If Kise received a dollar for how many girlfriends, stalkers, and admirers he's had over the past few years, he'd be close to a millionaire by now. His fame as a star basketball player, prodigy, and model brought him both joy and uncertainty.

While Kise enjoyed the overwhelming attention he received, there were times he really wished he had Kuroko's invisibility.

Fans tended to get a little too overwhelming for him to the point he'd been a regular victim of stalking. But there were times when fans would take it to a whole new level and become completely obsessed with him.

Though he'd never actually told anyone, there'd been instances where he'd been groped and touched inappropriately. This usually happened when he was crowded with girls attempting to get his autograph or take a photo with him.

As someone with a reputation to keep, Kise kept up his smile and brushed it off. Anyone who knew him very well knew how misleading his facial expressions could be.

Kise was a lot smarter and more sensitive than people gave him credit for. Not academically of course but socially, he was knowledgeable.

But even with his expert knowledge of social interactions and reading people, he couldn't prepare himself from being pulled into an unexpected kiss.

Utterly shocked, he politely (but hurriedly) pushed the girl away. Touching his lips, he looked at the girl expecting an apology of some sort but instead, all he received was a quick 'thanks' and she ran off leaving him standing there like an idiot.

Now, this wasn't Kise's first kiss but the event in which the kiss happened was definitely a new one. Girls usually called him out to hand him a love letter or ask him out but none had physically planted a firm kiss on his lips upon their meeting.

And no matter how playful he was, this was just…wrong.

He seriously hoped he'd never see that girl again. If he did, he'd have to fake a smile and pretend it was completely fine to kiss him unexpectedly when the two weren't even the least bit familiar.

Wiping his lips with the sleeve of his jacket, he shook his head and walked back to his classroom at a relaxed pace.

Unknown to the blond, a pair of furious eyes watched the entire event unfold and glared at Kise's departing form.

[-A-]

A training camp was going to be held at Kaijo. The teams who were invited included the entire generation of miracles and their teams including Seirin.

The week leading up to it had Kise a lot more excited than usual to the point he forgot about the kiss incident. And today, he received a text from Kuroko which only made the blond dance around in happiness.

From: Kurokocchi

To: Me

Hello Kise-kun. I hope you are doing well and not bothering your senpais too much. Some of our Seirin team members are already in Kanagawa for various reasons so I have given them your number should they find themselves lost. I look forward to the upcoming training camp and I hope you and Kaijo won't disappoint.

Short and to the point. Just like Kuroko.

Nevertheless, Kise was quite delighted to receive the text. It was quite rare for the blue-haired boy to contact him first. He eagerly messaged back a long reply with many hearts and exclamation marks before finally deciding it was time to leave the house.

His sisters and parents were out of town for the weekend so it was just him alone. Not feeling the need to laze around at home, he had made plans to go shopping with Kasamatsu.

To his disappointment, his senpai was busy with studies so he had no choice but to go by himself.

Reluctantly, he left his house and headed straight for the mall in hopes of finding some new clothes to brighten his sad lonely mood.

[-A-]

"…that is a total of 3000 yen ($25.94 USD)," the cashier said.

Kise handed over the money and carried the bag containing his new blue shirt. 3000 yen was a bit too much to spend over a regular shirt but considering the brand, Kise felt it was a good bargain.

Smiling to himself, he counted the number of bags he was carrying and decided enough was enough. It was time to go home.

By this time, it was evening in Kanagawa. The streets were a lot emptier than usual and the shopping centers were beginning to close down for the night.

Adjusting his cap, Kise crossed the busy road and made a right turn going in the direction of his house. His family moved to Kanagawa after he was accepted into Kaijo and they had chosen a home in the city.

Pricey it was but definitely worth it.

Kise walked through the streets paying no heed to any pedestrians he passed. Quickly, he arrived at an area that was far quieter than the others with no person in sight.

As a frequenter of this route, Kise wasn't really on guard and leisurely took his time walking. With earphones on and music drumming in his ear, the boy failed to notice someone following him until it was too late.

His mouth was covered before he knew it and without even a chance to struggle, multiple hands reached out and grabbed him to haul him over to an empty alleyway.

Once the culprits felt they were far enough, they let go of the blond and shoved him to the ground. Kise flinched on the impact and his usual friendly gaze became one of anger.

"What the hell? Who are you? What do you want from me?" he backed and scrambled to his feet.

Now Kise was a guy over 6ft. It wasn't easy for him to be intimidated by just anyone but there were at least five guys surrounding him watching him with threatening looks. He felt fear. There was no way he could take them all.

"Kise Ryouta. Star player on the basketball team, a well-known model, and someone who loves fucking around with girls," one of the guys spat. He was one or two inches shorter than Kise and had black hair with black eyes.

"What do you want?" Kise repeated. He knew these guys weren't messing around or playing a prank. Their eyes were far too menacing for that.

"What do I want? I want you to stay the fuck away from my girl! I saw you kissing her the other day. What did you think you were doing to someone who's already taken?" The guy clenched his fists and growled.

Kise frowned.

'The other day? Was it…wait, that girl?!'

Kise raised his hands, "Wait last week? I think you've got it wrong man. I didn't kiss her, I-"

"Shut up! No excuses! You should know I have connections with a gang so no one messes with me. And now, you're going to pay," the guy smiled sinisterly, "I can't wait to mess up that pretty face of yours."

And without giving Kise a chance to respond, he threw a fist right at the blond's face.

[-A-]

Kagami stared at the map on his phone in total confusion. Honestly, couldn't they make this shit easier to read? Why the fuck was everything so complicated?

After letting out the tenth groan of the evening, Kagami looked around trying to compare the map to his current location. As someone who's only been around Kaijo school and the area it was in, he found himself totally lost in the city.

Kuroko had given him Kise's number should he find himself in this exact situation but Kagami really didn't feel like conversing with that overly energetic and irritating blond. However, his patience was running thin after he realized he'd been going around in circles.

Glaring at the number on his phone, he breathed out some air and hesitantly tapped the 'call' button.

…

It rang for a few minutes but no one picked up. Kagami clicked his tongue.

Must be busy.

With a sigh, he was about to cancel the call when suddenly, it was picked up.

"Hey Kis-"

"HELP ME!" Kise's screeching voice shot through the speaker making Kagami wince and hold the phone away from his ear. What the…?

"Please come Kagami! I'm getting beat up!" the blond shouted breathlessly.

Was he running?

"What happ-"

"I'm at Aikawa street- Hurry!"

The call ended abruptly and Kagami stared at the phone in his hand for a few seconds before finally clicking. Immediately, he searched the map for Aikawa street because that was his best bet at finding it.

Luckily for him, it wasn't too far from here and he dashed in the distance towards praying he was going in the right direction.

'Dammit Kise. This better not be a prank.'

The streets were empty allowing Kagami to freely run without bumping into people. Soon enough, he found the street sign and quickly began looking around for any sight of the blond. A loud crash in the distance alerted him and he followed the sound to find the very person he was looking for in quite the dilemma.

Kise was being attacked by five unfamiliar people and he was barely holding on. There was bruising on his face and a bit of blood on his knuckles.

Without question, Kagami joined in and threw a fist at the person closest to him before turning around and punching the others.

Years of street fighting provided Kagami with enough fighting skill to overpower the men but one managed to get a good hit on him. Something shiny caught his eye and he quickly realized that one of the attackers had a knife with him.

"Kise, get back," he ordered.

The blond had only just processed Kagami's presence so he was a little slow in doing as the redhead teen told him. Plus, he had yet to see the knife.

Suddenly, the main culprit holding the knife charged forward attempting to plunge it into Kise's abdomen. Kise watched in horror as Kagami blocked the off the path using his own body.

"Kagami!" he shouted.

Kagami barely heard the boy's voice as he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. Grunting, he clenched his teeth and delivered a powerful punch towards the male in front of him with his fist directly colliding with the man's head knocking him out.

The knife dropped to the ground and Kagami groaned in pain whilst holding his injury.

Kise's eyes went wide and his pupils dilated when he saw the blood.

"K-Kagami! Hospital…we need to go to a hospital!" Any thoughts of the attackers flew out of Kise's head as he immediately tried to assess the redhead.

"S-Shuddup Kise. You're so loud," Kagami moaned. He was starting to feel a little lightheaded from the loss of blood. He was barely able to stand and Kise had to hold him up when his legs started giving way.

"Shit shit shit…" Kise mumbled a string of curses as he half-carried the boy out of the alley and searched his pocket for his phone.

Quickly, he called an ambulance and the police.

"Kagamicchi? Please don't die…please don't die…please don't die," Kise kept muttering repeatedly. He blamed himself for this. If only he hadn't called him…if only he was stronger…

"Kise…" Kagami's voice was a little weak. His eyes were starting to blur but he was still aware of his surroundings, "I'm fine…not my first rodeo…"

"You've been stabbed before?!" Kise nearly shrieked in horror. He quickly apologized after seeing Kagami wince.

Before the redhead could reply, sirens were heard and the ambulance appeared along with the police.

The paramedics arrived and quickly took Kagami out of Kise's arms and assessed his injury. Kise was taken aside for police questioning to which he retold the events leading up to this and he teared up.

"Calm down kid. Your friend's going to be alright," one of the officers reassured him. "We'll bring in your assaulters for questioning at the station."

Kise nodded and asked, "W-What happens now? Can I go to the hospital?"

The ambulance had already left a few seconds earlier and Kise was getting anxious.

"I'll give you a ride," the nice policeman offered. Kise immediately agreed and hopped in the backseat of the police vehicle without hesitation.

The car drove off following the ambulance to the hospital.

[-A-]

At the hospital.

Kagami's wound was cleaned and stitched up after it was found the knife hadn't punctured any organs. The wound was a little deep which was why he lost quite a bit of blood but nothing life-threatening.

Kise had arrived a few minutes after Kagami did and hadn't left the redhead's side since. He kept crying and apologizing to Kagami blaming himself for what happened.

But Kagami didn't blame Kise one bit. No matter how annoying the blond was, he was a good person at heart and there was no way something like this was his fault. It was merely bad luck.

"I already said it's not your fault, you dumbass!" Kagami almost yelled. Kise's constant cries were really getting on his nerves.

"B-But…"

Kagami sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, "Look, what happened wasn't anyone's fault but that bastard who stabbed me. Neither of us realized he had a knife until it was too late."

Kagami was lying in a hospital bed recovering his lost energy and having his vitals monitored just in case something went wrong.

Kise sniffled and wiped his eyes and nose with a tissue. He stared at Kagami's frowning face and felt like crying again. Kagami protected him. He even came to his aid without question. Just how good was this guy's heart?

"Ha? What the hell are you saying? I'm not some heartless dick you know," Kagami grumbled.

Kise realized he had said all that out loud and blushed with embarrassment.

"No, I didn't mean that! I…I just thought how selflessly you protected me when we're not that close," Kise mumbled twiddling his thumbs. "I…can't thank you enough."

Kagami was silent – slightly taken aback by Kise's serious words which bore no jokes or humor. He bit his lip and averted his eyesight to his hands.

"I couldn't just let you get hurt. You're my rival," Kagami stiffly responded.

He was never good at sentimental stuff but that was his way of saying he cared enough about Kise to go out of his way to help him.

And Kise understood that.

Almost immediately, a smile overcame the blond's lips as he reached out a hug the injured teen.

"Kagamicchi!"

"Ugh, let me go Kise!"

"Ah, right. Stab wound. Sorry,"

Kise quickly let go of the other male and sat back down on the chair only to jump up again with a look of horror on his face.

"Oh my gosh, Kurokocchi's going to kill me!" Kise felt cold sweat on his back. "Seirin's going to kill me! Did you tell them?"

"Of course not!" Kagami growled. "Those idiots will start panicking and coach will definitely ban me from playing next week!"

Kise paused, "Wait…so you're not going to tell them?"

"No way—And you better not either! Just keep it a secret alright?" Kagami was serious.

"Have you called your family yet?" Kise questioned. "I'm sure they'd be worried."

"No…" Kagami's voice quietened. His eyes went downcast as he murmured, "My dad will just transfer some more money for the payment of the bill but he won't come and see me."

Kise winced. Shit, he shouldn't have brought that up. It was common knowledge that the Seirin ace lived by himself.

"Sorry," Kise said with sincerity. Quickly changing the subject, he asked, "What about that brother and mentor of yours?"

"Nah, they'll worry too much," Kagami waved his hand dismissively. "Look Kise, I'm really fine okay? I've already settled the bill and if all goes right tonight then I'll be discharged tomorrow."

"T-Tomorrow?! And you've paid already?! At least let me pay you back!" Kise gaped and quickly searched for his wallet only to realize it must've dropped somewhere. His newly bought clothes were all gone too - probably dumped somewhere in that alley.

"Don't. I'm not that poor," Kagami said and a sudden grumble emerged from his stomach.

It had been a while since his last meal and with everything that's happened, Kagami was incredibly hungry.

"I'll get you something from the vending machine. I've got a couple of yen on me," Kise immediately volunteered to get food for his savior and exited the room before Kagami to protest.

The redhead let out a sigh but winced slightly as he felt the wound ache from his movement. Touching his stomach gently, his thoughts went back to a certain time in America during his days hanging around the streets.

Back then, he had gotten involved with some bad people and suffered the consequences. Luckily the scars from then had long faded but now, he's got a new one.

'Well, it's not like I regret my actions' thought Kagami. If he went back in time, he'd still throw himself in front of Kise.

"So that idiot shouldn't feel guilty," he muttered staring at the door where the blond had disappeared.

Oh well. He'll definitely let it go before the training camp…right?