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I fell in love the way you fall asleep; slowly, and then all at once.
--John Green
Saturday mornings are for one-on-one matches with Kise Ryouta and said time frame is already considered ‘non-negotiable’ in Aomine Daiki’s weekend itinerary.
It all began when Aomine was jogging around town one Saturday morning. As he passed by a street court some few blocks away from his house, he caught sight of Kise, all alone and practicing three-point shots from half court. The blond must have felt the cautious stare within a mile radius and the moment their eyes meet, Aomine was sure Kise would ask for it and he, of course, would say yes.
The following Saturday, Aomine found Kise again at the same street court, seemingly waiting for him and so it became an unspoken agreement between the two of them, something not verbalized by mere words and formalized only by each other’s presence coming together at the same time and place. It easily became a regular routine for them and had been going on for a couple of months since the last game of the Winter Cup.
And so on this particular Saturday, Aomine arrived a little past seven in the morning at their favored venue but the perky blond was nowhere in sight just yet. The sun was already warm against his tanned skin and the skies can’t get any clearer so for the moment, Aomine decided that he would just use the wait time to shoot some hoops and get warmed up.
The Touou Power Forward had been running around and throwing in some baskets for several minutes, causing blotches of sweat to be visible on his shirt but Kise was still a no-show.
Probably over-slept again, he thought, though, between the two of them, he's had more recurring cases of running late for their weekly one-on-ones due to oversleeping. Remembering that Kise usually sends a heads-up a few days in advance if he couldn’t show up for their weekly rendezvous because of modeling gigs or whatever, Aomine stopped dribbling and walked back towards the bench where his duffle bag was. He thought he’d coerce Kise later to buy him several extra burgers for making him wait.
He checks his phone and sure enough, a message from Kise had been waiting for him.
Aominecchi, sorry, can’t play today. Got the flu.
Flu. So Kise could actually get sick. Aomine pushed the phone inside his pocket without bothering to send a reply though he was unsure why he felt a tad disappointed by the fact that Kise couldn't play with him today. Probably because the weather looked so wonderful, his nerves were already fired up to play ball and give Kise a thorough basketball beating like the usual that he considered it a misfortune to have it all be wasted because Kise had a freaking flu.
The self-indulgent part of Aomine already told himself to go home, stay in bed the whole day or play video games until his thumbs ache. However, there was this strange voice inside his head that urged him to do the weird.
“No fucking way!” He verbalized his thought out loud and was relieved, a millisecond later, that nobody heard or saw him talking to himself. But the weird idea kept poking into his brain cells like an itch dying to be scratched. Visit Kise? Why? That might just give the blond the wrong idea about Aomine liking him or something. And no, of course not, he doesn’t like Kise at all, not in that way, at least… He’s into girls with big boobies like Satsuki… yuck. Satsuki is just like his sister from another mother and thinking about her in that way gave him the creeps.
Eventually, the weird idea won him over and Aomine had not had a clue how it did until he was already standing in front of the Kise's house, ready to push the doorbell.
Get it over with! The obnoxious voice in his head hollered, leading him to do what he came here for. Friends visit their sick friends all the time, right? It’s not weird. And he doesn’t like Kise. This will prove that he’s just a bit concerned for his friend, that’s all.
Aomine pushed the doorbell.
A blonde head with long braided hair—Kise’s mom—peered through the doorway a few seconds later. Aomine took in her appearance and decided that not much had changed since he last saw her from a few years back when Kise invited the Miracles over for a video game showdown. Kise’s mom stared at him for a couple of moments then finally, a flash of recognition dawned on her. The curve on her pinkish lips was gentle and warm and Aomine now knew where Kise got his disarming smile. Wait, did he just think disarming?
“I remember you… You’re Ryou-chan’s friend from Teiko, right?” She asked.
“Aomine Daiki,” he bowed in courtesy.
“Ah, yes, you’re Aomine-kun.” Her smile grew wider. “My Ryou-chan talks about you a lot.”
He does? Aomine was surprised but didn’t say anything.
Kise’s mother stepped aside and gestured for Aomine to come inside the house.
“Auntie, I won’t be much of a bother. I heard Kise is sick,” Aomine said. “I just dropped by and… uh, these are for him,” with his face growing warm, he gave Kise's mom the bag of mandarin oranges bought from the fruit stand he passed along the way. Aomine immediately broke eye contact and lowered his head to the ground, suddenly feeling self-conscious and way too embarrassed by this uncharacteristic gesture of his. Why not? He justified, trying to shut off the nagging voice somewhere at the back of his mind. It's just natural to bring stuff to sick people.
“Oh, but this is very sweet of you!” Kise’s mother exclaimed, grabbing one of his wrists and pulling him inside the house. “Why don’t you give these to him yourself?” Aomine had originally wanted to bail out of this situation as quickly as he could but did not want to appear rude to Kise’s mother. He hastily removed his shoes and left them by the doorstep. Once inside, Kise’s mother made him wait in the living room while she slipped in the kitchen to prepare sandwiches and refreshments.
“Aomine-kun,” he heard Auntie say while he was in the middle of gorging down the tasty bacon sandwich she prepared. “I think my prayers have been answered… You see, I really need someone to look after Ryou-chan for a while…” she explained to Aomine from across the table. “I still need to go get some groceries and other stuff that mothers do. And his sisters are not coming home until afternoon…”
“…I know it’s a big favor to ask but could you linger for a while and look after my Ryou-chan?” She was looking at him intently, hopeful amber eyes and all, and Aomine’s resolve to say no crumbled to the floor like a blown away house of cards.
“Ooh, that’s perfect, thank you!” Kise’s mother clapped her hands with a triumphant smile as soon as she heard Aomine’s yes. It seemed that her heart would literally break if he declined. “Ryou-chan's been right after all, Aomine-kun is very nice!” Aomine grimaced upon hearing those words.
“Anyway, Ryou-chan will just stay in bed. His room is the first door upstairs. There’s more food in the kitchen and you could watch TV if you like.” Auntie gestured to the couch while she continued to barrage Aomine with her motherly reminders.
“The meds are already in Ryou-chan’s room, please make sure he takes them as soon as he wakes up…”
As he tuned her out, Aomine wondered what he had gotten himself into.
“Don’t forget to put warm towel on his forehead if he gets too cold…”
Goodness, she has so many instructions. Aomine was certain he wouldn’t remember them all, anyway. Finally, he heard her say, “Thank you so much, Aomine-kun, you’re such a kind friend to my Ryou-chan!”
“No problem, Auntie.” He managed to reply with a weak smile.
“I’ll be back soon, I promise!”
Moments later, Aomine was alone in the house with a sick Kise upstairs. Oh well, better live up to be a good baby-sitter, he encouraged himself as he tiptoed over the staircase. He turned the doorknob without knocking and let himself inside Kise’s bedroom as quietly as he could. Aomine moved closer to the bed, his eyes trained on Kise’s sleeping form.
And so there he was, a shock of golden hair spread in disarray across the pillow and cocooned in a thick blanket. A rush of odd sensation crept into Aomine’s insides as he continued to peer at Kise's sleeping form, who at least in his thoughts, had looked too peaceful and too vulnerable at once. Heck, he couldn’t help but ogle the blond so he let go of all inhibitions and let his eyes feast on the Kise’s smooth forehead, on his impossibly long eyelashes. Aomine even wanted to run a finger along the bridge of Kise’s nose. The blond’s mouth was slightly open and there was a bit of drool creeping to the side, forming a tiny wet circle on the pillow.
Not so perfect, after all. The blue haired teen supposed, as he grabbed his phone from his pocket and snapped a photo of the drooling blond, his mind already zeroing in on several memes he could make out of this photo.
Just then, the sleeping beauty stirred for a bit and cracked one honey-brown eye open.
Kise was sure that the sound of a camera click woke him up. His mind was confused whether he was still in a photoshoot or in his bedroom where his last memory had been but then, his vision was filled with the unmistakable navy blue hair of his one-on-one buddy, his sole reason to wake up to early every Saturday.
“Aominecchi?” Kise blinked twice and let out a surprised squeak, his eyes and his mind finally snapping in sync. “What are you doing here?”
“Er, your mom asked me to look after you for a bit,” Aomine replied.
“Wait, what do you mean she asked you?” Kise abruptly got up and as he did, his head spun.
“Hey, you shouldn’t get up so suddenly,” Aomine told him, seeing how Kise had winced at the sudden movement.
Kise ignored Aomine’s last remark. His thoughts got more and more muddled at the realization that Aomine is in his bedroom right now or had been in his bedroom since time immemorial. “But how long have you been here? And why are you even here?” he continued in a hoarse voice.
Aomine thought this through before answering. “Well, I just want to check if you’re really sick or just slacking.”
“Why would you think I’m faking my sickness, aho?” Kise asked incredulously. “Geez, you could’ve said something before you came over. I looked like a mess.” He run his fingers through his blond locks to tidy them up a bit.
“You’re sick and you still care about how you looked but I’ve had evidence,” Aomine told him, showing Kise his phone which revealed the picture he took earlier.
“Hey, delete that!” Kise tried to snatch the phone away from Aomine’s hand but his reflexes were just too off because of the fever.
Aomine flashed his devious smirk before saying, “Not a chance, model-kun. I’ll make money out of this.” He said before pushing the phone back in his pocket.
Kise bit his bottom lip while studying Aomine’s face. Among the many questions he wanted to ask the other teen, the first one that came out was, “So, uh, do you mean we’re alone?”
“Well, Auntie said she has some errands to do, so, yeah,” Aomine explained casually. “Why did you get sick anyway?”
Kise blamed it on late work hours and too little sleep going on for several days. “And I ended up getting soaked in the rain yesterday because I forgot my umbrella in my locker.”
“Tsk. How stupid,” the Touou Ace snorted.
“And why do you even ask if you’re gonna be grumpy about it?” Kise furrowed his brows.
“Well you got sick, so I’m stuck here with you.”
“And that’s my fault? Why don’t you just go home, then?
“No.” was Aomine’s reply, his voice stern.
“Really, Aominecchi, you should just leave. I’m fine by myself.” He slid back down into his bed and buried his face under the covers. Kise believed he would recover faster if Aomine wasn’t here, watching him like a mother hen. This scenario was already making him self-conscious, a slight frenzy already playing in his nerves. “Don’t waste your time babysitting silly old me. It’s not like I’m dying anyway.” Under the covers, he coughed and sniffled loudly as all this talking was putting a strain to his throat.
Just then, Aomine tugged at the blanket, pulling it abruptly from Kise so he could get a good look at the blond’s face. He was met with shock and protests but he noticed that Kise indeed looked sick, his eyes were kind of glassy and his skin, pale.
“You can’t send me home, okay? Not until your mom gets back.” To Kise’s surprise, Aomine gently pressed a palm on Kise’s forehead.
“You are hot,” he remarked, which sent one of Kise’s eyebrows upward.
“Yeah, Aominecchi, I get that a lot.” Kise chuckled, thinking that this wasn’t so bad after all.
Realizing too late the implication of his last statement, Aomine amended, “I mean you’re burning. Are you okay? Should I call emergency?” To Kise, he appeared as though he really might consider it.
“Nope, it’s not life-threatening. And thanks for the concern.” Kise coughed again.
Aomine drew back his hand and shifted his focus on Kise’s bedside table as he remembered Auntie’s instructions. He poured a glass of water for the Kaijo ace and handed him a tablet. “Well, you need to take this,”
Kise obeyed, popping the tablet to his mouth. “Thank you, Aominecchi.”
“Do you need anything else? Are you cold or something?” were Aomine’s follow up questions.
“Actually, I’m a bit hungry.” Kise mumbled, while pushing the blanket away so he could get up from bed. He meant to go downstairs to grab some food but Aomine was quick to stop him.
“Stay here. I’ll get food for you.”
“It’s okay, I can—”
“I said stay here.” The Touou ace glared at Kise and thankfully, the blond relented.
Some moments later, Aomine came back with a tray of sandwich and a bowl of soup that Kise’s mother had prepared earlier. “Please eat, your highness.” Aomine said half mockingly, while he balanced the tray on Kise’s lap.
As Kise spooned a bit of warm pumpkin soup into his mouth, Aomine sat on the bed and was very keen on observing Kise.
“Hey, you should eat, too.” Kise divided the sandwich into two and handed half of it to Aomine. Actually, he just wanted to break away from all the attention that Aomine was pushing his way because it's unnerving him.
“Nah, you should finish all of it,” Aomine brushed off his offer.
Kise’s face flushed. “You know, you would really make a good---”
He was going to blurt out “boyfriend” but a buzzing sound from Aomine’s phone cut his statement short to which Kise was grateful, because he knew Aomine will never let him live it down.
“Hold on, I need to get this. Just call me if you need anything.” Aomine stood up, excused himself and went outside of the bedroom. Kise couldn’t make out what was being said at the other side of his door but then, he heard Aomine’s footsteps stomping downstairs moments later.
Kise didn’t know what to make out of the suspicious-looking mug of liquid that the Touou ace had brought him after the former’s short absence. Even more so, Aomine was urging him to drink it up quickly. The mug felt warm in his palms but just by glancing at the unfamiliar substance it contained, Kise doubted that it would be bearable for his taste buds. It was a little yellowish in color with the consistency of water, and it appeared more like it came from the bathroom than from the kitchen.
“It’s just tea. Trust me, I know what I’m doing,” Aomine cajoled as hesitation became apparent in Kise’s features.
“That’s the biggest lie I’ve ever heard,” The blond replied, but hearing Aomine actually asking him to have a bit of faith, to trust Aomine to make him feel better, had tugged on Kise's heartstrings, so he took a swig at the mug. But it tasted so awful that Kise retched and spilled much of it even before he could get the liquid down his throat.
“What the fuck did you just make me drink!?” Kise demanded hoarsely, in between coughing fits, as he wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. It tasted all kinds of bitter, spicy and everything else that Kise has to find a name for.
“Why did you spill it? You are such an idiot!” Aomine fumed. “That was boiled ginger with mustard and apple cider vinegar… Midorima said it’s good for coughs and colds.”
“Midorimacchi? You asked Midorimacchi for advice? Do both of you want to see me dead?!” Kise hissed at Aomine, his eyes watering as the terrible taste still lingered in his tongue.
“Midorima was very good in Biology back in Teiko,” Aomine reasoned out. “And I googled it too, just to check. Ginger and vinegar are natural antibiotics.”
“But did you taste it?” Kise dared to ask, though he kind of already knew the answer. At the moment, Aomine looked too proud of what he did.
“Well no, because it’s you who needs to get better,” the taller teen confirmed. “Now, just finish it up.”
“What? I can’t Aominecchi!” Now, tears actually slipped from Kise’s eyes.
“Don’t be so stubborn, Kise, I nearly cut off one of my fingers while preparing it.”
“You are so mean!”
“Drink it now before it loses all its potency!”
Kise stared at Aomine then at the remaining liquid in the mug. He squeezed his eyes shut and pinched his nose as he gulped all the horrible thing down in one go.
A whiff of tangy scent cuts through the air and when Kise opened his eyes, the Touou ace was already peeling an orange. Kise was thrown off in utter amazement, as Aomine reached over to put a slice of orange in his mouth saying, “Here, have some of this.”
It was almost imperceptible, but Kise had caught that tender look on Aomine’s face like he genuinely cared for Kise’s well-being. And Kise surmised that he wouldn’t mind drinking Midorimacchi’s deadly concoction everyday if Aomine would take care of him like this.
As Aomine occupied himself with putting orange slices into Kise’s mouth, the blond’s cheeks heat up mercilessly. Kise shook his head while trying to push the embarrassing thoughts away. Holy mother of father, what was Aominecchi doing? Kise didn’t want to expect anything because knowing Aomine, the guy could crush all his hope of hopes with a flick of his finger. He urged himself to focus on something else before it got completely out of hand, Kise’s not ready to deal with that kind of pain just yet.
“Oi, are you alright? You look like you’re going to pass out.” Aomine’s voice pulled him back to reality.
“I’m feeling better now, Aominecchi, thanks to you.” Kise pulls a smile while trying his best to collect himself. “Um, I’d like to watch TV downstairs,” he announced, just so he could steer away from all these unhealthy thoughts.
Aomine was quick to object. “What? That could trigger another headache. You should just go back to sleep.”
“But I just woke up,” Kise whined while fumbling with the hem of his sweatshirt. “Please, my favorite drama’s coming up.”
“Fine.” After grabbing the blanket and a pillow, Aomine helped the feverish model to his feet. Before Kise realized what was happening, one of Aomine’s tanned arms slid around his waist, pulling him close to the taller teen, making Aomine’s upper body support Kise’s weight as they exited the bedroom. Kise already lost track of how many times he had blushed today so he simply lowered his head, hoping to conceal his enormous embarrassment while mumbling, “I can walk just fine, Aominecchi.”
“You talk too much for someone who’s sick,” was the nonchalant reply from Aomine.
And Kise didn’t exactly mind when Aomine arranged the pillows to make sure he’s perched comfortably on the couch. Or when Aomine was quick to wrap the blanket around his shoulders and checking constantly if he’s feeling cold. What was unsettling, though, was how close Aomine had sat beside him, their shoulders and arms pressed together albeit separated by a blanket. Though his eyes were trained on the TV, Kise so badly wanted to reach out and squeeze Aomine’s hand. But what if he flinches? What if he’s just being nice to me now because I’m sick? He knew he was pushing his luck and the moment had been perfect thus far, so the blond willed himself to be content with the way things were.
Aomine kept his eyes glued to the screen, though he didn’t have a clue as to what was happening on the show. He got distracted though, with little gasps from Kise, or when the boy beside him whispers “excuse me” after coughing fits. Aomine would follow up with “Are you okay?” like he means it (he does) and Kise would simply nod and it went on for quite a while until Aomine noticed Kise’s blond head droop forward because he already had fallen asleep.
What Aomine did next had not involved any thinking but he was quite satisfied with how it turned out. Draping an arm around Kise’s shoulders, he pulled the sleeping blond gently towards his chest, letting Kise’s head rest on the crook of his neck. Some of Kise’s hair tickled Aomine’s nostrils.
Damn. For someone sick, Kise still smells nice. He is also very warm and… shit, his fever hasn’t run down yet.
Kise coughed again and Aomine gently rubbed the blond’s back up and down. To Aomine’s surprise, the blond snuggled closer to him through closed eyelids. He almost didn’t catch the words that escaped Kise’s lips, ever so quietly.
“I’m cold… please stay for a bit…”
A smile tugged at Aomine’s lips before he said, “Idiot. Of course, I’m not going anywhere.” Then he clung tighter to Kise, closed his eyes and nuzzled his face into tufts of blond tresses.
Sometime later, Kise’s mother smiled happily to herself when she found both blond and blue heads leaning towards each other, resting rather cozily on the living room couch.
If there was ever a surprise that blew Kise’s wits, waking up into Aomine’s arms had certainly taken the freaking cake.
“A-Aominecchi, what are we doing?” he stammered, eyes and mouth wide open as he looked into Aomine’s face, searching for answers.
“What does it look like?” Aomine stirred a little, but didn’t bother to remove his arms around Kise.
Kise’s heart sped up just as his mind was in haywire and the first coherent idea that his muddled brain came up with was “Woah, Aominecchi, I didn’t know you have the hots for me.”
“Me?” Aomine, looking thoroughly offended, had slightly loosened his embrace. “You’re the one who kept pulling me close and asking me to stay for a bit.”
“What? Is that even true? How come I don’t remember?” Kise’s face immediately switched to a warm shade resembling a very ripe tomato which amused the Aomine on so many levels.
“Liar. You knew, obviously,” Aomine scoffed.
“I was unconscious!” Kise retorted. “And you’re the one who couldn’t keep your hands to yourself!”
“Unconscious my ass, you’re the one who started it!”
“And what else did I say?
“A lot of embarrassing things.”
“Like what?”
Aomine’s patience had already come down to the negative levels and all he really, really wanted now was for Kise to shut up so he could kiss him.
Act, then think later was the battle cry of the day.
Aomine’s lips were incredibly warm and soft and they moved agonizingly slow against his, causing a lot of blood to rush into Kise’s head while at the same time making his heart suddenly kick up in high gears. At its aftermath, Kise wanted to slap himself to make sure he's not dreaming this moment.
“Aominecchi, you shouldn’t have done that,” Kise sputtered, as opposed to what his heart had been ranting and screaming in his chest.
Aomine frowned. “Was I so bad?”
“No! Oh geez, it’s quite... wonderful," he admitted, cheeks flaring. "but, uh…” Kise cleared his throat before he continued, “I mean, you could’ve gotten yourself sick, too.”
With a knowing smile, Aomine cupped Kise’s face in both of his hands saying, “Don’t worry. I’m not a weakling like you.”
Not until they heard an audible gasp in one corner of the living room that they suddenly jumped apart, realizing it too late that one of Kise’s sisters had already walked in on them.
“Ryou-chan!” It only took his sister one look at the pair of reddened faces and she had it all figured out.
“Um, I totally didn’t see anything, really!” Kise’s sister was just as uncomfortable as they were, judging at how she fidgeted while trying to keep a straight face. “Please don’t mind nee-chan here and just… keep doing your thing,” She waved a hand over her shoulder and hastily ran into her mother in the kitchen while shouting, “Mom, you didn’t say Ryou-chan’s boyfriend is here!”
“He’s not my boyfriend!” Kise shouted back, despite the sting in his throat. He stole a glance at Aomine but the idiot was just grinning.
“OMG, I’m dying right now!” he covered his face with his hands as the realization overwhelmed him. Well, they kissed, so technically, his sister was right, right?.
“Well, then, I guess that’s my cue to leave,” Aomine shifted from his seat.
“What? Why are you leaving all of a sudden?” Kise’s head jerked back up, brows furrowing together in confusion.
Aomine shrugged and simply placated his signature smirk. “Oh, clingy, aren’t we?”
“But we still need to talk about stuff!” Kise objected, clenching his fists. No, he will never let Aomine walk out of that door without clearing things up, this and that.
“Talk? But everything’s pretty clear to me now.” Then Aomine’s cerulean eyes had firmly fixed on Kise's honey-brown ones, rendering Kise immobile and speechless, all thoughts derailed for a few moments.
“I’ll talk to my boyfriend after he gets better.” With that, Aomine shifted from his seat, reached out and pulled Kise closer to plant a kiss, this time, on his forehead.
“...Just get better soon, 'kay?” Aomine said to a very flustered Kise before he stood up and sauntered away, a smirk playing on his lips. Proof that he might be in love with Kise was what he came here for and enough proof of it was what he got.