Cross-dribble. Feint right, feint left, go left—turn around, head right, step back, jump! No, stop, a block on the way. Straighten up and relax, breathe, watch the eyes, watch the eyes...

"Look! It's Kise!"

Kise's eyes lose focus for a fraction of a second, but it's enough for Daiki.

Feint right, go left, drive, step back and avoid the arm - jump and release!

"No!" Kise shouts as the basketball goes in for the fifth time that morning. "No fair! No fair! Again!"

Daiki smirks at Kise as he picks up the ball. "You know you'll never win against me, Kise," he tells the infuriated blonde, passing him the ball. He positions himself for defense anyway, because it's a one-on-one against Kise, and it never fails to make him laugh.

Kise growls but to Daiki it just sounds like a puppy trying to impress its terrifying dad.

A puppy enters his peripheral vision, small with a streak of bright blue and black and white.

It… Can't be... What would that dog do here?

His distraction causes Kise to run past him and shoot the ball effortlessly. Kise whoops in delight, but Daiki could honestly care less. Daiki looks around, ignores Kise's yelps of happiness at finally scoring a point against him, tries to find the furry thing just as Kise throws him back the ball for another round. Where did that puppy go? Daiki just knows it's the same dog he played with a couple of nights ago—

"Aomine-kun."

He drops the basketball, jumps a little, and is left standing there with hands curved around thin air, a little too stunned to notice anything other than the fact that Tetsu is right there, looking back at him with equal surprise evident even through the constant veil of indifference he is so used to wearing.

He hadn't felt that in a while, that jolt of recognition, that painful resonance in his head when his soul flies out after Tetsu's constantly impressive methods of staying hidden. He was always so attuned to Tetsu's presence, so used to him being there, and then so used to him being away, to being alone, that it's even more shocking than before.

Must have been all the time apart.

Daiki concentrates hard to not let his mind wander there. He's been taking the painful trip down memory lane far too often now, and he knows he never looks well after. Don't think about it, don't think about it, not now.

"T-Tetsu," he manages to stammer, grabbing the fallen ball and struggling not to look Tetsu in the eye.

He is saved by Kise. "Kurokocchi! And you brought Nigou with you too!"

Nigou?

Daiki looks down, sees the tiny ball of fluff wagging its tail beside Tetsu's feet, familiar blue eyes staring intently at him and then the ball and then back at him—

"Hey! It's you!"

Daiki is so overjoyed he even forgets that Tetsu is right there. He drops to one knee, leaves the ball on the floor, holds out a hand. The puppy waddles towards him, smells his fingers, barks its tiny bark, rushes up Daiki's arm and flies towards his face and attacks him with wet dog kisses, excited yelps escaping in between its licks. Daiki laughs, falls to the ground, lying down and struggling a little to get the small thing off his face, and laughs and laughs and laughs the way he couldn't for the last few months. He pulls the puppy away, sits up, pets its head and starts talking to it.

"Hey there boy," he says, oblivious to his surprised audience, "how've you been? Wanna play with me today, huh? Let's play basketball!" Nigou yaps at him and he chuckles again. "Alright then!" Daiki gets up and grabs the ball, and it is only then that he remembers Tetsu and Kise.

Tetsu's eyes are wide in wonder. "Aomine-kun…" His voice is barely a whisper.

"Aominecchi, you've played against Nigou before?" Kise bounds towards Daiki and holds out a hand for Nigou to sniff.

Daiki regains awareness. "Yeah. That thing's better than you, Kise."

Kise pouts and replies with the usual sprinkle of exaggeration. "Aominecchi's so mean!"

Daiki smiles, turns towards Tetsu who is still standing there, unable to move. "This puppy's yours, Tetsu?"

Tetsu nods.

"He's a great dog." Daiki dribbles the ball, watches as Nigou moves towards him. He couldn't stand to look at Tetsu for very long. There is something in his eyes that frightens Daiki a little too much.

Nigou looks back at him and tries to intercept the ball as it bounces against the concrete.

Should I cross-dribble? Feinting won't help, the little thing can't possibly know how to read feints. Should I just go for a drive? He likes playing against Nigou because he can't just watch Nigou's eyes for a sign of anything it's about to do. He goes for a drive, because what else was there to do, and fights a laugh when the puppy runs around his feet and blocks his path so easily again. And then it's a seemingly endless cycle where Daiki drives and feints and steps back and then goes for the goal and the puppy is always there, chasing him, stopping him in his tracks guarding against him like one other person from so long ago—

—and then it's Tetsu in front of him, crouching and holding out both hands, with a gentle smile on his face and Nigou right at his heel, and Daiki doesn't know what to feel.

Nigou barks.

Tetsu's hand comes out of nowhere, steals the ball, sends it halfway across the court in a casual variation of Kai, and Kise yells in pain as he jams it into the ring, complaining to Tetsu about how painful it is to receive that pass, and then Tetsu is replying, in his usual cool tone, that Kise is being silly, how could he complain about that pass, he's received it before, and besides it isn't even a serious Ignite Pass—

There is a warm feeling spreading across Daiki's chest, inexplicably allowing him to breathe a little better, and he realises only then that he'd been holding his breath. He looks up, a little disoriented, and sees that yes, itis Tetsu playing against him and yes, the game is slowly turning into a really unbalanced three-on-one and yes, he doesn't mind at all and yes, he might actually lose and yes, he's actually pretty excited.

There is a spark in Tetsu's eyes when he says, "You think you can still win against all three of us, Aomine-kun?"

Daiki smiles. "Oh please. Two puppies and a passing specialist? Pfft."

Kise complains, Nigou barks, and Tetsu's answering smile is radiant.

Cross-dribble. Feint right, feint left, go left—turn around, head right, step back, jump! No, stop, a block on the way. Straighten up and relax, breathe, watch the eyes...

Watch his eyes...

Don't lose sight of them again.