"Aominecchi.."
It was the first time they'd seen each other since the Interhigh finals.
Kise hadn't slept at all the night after, too busy replaying every move and mistake in his head over and over. He needed to get stronger, for his sake and Aomine's.

But a small, quiet part of him hadn't been thinking about the game on that night. It had been caught up with Aomine's face, the sharp expressions he wore during the game and the way he'd changed from amused to cut off and over confident at the end. Briefly, Kise had gotten to see a glimpse of an Aomine who was actually awake and alive in a game rather than running on autopilot.

It was short-lived, thanks to his weakness. Yet in it's wake Kise stayed up watching the sun crest into the sky outside his bedroom, thinking about what everything meant. He'd given up looking up to the Teiko Ace, and as a result had finally risen to Aomine's level.
Or, rather, close to it.

He'd flown too close, and for a while after the playoffs he'd had to sit on the sidelines resting as his team practiced. It was humiliating to be called a member of the Generation of Miracles when he couldn't even face another member without ending up so entirely exhausted and sore.
But it was progress, and as Kasamatsu was quick to remind him, any progress was a victory.

So Kise had sat on his own, watching and waiting for his chance to return to the court.
And in that time spent recovering he'd thought more and more about Aomine. About their old games compared to the last, and how worried he was that things were beyond repair. How could he face the other now that there was no admiration between them? What would he say to someone the local papers were calling his rival?

It was too strange, too surreal. He couldn't believe the person people were talking about was him. He couldn't process the fact that the person on the cover of the newspaper with the fierce expression was him, running alongside Aomine like an equal.

But here, now, he was staring into the all-too-familiar face of his old friend.
Kise looked around briefly, surveying the high school parking lot. It was empty of any students or teachers. Normally Kasamatsu stayed behind with him to clean up after practice and on good days play one-on-one a little. But tonight he'd gone home upon Kise's request, allowing the blonde some alone time in the court he missed being on.

After trying (and failing) to push himself through a few sprints, Kise had cleaned up and put all the equipment away. Only to find Aomine waiting against a lamp post in the parking lot.
When all the blonde could summon was the ace's petname, Aomine grinned.

The expression made Kise uneasy. It wasn't the grin of a normal person, full of amusement and cheer. It was sharp, and a little snide, and at it's root- predatory. Which made the other seem even more unnerving as he stepped closer, hands in the pockets of his jeans and eyes set straight on Kise's nervous face.

"I'm surprised you're still calling me that." Aomine commented in a sigh that sounded halfway condescending. Of course, these days, everything he said seemed to sound like that.
"After I trashed you at the Interhigh."

As tactful as always. Kise straightened at the words, gentle face taking on a serious expression. If this was about competition, he didn't care how badly his body ached after the attempted sprints- if Aomine wanted to play, he'd play. He'd tear himself in two challenging the other.

Despite that determination, Kise laughed. And in reaction, Aomine seemed startled.
The blonde broke the tight air with a casual smile. Under the surface, he was burning hot and ready to go, be damned his body. But his face was calm, and happy. He laughed and smiled, tilting his head with the words, "That's kind of mean, Aominecchi."
It was too cheerful. Too blase. Aomine caught on and grimaced quickly.

"Well, I didn't come all the way out here to this weak-ass school just to say that."
He gave the words a moment to sink before again the sharp grin cut itself through his features. It was startling, to know what a soft, warm-hearted smile looked like on that face. It made Aomine's grin all the more rattling and painful to see.
"So," the dark-haired young man commented with a jerk of the chin back towards the school behind Kise. "You locked up yet?"

Kise shook his head slightly.
"I don't lock up- the cleaning staff does that."

Without another word Aomine brushed past, walking straight to the gym's double doors.
"Hurry up, then." He called over his shoulder as the blonde simply stared at him.
"I'm not patient enough to wait for you to heal up, so you better get ready now."

There was a long moment of quiet as Aomine reached the door and pulled it open. As he stepped inside, expecting to hear the metal creak shut behind him, a firm hand slammed into the almost-shut door and pried it back fully open.

"Ready whenever you are." Kise half-growled from behind his old friend.