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Aomine was a pain in the ass.
He had been for a while now, and he hadn't improved when Kuroko left the club, along with any relationship with them.
Satsuki swallowed every feeling of hurt, disappointment, annoyance, and betrayal. They had hurt him, Kuroko had every right to leave, but that didn't calm Satsuki's negative feelings, she had expected...
With Kuroko completely uninterested in his former light, there was only one person left besides her capable of pulling Aomine's lazy, bratty ass out of the hole of self-centeredness he'd gotten himself into.
"The basketball team is not as well known as others, but their individuals are strong, with Aomine and you, and well, with me, they would be unstoppable."
"Momocchi," Kise had a condescending smile on his face, and the only thing that kept Satsuki from hitting him was that, even as he watched her as if he knew something she didn't, he had grabbed the Tōō Academy papers and was taking the trouble to read them, as well as listen to her, without having interrupted her once. "Akashicchi explicitly told us to all go to different schools, remember?"
Momoi crossed her arms in front of her chest, frowning. "Well, I don't care what Akashi-kun said. He needs us, Ki-chan, both of us. Dai-chan will only listen to me up to a point, he needs you to be there, challenging his way of seeing things, supporting him too; he... he's in a bad place right now."
Kise sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Even if we challenge Akashicchi, and I don't like that at all," He then stared at her, with a seriousness she rarely saw off the court. "Are you sure I'm what he needs? Wouldn't it be better if I tried to be a rival for him?"
Satsuki nodded, conveying as much confidence as she could in her response. "I'm sure. A lot of people will want to be his rival. He needs someone who wants to be his friend."
There is nothing to think about after that. Placing the same trust he had in her as Teikō's manager, Kise takes her word for it and follows both Momoi and Aomine to Tōō.
Surprisingly, or maybe not so much, considering his lack of interest in everything, Aomine doesn't find out until he heads to the basketball club for the first time; Momoi follows just a few steps behind, and that's when they both hear their names being called out with a certain familiar suffix at the end.
"Aominecchi! Momocchi!"
Dai-chan's surprised and annoyed face makes Satsuki smile; it's much more expression than she has seen him express lately.
"I didn't think you would have the balls to challenge Akashi."
Kise looks up from his phone, where he was arranging with Momoi and his manager his new schedules between school, club, and modeling, and tilts his head. Aomine is a little further away, lying down with an air of laziness around him and a magazine covering his face, as disinterested as possible, and yet it says a lot about how unexpected his presence must have been so that he ends up being the first to break the comfortable silence in which they were.
"Dai-chan, don't be rude!"
"No, I'm really intrigued," The magazine dropped as Aomine raised his body a little, leaning over to where his two companions were. "What possessed you to do that?"
"Well, do you want the truth?" Kise smiled. Daiki unconsciously leaned closer for an answer. "Aominecchi needed me, so of course I would come!"
A small breeze blows as his words settle. Aomine's face looked exasperated for a second as he stared at the blonde head before laying down again. The answer shouldn't have surprised him, Kise was that corny and loyal.
A meaningful tsk escaped his lips before he tossed the magazine at his annoying friend with enviable precision. Of course, he hit the target.
And if Aomine's cheeks were slightly flushed, well, he was lying down, no one but him would know that.
There is a place that sells good popsicles near the school. Aomine hates it, Satsuki and Kise sadly soon decide they love it.
Aomine isn't strong enough to fight the combined efforts of the pink thing and the yellow thing when they want something, so more than once he ends up giving in. Choose your battles wisely and all that.
Also, the ice creams are good. The only really bad thing about it all is the bitter feeling it leaves him each time, unable to help remembering different times, when their group was bigger and playing basketball was fun, when there was still a challenge in the sport he loved, when his skill not--
" ...--necchi! Oi, Aominecchi!"
With a jolt, he sees the popsicle in front of him that Kise is impatiently holding.
"Huh? What is this, idiot? Is it dirty or something? Yesterday you spent an hour saying that you wouldn't buy me anything anymore when I asked you to." Aomine remembers his crying, it was a long hour listening to the model complaining about how much he ate and how at this point his salary was going to his stomach.
Unexpectedly, Kise smiles. "Oh, I'm not inviting you. I'm bribing you. I want a 1v1."
More unexpectedly, Aomine feels himself smile as well.
Going to training is a waste; he quickly discovers that there is nothing the trainer can throw at him that would challenge him, or interest him, and Imayoshi is indifferent to his absence as long as his status as an Ace doesn't deteriorate. That is why he is here, lying under the shade of a tree resting, where Satsuki's fury cannot reach him.
He had planned to spend the rest of the afternoon this way, waiting in the shade for the club activities to end, then heading home with Satsuki and Kise; however, as something that had become a habit since they had started in Tōō, someone seemed determined to ruin his plans.
"Don't you have a practice to be at?"
The model next to him made an affirmative sound, not at all committed, but stubbornly doesn't get up from his spot and instead keeps fiddling with his stupid phone. Aomine wants to kick him, force him to go and leave him alone but, he hates to admit it, he's curious.
"If you don't train, you'll never beat me." Not that it will really matter to him, but it wouldn't be bad if the other caught up and finally beat him. That could make things quite interesting. "I thought you wanted to beat me."
Eventually, that gets Kise's outrageous attention.
"Of course I want to!" He states in annoyance, as if the idea of him giving up on his target is a grave insult to his person. Aomine then sees him hesitate, before looking determined. "Come with me to practice!"
"Huh? Why should I? You're the one who needs to practice."
"Imayoshi-senpai is scary, and Wakamatsu-senpai is always mad at me, Aominecchi! Come with me!"
"That's not my problem."
Without even looking at him, Daiki knows that his partner is pouting at his refusal. He entertains himself with the idea of grabbing his cheeks and stretching them so that he actually has something to complain about.
"Please, Aominecchi! I don't want to go alone!" The model joins his hands in front of him, in a gesture of supplication. "Or do you find Imayoshi-senpai scary too? Is he the reason you refuse to go to the club so much?"
"Of course not, I'm not you." Their captain was strange, but not scary. He would never be intimidated by that guy, though he had to grudgingly admit, he wasn't that comfortable leaving Satsuki and, ugh, Kise, alone with him either.
" It totally is , right?" The blond, of course, only seems to listen to what he wants. "Don't worry, Aominecchi. I won't tell anyone that you find our captain scary and that's why you don't go to training."
"That's not...!" He sat up with annoyance, debating for a few long seconds to hit the smiling face of his friend, however in the end he gave up. Satsuki would find out about that, and then she would beat him up; she had a very obvious soft spot for the blond. "Ugh, if I walk you to practice, will you shut up?"
"Uhm, uhm, but you have to stay, and train with me!"
"...Fine, but you owe me lunch this week!" He sighed. At least he would try to make the most of this situation.
The idiot drags him to practice that day. The next one too. And to the surprise of the rest of the club and the annoyance of Ace himself, his fouls are significantly reduced.
He never sees Kise and Momoi high five in victory.
They've only been playing together for a couple of weeks when the subject comes up.
Their Tōō jackets are thrown on the ground, near where they rest after a warm-up run. Their clothes are simple, nothing identifies their school, and that, along with the conversation, puts him on alert.
"You know," Something in Kise's voice, unnaturally calm and small, forces Aomine to pay attention. "I had planned to go to Kaijō, before. It seems like a good school, and I've only heard good things about them; I wonder how that would have turned out, huh. We would have been rivals, Aominecchi."
A small breeze ruffles his hair. Daiki doesn't know exactly how to respond, but imagining Ryōta in another school, wearing other colors feels wrong.
"Red and black look good on you, don't change them, idiot."
"I'm not going in there."
"Yes you will, you lost, we said whoever lost would."
"I won't, you can't make me."
"Do you want Momocchi to kill us?"
The taller teen growls, unable to take his eyes off the small and terribly intimidating store that was right in front of them. It's…embarrassing; he feels heat on his cheeks at the thought of entering.
The thing was that they had decided to spend the day at his house, and by deciding he meant that Kise and Momoi had shown up early at his door, and his treacherous mother had let them in before leaving.The blond had brought food, and even though they forced him to do his homework, they had joked around and it was fun; Aomine found himself getting more and more involved in the conversation and laughing with these two.
The tragedy happened when Satsuki took longer than usual in the bathroom.
Daiki had decided to check if everything was alright, but what followed were tears, fierce screams, pleas, and demands that he and Kise go to the nearest store immediately for… that.
So here they were, after a simple game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who would be the sacrificial lamb.
Aomine hated his luck.
"Come on! You can do it. For Momocchi."
He felt Kise's hand pat his back, and he took a deep breath; he could do it.
.
.
.
He couldn't do it. Not alone, at least. After three minutes without knowing what to do and tired of seeing the blond giving him a thumbs up from the window, he dragged his butt inside the store to suffer with him. There were complaints and blows, but in the end they faced the same fate: the women's section.
The sanitary napkin section of the store is nothing like what they expect, it's worse. It's extremely large, full of packages of different colors and sizes, with different descriptions that only confuse them more.
What the hell does with wings mean? Should they buy them with or without them? After a long discussion they have already ruled out the all-night ones, but they still haven't decided between ultra-thin or regular; there are also maxi ones, for sensitive skin and with perfume, seriously, what the hell.
Then there's something called daily pads, and it seems like a completely different section.
And they won't even come close to the "tampons" section.
"You're a model, Kise."
"So what? I'm not a woman. You 're her best friend, you should know which one to buy by now."
Finally, after fifteen minutes of suffering and embarrassment before prying eyes, an employee takes pity on them, or more specifically, on the young woman who must be waiting for them. She sends them home with a package she expertly picks and two chocolate bars that she says will keep Momoi from getting mad at them for being late.
It works, Momoi forgives them almost immediately and hugs them, declaring them to be the best friends she could wish for.
After that, the rest of the afternoon isn't too bad.
There is a significant moment that Daiki missed, in which idiot Kise made himself an important place in his life, right next to Satsuki.
It's annoying. He grew up like a mushroom on him and now he can't get rid of him. Kise would cry, and then Satsuki would cry, and then both of them would end up plotting against him.
Daiki sighs, groans a bit, but gets on with his life.
They are in the middle of a 1v1 when Kise's phone rings for the first time, interrupting their game.
At first, they let it go, the game is at an important point, surprisingly fierce and for the first time in a while, with a perhaps not so clear winner. They are both focused and having fun, Momoi cheering them on excitedly, however, they soon realize that whoever is calling him is very insistent, and to avoid being distracted, Kise decides to answer.
That could have been a mistake.
Aomine and Momoi watch with curious concern as their friend's face turns white, and as they get closer, they quickly figure out why.
" Ryōta. "
Akashi's voice is clear from the phone.
" I thought I was very clear with my orders to divide us up. "
For the first time, Kise appears to have lost the ability to speak. Despite how much he appreciates and respects Akashicchi, he knows how unpredictable he can be, defying his direct orders hadn't seemed like a great idea before, but he had hoped that it would take him longer to discover his disobedience.
He feels his heart race. Akashicchi is not happy.
"Ryōta, you must transfer immediately. And I hope you know that there will be consequences for your insubordination. Also--... "
The phone is snatched from the model's hands.
"Oi, Akashi. The idiot won't be changing schools, so don't bother."
"Exactly! You can't intimidate Ki-chan, Akashi-kun."
" ...Daiki, Satsuki. That decision didn't-- "
The call ends. Ryōta watches in horror as Aomine cuts off Akashicchi's call . His friends are idiots.
"Okay, are we still playing or what? I was about to win."
God, Kise loves his idiot friends so much.
There is something incredibly unpleasant about Kagami Taiga. His very presence nauseates him and his face only evokes the desire to hit him. Aomine says it like that, out loud.
It's probably lucky that he's far enough away that no one besides Satsuki can hear him.
Daiki watches with deceptive disinterest as Tetsu's new Light, Kagami, approaches Kise with a defiant smile, Tetsu himself only a few steps behind. From his position, he has no idea what they are saying, but he really hopes that the idiot will put them in their place, it’s irritating him to see those two so confident, believing themselves capable of defeating them. This first practice match between their schools was already decided long before starting.
Kise's black and red jacket slips slightly from his shoulders as he laughs; the shitty smile he has gracing his face tells Aomine that he's making fun of the other team, which makes him want to laugh too. Kuroko's and the redhead's expressions also tell him that yes, Kise is still such a pain in the ass that he knows exactly what to say to irritate others.
Two guys from Seirin approach the trio with frowns, and though Kise doesn't flinch or back down, his posture straightens; consequently, Daiki directs his full attention to what is happening right in front of him.
Bakagami feels brave with reinforcements, he has the nerve to get even closer to the stupid model who unfortunately is his friend and a hint of annoyance invades the Ace of Tōō.
Without warning, a basketball brushes past Kise, crashing into Kagami's face and bouncing back into the hand of Aomine, who with a lazy but imposing walk and an annoyed smirk positioned himself right next to the blonde.
"Tch, if all you know how to do is catch balls with your face, you'll hardly be a challenge."
There is surprise on Kise's face, then an affectionate and amused smile. Aomine doesn't know about this, because he definitely wasn't looking in his direction.
He feels the blond place an arm on his shoulder, leaning on him, and there's such sincere camaraderie in the gesture that he can't help but feel invincible.
Let Seirin attack with everything they have, they won't be able to beat them.