Work Text:
Buzz, buzz. Buzz, buzz.
Aomine awoke with a start, a page of his textbook stuck to the side of his face. He blinked once, then twice, before dragging a hand down his face and glaring at the small mobile device next to his half-scribbled notebook.
College had been a lot harder to keep up with than he originally thought, the curriculum and the amount of work nothing like what he had to deal with in high school. He could skate by then, could do the least amount of work and still pass enough to stay on the basketball team. But here, he couldn’t hack it. Here, he was on dangerous ground and if he didn’t pick up the slack, he was going to fail.
Lifting the phone, he swiped the screen to check who dared interrupt his study time, even if he’d been using it to catch up on some much needed zzz’s.
Received from: Kise
[text]: Aominecchi! (★^O^★) How's studying going? Momoicchi said that you're probably too busy to come get some dinner, but my shoot just ended and I'm near your dorm.
[text]: Do you want to come? My treat! ヾ(@^▽^@)ノ
Aomine stared at the message for a few minutes, eyes briefly flickering to the opened textbook before he sighed. He figured getting a bite to eat with the blond would be better than trying to get his brain to cooperate with statistic equations.
Sent to: Kise
[text]: I can practically hear you yelling over text. ya always gotta be so loud?
[text]: but yeah, guess I'll meet you at the corner diner in 10
The diner was crowded when he got there, students trying to stuff their faces with food while they crammed their brains with information that never seemed to stick. Kise sat in a booth near the back, his face brightening at the sight of the ace. Golden eyes locked on him and though they hadn’t talked much since they got out of high school, most of which was Aomine’s fault, Kise never lost that enthusiasm he had whenever they did get together.
"You look good! Did you get a lot of studying done? Finals are coming up, you know." Kise eyed the menu, flashing the waitress one of those winning smiles he used for the cameras before he waved her away to give them more time to choose their entrees. The gesture made Aomine frown. It had been nearly a year since their fling back in high school, and even though Aomine was the one that ended it, seeing someone else benefit from Kise’s thousand-watt smile made his stomach knot.
He had no right, he told himself. He was the one that left, the one that discarded the blond like he’d been nothing.
"Don’t lie. I look like like shit. You always were a crappy liar."
Kise looked affronted. “I would never! Aominecchi’s so mean!” the blond intoned, pouting as those eyes Aomine had once known so well flickered toward him. “I was trying to give you a compliment, baka. Aominecchi always looks good to me!”
"I look like a zombie. Feel like one, too," he said, cobalt eyes scanning the selections before deciding on his usual teriyaki burger. "You look good, though." And he meant it. A sudden pang hit him then, a bout of nostalgia he hadn’t been expecting. "I’m glad I came out tonight."
"Yeah, me, too." Kise smiled, a real smile this time, the corners of his eyes crinkling as the light reached that golden gaze Aomine saw every time he closed his own eyes.
Until then, Aomine hadn’t realized just how much he’d missed that smile.
They’d messed around back in high school. It all started after that win in the Inter High against Kaijou and after a long, heated argument, Aomine had found himself slamming the blond against the lockers after one of Kaijou’s practices, their bodies pressed together in a tangle of mouths and limbs. It ended just as quickly as it had begun, long enough for the ace to realize there was something there, but short enough that they had pulled apart before the rest of Kise’s teammates showed up, staring him down as Aomine stormed out of the locker room in agitated confusion.
It became a regular thing between them. Kise showed up at Touou more times than Aomine could remember and something about the way those golden eyes looked at him made it hard to say no. He wasn’t one to get in over his head, but he knew that if anyone could make him forget himself, it would be Kise.
The longer it went on, the harder it was for him to stop. Kise was like a drug, one he found he craved the more of it he got. The blond was never one to deny him what he wanted and soon enough, Aomine showed up at Kaijou almost as often as Kise raided Touou.
Though sex was the driver, there was more to it, more than Aomine had expected. He wanted it all; wanted the late night movies vegging out on the couch, wanted the takeout nights when one of their houses were empty and they ended up wrapped around each other until sunrise, wanted the stolen kisses when no one was looking, the secret gestures and glances no one knew about.
And it scared the living shit out of him.
When Kise confessed, it shattered the illusion. Aomine thought they could go on as they were, thought as long as they lacked definition, he wouldn’t have to face it head on and truthfully, he had been fine with that. But Kise… Kise had other ideas.
"We’re graduating soon, Aominecchi," the blond murmured, snuggled against the ace as the ending credits of the movie they had finished rolled up the television screen. Kise angled his head, his lips latching on to the strong line of Aomine’s jaw.
A shiver raced up his spine and he closed his eyes, giving a small nod of his head, his focus entirely on the feel of the kisses now marking a trail to just below his ear. “Mmm… yeah, so what?”
"Don’t you think we should, you know, think about things? I mean, I like Aominecchi. Doesn’t Aominecchi like me?"
He should have known where the conversation was going, should have heard the warning bells ringing like an alarm for the oncoming storm. But instead he answered, “Of course I like you, idiot. What kind of a question is that? We wouldn’t be friends if I didn’t like you.”
"I’m in love with Aominecchi!" Kise’s blurted confession made Aomine flush, the heat creeping up his nape and warming his face.
"Hah? You had to ruin it, didn’t you?" He knew he probably should have stopped talking, should have said what he wanted to say instead of what came out of his mouth instead. "We’re just friends, right? Baka Kise. If you thought this was something else, then I think we’re done here."
"But I—"
Before Kise could finish, Aomine was already halfway to the door. Without bothering to turn around because he couldn't bear to see the look he knew had shattered the blond, he walked out, casually throwing over his shoulder a curt, "I'll call ya later."
Received from: Kise
[text]: What's Aominecchi doing? ٩(^ᴗ^)۶
[text]: I'm going shopping for new basketball shoes if you wanted to come?
[text]: We can get lunch after? My treat! (*⌒▽⌒*)θ～♪
Aomine knew there were consequences to meeting up with the blond after so long. He thought he'd gotten over it, thought he'd be able to resume their friendship like nothing had happened and they would go back to how they'd always been before the fallout.
Received from: Kise
[text]: I just got my new photobook! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°
[text]: It looks amazing! Does Aominecchi want to come over and look at it with me?
[text]: I can help you with your English prep afterward! Aominecchi could always use the help, right?
It was like they had drifted back into habit, hanging out again, little by little, until the quick meetings and last minute study sessions turned into regular occurrences. Aomine felt the pull of the blond again, the force of gravity keeping him tethered to Kise like he never wanted to be to anyone. But he couldn't help himself. Kise made it so easy to slip back into their old routine and before he could stop himself, they started up what Aomine thought he was finished with so long ago.
"What are we doin', Ryouta?" he asked one night, sheets tangled between their legs, sweat-dampened skin still warm from the adrenaline of his release. He often used Kise's given name like this, usually during and after sex, when Kise's scent lingered on him and he was either too tired or too caught up in the moment to care just how intimate it was.
"Just friends, right?" Kise's response was light, detached, nonchalant. Almost too nonchalant. The blond had always been as transparent as an open book, loud and obnoxious at times, whiny and overenthusiastic. Which was exactly why the answer threw Aomine off guard. "Isn't that what Aominecchi wanted?"
Just friends...
Kise had thrown his own words back at him and if there was ever a moment he regretted, it was that one from a night he tried to forget but never could.
"Right," he echoed ruefully, not expecting the tightness in his chest, the lump that formed in his throat. He turned on his side, his head resting against the bend of his arm. "Just friends."
"I'm gonna take a shower, okay? I'll be right back."
Aomine felt the dip of the mattress as Kise slid off and padded his way to the bathroom. He laid there for a while, Kise's words repeating in his head while he remembered his own words with vivid clarity. It wasn't until he glanced at the clock did he realize that the blond had been in the bathroom far longer than it normally took to shower, even for Kise. With a groan, he pushed him up and off the bed.
A faint trail of steam wafted out from the small crack beneath the door, the water still running and muffling any sounds coming from inside the bathroom. He placed his palm against the door and leaned forward, forehead resting against the worn wood. There were so many things he wanted to say, things he should have said but had been too much of a coward to get out. He had never been one for words and he used his apathy like a shield he hid behind, hoping just maybe it would protect him from the one thing he had always been afraid of.
I don't want to be just friends, you idiot.
His eyes closed and he took a breath, his brows furrowing when he heard the distinct sound of a sob. Aomine knew that sound anywhere and it lanced through him, hoping that he'd misheard it, that he couldn't be the cause of it, not again. "Oi, Ryouta. You okay in there? Did you pass out in the shower?"
Is he crying?
He rapt his knuckles against the door and pressed his ear against it. There was movement on the other side and after a moment, the squeaking sound of the shower turning off. It was another couple of minutes before the door opened. Aomine pulled back from his position, the action abrupt as he came face to face with Kise. His blond hair was damp, the strands casually swept back like he'd just run his fingers through them.
"Sorry! Did Aominecchi need to use the shower? You wore me out and the water was so relaxing--"
"Cut the bullshit, will ya? Can you do that?" Aomine's sudden irritation surprised even himself. His fist clenched before he forced a breath out in an attempt to calm down. He scoffed then and shook his head, cobalt eyes searching Kise's face for anything other than the carefully constructed mask the blond now wore. "Why were you crying?"
"I don't know what Aominecchi's talking about! I told you, the shower was relaxing and I just--" Kise's voice betrayed him as he hurried past, the small waver subtle but enough for Aomine catch. He caught the blond's wrist and held on, refusing to back down.
"You always were a crappy liar."
"What do you want from me?!" The break in Kise's voice was palpable that time as he yanked his wrist from the ace's grasp. "You wanted to be just friends, right? You don't want to be with me, but you're okay doing things with me and spending time with me, as long as we're just friends. I'm trying to give Aominecchi what he wants!"
Aomine blinked. He hadn't expected Kise to come barreling at him that way. "What do you want?"
"I-- what?!"
"You heard me. What. Do. You. Want?"
"I want to spend time with Aominecchi! I want to do things with you, hang out with you like we used to. I want everything we've been doing and if I have to stay Aominecchi's friend to have it, then that's what I want!" Kise was breathing hard now, tears brimming before they fell and streaked his flushed cheeks. He wiped them away, the action swift and careless, and for a moment, he looked just as vulnerable as Aomine felt.
"I--" Before he knew what he was doing, Aomine's arms wrapped around Kise and he held on, even as the blond attempted to push him away.
"That's what I want if that's what you want. I just want you."
Kise's final admission eased the weight in Aomine's chest and he dipped his head, his own words muffled against Kise's neck. "You have me. You've always had me."
"Baka Aominecchi," Kise managed through his sniffles. "I just wanted to give you what you wanted."
"I wanted you."
"Really?"
"Really." He took a deep breath. It was now or never. "I kinda, sorta... love you... a little... okay, maybe more than a little..."
Kise pulled back just enough to look him in the eye. What seemed like the longest minute of Aomine's life ended with the blond giving a satisfied nod, the makings of that smile that first hooked the ace all those years ago tugging the corners of Kise's mouth. "Good. Because I kinda, sorta love you maybe more than a little, too."