Aomine was never really one to hold back on his feelings. Whether it was standing up for Tetsu to their coach back in middle school, or telling a teammate they were pissing him off, or letting a teacher know they were boring, Aomine found it was too much effort to keep things in.

So, when he realized that he was in love with Tetsu, his first instinct was to call him. Unfortunately, it was exam week at their university, and it was also four in the morning.

"Aomine-kun? What time is it?" Tetsu mumbled quietly, still sounding half asleep, when he picked up the phone after several rings.

"I don't know, like four or something. Tetsu, I'm in love with you." Aomine told him, not wasting any time getting to the point.

There was a long pause before Tetsu answered him, and Aomine had started to think that maybe Tetsu had fallen back asleep. "I have an exam in three hours, and I just went to bed half an hour ago. We will talk about this later."

"Oi, Tetsu!" But the other had already hung up on him. "I'm in love with an asshole." Aomine muttered to himself as he put his phone back on his nightstand and tried to get some sleep. It took a while, but he eventually drifted off, still wondering how his talk with Tetsu would go.

It wasn't until after exams that Tetsu was finally willing to talk to him again. Aomine looked up when he heard approaching footsteps and grinned at the blue haired boy approaching him. Tetsu had texted him that morning to meet him at the park. Aomine lived closer, so he got there sooner. It appeared Tetsu had also stopped on the way for one of his vanilla shakes, so that probably factored into how much earlier Aomine was.

"I have been in love with you for a long time, Aomine-kun, so if that was some kind of joke, I do not appreciate it." Tetsu told him after sitting down and taking another sip of his shake.

"That wouldn't be a very funny joke." Aomine replied with a frown. "But how long is a long time?"

Tetsu tilted his head back to look up at the sky as he considered the question. "Do you remember that time we were playing one on one in middle school, and you stopped mid shot to go chase down an ice cream truck that wasn't even stopping, convinced you were going to catch up anyway?" Aomine didn't, but it sounded like something he would have done. "My first thought as I watched you chase after it was 'I'm in love with an idiot'."

"Hey! That's rude!" Aomine protested.

Tetsu gave him a small smile. "And then it hit me what I'd just thought, and I realized that it was true. I did love you. And I still do. Also, that you're an idiot."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Aomine asked curiously, letting the idiot comment slid for now.

"Because I know you. If you'd loved me you would have told me so. Since you hadn't, you didn't, and there was no point in saying anything."

Aomine wasn't sure if that was quite right. He was pretty sure he had loved Tetsu back then too, he just hadn't really known it. Either way, he knew now, so it should all work out.

"Well, in that case, I think our first date should be ice cream. Since that's apparently something you like to use to express your feelings to me. Be it watching me chase it, or dumping it down my shirt like a crazy person."

"I maintain that you deserved that." Tetsu said. His voice was serious, but Aomine had known him long enough to see the amusement in his eyes.

"Yeah, probably, but I'll buy if you promise not to do that again." Aomine offered.

Tetsu pretended to consider it for a moment. "Alright. But Aomine-kun has to promise to try not to deserve ice cream down the back of his shirt if he expects me to not drop it there."

Aomine rolled his eyes and ruffled Tetsu's hair. "I'll try." He agreed before wrapping an arm around Tetsu's shoulders. They stayed there for a while, leaning against each other and talking while Tetsu finished his shake, before heading back to their apartments, having set a time and place for their date the next day.