The sound of sheet rustling against itself fills the room as Aomine bounces out of the bed. Glancing at the time, he heads straight to the washroom; brushing his teeth, washing his face and a quick morning shower. He twists the shower knob off, hops out with a small towel covering his nether region and another used to dry his dark blue hair, looking almost black when it's wet. Quickly donning his police uniform, he glances at his reflection on the mirror; checking his hair, dusting unwanted filth off his shoulder, for the uniform has been worn for a couple of times this week. Once he's done, his eyes focused on another figure that's still soundly asleep in the bed behind him. For Kagami to be sleeping through the morning alarm, he must've had a rough night at work last night. Aomine saunters off to kneel by the bed side, gently running his fingers through the soft locks of red. A short, sweet kiss on Kagami's forehead made him squirm about, but not enough to wake him up. Aomine just chuckles. Reaching out for a memo pad and pencil on the bedside table, he scrawls a quick note and paste it on the other man's bare chest before leaving for work.

Must be one hell of a night huh, Taiga? Sleep well on your off day. You need it. –Love, Daiki

Drug-busting is really no small deal at all. Catching the minions is easy, but the trouble is to get to the head of the syndicate and locate the drug-producing lab itself to get the evidence and then stop the operation. Today they made a huge progress on the case as one of the informants revealed the whereabouts of the lab, of which translates to the longest day at work. Aomine haven't had the time to get lunch, and he's freaking exhausted. By the time they cleared the meth-lab, Aomine step out to the reddish skyline, with the sun ready to go down and make way for the moon to shine. Aomine was planning to drop by the office quickly to gather some stuff before going back when a plastic bag with a couple of burgers, wrapped up by wrappers with a familiar emblem, and a small note attached to it is placed on his desk. Immediately a smile tugs his lips, knowing from whom it is from even without looking at the note.

You should've waked me up before you go to work this morning. And it's not exactly a day off, I'm still on standby in case anything happen (but hopefully not.) I woke up pretty late and was too hungry to cook, so I went to Majiba. Here's something I bought for you. I dropped by to see you but they told me you're busy with a big operation. Hope it all goes well. Hurry home. I miss you. – Love, Taiga

Pacing his way back, he jumps his way up the second floor and unlocked the door in haste. But Aomine's heart sunk a little bit as it opens to a dark hallway, with only bright moon casting its light against the apartment floor through the glass sliding door. His hand runs against the wall half-heartedly to switch on the light, making his way to the couch. The thought of meeting Kagami keeps him light, but now realizing that the redhead is not around, the weariness he felt this evening is back, heaviness residing on his shoulder. Kagami is a habitual creature; it's easy for Aomine to figure him out. The redhead would let the light on when he's home, and most of the time he'd wait for Aomine before hitting the sack. Aomine would come home to the redhead sleeping on the couch with a pillow or his old jersey, and he couldn't help but find that habit adorable.

Aomine heaves out a heavy sigh. He leans his head all the way back while stretching his leg straight and put it on the coffee table. Something tickles his foot. A memo. He swiftly jumps to read it.

I jinxed it. A fire broke out at a firework factory. It's gonna be messy. I made your favourite karaage but I have to leave before you get back, so I put it in the fridge. Pop it in the microwave for five minute when you want to eat it, and no, don't change the setting; it'll burn the whole thing off, and the stain is ugly. See, if you woke me up this morning at least I'd have sustained the day with a kiss, now – I miss you. I'll see you when I get home. – Love, Taiga

The note ended with a scrawly handwriting as the note Kagami wrote doesn't fit the space, and a small smile formed on Aomine's face; Kagami always have a lot to say. But the smile only lasted for a short while. With another sigh of frustration, Aomine got on his feet and make his way to the bedroom.

It's barely 7am but Aomine is already wide awake. It wasn't a pleasant night of sleeping; he woke up at intervals to check whether Kagami's home, and ended up disappointed every time. His hand roams up and down the other side of the bed, against the smooth white silky sheet they got from Kise for their wedding. Still empty. The atmosphere in the room stills with dark thoughts clouding his mind. He kills off the alarm once it goes off and picks up the phone to dial up a set of numbers that is close to the heart.

After the tenth time trying, Aomine stops. He calm himself down with the thoughts of 'he's working' and 'the idiot must've put the phone in silent and then leave it in the locker,' but that doesn't do much help. Done getting ready for work, he step into the kitchen and flung open the fridge door for last night's karaage. He stares into the dimly lit cold food storage for quite some time; thinking, fiddling with the thoughts in his mind. With a determined look, he retrieves the plate of karaage wrapped in plastic and a few eggs in the other hand, and the fridge door using his foot.

Please throw your phone away if you don't intend to use it. Call me back. Stay safe. It's not gonna match your standard of cooking, but I made some scrambled egg. Karaage was delicious. I want more. I want you. I'm starting to think I'm living with a ghost. You're not a ghost, are you? Oh, I did kiss you this morning, by the way. – Love, Daiki

Aomine glances down at his phone as he closes the door of the conference room behind him and into the long corridor in the large police station, if fact the largest in the whole Kanto region. Still, there's no call from Kagami. It's not appropriate to answer a call during a meeting, but damn it, he's worried, and the redhead's not helping at all. His fingers are fast dialling the number when a tap on his shoulder halts him in his track.

It is his co-worker, with paper bag in his hand, thrusting it in his face. Aomine blinks his surprises away.

"Aomine-san, great timing. Somebody came by and told me to deliver this to you," says the guy that's way shorter than Aomine, with respect mixed with fear in his tone. "Urgently," he adds.

"I...uhh, thank you," Aomine scowls, snatches it right away once the jolt blew over, hoping that it is from the one he's hoping for. When his sight falls on the memo attached to the small plastic ware, he smiles. He thanked him again, waited until the other person went away and out of his sight before he starts reading it.

I am so sorry Daiki. We wrapped up really late last night and I was too exhausted I fell asleep at the station. In case you're worried, I'm alright; not scratch, no burn, no anything at all. My battery ran out when I tried to call you (your fault for calling so many time) so now I left it at home to charge while I head out to work...again. I was trying my luck and drop by to show you how fine I am in person, but I was told you're in a meeting. Bummer. It's like the universe is working against us. I loved your slightly overcooked scrambled egg, you should make it more often. Here's some turkey ham sandwich. And nope, I'm not a ghost, and a kiss that when I sleep doesn't count. I'm gonna be home tonight (yup, not on standby, yoohoo!) so come home and give me a real kiss. And maybe something more dirty if you're not too tired – Really missing you, Taiga

The smile on his face gets wider, and in his heart he's relieved; like a boulder lifted off of it by knowing Kagami is safe. He has gotten smarter this time, writing in small font from the beginning of the note because he knew he's going to write a lot. He tries hard to read the line that has been strike out and when his eyes caught the word 'dirty' and 'not too tired,' Aomine covers his mouth and tries to stop himself from laughing. Kagami is really honest sometimes.

He slips the memo into his pants pocket and rolls the paper bag, keeping it behind his back. Setting his jaw straight as he tries to mask his amusement and goes back into the conferencing room, Aomine bumps into another one of his co-workers that's about to leave the room. A man in his late twenties, eagerness radiates from his entire being, hold on to Aomine's arm to stop him.

"Good, you're already out here. News flash, they've found the ring leader. I just got the word in a few minutes ago. Since we're the only young ones around here, we've been assigned to do the stake-out and ambush the ring leader. We have the full permission. Grab your stuff. We're getting out of here in five."

Aomine curses in his heart, believing that the universe is really trying to work against him and Kagami this time.

The moment Aomine reaches his front door, it's almost 3 in the morning. The whole town is deep in sleep, only gushes on cold late winter wind and occasional howling of perhaps wolves in the distance filling the air underneath the dark sky. Getting paired up with an overly enthusiastic partner is such a hassle. As much as he wanted to bust the ring leader, working overtime when he clearly wants to go home is not welcomed either. And what makes him upset even more is that his partner decided to wait till tomorrow to catch the big boss, because apparently 'we need time to prepare.' Another night wasted, and Aomine just rolled his eyes in annoyance because the less drama he caused, the faster he can go home.

When Aomine steps into partially lit hallway, his heart blossoms, his steps lighten up at the thought of who's waiting for him in the living room. And there Kagami is; sleeping with his hand propped up against the side of the couch, his chin rests heavy on his knuckle. Aomine's old Touou jacket that's supposed to be blanketing his thighs is halfway down on the floor. Aomine feels a tug in his heart, jumbled emotion welling up inside him; relieved, loved, thankful, and a little guilty for letting Kagami wait up for him. Aomine switches off the almost mute television that plays the rerun of The Lakers game and hurries to settle by Kagami's side. Probably noticing the lack of sound and light from the television, Kagami jolts out of sleep; confused, staring at Aomine's face next to him, studying it if he is a creature from Mars with half an eye and three noses.

"Daiki?" Kagami calls out groggily.

"I'm home," Aomine brushes his finger across the redhead's cheek and a tiny smile slips out of his lips. "Sorry I'm late. Now let's get you into bed, Taiga."

Aomine didn't expect Kagami to launch himself onto him, tripping over the forgotten jacket, causing him to fall on the couch on his back, and the redhead lies with his full weight on top of him.

"It's really you," whispers Kagami close onto his lips, closing in the distance slowly until there is none. Aomine closes his eyes; enjoying the brush of pale soft lips against his chapped ones, the moment he has been longing for days. Kagami steals the chance to lick his cracked lips. It feels like forever since they last locked lips like this, with his arms around him, when in actuality it has only been almost three days. It terrifies him to think of the days when either one of them can no longer come back to each other's embrace anymore, forever. Shoving his dark thoughts away, Aomine focuses on the soft sensation on his lips and in his mouth. Kagami is affectionate as always, tasting like mint that's masks a faint taste of curry; probably what he had eaten for dinner. Out of breath, Kagami pulls away; wiping his mouth on Aomine's uniform before tucking himself under his chin with contented look taking over his drowsy face. "Welcome home, Daiki."

EXTRA

Some months later...

"Daiki, your pizza's here!"

The door continues to buzz, Aomine is nowhere to be seen, and the game on the TV is starting to get very interesting.

"Daiki!" exclaims Kagami again, annoyed that the sound of buzzer interrupting the game he's watching. A minute passed by and the buzzer rang again and again when Kagami finally got on his feet to the open the door, and raises his palm to the delivery man's face right away, the other man too stunned to do anything.

"Hold on."

Then he goes looking for Aomine, sniffing about his location. If he missed some important moments in the game by his favourite team, Aomine's going to have to pay for it. He strolls into the bedroom and takes a look around. "Oi Ahomine Daiki, where are you?"

A muffled sound comes from beyond the closed washroom door. "I'm in here, idiot. Answering nature's call. You should just go get the pizza, why do you need to wait for me?"

"'Cause I don't have enough cash, dumbo. I used most of the ones I have in my hand to pay for yesterday's groceries."

A brief period of pause is followed by Aomine saying, "You should've told me earlier. Just take the money from my wallet. It's on the dressing table."

Replying with a simple 'okay,' Kagami grabs the wallet and dashes to collect the pizza so he can go back to the game.

"Alright just one more second," says Kagami to the delivery man who is patiently waiting to get paid and then leave, although he appears to be slightly annoyed. His fingers are running through the notes to count the amount he needs to pay for Aomine's sudden craving for pizza. As Kagami pulls out the bank note too fast, some of the tucked away notes and receipts in the bank note compartment fell out as well, scattered all over the floor. Biting back a curse, he hands in the money with some tips for the delivery man and takes the stacks of 3 pizza boxes to the counter top. He runs back to shut the front door and work on the mess he made. Carefully picking all the clutter of small papers all over the floor, Kagami can't help but recognize the scrawly handwriting on a few colourful papers. It is his, and he realizes what those are.

His memos.

He was reading it and chuckling at it, thinking what possessed him to wrote such sappy things when Aomine walks in, a slight color pinching his cheeks when he apprehends the situation. Aomine immediately locked Kagami's head in his arm with one hand over his forehead, threatening to twist his neck, though there's no harm in his tone.

"Taiga, stop reading! Put it away."

"Why not? I wrote this, remember," replies Kagami simply.

"But it's for me, and now that it's mine, I have a power over it. Give it back."

"But you still keep it," Kagami's heart feels light. A huge grin bursts on his face, a smile so bright even the blind could palpate the glimpse of it. "I feel...loved."

Aomine let him go, muttering some incoherent noises. It takes a while before Kagami can actually catch what he is saying.

"Dumbass. Of course I do."

Later that evening, as Kagami is ready to sleep on his side, a pair of hands snakes around his waist from behind. The scent of vanilla body wash is thick, with warm mist of breath tickling the skin on his shoulder blade.

"Hey Taiga, you...do you still keep my memo?" stammers Aomine as he asks, but he steels himself through to the end. "Be honest. I'm not going to be mad or anything. I'm just...asking."

A small smile tugs on Kagami's lips. Whilst Aomine is known for his cockiness and determination, there is some part of him that is insecure about himself, needing reassurance from time to time. This is the part only he knows, and he intends to keep it that way. Kagami closes his eyes, picturing the inside of his locker in the fire station; a passport picture of Aomine in his police uniform, a collage pictures of them together in LA and Thailand, his memos, even some worn out receipts from their first few dates more than ten years ago, pasted on the metallic wall using cheap water glue.

"Yes," he pulls Aomine's hands to wind closer around his mid section, leaning back so his back is pressed along the length against him. He rests his hands on top of Aomine's and have their slender, calloused fingers twined with each other. "I still have it, Daiki."

THE END

A/N: A review is much appreciated. Thanks for reading! :)