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Kise knew he had to get his leg checked up on, but he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to get the answer of an injury smacked in his face.
Even less did he want that if Kasamatsu came with him. It would be humiliating. After how he was guided out of the court and to the locker rooms, it would just be too humiliating. Therefore, he told the team he’d go alone.
However, there was one problem with that. His leg hurt too much to walk properly on. Kise sure hoped for some sort of miracle.
His miracle came in the form of one pissed Aomine Daiki with an exasperated Momoi Satsuki hanging by his arm, possibly having tried to pull him back.
The team had been stunned to silence, but they had all stared at the two people in the doorway. Everyone but Kise. They had promised to not see each other until the Winter Cup was over, or they were both out of it.
Now they were both out of it, but Kise didn’t want Aomine to see him in such a weak state. Didn’t matter that they were dating.
Kise kept his eyes firmly glued to the floor. “You might have to carry him, he’s not gonna move willingly.” Kise’s head had snapped up at the sound of Kasamatsu’s voice, but he had slumped down again.
“Fine. If that’ll get him moving to that damn doctor, then I’ll carry him all the way there.” Aomine had stepped into the locker room and made his way over to the bench Kise was sitting on. “Lift up your arms, Kise.” Aomine’s tone indicated no shit was going to be accepted. Being tired from the match and feeling terribly exposed, made Kise hesitate to raise his arms, but he did it regardless.
Aomine had gripped his arms, pulled him up into a standing position – still fully aware of the fact that Kise avoided meeting his eyes – and swung one arm under his knees, lifting him up like a princess. That didn’t help the shame Kise already felt.
Without wasting more time, Aomine turned around and walked out. Momoi trailed behind them, but she didn’t talk as she used to. She figured it wouldn’t make a difference. The way Kise’s fist was clenched on Aomine’s shoulder made her sure of that.
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The meeting with the doctor made Kise’s fears come true. He had to be very careful with his leg for weeks, he had to come back for more checkups and worst of all, he had to wear a knee brace as well as an ankle brace.
Basically, his nightmare came true. Then again, Kise had felt the pain spread from his ankle and to his knee. – Or was it the other way around? He couldn’t remember. He knew Haizaki had made it worse.
The only mildly positive thing about this meeting was the painkillers Kise got, and the fact that he got to choose the colour of both the knee brace and the ankle brace. He didn’t even hesitate to say dark blue.
Fortunately, they had those available and Kise was asked to strip out of his Kaijou uniform pants. It quickly turned embarrassing because Aomine had to help him pull them off, because his knee was still a bit of a bother.
His knee isn’t swollen or red, so the doctor deems it okay to put the brace on right away. The same goes for his ankle. Kise doesn’t want to look at his leg. It’s shameful to be in such a weak condition.
It’s shameful because he feels like he’s let the team down, shameful because he can tell how worried Momoi is, and it’s especially shameful how he’ll be walking on crutches to avoid putting pressure on the leg. It gives Aomine the perfect opportunity to baby him and laze around in bed with him as long as he can before they actually need to get up.
Kise would have loved that, if the situation were different. Now, in his situation, he just wanted to be alone. He just wanted to kick something. This wasn’t what he wanted.
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When they got out from the hospital, Kise was on crutches, even though Aomine had offered to carry him again. That would break the little pride Kise had left.
So he walked, all the way to his apartment, unsteadily on the crutches. He couldn’t help that his arms were aching from the game and that his good leg was quivering because it was aching too.
He knew he had been too fired up in the game. It took a toll on him to use the moves and a bad leg just made it all worse. He knew some of this was his own fault, he knew Perfect Copy was risky as well. He hadn’t cared in the match.
All he wanted was to win. That was his mistake. His mistake was rushing, pushing himself. The ace’s task is to lead the team to victory. Kise stood firmly by those words, but if the ace was ruining himself and possibly his career while doing it, he didn’t want it.
He wasn’t going to give his Generation of Miracles title to anyone, but he didn’t want it. It had been crap and it was crap. How they all were by the end of Teikou was embarrassing to think about. Everyone had managed to change, but everyone needed a loss to change. Well, almost everyone had changed. Akashi was still stuck at where they were before. He hoped Seirin would be able to beat Rakuzan, for the sake of Akashi.
Kise, like Kuroko, didn’t want them to be stuck at their Teikou mentality. It was destructive. Nothing good would come from it. Kise currently felt like a proof of that. ‘Bad karma.’ He thought.
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When they finally got to Kise’s apartment, Kise had drawn a breath. It hitched and he could feel the sad, shameful tears sting in his eyes.
He could feel Aomine moving closer to him, but Kise backed into the wall and put the full length of one of his crutches between them. “Don’t touch me.” Kise’s voice was brittle and his eyes were filled to the brim with tears. His legs were quivering and so were his arms.
If Aomine hadn’t ignored him, stepped forward and lifted him up, Kise would have fallen. “You suck at lying. You’ve always sucked at lying.” Aomine didn’t smile, but he didn’t look angry either. Kise knew this look by heart and it made him let down his walls, again.
First, the tears started rolling down his cheeks, and then his shoulders started shaking. By the time the sobs started wrecking through his body, they were on the couch and Aomine was stroking his back gently.
Kise hated crying. It made his eyes red and puffy, his nose switched between being runny and clogging up and he got a terrible headache. Not to mention that his throat also got pretty sore. Once Kise first started crying, he wasn’t quiet at all.
Having his face stuffed down into Aomine’s chest muffled the sounds, and he knew Aomine was going to complain about the stains later. Right now, he didn’t care. Everything was just wrong and upsetting. He let the team down, he lost, he fucked up his ankle and his knee and he couldn’t play basket for a while.
He felt so awful that even if Aomine was comforting him, he wanted Aomine to go away. He clung to Aomine for dear life with rough, heart wrenching sobs wrecking through his frame, but he still wanted Aomine to go away.
Aomine wasn’t going anywhere though. Even if Kise locked himself away, he’d sit by the door and wait for him to open it. Nothing was more painful to Aomine than seeing Kise upset. Now was no different.
He knew most of Kise’s injury was his own fault and he had already punched Haizaki once, but he wanted to do it again. Kise wouldn’t be glad if he did, so he didn’t do it. If they had been in the security of his apartment, Kise would have thrown one hell of a tantrum about it.
It surprised Aomine that he would rather have had that tantrum to deal with, than Kise helplessly sobbing into his chest. Kise crying had never been an easy thing to deal with, and considering recent events, he had no idea how to deal with it. He hoped it would pass by itself, even if it took hours.
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Hours was certainly what it took.
Aomine was sure almost two hours had passed when Kise’s breath had evened out and he sat up. Kise didn’t meet his eyes, but that was okay. His nose was still clogged up, so it made a lot of noise when he breathed in through his nose. “Mmhn, need to blow my nose.” His voice was so croaky that it took himself by surprise.
While Kise was busy blinking a bit and drying his cheeks and nose with the sleeves of his Kaijou uniform jacket, Aomine smiled. “Yeah, I think you do. Do you want some tea to go with that?” Aomine looked at him and placed him gently on the couch after lifting him off himself.
Deciding not to trust his voice, Kise nodded and proceeded to wrinkle his nose in disgust, his sleeves were full of snot. Not exactly a pretty sight. It made Kise wonder just how nasty Aomine’s shirt looked now.
Aomine had basically memorized most of the things that Kise liked, so making him tea was no big deal. He also knew where Kise kept his soft tissues that he liked to use when he blew his nose. Aomine had thought it was a bit weird at first, but he didn’t mind now.
While the electric kettle was heating the tea water, Aomine decided to strip out of his shirt and borrow one of Kise’s tank tops. It was a bit tight on him, but he could manage. The small smile that lit up on Kise’s tired and puffy face made it so worth it.
Aomine returned to the living room after a bit with a cup of hot tea and a package of soft tissues. Before he had even sat down, Kise had practically ripped the tissue package out of his hand and hurried to blow his nose.
Kise looked so pleased after blowing his nose that Aomine almost laughed. Instead, he pushed the cup of tea closer to him and kissed his temple.
Heaving a sigh, Kise picked up the cup and leaned against Aomine. He sipped the tea quietly and felt a sort of peace settle over him. He felt warm and loved.
“Hey, don’t fall asleep on me and your tea. You still have to shower.” His tone was light and the arm around him squeezed him gently to keep him awake. He nodded and took another sip of his tea. “I know. Shower with me. Can’t stand on this leg you know.” Kise’s voice sounded less gruff and more like his usual self now. They were both thankful for that.
Aomine couldn’t help but chuckle and kiss his temple again. “I’ll shower with you, don’t worry about it.” He tightened his hold slightly on Kise and looked at him. He was still worried, but less than before.
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When they were done in the shower, Aomine carried Kise to the bed and laid down with him. He didn’t say anything, but he pulled Kise’s bad leg over his own hip and stroked up and down his thigh soothingly.
Kise cuddled close to Aomine and sighed softly. Usually he would have been talking a lot by now. Talking about what made him upset, but he didn’t feel like that today. There was only one thing he wanted to say today.
“It feels like it was all for nothing.” A frown settled on his face, partly because of what he himself said, and because he could feel Aomine snort.
He knew it wasn’t all for nothing, he knew it wasn’t the end of his basketball career, but it almost felt that way. He wanted to train, to be able to take Kaijou to victory, but he also wanted to play one-on-ones with Aomine.
It was going to be weeks until he could do that again, and he wasn’t looking forward to those weeks.
“It ain’t over though, you know. If you can just listen to what people tell you, then you’ll be back on your feet again.” Aomine’s tone was light, but serious. These talks weren’t easy for either of them.
“But, you know, you’re still beautiful to me. A damn knee brace and an ankle brace isn’t going to change that. And I’m not going anywhere. Whenever you need me, I’ll be here. Even if you don’t want me here, I’ll be here. So, whatever’s bothering you, you can tell me. I’ll listen and comfort you no matter what.” Aomine’s words were powerful, but his voice was soft and caring. It made their meaning seep deeper into Kise’s heart.
A lump was forming in his throat, but he swallowed it down. “I know. Thanks, Daikicchi.” Kise looked up and made eye contact with Aomine for the first time since after the match. He could see nothing but worry and love in his eyes.
“Don’t thank me, idiot. You mean the world to me; all I want is for you to be happy.” Not bearing to look at Kise, in fear of either ruining the moment, or his blush becoming deeper, Aomine buried his face into Kise’s soft hair.
Kise tensed up at his words for a few seconds, and then he smiled. “Fine, fine. I know, but I’m at my happiest with you, so don’t leave me alone, okay?” Kise snuck one of his arms up to stroke through Aomine’s hair.
Another snort came from Aomine and Kise was pulled in tighter. “Wouldn’t even dream of it, Ryouta.” It was true. Not even in his wildest dreams would he think of leaving Kise.
Instead of answering, Kise leaned up to press his forehead to Aomine’s forehead. Kise had his eyes closed, so he couldn’t see the look of surprise that passed over Aomine’s face before it settled in a relaxed smile.
They stayed like this for a while, just enjoying the intimate gesture, the body heat and the silence.
Kise felt protected and warm in Aomine’s arms. He thought of himself as incredibly lucky to have him in his life like this. Aomine could make him feel better so easily and he loved that. He never wanted it to end.
Aomine was a lot softer than he let on, but Kise didn’t mind. In fact, he loved it. He loved the fact that Aomine could show his soft side to him. It made him feel spoiled sometimes, but he definitely liked that.
The longer the silence lasted, the more sleepy Kise got. No words were spoken, so Kise drifted off into a peaceful sleep. His features evened out completely. The times when Kise looked truly peaceful in his sleep, he looked beautiful.
Aomine pulled back to lay more comfortably and barely let his gaze meet with Kise’s relaxed face before he closed his eyes and fell asleep as well. He too, wore a relaxed face.
It had been a long and hard day, but it ended good. Ending the day comfortably in each other’s arms, was the best way to end days.