Work Text:
Aomine lived in the apartment directly next to the apartment of Kise Ryouta. Kise was a model, but he was also a childhood friend and brief fling. He had never expected to end up where the copycat lived. Kise had money and lots of it. Aomine had saved up every bit of cash he could get his hands on and even now, even with the prospective professional basketball job lined up, he was barely scraping by, living paycheck to paycheck.
The apartment building was small, dingy, but he liked it. The woman that lived across the hall was quiet and preferred the solitude of her cats to the interruptions of people. Kise was not so quiet. Then again, he never had been before.
The walls were so thin that Aomine could hear almost everything that went on within the blond's apartment. Though it would have gotten on his nerves before, now he found a modicum of comfort in the familiar sound of Kise's voice. He even found himself listening, waiting to hear when he blond came home.
The thinnest walls were those in the bathroom. Sometimes when Aomine would wake up in the morning he would hear Kise humming to himself. They were usually show tunes, but sometimes the blond would belt out the lyrics of a current song Aomine vaguely remembered hearing on the radio. It always brought a smile to his lips.
Sometimes he would knock on the wall and tell Kise to shut it. The blond would only knock back and tell him to deal with it.
Kise was one of the few people who could deal with his surly nature and his harsh retorts, even if they made him cry sometimes.
"I'll never understand why you go to those things when you hate them."
"Because I have to!" Kise whined. The tips of his delicate fingers traced the rim of the wine glass. Aomine watched them move, transfixed by the sound that came from the glass and the pale contrast of Kise's skin beside the dark, red wine.
"You can always say no, baka." He took a swig from the beer bottle grasped in his hand. He was never one for drinking wine, though the blond preferred it.
"It's for the connections. I just don't like the people. They like me for all the wrong reasons and I just wanna make friends with people who want to get to know me for me." He sighed and brought the glass to his lips. Aomine stared, memorizing the way Kise's upper lip curled over the rim and closed just before pulling off. Kise always held the wine in the bed of his tongue. It wasn't because he was the type to savor the rich taste, like many wine connoisseurs often did. The blond usually took a sip in contemplation and often forgot to swallow the wine. It was a fact that always greatly amused Aomine. Kise finally swallowed and let loose another heavy sigh. "I'm sick of people flocking to me for my looks."
"I don't do that." Aomine countered, though his lips twitched in barely concealed amusement.
Kise snorted. "Sure you don't." Those golden eyes rolled and Aomine braced himself. "Tell that to your younger self. I'm sure you were with me for more than just my looks."
Kise's sarcasm stung, but Aomine couldn't blame him for the retort. Back then he was too young, too stupid, too proud to believe that his feelings for Kise were nothing more than physical attraction.
It was one of his biggest regrets.
Sometimes Kise asked Aomine to attend the events his manager scheduled for him. Little dinner parties and fundraisers, they were all filled with boring, stuck-up, tight-assed people that he preferred to avoid. But if Kise asked, he would go.
It took him a while to find the right kind of clothes to wear. In fact, Kise bought him the first outfit, afraid that Aomine would dress down when he needed to look at least remotely acceptable. Though the blond had protested, Aomine left the tie at home. He didn't like the way it made him feel, like he was suffocating. He would get enough of that feeling being around the yuppies all night.
On rare occasions, Aomine would stay during the entire event. He would stand around and smiled faintly when required to. Kise would often be at his side and the two of them would comment on every minute detail, like two little gossip birds tittering in the corner. It was tolerable when Kise stayed with him.
When the blond was pulled away, he often opted to leave. Kise left the choice up to him. He would never force Aomine to stay any longer than he wanted to. Though he wanted to support Kise in any endeavor, he found that it was getting harder and harder to watch the way Kise smiled at everyone. He knew it wasn't a real smile. He had memorized the way Kise's eyes crinkled, the way his lips spread wide and the way his nose wrinkled just a tad when he smiled for real. This smile was so fake even Aomine rubbed his cheeks, convinced that it must hurt to keep that up. Despite knowing that he was one of the few who saw the genuine article, he couldn't stand to see the way people lit up in return. He didn't like to watch the "innocent" touches, the way women pressed up against his side, the way they batted their eyelashes, the way their perfectly manicured nails caressed at the smooth material of Kise's suit coat. They all acted like they had a chance.
Maybe they do .
Aomine hated it. When he couldn't handle the way he felt, he left. What right did he have to be jealous? He was the one who let Kise go.
In high school, Aomine Daiki had a fling with Kise Ryouta. It started off as nothing more than a budding friendship. They visited each other's high schools, or rather, Kise invaded his high school more days then he could count. The blond was insistent. He demanded games of one-on-one, pulled Aomine to his house to watch a movie or partake in a video game.
Eventually the ace got used to it. He was comfortable around Kise. So comfortable that it only seemed natural the first time they kissed.
It became an addiction. While most teenagers fell into bad habits, taking up drugs and alcohol, doing any number of illegal activities, Aomine took up a habit that involved something more satisfying. He was addicted to sex, but not just sex with anyone. Aomine was addicted to sex with Kise Ryouta.
He never knew he could swing that way. The magazines piled high in his room all featured big-breasted women in various states of undress. He could still get off looking at those women, but Kise made him soar. He didn't know how the blond did it. He blew his mind time and time again and left his body craving even the simplest touch.
They were only friends, he would tell himself. He liked that. He liked knowing that he could fall back on Kise when he needed release, or anything else for that matter. He didn't see it as taking advantage because he thought the feeling was mutual. Kise had fallen into him the very same way he fell into Kise.
Aomine had never been more wrong.
On one of the rare nights when he felt like cuddling, when Kise's head rested against his chest, his skin peppered with affectionate kisses that made his skin tingle from every touch, Kise had admitted something he wasn't ready to hear.
"I really like you, Aominecchi."
Aomine had snorted. "Yeah, yeah. I like you too, baka."
"No." Kise had lifted his head from the ace's chest and the moment he saw the look in those golden eyes Aomine knew he would run. "I really like you. I think... no, I know I do. I love you."
It had all come crashing down. Aomine thought he knew everything. He was so cocky and so determined to keep things as they were and Kise brought it all crumbling down. That was how he saw it, and the way Aomine had said, "But I don't get it. I don't love you. We're nothing, Kise, remember? Just friends." had brought Kise's crumbling down as well.
It took multiple failed relationships for Aomine to realize the only one who made him happy was the one he let go, the man who currently lived next door.
The past few nights, Aomine had trudged into his bathroom and collapsed, fully clothed, into the dry tub. He waited for Kise to return home from his photo shoot, or his interview, or whatever new event he was forced into that night. He loved to listen to Kise sing the songs of whatever musical happened to be flitting through his head. He usually slurred the lyrics when he came home drunk, and Aomine would shove his hand against his mouth to stifle the laughter.
Tonight Kise didn't come home drunk. He wasn't singing when he came in the door. The only sound was the faint swish of his gentle footsteps and he glided through the apartment. Aomine sat in silence and flinched when he heard the sudden rush of running water. Kise was filling the tub.
He craned his neck until his ear was almost pressed against the wall. When the faucet stopped he heard the faint splash as water shifted and he knew Kise was now in the tub as well. Still, he heard nothing more.
Strange, maybe he's–
Aomine's eyes widened and his ear finally brushed the wall. The choked sound he heard was definitely a sob. He shifted just enough, quietly so he wouldn't be heard. Then Kise started to speak.
"Aominecchi..." Aomine froze. "I know you aren't there right now. I mean... maybe you are and you're really good at keeping quiet. I don't know. This is stupid. Talking to my bathroom wall... but I miss you so much." Another choked back sob and Aomine heard Kise submerge. He shifted his body so he could lean closer to the wall. He heard the gasp of breath when Kise's head broke the surface and a faint sigh. Then silence.
Come on, baka. Keep talking, dammit. .
"I still love you..."
Aomine reached out and pressed a hand against the wall.
"I still love you and it hurts so much because I don't know how to stop." Aomine clutched at the fabric over his heart. "It's stupid because you never loved me, right? I got too caught up in what I thought we had that it never even occurred to me that you didn't feel the same way. And I just shoved my feelings off on you and... and it was my fault we separated."
Aomine shook his head. No, idiot. It was me.
"But I was so happy... and I'm so happy that you're still in my life now. So why can't I smile more often? Why can't I be content with just friendship? Its not fair for me to want more. It's been years. Years."
Years and I can't let go either, Ryouta.
"I wish I could say this to your face, but I'm too afraid."
Aomine stared at the wall, stared long enough that he hoped he could see right through it. It was hard enough to hear the soft sobs, he shuddering breaths that came from Kise's end. He wanted to knock down the wall and climb into that tub to hold the blond against him and reassure him that having those feelings, even after so long, wasn't stupid.
I feel the same way too .
Later that night, Aomine crept out of bed and stepped into the empty hallway. It was quiet, as it usually was. He could hear a soft purring coming from the door across the hall. One of the millions of cats of the woman owned, her "watch cat" she'd call him.
He padded barefoot to Kise's door and pressed his forehead against the cool wood. "Kise..." He whispered. His hand closed around the metal knob. He was about to pull away when it twisted in his grasp. He blinked and turned it again. Aomine swore under his breath. "Left the goddamn door unlocked again."
Kise had a bad habit of forgetting to lock his door. Aomine had to remind him if they left together and he usually slipped a note under the blond's door to remind him when he wasn't there. Today he had forgotten.
He took a tentative step inside and let the door click quietly shut behind him. Kise had left his suit jacket draped over the chair at the kitchen table. He usually hung those up. There was an open bottle of wine on the coffee table and a half full glass still perched on the edge. Aomine sighed and sidestepped the pair of dress shoes Kise had carelessly kicked off in the middle of the room.
He made his way to the blond's bedroom, a room he had only been in twice and found Kise sprawled across his bed, sheets tangled around his pale, slender legs. He wore a basketball jersey to bed and a pair of bright yellow boxers. Aomine's lip twitched in a faint smile and he crept over to the bed. The moment he perched on the edge of the mattress, Kise jerked up and stared, golden eyes wide in disbelief.
"Aominecchi... you were–"
Aomine reached out a pressed a finger against Kise's lips. The blond visibly relaxed. "Yeah. I was."
"So you heard..."
Aomine nodded.
Though it was dark, Aomine was sure Kise's face had turned a bright shade of red. The way Kise angled his face to the side was such a telling motion, "Then why are you here?"
Aomine pushed Kise's side and slipped into bed beside the blond. He untangled the sheets from Kise's legs, intentionally brushing his fingers across the smooth, pale skin every chance he got. He could feel Kise shiver from each and every touch and it brought back memories, good ones, from when he held the blond in his arms, from when that skin was his to touch and only his.
He pulled the sheets over the pair of them and pulled Kise against his side. The blond stiffened and Aomine frowned. "Don't think you're the only one, baka."
Kise angled his face upward to get a better look at the expression on Aomine's face. The fact that he had to look made the ace's chest tighten, but he knew Kise had every right to speculate. Aomine had never hinted at the rise of his feelings. He had kept them as quiet as Kise had over the past few months they'd been living in the same building. "I'm not?"
"Would I be here now if you were?"
He couldn't see the expression on Kise's face and the silence he was greeted with made his skin crawl.
Then Kise finally answered. "Why didn't you say anything, baka?" He let his body relax and his head fell down to rest against Aomine's chest.
"I didn't know how."
"But I did."
"And you still didn't say it."
"Because I didn't want you to run."
"How could I run, Ryouta? I'm only a wall away."
"You were always only a wall away."
Aomine dipped his head downward and pressed a kiss against those soft, blond locks. "Let me break down that wall now then."
Kise reached across Aomine's body and found the ace's hand. Without hesitation, he laced their fingers together. "I'd like that. No more walls, bathroom or not."
Aomine smiled and pressed a kiss to the back of Kise's hand. "No more walls."