's sensitive spot and then abused that discovery, savouring the way the petite man clenched around him and the cries he tried to hold back to no avail.

Kuroko could feel the coil of heat inside of him tighten with each thrust that hit his sweet spot. Aomine sank his teeth into the exposed column of his neck, the pain intensifying the pleasure and addling his mind. His entire being felt tightly wound up, and he barely registered raking his fingernails across the tan man's back as he chanted his name repeatedly like a beg. Aomine's breath was hot against his jaw, and he could feel the other's heart beating against his stomach, just as wild as his own.

The smaller man's body seizing and convulsing around him led him over the edge as well, and it took him several seconds to blink the blinding white out of his vision. Kuroko was limp below him, pale chest heaving as he came back down to earth. It was when Kuroko moved to slide his legs off Aomine's shoulders that he realized the taller man was still hard and deep inside him. He shot Aomine a cautious glance, feeling dread rise at the devilish smirk he received. Aomine was far from satisfied. By his standards, it had been too long since they'd last done it. He may have gone some months without sex before due to a particularly busy work schedule, but on the other hand, he hadn't had the kind of mind-numbingly addictive sex that he had with Kuroko.

"Not just yet," he said in reply to the unvoiced question with a peck on Kuroko's lips. He slipped his hands under Kuroko and pulled him flush against his body. "'Night's still young."

xx

Aomine had nearly forgotten the happenings of the day before until he was kicked out of bed by a very sore, somewhat irked Kuroko who told him that Midorima was on his way to pick him up.

"How do you even know that?" He demanded, becoming alert when the thought occurred to him. Kuroko rolled his eyes at the groggy-eyed man, testing to see if his legs could support his weight.

"Midorima-san tried calling you three times. I nearly didn't hear it over your snoring."

"I don't snore," he retorted immediately. Sheets pooled around his waist, he watched with some amusement and no little amount of satisfaction as Kuroko began to painstakingly pull himself to his feet. He didn't realize that he'd let out a chuckle until he was shot a poisonous glare.

"I told you I have work today!" Kuroko shot accusingly at him. "You didn't need to be so rough!"

"Sorry," he piped up promptly, sounding much too cheerful for it to be sincere. "I'll go slower next time."

"You'll be lucky if there's a next time," Kuroko muttered darkly, tugging a sheet viciously off the bed and knotting it around his waist.

Aomine stared at him, horror etched into his features. "You mean no more sex?"

Kuroko's glare was yakuza worthy. "Not for a very long time."

xx

"Well, don't you look bright and cheerful today."

"Fuck off, frog," Aomine growled, slamming the car door with more force than necessary, looking like he wanted to punch someone. Midorima leaned as far away as the enclosed space would allow him to.

"What happened?"

"Don't play dumb with me, you know what happened!" dark eyes turned to his partner who looked back calmly. "Why the hell did you send him to me? Now he knows about Tetsu."

Midorima's eyes widened behind his glasses. "He knows you're gay now?"

Aomine opened his mouth to retort but shut it again at the other man's words. He fidgeted uncomfortably. "No, but he met Tetsu. I don't need him making this any more complicated."

"Yeah, since you're doing such a good job at it yourself," Midorima said wryly, receiving a derisive snort from the petulant detective. He sighed tiredly. "You know I can't refuse what he asks."

The dark-skinned man remained silent, eyes stubbornly directed out the passenger window. They kept on driving like that for a few minutes before something dawned on Aomine.

"Hey, what happened to my car?" He asked, head whipping around.

Midorima shot him a strange look. "Nothing."

Aomine frowned. "Then why are you driving me around?"

"You truly are an idiot," Midorima muttered under his breath. "You were in no condition to drive the other night. You could barely stay awake."

"So where is it?"

"I would assume that it is parked at your apartment."

"Then drop me back at my place, I'll go get my car."

The green-eyed detective gave him an annoyed look. "We've already passed by your apartment."

"Then turn back," he replied with a careless wave of his hand. "What's the word on Kou?"

"He hasn't been seen at home or at work for the past week apparently," Midorima answered, used to his partner's wilful demands. He didn't like putting up with him, but it would be a good opportunity to check if the perpetrator had gone back there. "Besides destroying your apartment, he's been keeping a low profile."

"Just my luck," Aomine muttered.

Ignoring his words, Midorima continued talking. "It seems that he's gone into hiding. The models have reported that there haven't been any anonymous mail recently."

"Something's not right," The dark-haired man said, voicing what they both suspected. "He's planning something."

xx

His car, as it turned out, was still intact. The two detectives stood in front of it, staring wordlessly at the brown envelope wedged between the windscreen and a wiper that was bare except for the words 'Read Me' scrawled messily across it.

"It's not a bomb, is it?" Aomine broke the silence, making no move to reach for it.

"I don't know. It seems unlikely that it is."

"What if it is?"

"Then we blow up," Midorima said flatly. Aomine remained still. "We don't have all day."

Taking a deep breath, the navy-haired detective slowly released the envelope from its spot and shook it gently to get an idea of what its content was. He was surprised when there was the sound of something hitting the side of the paper, something extremely small in relativity to the envelope. Cautiously, he tore it open and tipped the contents into his hand. The pair glanced down, expressions confused. It was seconds later when it finally clicked and Aomine realized that what he held was a thumb drive, one that looked suspiciously like the one he had been given by Murasakibara on Akashi's behalf. He remembered tossing it into a bedside drawer.

"What is it?" Midorima spoke first this time.

"A thumb drive."

"I can see that," he responded, nudging up his spectacles. "Do you know what it's for?"

"Yes and no."

Midorima sighed in exasperation, something he did a lot around his partner. "I do not have the time to play along. I will be taking my leave. Make sure you head straight to the station."

"Yes, yes," Aomine answered vaguely.

Left alone, he continued to stand there, trying to piece the puzzle pieces together in his head. His eyes travelled between the envelope and the thumb drive. Was there something on the device that he was meant to read?

xx

"I don't get this shit," Aomine leaned back in his seat with a frustrated groan. "There's nothing to read on this thing!"

His partner was unperturbed, scrolling through something on his own computer. "Are you talking about the thumb drive you were left earlier?"

The former grunted in answer. "It's all application files to install useless programs on my computer."

"Try the read me file."

"The what?"

Midorima raised an eyebrow at his ignorance. "Installation files usually come with a read me file with instructions or credits or such."

Aomine muttered something under his breath that Midorima didn't bother to catch. Hunching over his keyboard again, he scrolled through the folder until he came to the mentioned file. Clicking on it, he was relieved and appalled at the same time by the wall of text that popped up on his screen. He had only begun to scan through it when he heard his name from across the room. Looking up, he caught his Chief beckoning for him to join him in his office.

Reverting his eyes back to his screen, he was about to shut the window when something caught his eye. In the midst of all the words there were random numbers scattered about. He squinted at them, counting. His eyes widened when he realized what they were and he grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and scribbled them in the sequence in which they appeared. He held the finished decryption in front of him, looking like he'd just found buried treasure.

"Aomine!" the sound of his Chief roaring over the din in the room turned several heads and snapped him out of his stupor. Hastily, he pocketed the piece of paper before weaving his way through the desks and people to the other side.

xx

Aomine stared at his chief's blank expression, half expecting him to burst out in laughter and tell him that the news he'd just received was just some sort of a sick joke.

"Sorry, I think I hea—" he began, only to be cut off with a hand held up to stop him. The Chief's expression was grim.

"What about Midorima?" he tried again.

"This investigation is of national level security. He has half of the country's law enforcement to back him up."

"But none of them know this case as well as the two of us!"

"Your target has been identified," his chief replied. "All that's left is to catch him. We don't need your knowledge of the case to do that."

"Bu—"

"It's been decided, Aomine," Chief interrupted him wearily. "This goes beyond me."

Eyes flashing, he slammed a fist onto the desk angrily as he shot to his feet. "It's his damn work isn't it?"

"If this 'he' you're referring to is me, then yes, it is." Aomine spun around at the sound of a newcomer, ready to strangle the man who stood just inside the office's door, dressed as impeccably as always.

"I told you to stop fucking with my business." He ground out, nails digging into his palm as he struggled against the urge to punch him.

His father returned his look coolly. "And I would usually listen, but your stubbornness this time has forced my hand."

"What the hell?"

"This man is dangerous, Daiki," he said. "He is cornered and he knows it, and a cornered animal will strike out in order to escape."

"Even if you put me on suspension he's still going to come after me." Aomine scoffed. The older of the two turned to the Chief with a mildly surprised look.

"Did you not tell him that he had a new job?"

His chief shook his head. "No Sir, I was about to before you showed up."

"Job?" Aomine's eyes darted between the two, see-sawing between feeling betrayed and confused. "What job?"

"You're being assigned a protection detail."

Aomine snorted. "How is that any better than staying on this case?"

His chief went on, "You will be in charge of Mari-san, who will be returning to her parents' home until we find Kou Shougo."

The dark-eyed man let out an incredulous laugh, whipping around to give his father a look. "You're shipping me off to the countryside?"

He received a shrug. "It is for your own good. Your mother is also –"

"Don't you fucking bring my mother into this," he snarled. His father fell silent. Abruptly, Aomine turned to his Chief, not bothering to mask the betrayal on his face. "When do I leave?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"Fine," Aomine snapped. Without another word, he turned on his heels and stormed out, slamming the door behind him with enough force to rattle the blinds.

Silence filled the void that the angry man left behind. Sighing, his father fell into one of the two chairs placed in front of the chief's desk, body slumped slightly, all signs of the imposing persona gone. Running a hand through dark hair streaked with grey, he accepted the steaming cup of instant tea held out to him by the chief.

He sipped it in quiet contemplation before he spoke. "Was I wrong to do this?"

The chief leaned back in his chair, expression impassive as he considered his answer. "With all due respect, sir, it probably wasn't the best course of action to take."

"So it would seem," he mumbled. He stared into the murky depths of his drink, wistfully recalling a time when his son didn't radiate animosity whenever he was near.

"Despite that," the chief added on, brown eyes soft and understanding when they met his. "It's what I would have done for my girl, too."

Chuckling wryly, he leaned forward to place the cup on the desk. "Do you think he'll ever forgive me?"

"Probably," the chief said thoughtfully. "He took the news much better than I thought he would."

"Indeed," he observed with a slight nod. Standing, he reached over the desk to shake hands with the chief. "Thank you for taking care of my son."

"I did nothing outstanding," the chief dismissed his words with a shake of his head. "You should thank his partner."