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It was unfortunate how they were the only ones to survive.
It was even more unfortunate that the dog had offered one of them a chance to leave.
But only one.
And they had to kill the other.
Kise shouldn’t have survived this long. Under normal circumstances, he would’ve been the first to be killed. He was easily the most vulnerable, the one most mentally scarred. Luck had let him live this long.
It should’ve been Kuroko. Kuroko was the one that had found the flaws in arguments, the contradictions in statements.
Now, Kuroko was gone, had disappeared just like that, leaving Aomine and Kise as the last two. Kise knew Aomine wasn’t much better off than he was.
He could say the same about himself, but he’d been detached from them all from the start. Like he could trust a bunch of people who could turn on him and kill him whenever they felt like it.
Then the dog, that life-ruining dog, showed up to break the pleasant news to the both of them.
Only one can escape, and that’ll be the one that kills the other.
Aomine won’t kill Kise. He won’t hurt someone if he can help it, not even if it means he can return to the outside world. Kise is much too precious to him, even after all this time. Even when he sees the desperation, the fear, the madness in Kise’s eyes, he knows that he won’t be able to kill him.
Whether Kise will kill Aomine is a different matter altogether.
They both stare at the gun between them, the gun that’ll decide their fate. Who gets to live, who will die.
Aomine wonders if he can end it all with a bullet in his head. Kise will live without the guilt that he killed Aomine. But, then again, Kise might be punished.
The dog had said that one of them needs to kill the other, after all.
Aomine’s gaze lifts to meet Kise’s. He sees the despair in his eyes, the same despair that had been present in all of their own. The despair that had threatened to take over their lives. What can he say? Is there anything he can say that will calm Kise down?
He knows there’s not. Kise had wanted to leave this place from the very start, even before they’d been shown the videos. Aomine would never tell Kise, but he’d watched his video. It showed his family congratulating him for making it into Hope’s Peak, then Kaijou wishing him well. He’d barely been at Kaijou for a term before Hope’s Peak had sent him an invitation. Then the camera flipped to a room with bloodstains everywhere, his family and teammates lying immobile on the floor. If the image made Aomine’s heartbeat rise, he couldn’t imagine how Kise had felt.
Kise’s gone mad, and Aomine’s sure he isn’t any better.
"Hey, Aominecchi? Are you going to kill me?"
There’s a strange look in Kise’s eyes. It’s one of fear and despair. It was at that moment that Aomine realised that it didn’t matter what he did, the damage was irreversible. Even if there was still a world to go back to, he would go insane on his own.
So, who gets to live?
Aomine takes a few tentative steps towards Kise. He doesn’t look at the gun.
"After everything we’ve been through, do you really think I’d kill you? I’d take my own life in a heartbeat, you know that? I wouldn’t be able to live, knowing I’d killed you to survive."
"So, I have to kill Aominecchi?"
They’re both silent. Aomine’s answer doesn’t matter. Whatever he says, however he tries to reassure Kise, the outcome will be the same.
It’s only now Aomine takes the time to look, to really look at Kise’s features. He compares them to what he can remember from before, and even though the memories are hazy, there are notable differences. His whole body is laced with anguish. The trembling of his hands along with the pallor of his face. So much he wants to say, so much he wants to do. He takes one of Kise’s hands in his own, raising it to eye level. He’s always liked how smooth Kise’s hands were. How much pride he took in them.
It was a shame that he couldn’t keep them the same way.
"Oi, Kise."
Kise looks at him, his eyes wild with madness.
"Hm?"
"Kill me."
"I can’t kill Aominecchi."
"You wanted to escape, right?"
"What’s the point in escaping if I have nothing to look forward to? You’re all I have left, Aominecchi. You can’t leave me. There has to be some way, some way we can both make it out-
"Kise. I want to tell you that, yeah, we can both escape. But you heard him. Only one can escape, and that one’s going to be you."
Tears run down Kise’s face and trickle onto the gym’s floor. He can’t imagine a life on his own, without the people he’d grown to love and appreciate. He couldn’t live with the haunting memories of blood and murder and betrayal. The memories of the cases - working out who was guilty, which friend had betrayed their trust. It was never a case of if, always one of when. Even when he thought he was safe, even for a day or two, there would always be the announcement of another death. It didn’t matter if it was within a week or a month. It was inevitable. If he lived, those memories would stay with him for the rest of his life. There was no hope on the outside, nothing to live for.
"Okay, Aominecchi."
Aomine sighs. It’s finally over. From fifteen to two. There was never a moment where he could truly relax. Whether it was a case or trying to keep himself alive, his heart would never stop thumping in his chest, the beats so fast and irregular that they hurt. He’d watched his friends go, one by one, until it was just him and Kise. He watches Kise pick up the gun. He remembers his friends, their deaths, and remarks on how he’s going to be just like them. Another victim of Hope’s Peak Academy.
"Goodbye, Aominecchi. I love you."
Aomine barely has time to form the words ‘I love you too’. Then he’s in a state of panic - firstly, he’s not dead.
Secondly, Kise’s falling.
He curses. Should’ve known, should’ve known, should’ve known. Kise’s already dead by the time he crosses the short distance between them. Somehow, it’s funny - Kise looks at peace, happy almost.
Much better than how he’d been when he was alive, anyway.