Fandom: Kuroko no Basket
Rating: K+
Pairing: Aomine Daiki x Kise Ryouta [AoKise]
Warning: Boy/Boy. Possible OOC. Hurt/Comfort. Angst. Repetition. Grammatical and spelling mistakes. Un-beta'd. Cliché. Fluff.
Word Count: 5090 words
A/N: Did I really finish three fics in a week?! Holy. But this one sounds relatively the same as my AoKaga one, oops! Sorry, clearly my "dramatic" plots aren't showing up in my stories, but hopefully my future ones will be a little more unique (n_n) The beginning sounds rather angst, but I swear it gets much better! Not much to say, except my next little "fic" will be something different (not an AoKise fic this time! :o!) so hopefully I can do that justice, haha! The writing style is a little different from usual, but nonetheless, please enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basket. Clearly belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.
Dedication: To Shana! Thank you for being such a wonderful friend, and this is my gift to you for all my troubles in the past month or so OTL. This isn't much, but I hope you enjoy it :) Oh! And of course, I hope my readers enjoy this too! (Originally for 5/8, but pfffft, I couldn't finish it in time, oops!) Please remember to favourite and review? It makes me happy to see people enjoy my fics! :')

Summary: When he misunderstands Kise's distress, the blonde decides to end it. Soon enough, Aomine misses his company, and wants to make amends but he has no idea what he did wrong. What happened to their happy, carefree moments back in Teikou? What caused Kise to put things to an end?

"I think we should break up."

Aomine was silent, absolutely speechless at the sudden announcement by his boyfriend, Kise, and he could only stare in disbelief at those honey brown eyes to see if this was a joke or not. The two were sitting on Aomine's couch, Kise just having finished his shoot and decided to pay a visit to Aomine before heading home.

He hadn't expected that at all. Instead of replying to Kise's comment, he simply ignored it, returning his attention back to the television where he watched the basketball game. Kise must be having one of those insecure days where he was stressed from work and school—graduation was approaching soon, university exams were beginning.

The screen suddenly went black, and Aomine turned his head to see Kise staring at him with those brown, worried eyes; the eyes that made him feel like this was not the time to focus his attention elsewhere. "Aomine…"

His eyes widened slightly at the sound of the name; the lack of the silly suffix Kise would often use to address him. Oh, something was definitely wrong if he was calling him by just his surname but he didn't say anything. He shifted his body so he could face Kise directly, but remained quiet, knowing this was the time for Kise to speak; not him. Whatever he decided on, even if he disagreed, even if he didn't quite understand the blonde's intentions, he would respect his decisions.

"Let's break up."

He could only stare before he rubbed his temples, frustrated—frustrated at Kise for being so unreasonable, so spontaneous; frustrated at himself for being so oblivious and unable to understand why this was happening.

Five years they had been together, from the second year of Teikou to their last year of high school, through the ups and down, and finally he decided to end it—just like that. Honestly he didn't know how to react to Kise's statement, but he nodded his head once, slowly, to show that he had digested the sentence, and in a sense, signaled Kise to continue.

A sigh escaped out of the blonde's lips, his shoulders fell forward as he rested his forehead in his hands, shaking his head slowly, "You don't understand me anymore."

"And why do you think that?"

It was the first time he had spoken since Kise brought up the conversation, and he never realized the harshness in his tone until he noticed Kise flinch the second he spoke. He brought his hand up to stroke Kise's hair, to comfort the male and to apologize for his tone, but then he froze; his hand only inches away from the back of Kise's head. Seconds later, his hand retreated, his hand running through his hair; a heavy sigh escaped his lips and he reclined back on the couch.

"Kise… Why the sudden-"

"It's not sudden." Kise's quick interruption startled Aomine, and the male instantly sat up from his position on the couch, staring into those brown stern eyes; eyes that he never saw before aside from their match in first year at the Inter-High tournament. The two met eye contact briefly before the blonde lowered his head once again, whispering, "It's not sudden…"

Aomine repeated those three words, before saying, "You have been thinking about this for a while?"

There was a subtle nod.

"I see…" Aomine clenched his fists, thinking back to all those times he had annoyed Kise, but usually they made up for it—he would apologize and promise he would never upset him again, and he stuck to his word, most of the time. But now, now he couldn't remember the latest incident he did to upset Kise to this extent; to the extent where the blonde would even consider breaking up.

Kise stood up from his seat on the couch, and leaned down, pecking Aomine's lips one last time before heading towards the door. "Goodbye, Aomine."

- Forgive and Forget -
AzaleaLura

Aomine entered his home, dropping his belongings on the floor as he tossed his Touou jacket aside; his feet dragging him towards the couch where he had his last conversation with Kise; the conversation where he wanted to break up. That was almost two months ago, and he craved for the blonde to return into his arms, craved to smell his strong cologne when they cuddled, craved to see his radiating smile when Aomine praised him for a job well done on his cooking—he missed it all.

The dark-blue Touou ace checked his phone for the umpteenth time that day, checking to see if today would be any different; checking to see if Kise would respond to his text.

When there was no pop-up of a new message – no indication at all – his heart fell, and he slumped against the couch, quickly typing a brief message before tossing his phone off to the side. If Kise wasn't going to answer, he would continue messaging him until the blonde was finally fed up with his persistence.

He missed him—he really did. Maybe he had taken Kise's company for granted, but Kise knew he showed his affections different than others. There was that incident in the last year of Teikou and first year of high school where their relationship had been unstable, but Aomine made up for it and he changed. By changed, he returned back to his carefree self; he began to cherish the blonde more, spoiling him with soft kisses and warm embraces when they were in private. He started showing his devotion towards the blonde, but maybe that hadn't been enough for Kise—maybe Kise wanted more.

An exasperated sigh escaped his lips as he rubbed his temples, just like that very day. He wished Kise had just explained what he had done wrong; he would change, slowly but surely he would change. Kise had to know, after five years, how much he truly loved him.

He protected him; maybe not like Kagami and Kuroko, where Kagami would openly defend Kuroko when the latter would nitpick at individuals who bullied others thus starting a fight, but he protected Kise. If he could, he would defend Kise from individuals, who hit on him, but that would humiliate him and possibly damage his pride as a man; he had to respect that. So he resorted to being the protective boyfriend using other means.

After an incident in a basketball game back last year, he forced Kise to take some time off the sport and focus on modelling. That injury had caused him to take some time off at work, risking his status as a model, and his parents hadn't been too pleased. Since then, they hadn't been playing one-on-ones, but it was all for Kise's benefit. If he continued, who knew what kind of injuries he would receive; injuries that could potentially threaten his job?

His eyes were slowly dozing off, his head slumping back on the couch headrest and he could feel sleep taking over. He was so tired; of the practices, of the importunate messages, of the constant worries about his mistakes on their relationship.

All he wanted was Kise back in his arms.

Aomine rubbed the back of his neck before relaxing his whole body, cursing in his head and wishing he could find a way to mend his mistakes and just bring back his ray of sunshine.

When he dozed off, he thought it was only going to be a short nap, but by the time he snapped awake, the sun was already shining through his living room curtains. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, clearly his mind had not registered that he slept through the night, even missing dinner. Well, he hadn't been getting enough sleep lately; his constant ponders disrupted his sleep, but yesterday was an exception. Not that he was complaining since the sleep had been rather comforting—he could feel his mood already lightening up.

Within minutes, he finished preparing for school and stuffed his practice clothes in his bag before he left his house. There was still plenty of time before school started; maybe he should have made breakfast first, but then again, he wasn't too hungry. Since there was so much time, he figured he should drop by Teikou—it was on the way to school anyway.

It wasn't until he reached the school entrance where he began to feel something was off—for some reason, it felt like he was going through déjà vu. Same old trees, same old flowers, even the students looked vaguely familiar—not that he ever paid much attention to his classmates, but really, there were some faces he just couldn't miss.

What the hell...? He gazed around, turning his head towards the direction of the gymnasiums and headed towards there; his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he wondered whether this was real or an old dream. Perhaps he was still asleep; that had to be the reason. There was absolutely no way he was sent back in-

The sudden contact of a ball hitting the back of his head knocked him out of his thoughts as he yelped, rubbing the throbbing area before reaching down to scoop the ball up and tossing it at the perpetrator. If this was a dream, he shouldn't have been noticeable, or perhaps he had fallen into a deep slumber and now he was experiencing one of his dreams? But that was unusual; he rarely had deep sleeps.

"-cchi? Aominecchi?"

His eyes widened at the sound of the voice. He hadn't even looked at the perpetrator, but that voice, the silly nickname, it couldn't have been- Instantly, his eyes gazed straight into perplexed, honey-brown orbs.

Kise.

Silence overcame them, as the two continued to stare into each other's eyes, both wondering what was going on. Clearly they knew something was a little off; Aomine was dressed in his Touou school uniform, for goodness sake! Besides, his physical appearance had changed over the years, and judging from the Kise in front of him, he was just as confused and shocked as he was.

The glimmer in Kise's eyes returned as the blonde approached the older individual, a bright smile on his face as he was only a foot away from the other, "Aominecchi, you grew!" All Aomine could do was gape at the obliviousness of his ex-boyfriend, which Kise took as the opportunity to squeeze his cheeks and examine his face to further detail. "And you look older."

The silence continued, as Aomine was still utterly speechless at how clueless Kise was—then again, the blonde was fairly ignorant to his surroundings. There was numerous times when Kise had been picked up by other men, but the blonde hadn't noticed, claiming his eyes were on Aomine only. It wasn't until he heard Akashi's voice call for Kise that he dragged the two of them around the corner; his hand grasped Kise's slender wrist while the blonde followed involuntarily without uttering a single word.

He put his finger to his lips, signalling Kise to be quiet as the two listened for Akashi's call again before they heard the red head sigh, muttering something inaudible but clearly relating it to Kise's sudden disappearance. Once the coast was clear, he let out a heavy breath before turning to the boy beside him, watching as the blonde simply cocked his head to the side, as if still observing his facial expressions and differences.

His instinct told him he was still dreaming, and this was just a reminisce of his Teikou moments with his loved one. Everything had been perfect then. No complications, no arguments, no pride, no insecurities—just love and devotion to each other and basketball.

"Look, I think I'm dreaming about the past and I can't wake up."

Kise absorbed the information for a moment, nodding his head slowly as if he was having trouble believing it, but then the bright, wide smile - the smile that had first attracted Aomine to the blonde - appeared on his lips and he chuckled, "So that's why you're so big!"

Aomine arched his eyebrow, before glancing down, and there he had noticed that there was an incredibly large difference in their heights. He brought his hand up to where the top of Kise's head was and moved it parallel towards his body. He stifled a laugh; the blonde barely reached his shoulders.

For a second, Kise pouted, before he, too, couldn't hold in the laughter and soon enough, the two of them were grinning madly at the height difference. The two took a moment to catch their breath before silence took over, and Kise looked at Aomine once again. Within minutes, he asked, "So why can't you wake up?"

"Who knows."

The blonde pondered for a second, his lips pouted outwards as he placed a finger on his chin—it was expressions like these that Aomine knew the blonde was coming up with various explanations on his inability to wake up, and he knew, in a few moments, Kise would look at him with those brown eyes and voice the conclusion he thought was most liable.

"Maybe there's something here that you have to figure out. You know, find a solution or something."

For once, Kise's suggestion was quite reasonable, and Aomine couldn't help but think that maybe the dream was trying to tell him something about his mistake with Kise; maybe if he stayed in this dream long enough, he would find the source to their unexpected break-up; maybe find a way to make Kise take him back; or...

Maybe it would just help him understand Kise's decision, and finally move on.

His face must have shown his despair, since the younger Kise touched his arm, snapping Aomine out of his thoughts as he jumped a little, as if he was startled by the sudden contact. Kise, too, jumped back, retreating his hand as he turned his gaze towards the ground; a faint blush surfacing on his cheeks as he muttered out an apology.

Aomine glanced at him for a moment, before shifting his eyes towards the area where Kise had touched; even his touches were the same as before—the same slender fingers, the soft touch of his hands, he had missed the warm and caring contact so much. "No, sorry, I was just taken by surprise; it wasn't your fault."

Kise glanced up, observing his facial expression one more time before letting out a relieved sigh, "Good. I would be devastated if Aominecchi was annoyed at me."

His heart skipped a beat. Even the silly nickname brought back old memories and he craved to hear him repeat that name again and again; knowing that name was leaving from the light pink lips of his; the lips he once kissed multiple times. To feel those damn lips against his again...

He tightened his fist, "Sorry."

There was another round of silence before Aomine pushed Kise towards the direction of the gymnasium, knowing he had caught the blonde off-guard and now said blonde was wondering what his intentions were. "Akashi will be angry if you miss any more of practice." He hadn't wanted the blonde to leave; no, even if this was the old Kise, he wanted to wrap his arms around the small figure, to feel the warmth against his chest and just treasure the time they had together.

"Oh." Kise turned to head back to the gymnasium, the ball back in his grasp, before he whipped his head back and called after Aomine, "I don't have a photo shoot today. Do you want to meet up after I'm done school? If you're still here, that is."

The blue-haired male was speechless, and so Kise took the opportunity to continue, but first shuffling his feet a little, shifting his weight from his left and right before smiling cheekily, "Maybe if you talk to someone about your problems, you'll find your answer sooner. It's worth a shot, isn't it?" He hadn't given Aomine a chance to respond; only smiling wider as he took the silence as a yes to their after school meeting before returning back to practice.

A rush of heat began to surface on Aomine's cheeks as he leaned against the wall; his hand reaching up to cover the faint blush even though he was certain no one was there to see the expression he currently had on his face. But the smile, the voice, the personality—it reminded him so much of Kise - the Kise he once, and still, loves - and just seeing the blonde smile at him like that brought back old memories he wished he still had.

Even if Kise had been oblivious to his dramatic change, he was as observant as ever when it came to inner conflicts. Just like usual.

It was like time fast forward straight to after school, where Aomine waited in the same spot for Kise to appear and the two would go somewhere and talk—most likely at the park they once frequented in the past after a one-on-one. Today, however, was an exception, and they skipped the one-on-one and took a seat on the bench at the park.

Aomine couldn't remember the last time he talked so much, couldn't remember talking about his relationship with anyone aside from Momoi and Kagami really, but seeing Kise nodding and smiling beside him, taking in his words, and offering some encouraging, comforting words, he couldn't help but hear those words leave his lips. He couldn't help but reminisce over the past.

At first, the story had been very sweet—how the two started dating back in Teikou; how he was attracted at Kise in what others would call "love at first sight"; how he tossed the ball directly at the back of his head to catch his attention; how he bullied the blonde every day after he joined the club because it was amusing to see the blonde frustrated.

And then, the harder parts began to come in. Slowly, but surely, he explained his break-up with the "present" Kise, and how the break-up had been a surprise; how Kise had been upset for the past couple days; and how he missed him dearly. But he knew, deep down, that the blonde didn't want anything to do with him anymore.

"I think we should break up."

"Let's break up."

"You don't understand me anymore."

"It's not sudden..."

Those words were so painful; it had been heart-wrenching to hear two months ago, and even now, after so much time had passed, the amount of pain he felt was still present. He hadn't expected Kise's presence to impact him this much, but seeing the younger Kise in his very eyes, feeling his heart beat viciously and quickly against his chest, he knew within the span of their relationship, the blonde had strongly affected him.

"Goodbye, Aomine."

Hearing the last two words leave Kise's lips, as he stood up to leave Aomine's sight and never bothered to look back even once, only planting a soft peck that symbolized their last kiss together, left the power forward feeling helpless again. His mind drifted into deep thought, and he hadn't noticed until he felt the smooth fingers of the blonde sitting beside him massaging his knuckles. Immediately, he snapped from his thoughts and looked at the blonde, wide-eyed, and similar amber eyes stared at him with a sad expression.

"You really miss him, don't you? The future me?"

There was a sudden lump in his throat, and he resisted the urge to cry. Momoi had asked him that very question the first month after the break-up, but he was able to put on a face then; was able to dismiss the topic and shift the attention to someone else. Momoi noticed the change, noticed he didn't want to talk, and stopped being persistent, but the power forward knew his childhood friend hadn't believed his false reassurance.

However, hearing those words from Kise's own mouth, even if it was the old him, made his emotions go spiral. He couldn't understand why the blonde had that influence on him, but whatever the case, he nodded his head once, attempting to swallow the lump and resisting the tears.

Kise noticed the stiffness of the other's shoulders, and tightened his hold on the older boy's fingers. At first, Aomine tensed at the grip, but soon enough, he relaxed, and entwined their fingers together. The strong grip, the trembling of his hand, the tight squeeze—it was as if he refused to let go; refused to let Kise leave his side once again.

And the blonde wondered what the future him was thinking, leaving someone who loved him this much in an instant.

From Aomine's story, the blonde claimed the other didn't "understand" him anymore, that this insecurity was something he bottled for quite a while, but their relationship seemed so perfect. It wasn't until he recalled Aomine's words about the accident in their second year, he couldn't help but think that was one of the reasons for Kise's shift in attitude.

He bit his lip, contemplating whether to discuss this with Aomine—it was only an assumption, but he felt pretty confident that this was the cause. First things first, he needed more answers.

"Ne, Aominecchi..." The said male looked into the honey-brown eyes of the blonde; his eyes had an exhausted glimmer in them, and Kise massaged his hand reassuringly. "About the accident you were talking about, what happened exactly?"

Aomine clenched his free hand tightly, as if the thought of the accident brought back certain emotions he wanted to repress. Eventually, he answered Kise's question; he had taken his time, inhaling and exhaling slowly before saying anything.

"It was during the Winter Cup again. In our first year of high school, Kise overexerted himself and injured his knee. Come the following year, guess what happened again."

Without any hesitation, Kise muttered, "He hurt his knee again."

Aomine offered the boy a small smile, confirming his answer before his eyes grew rather sad, but he continued nonetheless, "That idiot. Always puts others before him." He reached over, patting disheveling the blonde's hair, grinning melancholy, "Just like back in the days, I guess."

Without further ado, he continued with his story, "Anyway, I guess I got protective. I forced him to forget about the tournament and focus on healing his knee, but of course, he declined, saying he had to help his team—at all costs. In the end, I had to resort to his sisters for help, and they managed to persuade him to stop and we took him to the hospital for a diagnosis on the damage. Thankfully, he only needed to take a month or so off work, but it took him a while to regain his image."

Aomine remained in deep thought, while Kise absorbed the information, knowing there was still more to the story. The power forward exhaled, running his hand through his hair as he reclined back on the seat, "We stopped our one-on-ones then. I didn't want to injure Kise any more, even though I know how much he loves basketball..." He covered his eyes with his hand, refusing to let Kise see the emotions his eyes were showing that very second.

The two were engulfed in nothing but utter silence. Aomine thought Kise had finally drifted off from his sleep, probably thinking this was useless and he should just move on, but then he felt the warmth of his fingers disappear for a second. In the next second, his arm was throbbing in pain and he shouted angrily at the blonde for the sudden punch.

However, when he gazed into those amber eyes, he saw them filled with tears, and he lost all his anger and just watched, mouth agape, at the tears streaming down Kise's face. The blonde bit his lower lip before shouting, "You idiot! Did you forget your promise to me? No wonder the future me said those words to you." He shot up from his seat, the anger still in his system as he realized just how stupid the future Aomine was. Anyone who listened to the story could tell how much the man loved the blonde, protecting him no matter what, but he was expressing it incorrectly, and this led him to this dilemma.

"You think you're doing this for his benefit, but you're only hurting him. You should remember your promise to me back in Teikou, Aominecchi. And then go find the future me." The anger disappeared then, and that bright smile appeared on the boy's lips as he hugged Aomine tightly, offering one last encouragement to the male before he awakened from whatever this was.

"Remember that promise, please." He leaned back, so his honey-brown eyes could gaze into the confused, dark blue ones, "Things shouldn't end over a trivial matter like this. Good luck, Aominecchi."

Aomine snapped awake, shooting up from his seat on the couch as he quickly scanned his surroundings. He was still at home, the windows showed the time was dark, and then his eyes drifted towards the clock.

7:04PM.

Immediately, he grabbed his jacket and left his apartment, not even caring that he was still in his school uniform—he just had to find that one ray of sunshine and bring that light back into his life.

"Remember your promise to me back in Teikou."

"And then go find the future me."

A silly smile was on his lips as he ran towards the direction of the park, knowing a certain blonde was there, playing—just like the past. He knew he looked ridiculous now; he could tell from the expressions on the strangers' faces, but he didn't care.

He just needed Kise.

When he reached the park, he was right. There, in the middle of the court, was a blonde, panting heavily as he threw the ball into the hoop once again. Who knew why the blonde was in Tokyo of all reasons, but something in his intuition said Kise was here for one reason: him.

Kise was about to move forward, probably for a quick lay-up, but lost his balance; he scrambled awkwardly, attempting to catch his fall and hopefully not end up face-first on the ground, but then he felt calloused fingers wrap around his arm, holding him steady, while the other arm snaked around his waist. Almost instantly, he knew whose arms those were and his eyes widened; the pulse of his heart quickened as the comforting smell of a certain power forward reached his nose.

He closed his eyes, inhaling the scent and relaxing in those arms before he realized this wasn't the time for comfort. Quickly, he escaped the strong hold, pushing the male away and trying to regain his breath.

Aomine's dark blue orbs were filled with despair and sorrow as he approached Kise cautiously. He felt how relaxed the blonde had been in his arms, how he had stayed quiet as if he was treasuring and reminiscing the old times, and like he, Kise missed the other.

"Kise..."

"We're not a couple anymore, Aominecchi."

Despite how he wanted to hear that nickname leave the blonde's lips again, the tone in his voice caused Aomine to slightly falter—it wasn't filled with love like the Teikou Kise had when he called him; just an emotionless name. But still, he remained tall and strong, and looked at Kise's watering eyes, "Then why are you in Tokyo? In the court we played together?"

Kise was caught off-guard as he looked into Aomine's eyes with utter surprise, before casting his gaze downwards, pouting his lips outward, "I- I don't know. Just felt like it, I guess. It's none of Aominecchi's bus-"

Suddenly, he felt the same strong arms embrace him again and he lost all his power to push the male away, only feeling his heart race upon the contact. There was a soft mumble, as the slightly taller male nuzzled his face in the blonde's hair.

"I'm sorry."

"I did something foolish."

"I thought I was protecting you, but I guess I hurt you instead."

"I didn't mean to forget our promise."

Kise took a deep breath. Upon hearing those last seven words, he hadn't expected the male to take this long to remember their promise. In fact, he thought Aomine had completely given up, had completely moved on, within the last two months, leaving him alone; heart shattered and absolutely alone. He thought the male had forgotten about him, and found someone a lot better—perhaps even a busty woman.

He had waited. For two months, on the days where he didn't have work, he would go to the park, and wait for Aomine; wait for the male to come and take him back; wait like the good old days so they could play together again. He had received the messages, but thought they were meaningless; thought the male only wanted him back to satisfy a certain desire.

However, hearing the words leave his lips and feeling the tight hold Aomine had him in, he knew the male missed him just as much as he did, and like Aomine, he wrapped his arms around the male. Aomine had tensed for a second, before relaxing in the embrace, and a relieved laugh escaped his lips, "I missed you."

Kise couldn't help but stifle a chuckle, nuzzling his face into the male's neck, inhaling his scent once more before mumbling, "If you missed me, show me you remember the promise, Aominecchi."

The two leaned back, and a cunning smirk appeared on Aomine's lips as he reached down to grab the orange basketball that rested beside Kise's feet and headed towards the center of the court, "You're on."

The bright, wide smile that once attracted Aomine returned on Kise's face as he dashed to stand in front of Aomine, his arms out and ready for defence. Finally, things were back to how they were.

"Ne, Aominecchi! Promise me we will always play our one-on-ones?"

There was a laugh, before Kise felt someone mess up his hair, "Idiot! What kind of promise is that? Isn't it already obvious?"

"Aominecchi..."

"Fine, I promise!"

This time, Kise was the one to laugh, as he wrapped his arms around Aomine's neck, planting a soft peck on the other's lips, causing a faint pink blush to appear on both their cheeks. "I love you, Aominecchi!"