#;model

“Of course. You still have my email address?”

“Got it saved from the paperwork you sent last time.”

He can hear Aomine typing on the other end of the line and notes, with some amusement, that he types considerably slower than Kise.

“I really appreciate this, Kise-san.”

“Just Kise is fine.”

Aomine chuckles. “Just Kise then.”

“Is there anything else I can help with you with?”

“Plenty, but I’m sure you don’t have the time for all of it.” A pause. “Or the qualifications.”

“I’m qualified for plenty.”

More laughter. Goosebumps pop up across Kise’s arm.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good.” He’s grinning now and secretly grateful that Takao isn’t perched on his desk to see this right now. “Well, if you ever need anything, please don’t hesitate to call.”

“Oh, I won’t.”

“Have a nice day, Aomine-san.”

“Just Aomine.”

Kise laughs. “Have a nice day, Aomine.”

“You too, Kise.”

“I could really use a favor, Kise.”

Kise tries to hide his grin when Aomine’s deep voice rumbles through his headset. He’s waving a hand behind him, trying to usher Takao away from his desk. Takao leans in instead and smirks, mouthing is that him, batting his eyelashes and pretending to fan himself.

“You know I’m always willing to do you a favor, Aomine.”

He can practically hear the smile on Aomine’s lips as he says, “Just the words I wanted to hear.”

Takao is laying across one edge of his desk, miming his heart beating out of his chest. Kise adamantly ignores him.

“What can I do for you?”

“There’s a long list of things I want to ask for, but… I’ll only ask for the work related one right now.”

Dammit… he curses the color that rises to his cheeks.

“Shoot.” His voice is breathless, his mind locked on all the things he wants Aomine to ask for, but will never voice aloud.

“I really need that one policy to go out…ya know which one I mean?”

“The policy for Akashi Seijurou?”

“Yes,” Aomine releases a groan of relief. “God, you always just know, don’t ya?”

Kise chuckles. “You did just send me an email on it not too long ago.”

“Right, right.” Aomine laughs. “This is a huge case. Guy’s got a lotta money going into this one and he wants it done as soon as possible. He’s kinda scary so anything you can do to help... Everything is in to send it out, right?”

“Pulling it up right now.” Kise fingers fly across the keyboard. He clicks through the paperwork on the case as quickly as he can, nodding to himself and softly humming the latest song stuck in his head. “Looks like everything is good to go. I’ll stay a little later to make sure this gets mailed out overnight today.”

“You’re a damn lifesaver.”

“Excuse you,” Kise laughs. He loves that Aomine isn’t afraid to use profanity on a work line. He’s confident enough in his skills to know they won’t let him go so easily, has said as much to Kise before. “Only for you.”

“Even better,” Aomine says with a quiet laugh. “Only for me.”

Kise smiles to himself and slaps Takao’s hand away when he reaches for Kise’s flushed cheek.

“Now let me go so I can work on this policy for you.”

“Hah? Can’t talk and work at the same time?” Aomine teases.

“Aomine…” He can talk and work at the same time. He does it with Takao all day.

He can’t talk to Aomine and work at the same time. Aomine’s voice is far too distracting.

“Got it, got it. I’ll let you go. Thanks again, Kise. I owe ya.”

“Anytime.”

“You do know this is your third time calling me this week.” Kise swears he has a permanent smile on his face. His customer service skills must have improved these past few months with these frequent calls from his favorite salesperson.

“Is it?” Aomine chuckles. “Hey, I always call with work questions. No one can deny that.”

Kise snorts in amusement. “That argument might be questionable when you consider the fact that our last conversation was roughly forty minutes long.”

“I had a lot of questions,” Aomine replies. “Needed a lot of answers.”

“Pretty sure you know more about my upcoming family events now than even most of my family members do.”

Aomine’s soft snicker over the phone makes Kise’s heart skip a beat or two. It’s not a sound he hears often, but he’s grown to like it. A lot.

“If anyone asks, we were discussing the merits of long term care riders and their benefits to customers interested in purchasing permanent insurance.”

“Were you reading a script?” Kise bites his lip to suppress a snort of laughter.

“Damn right I was.”

“Aominecchi! Language!”

The static sound of silence greets his outburst and for a second he thinks their phone queue has shut down like it did for two hours last week.

Then Aomine says, “Did you just call me… Aominecchi?”

Oh shit…

“Ah…”

“Kise…” Aomine’s voice deepens. It’s the kind of voice he’s used in past conversations to encourage Kise to spill the beans about a topic he wasn’t necessarily willing to elaborate on.  It works every time.

“It’s…” Kise presses mute on his phone and presses his forehead against the table with a groan. He catches sight of Takao out of the corner of his eye. He quickly taps out the word later into their existing IM and takes a deep breath before taking himself off mute. “It’s kinda what I started referring to you around the office here. I really only use it as a sign of respect, so it’s nothing weird or… anything.” He cuts himself off before he can sound like even more of an idiot.

Another long pause tempts him to hang up until Aomine says, “So, you talk about me with yer coworkers over there?”

Kise is glad they’re conversing over the phone so Aomine can’t see the nice shade of red his face is sporting right now. He can feel the heat in his cheeks and thinks he might need to take a swim in the frigid pool at their company gym after work today.

“I…” There’s no getting out of this now. “I do. But it’s only because we’ve spoken so frequently and you’re my favorite salesperson. And sometimes I get asked about my phone calls so I have to give at least some information away. And I’m at least letting people know you work here with us, just in another location. And—“

“Hold it,” Aomine interrupts. “What did you just say?”

“I’m letting people know you work here with us?”

“No, Kise.” If rolling your eyes had a sound, Kise is pretty sure he would’ve hear it right now. He’s positive Aomine rolled his eyes. “Before that.”

“About giving informa—“

“Before that.”

“About getting asked—“

A soft growl comes out of the phone and Kise stops breathing.

“Are you really this stupid or are you just pretending to be so you don’t have to admit it again?”

“This call may be monitored for quality and training purposes,” Kise counters as a reminder.

“Kise, I swear to god…”

Oh god… Kise draws in a slow, steady breath to ground himself. “That you’re my favorite salesperson?”

Aomine let’s out a heavy breath, like he’d been holding it while Kise skirted around his question. “Yes. That.”

“Well…” Kise sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. “It’s true.”

“Mm…” Aomine’s deep hum of contentment through the phone has to be a national treasure. Kise wishes he could find the recording of this call just to hear it again. “Ya know, yer kinda my favorite too.”

Kise breathes in sharply. “You’re favorite…” what?

“Yes,” Aomine replies. “My favorite.”

The silence that follows is weighted in an indescribable way. Kise is certain this isn’t an appropriate conversation to have at work. His hard earned phone etiquette skills fly out the window when Aomine is involved and he’s grateful his boss hasn’t decided to pull and monitor his calls.

“I’ll talk to you later, Kise. Thanks.” Aomine pauses and Kise holds his breath. “For reviewing that illustration for me.”

Ah… “You’re welcome, Aominecchi,” Kise replies softly.

“Bye, Kise.”

“Goodbye, Aominecchi.”

“Where do you think you’ll go on your first date?”

Kise looks up from the salad he brought for lunch and blinks at Takao.

“Excuse me?”

Takao sighs and dramatically throws his hands up in the air in mock irritation. “Keep up, Ryou-chan!”

“Who are you even talking about?”

“You and Mr. Sex-Phone-Operator-Voice of course!”

Kise’s eyes widen as he makes a slashing gesture with his hand across his throat. “Kazucchi, keep your voice down. Jeeze…”

Takao cackles. “It’s hysterical how embarrassed you get when I mention him when you have no problem openly swooning and drooling over him on the phone.”

“Shut up,” Kise grumbles, shoving a forkful of lettuce into his mouth.

“You know those calls are recorded, right?” Takao grins, leaning his chin in his hand. “Anyone can listen to you charm him like the shameless flirt you are.”

Takao now listens in on  any conversation of Kise’s when he’s close enough to hear. He’s caught Kise on the phone with Aomine more times than Kise cares to admit and, yes, every single time Kise has been shamelessly flirting.

But Aomine flirts back. He laughs that deep, rich, heartstopping laugh of his, practically purrs Kise’s name every time he says it, tells Kise how he’s his favorite, how he loves Kise’s laugh, how he wonders what it would be like to work in the same office .

Kise wonders the same thing. He wonders if the novelty of talking to Aomine would wear off, or not exist, if they knew one another in person. If they worked face to face. It’s a thought Kise entertains every now and again, always coming to the same conclusion.

The novelty would never wear off.

It isn’t just Aomine’s voice that he likes anymore. He likes Aomine. He likes his laugh, the smile he can hear instead of see, the way he’s fearless, doesn’t care who hears, doesn’t care what he says. He likes Aomine’s dedication to his job, his blatant favoritism of Kise. He just likes Aomine.

“You never answered my question,” Takao points out.

“Kazucchi, I’m never gonna see him,” Kise admits softly. It’s another thought that’s been swimming through his mind and, again, he only comes to one conclusion. It’s highly unlikely they’ll ever meet in person.

“You don’t know that.”

“I don’t even know what he looks like,” Kise groans. His head tips forward, his forehead making contact with the cafeteria table. He groans again.

“Do you want to?” Takao asks.

Kise tilts his head to the side, peering up at Takao through strands of hair covering his eyes. “You know I do.”

Takao grins. “I know what he looks like.”

Kise’s head is off the table in an instant. “You… what?”

“I know what he looks like,” Takao repeats, his grin spreading wider. He looks like the Cheshire Cat, but Kise isn’t in the mood for his games.

“Kazucchi, so help me…” His hand twitches, itching to grab a pen that isn’t near him to lob at Takao’s grinning face. “If you don’t tell me what you mean, I’ll—“

“I printed a picture of him.”

Kise gapes. “You printed…”

“It wasn’t hard to find him on the company website.” Takao shrugs and reaches into the back pocket of his dress slacks. “You wanna see?”

Drawing in a sharp breath, Kise nods. “You know I do…”

Takao unfolds the paper and slides it across the table. Kise realizes two things. One, Aomine is hot. Like tall, dark and handsome, bad boy, let me slam you against the wall and leave you breathless kind of hot. And two, Kise is royally screwed, and not in the way he wants to be after seeing that photo.

“Fuck…” he mutters, unable to take his eyes away from the mischievous gleam in the eyes of Aomine’s photo.

“My thoughts exactly,” Takao laughs and comes to the same realization as Kise. “You’re screwed.”

“I have a confession to make, Aominecchi.”

Kise hides in one of the small conference rooms on their office floor. He had transferred Aomine’s call to the phone in here to avoid Takao. He doesn’t need him sitting at his desk, cackling while he admits that he’s been thinking about Aomine ever since he saw the face that went with that sinfully deep voice.

Well, maybe he won’t say it in those exact words, but something to that effect.

“Mm… do you?”

Kise hears the smile in his voice and runs his palm down his face. It’s warm. He’s probably blushing. Thank god Takao didn’t follow him.

“So I may have looked through the company website…” he trails off and stares at the computer in front of him where he’s pulled up Aomine’s profile once again. “And checked out the team profiles.”

“Yeah?” Aomine drawls.

“And I noticed you play basketball.”

Aomine chuckles. “That’s what you noticed?”

“Well…” Kise rubs at his nape and imagines the smile on Aomine’s face. His heart thunders in his chest. “Obviously that’s not the only thing I noticed.”

“What else?” Aomine asks.

Kise frowns. “Now you’re just being mean.”

“You’re dancin’ around the real subject, Kise.” Aomine is laughing again. “You were looking up my picture.”

With an internal groan, Kise finally says, “I saw your picture.”

There’s a pause on the other end. Kise’s heart is beating so loud now he’s not sure he’ll hear Aomine if he says anything else.

“So,” Aomine finally says, his deep voice breaking through Kise’s incessant heartbeat. “Like what you see?”

Kise draws in a sharp breath, holds it. When he finally exhales his voice is soft, breathy. “How could I not?”

There’s the laughter again. Deep, rich. Like velvet across Kise’s skin. He shudders.

“Good to know I didn’t disappoint.”

Kise snorts. “Aominecchi, I highly doubt you could do anything to disappoint me.”

When Aomine lets out a sound similar to a gasp, Kise slaps a hand over his mouth. The realization that his words sounded so close to a confession dawns on him and he doesn’t know what to say. Doesn’t know how to make it seem like Aomine hasn’t been invading his thoughts day in and day out.

“I just mean that… you’re my favorite, you know? I like you. Not just because you’re good at your job or you have this great voice or that—“

“Kise,” Aomine interrupts. Kise’s name comes through the phone as a soft growl. “You talk too much.”

Kiss presses his lips together.

“Never thought I’d been into an idiot who talks as much as you do, but can’t control my tastes, can I?”

“Aominecchi!” Kise hisses, indignant. “I’m not an idiot!”

“Sometimes you are,” Aomine chuckles. “But hey, gotta let you go. Got a meeting to get to in five minutes. Should’a been setting up already.”

Kise sighs. He really should get back to his desk anyway. “Okay, okay.”

“Talk to you later, pretty boy.”

Kise blinks. “Pretty boy?”

“And by the way, Kise,” Aomine pauses and Kise holds his breath. “I looked up your picture too.”

The silence on the end of the line is proof that Aomine hung up, but Kise doesn’t put the phone down until it starts to beep loudly in his ear. When he hangs up, he stares at the phone in disbelief. Aomine had looked up his picture, had been wondering what Kise looked like too.

But that fact alone doesn’t leave him speechless. It’s only now that he realizes that maybe he wasn’t the only one who let loose a confession on that phone call.

Never thought I’d be into an idiot who talks as much as you do…

A wide smile spreads across Kise’s lips. He presses his forehead against the table and laughs.

Aominecchi is into me.

“Ryou-chaaaaan!”

Takao slides onto the bench beside Kise, singsonging his name. Kise has been sitting outside by the small pond behind their building for the past fifteen minutes, debating on what to get his sister for her birthday. And maybe trying not to think about his conversation with Aomine and how he had suggested lingerie to impress her new boyfriend.

His eyes flicker toward Takao and the brilliant grin that lights up his face. The grin can only mean one of two things. Takao has news that will excite Kise. Or he has news that will come at Kise’s expense, and will, without a doubt, fail to excite him.

“You’ve heard, haven’t you?” Takao continues without being prompted. Always good at filling silences.

“Heard what?” He shifts on the bench to better look at Takao. To try and read the sparkle in his eyes.

“About our visitors.”

Kise glances around. He doesn’t recall hearing about any visitors. It’s definitely not food truck day, or Takao would already have his container of tacos, half eaten, in his lap. Maybe he missed a visit from the Vice President while he was out musing.

“Kazucchi, if I knew, don’t you think I’d be just as excited as you?”

Takao’s grin widens. “Oh, you’ll be excited all right.”

Kise scrunches his nose. “Are you going to tell me who it is, or are you—“

“The sales team.”

Kise freezes.

“The sales team is coming to visit next week.”

Kise stares at him. He’s not sure he heard Takao correctly. The last he had heard about company travel was that they had put a temporary ban on it. The company wasn’t necessarily hurting for money, but they weren’t in a position to expend any of the budget on unnecessary travel when technology like video conference could be used on a daily basis for communication.

“That can’t be right…” Kise shakes his head. Surely Aomine would’ve brought it up, right? “The budget…”

“Ah!” Takao holds up a finger and presses his other hand to his chest, deepening his voice in a perfect imitation of Midorima. “‘Takao, it appears we will be guests at your regional office next week, Thursday May 7th, to present the recent successes of the sales team and how it will positively affect your work flow and the revenue of the company.’”

Kise snorts. “And you make fun of me for Aominecchi.”

Takao shrugs. “I can’t help it that my taste in men leans toward pretentious, superstitious, tight asses like Shin-Chan.”

If possible, Takao’s correspondence with Midorima could rival Kise’s number of conversations with Aomine.

“I can’t believe he told you before an email went out,” Kise muses aloud. Midorima isn’t one to skirt around protocol. He follows the rules to a T. Unlike someone else…

Someone who didn’t share the news of the sales team travel with Kise.

“Do you think…” Kise bites his lip as he trails off. He stares at the rippling in the pond as two ducklings skirt across the surface near the water’s edge. “Do you think they’re bringing the whole sales team?”

“Ryou-chan.” Takao elbows him in the side and waggles his eyebrows. “Thinking about all the things Aomine can sell you on while he’s here?”

Kise pushes Takao’s face away and rolls his eyes. He ignores Takao’s laughter as he stands, lifting his hand in a brief wave as he says, “Gotta finish up with a few policies before I go so I’m heading back in.”

“Make sure to tell Aomine hi for me!” Takao shouts as Kise walks away.

Kise lifts a single finger over his shoulder and silently curses Takao for his insight. He knows exactly which policy to pull up as an excuse to make a call.

“You know, you don’t have to use the Nijimura policy as a reason to call me,” Aomine drawls, his laughter rumbling through Kise’s headset. Kise rubs his hands up and down his arms to flatten the goosebumps that raise across his skin.

“Well, besides the fact that I wanted to hear your voice,” Kise grins as Aomine chuckles again. “We are missing a signature on this one disclosure form…”

“What the hell, Kise? You’re supposed to warn me about these things.”

“Ah,” Kise raises his hands on either side of his head in surrender, even though Aomine can’t see it. “In fairness, it was forwarded straight to me so you didn’t get to see it and it just came in.”

“Yer a little shit, ya know that?”

Kise snickers. “Aominecchi, that’s mean.” He taps his fingers against his desk and stares at the email in front of him. He’s read it more times than he can count. It’s confirmation that the sales team is headed to their office. The entire sales team. “But now that I have you on the phone… tell me, do you have any plans for next week?”

“Next week?” Aomine is tapping something against his desk. Kise can hear it through his headset. “That’s a weird thing to ask. Guess I don’t have anything in particular planned. Might take mom out to dinner cause she’s been on my ass about seeing me these past few days.”

Weird thing to ask… “You say that like it’s a chore,” Kise says with a soft laugh. “Like you won’t get a free meal out of it.”

“I never said I wasn’t down for dinner.” Aomine’s voice deepens to that suggestive tone he uses when he’s trying to intentionally fluster Kise. “What about you?”

Kise scrunches his nose. Dinner with his mom, he reminds himself as he says, “We’re having some visitors in the office next week.”

“Are you?” Aomine bums on the other end of the line. “Like the VP? Pretty sure that guy is coming here sometime soon too.”

“Like another team,” Kise ventures, his fingers ghosting over the forward button of the email notification they received. Maybe if he sends it to Aomine...

“Another team, huh?” Aomine chuckles. “Hope you don’t have a favorite person on that team too.”

Kise frowns. Is he really not coming? “Aominecchi, I know that you’re—“

“Oi, Kise,” Aomine interrupts. His voice is muffled for a moment as he says something to someone away from the receiver. “Gotta get going. We’re going out for lunch over here at the company’s expense. Talk to you later?”

”Oh, uh… yeah. Yeah, talk to you later Aominecchi.”

Kise is about to press the button to hang up the phone when Aomine says, “Oh, and Kise.”

“Mm?” Kise pauses, his finger hovering above the end call button.

“I hope you don’t have any plans next Thursday cause I could use a tour guide around your area and, you know, you’re kinda my favorite.”

A smile spreads across Kise’s lips, so wide it hurts his cheeks. “I’ll see if I can spare the time.”

Aomine laughs. “I’ll see you then, Kise.”

“See you, Aominecchi.”

Aomine in person is better than anything Kise’s imagination can conjure up.

He’s a hair taller than Kise, but it’s enough to get a smirk of satisfaction from Aomine when he notices. And that smirk. Kise’s knees threatened to buckle the moment Aomine turns that smirk on him. His skin is darker than the picture suggested, his hair a deeper blue.

His voice sounds better in person than it ever has over the phone. He stands in front of their entire department and goes over the feedback they’ve received from reputable clients, the rise in business they expect to receive from word of mouth alone. When he finishes and gestures for Midorima to take his place to crunch numbers, he angles his chair enough to meet Kise’s eye and grins.

People have always told Kise that his smile is dazzling. But none of them have ever seen a real smile from Aomine. Kise doesn’t think he can never compare.

After the meeting, they’re released early. Aomine makes his way to Kise’s desk, walks with him as they leave the building.

“So,” Aomine says, nudging Kise with his elbow.

Kise feels a flare of heat erupt from the touch, even through the fabric of their dress shirts. “So,” Kise replies, grinning to himself as they walk down the street.

The weather is perfect. Kise silently thanks any and all gods out there for giving him clear skies and beautiful temperatures. He also thanks Takao for his constant weather updates.

“You buyin’ me dinner?” Aomine smirks and digs his hands into the pocket of his slacks. “I am an honored guest, after all, aren’t I?”

Kise rolls his eyes. “You’re insufferable, Aominecchi.” He shifts, turning to walk backward so he can face Aomine as he talks. The sidewalks have recently been paved and all the little kinks that used to trip him up have been smoothed out. Aomine won’t have to find out about his clumsy side just yet.

Just yet… Kise thinks, hoping this visit isn’t a singular one. Hoping that more will come.

“I was thinking we could go to a little hole-in-the-wall ramen shop I like to frequent,” he says, gesturing down the street behind him. “It’s only a few blocks away. It’s small, but I’ve never had better ramen than there.”

Aomine’s lips twitch. “I have a damn good ramen shop back home. You really wanna make that claim?”

Kise smirks right back. “Aominecchi, you haven’t had this damn good ramen.”

“Sounds like a challenge, Kise.”

Kise shrugs. “I do have better taste than you, Aominecchi. I mean, look at that tie.”

Aomine shoves at Kise’s shoulder. “You little—“

“So you’re only here until tomorrow morning, right?” Kise asks, turning back around to fall into step at Aomine’s side. “Takao mentioned Midorima staying until the evening, but most of you are headed out early?”

Aomine hums to himself, casting a side eye glance at Kise. “I’ll leave when I want to leave.”

“And…” He leans toward Aomine. “when will that be, Aominecchi?”

“Sunday night at the latest.”

Kise cannot suppress the smile that spreads across his lips. He bumps his shoulder against Aomine’s and says, “You just can’t get enough of me, can you? I guess that means I’ll to show you around since you’re a tourist and all. Take you to all my favorite food places, the best things to see, the best shops, all of—“

“Kise.” Aomine grabs Kise’s wrist, stopping him. “You talk too much.”

“Wha—“

Kise’s confused protest is muffled when Aomine’s lips cover his own. It takes Kise a moment for the action to sink in before his arms raise to slide around Aomine’s neck and he kisses back.

Again, his imagination did nothing to prepare him for this. Aomine is warm, all over. His lips are like a fire brand against Kise’s. It feels right, Kise thinks in the back of his mind. Like finding the final piece of a puzzle he’s been working on all his life.

When Aomine pulls away, Kise blinks at him, dazed. Aomine’s cocky smirk draws him out of it and Kise shoves at his shoulder with a pout.

“Aominecchi! The first kiss comes after the first date.” He presses shaky fingers against his lips to hide his smile. “Those are the rules.”

“Kise,” Aomine grabs his hand, pulling it away from his mouth to thread their fingers together. “Pretty sure our first date was during one of those long ass phone calls.” He ignores Kise’s snort of indignation and adds, “Besides, I don’t like to play by the rules.”

He steals another brief kiss before Kise can protest and pulls him down the street. “Now c’mon. I’ve got a big bowl of ramen with my name on it and you better have a damn good plan to keep me occupied this weekend.”

Kise tenses. His grip tightens on the belt of his robe as a deep laugh sends a shiver down his spine.

“Did you seriously lock yourself out of your house and get caught in the goddamn door?”

Kise slowly glances over his shoulder. Aomine stands at the end of his walkway doubled over with laughter at Kise’s expense. He’s wearing a pair of loose basketball shorts and a tank top with arm holes that open so wide Kise can see the impressive, muscular expanse of Aomine’s stomach when a light wind ruffles his shirt open.

With a groan, he turns away, pressing his forehead against the door. He secretly hopes Aomine will head home and leave him there.

Kise's eyes took in the way Kasamatsu's hands balled into fists and he fought back a smile of his own. He could feel Aomine's hesitation beside him in the way his heat came and left as he rocked back and forth. He obviously couldn't tell whether to step in or leave them be.

"Ryouta..." Aomine hissed against his ear. "What the fuck is––"

Raising a hand to silence Aomine, Kise shook his head before he could finish. "Just let it play out." He turned to Aomine with a grin. "Besides, it's more fun this way."

Aomine's scowl said he thought otherwise, but he leaned back and ceased his indecisive rocking. The remainder of the Touou assassins stood back and observed, silent and wary. Kise figured they had just as much trouble comprehending the fact that someone would stand up to Imayoshi the way Kasamatsu did, but he expected this from the very start. Kasamatsu was an excellent assassin, but he prided himself on his caution. If they had pitched the idea to Kasamatsu first, it would have taken much more convincing and he knew they would still be here, waiting for the answer they were seeking. Kasamatsu would see it as willingly walking to his death when Imayoshi saw it as an opportunity.

Though he didn't know much about Imayoshi besides what he had been told and what he observed, Kise knew enough about his position to put him on the same level as Kasamatsu. If someone with equal experience could agree, no matter how shady his motives, then Kise believed it might be a little easier to convince Kasamatsu. The fact that his senpai had a knife to Imayoshi's throat was proof enough that he respected Imayoshi's position.

"Daiki," Kise reached back and closed his fingers around Aomine's forearm. He pulled Aomine against his side and gesture forward with a nod of his head. "Watch."

"Why the hell should I go along with this?" Kasamatsu snapped.

Imayoshi's brow rose as he steepled his fingers in front of his chest, almost touching Kasamatsu, but not quite. "You don't strike me as the type of person to sit by and wait for your death sentence."

"Excuse me?"

"You know, as well as I do, that the Coaches have every intention of disposing of each and every one of us should our usefulness run its course."

Kise stared at Kasamatsu, waiting for a reaction. He saw Kasamatsu's lip press into a thin line, his thick brows furrowed. He was weighing his options and this is the point Kise wanted to reach. There was only one option that gave them any chance at a real life.

"I need to talk to you," Kasamatsu hissed, gesturing toward Imayoshi with a nod of his head. "My office. Now."

Imayoshi's eyes lit up and his lips curled into a devilish smirk. "Your office? You know, you should've said you wanted to get me alone from the very beginning. We could have skipped the formalities and moved on to the real business."

"Shut up," Kasamatsu snapped. "Are you coming or not?"

"Well, I'm sure you could make me."

Kise snickered as Kasamatsu glared at the lot of them before disappearing into his office in a huff.

Imayoshi turned to them with a shrug of his shoulders. The action claimed innocence, but the grin on his face said otherwise. "Duty calls."

"Convince him, Imayoshi," Kise said when Imayoshi paused in the doorway. "We need him on our side."

"Oh, I know," Imayoshi glanced over his shoulder, his glasses naturally catching the light. "I have every intention of having him on my side."

~~~~

Kise sighed as Kasamatsu and Imayoshi disappeared. He wasn't sure if their little pow wow would be a good thing or not. Despite their disappearance, the tension in the room remained. He glanced at Aomine and watched as he palmed his nape with a shake of his head.

"Didn't expect that shit..." Aomine muttered, staring at the door to Kasamatsu's office. "But I guess it's good if they talk about it, right?"

He turned to Kise for confirmation. Kise took a step forward and grabbed Aomine's hand. A part of him longed to lean forward and steal a kiss for reassurance and another part of him cautioned against the action. They might have made amends, and more than a bit of mess, after their scuffle, but there were still questions lingering in the back of his mind that made him hesitate.

Aomine must have sensed his reluctance. He leaned to the side, pointedly staring at the remainder of the Touou assassins. "What the hell are you guys doing? Don't just stand there like a bunch of idiots. Spread out. Make sure no one gets in."

No one questioned his demands. They scattered and Aomine pulled Kise to the side, pulling him to the floor. They sat with their backs against the wall, facing Kasamatsu's office door.

"If this works," Aomine began. "We can have a life outside of this, can't we?"

Kise stared at their hands, at their intertwined fingers. It still felt so comfortable to have the warmth of Aomine's palm against his own. It still felt right to lean his head against Aomine's shoulder, to feel his lips press against his forehead. Aomine had always been his safe haven, the normalcy he needed in a world of knives and guns, blood and death. But he couldn't have that anymore. Could he even picture a life outside of this world?

"You know," Aomine continued. "We don't have to move back to that stuffy neighborhood. We can live around people who aren't so goddamn judgmental. We can have a real life with no secrets."

"No secrets..." Kise repeated, squeezing Aomine's hand. "That'd be nice." He thought about the years they lost to unexplained tension and thought about all the years before them. He remembered being happy. He remembered when he would rush home from a photo shoot or a hit just to see Aomine's smiling face, to feel his arms envelope him and remind him that he was still real.

"Maybe we could even think of more," Aomine brushed his lips against the smooth skin beside Kise's ear. "Have you ever thought about a kid?"

Kise froze. Aomine must have sensed his rigidity because he tugged on Kise's arm and shifted beside him.

"If you'd rather not talk about that we can--"

"Daiki... I--" Kise swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. "Getting back into our relationship is one thing, but... A child? No... Daiki, I can't even--"

"You've never even considered it?"

"Daiki...." Of course, he had considered it. He had thought about what room in their house they could use for a child, had the entire feng shui planned out in his head. He knew where the swing set would go in the backyard, what car to buy so they could accommodate the new addition. He even had names picked out for both boys and girls.

Then he remembered what he did for a living, not standing in front of a camera, but the one that stained his hands with blood.

"It could never work."

Aomine stared at him. Kise could see the hurt tighten the corners of his eyes.

"Not because it's you... Or us." Kise shifted until he could drape his legs over Aomine's hips. "Do you understand how much danger we put ourselves in, how many enemies we make?"

"I know that, Ryouta, but--"

"Even if we finish this," He grabbed Aomine's other hand and brushed his thumb across the pulse in his wrist. "There's no guarantee we won't have lingering problems with people we've encountered, people who know our names." He sighed. The last thing he ever expected Aomine to want was children. He vaguely wondered if this secret had been hiding behind those walls of tense silences that built between them over the years.

Speaking of secrets, Kise still had one that he was afraid to spill. He took a deep breath and squeezed Aomine's hands. "Besides, we should probably get all the secrets out before anything else."

Aomine cocked his head to the side. "What other secrets?"

Kise bit his lower lip and tried not to grimace. "Ah... before we even think about starting a family you should probably meet my real family first."

Silence stretched between them and Kise almost wished for the return of the other assassins. At least then the tension came from elsewhere.

"What the fuck does that mean, Ryouta?"

He tightened his grip on Aomine's hands when he felt him try to pull back. "Daiki, no one knows my real family and for good reasons. I mean, I don't need them exposed with the job that we do and--"

"Who the hell walked you down the goddamn aisle when we got married?" Aomine shook his head, incredulous.

"Oh..." Kise had almost forgotten about that. "He was an old model. People often compared our looks so he kinda fit the role of my dad and--"

"Ryouta, I brought my goddamn parents to our fucking wedding. My real parents!"

Kise clenched his teeth. "Yeah, I know. I could tell." He fought the urge to pull back and run his fingers through his hair. "You look so much like your dad..."

"Goddamnit, Ryouta." Aomine flung his head back, hitting the wall with a dull thud. Kise flinched. "So I don't know a single member of your family?"

Kise frowned and shook his head.

"Are you even an only child?"

"I have two sisters. Older than me."

"Wow," Aomine squeezed his eyes shut and Kise pulled his hand out of Aomine's to brush his fingers across Aomine's cheek. Aomine didn't lean into the touch, but he didn't pull away either. "I can't believe you."

He had expected that. "But can you blame me? It was Kasamatsu who cautioned me against it, even though he's never met my real family either."

Another silence fell over them and Kise let it build until Aomine broke it again.

"Imayoshi doesn't give a damn about us or our families," he finally said, voice hoarse as though he'd been crying. No tears marred his face. "I guess..."

"If someone had warned you against exposing your family, would you have kept them hidden from me?"

"I don't know, Ryouta." Aomine sighed and finally lifted his head to press their foreheads together. "You're one of my family now so it kinda seems pretty damn pointless to hide them from you when you share their last name."

Kise sighed. "I realize that." His thumb swiped beneath Aomine's eye. "But we hadn't been together long enough for me to trust you with my family."

"But you could trust me with yourself?" Aomine balked.

"Well," Kise's lips twitched into a faint smile. "I suppose I could've After all, you did turn a gun on yourself for me."

Aomine rolled his head. "Shut up, asshole." His nose brushed Kise's as he leaned a little closer. "Does that mean I finally get to meet the real Kise's when this is over?"

Kise nodded.

"Mmmm," Aomine's lips barely brushed Kise's as he said, "Are your sisters as hot as you are?"

Kise snorted. "I'm not even going to answer that." His lips parted as Aomine stole the kiss he'd been waiting for. The bone deep contentment he felt with Aomine returned in a rush of warmth and he shifted in Aomine's lap, almost forgetting where they were.

Almost

"Oh, don't stop on my account."

Kise jumped, pulling away at the sound of Imayoshi's voice.

"I was rather enjoying the show."

Aomine scowled and wrapped an arm around Kise's waist before he pulled them to their feet. "Shut the hell up, Imayoshi."

"Where's Kasamatsu?" Kise asked, his cheeks tinged a light pink.

"He's looking something up," He made a vague hand gesture toward the doorway. "Shouldn't be more than a minute."

As if prompted by Imayoshi's word, the door clicked open and Kasamatsu stepped into view.

"As if I'd go into this without doing more research," Kasamatsu leaned against the door frame, eyeing them from a distance.

"You certainly made quick work of it," Imayoshi commented, taking a step forward. He blatantly ignored the way Kasamatsu leaned back when he moved toward him. His eyes darted to Kasamatsu's hands. "Must be those slender fingers of yours."

Aomine saw Kasamatsu cringe and he glanced at Kise, watching as he pressed his fingers against his lips. He was suppressing a laugh.

"Stay the hell away from me," Kasamatsu hissed as he pushed himself off the doorframe and moved across the wall. "And stop with your goddamn comments."

Imayoshi lifted his hands as if to claim innocence and grinned. "Right, right," He replied. "Please continue to share your findings with us."

Though Kasamatsu scowled, he continued. "As your..." He glanced at Sakurai and Aomine followed his gaze until Sakurai ducked behind Wakamatsu. "Colleague found out, the Coaches have employed Fukuda, but only as a means of extra security."

"Extra?" Aomine balked. "Why the hell do they need extra security?"

Kasamatsu stared at him. The longer he stared the more Aomine started to think it was a stupid question. "They already know you've both failed to complete your assignments. It was only a matter of time before they put two and two together and realized you'd join teams, or at the very least combine your own skills to do something about the unjust decision to have you both killed off."

"Senpai," Kise interrupted with a shake of his head. "We were given the assignment to kill one another, so one of us would've come out alive. It's not like––"

"No, Kise." Kasamatsu shook his head. "We weren't supposed to tell you, but even if you completed this assignment, someone was supposed to take you out too."

"... what?" Aomine felt Kise's grip on his hand tighten.

"I'm sure Imayoshi was given the same instructions." Kasamatsu glanced at Imayoshi who stared back at him. Aomine's breath left him when Imayoshi nodded. "You were both supposed to die." Kasamatsu continued, ignoring the way Kise and Aomine's faces fell. "But you're both alive, and on top of that you both know the truth now. Even if we hadn't told you, you're both smart enough to have found out the truth on your own." He paused to glance back at Imayoshi and Aomine pulled Kise tight against his side. "Imayoshi is right. At some point in time, you would've headed for the Coaches, knowing that they pulled all the strings and killing them would be your ticket out of this life, free from your death sentence."

"So the extra protection..." Kise began, leaning into Aomine's embrace. "who else is going to be there?"

Kasamatsu nodded. "Fukuda is only the backup, but it's the entirety of Fukuda. They aren't as skilled as we are, but they're much more ruthless, much more unpredictable." Aomine took a step back with Kise as Kasamatsu pushed himself away from the wall. Despite the fact that they wanted both Imayoshi and Kasamatsu on their side, he wasn't sure he trusted them completely with the knowledge that they had every intention of killing them before, win or lose. "Kirisaki Daichi has been a permanent fixture at their sides for as long as I can remember. They're just as ruthless as Fukuda and they have crudely made weapons, more for torture than quick, easy kills." Aomine had heard enough about Kirisaki Daichi to know they were bad news. He didn't need Kasamatsu to elaborate, but he continued anyway. "If they get the upper hand, they won't hesitate to maim you until you're begging them to stop. They can break even the most skilled assassins."

"Sounds like we should've done more research on this," Aomine whispered, knocking the side of his head against Kise's.

"Mmm..." Kise hummed softly in response, eyes trained on Kasamatsu.

"But it's not Fukuda or Kirisaki Daichi that makes me hesitate." Kasamatsu's face darkened. "It's Rakuzan that scares me."

Aomine froze. "Rakuzan?"

"I thought they were a rumor," Kasamatsu said. "I thought they were an elite band of assassins made up to scare us into shape. But they do exist and though they are few in number they've never missed a hit, big or small, and they will turn a single hit into a massacre leaving little to no evidence behind if it means keeping mouths shut about their existence."

Rakuzan.... Rakuzan.... Aomine wracked his brains trying to figure out where he'd heard that word before.

"But," Kise shook his head and glanced at Aomine. His face was white as sheet, his eyes wide. "I thought Rakuzan was a high school."

A High school?

Kasamatsu frowned. "No, Kise. The high school was a cover up. It's where they were trained to be the killers they are. Rakuzan High was demolished years ago. How would you even know about that?"

"Daiki..." Kise gasped.

The wheels finally stopped turning in Aomine head and his jaw dropped. Rakuzan. He remembered seeing that embroidered on the back of someone's jacket, right beneath a shock of bright, red hair.

"Ryouta..." He needed confirmation. There was only one person he could ever associate with Rakuzan.

Kise turned his head to face him, surprise and a hint of fear etched in his wide, golden eyes. "Akashicchi..." He whispered.

Aomine frowned in return. If the answer involved one hundred percent surety, he’d have to say no. He was never certain when it came to Imayoshi.

Kise ran his hands through his hair and sighed again.

“Ryouta…” Aomine reached out to touch Kise’s shoulder, but grasped at air.

Kise shook his head. “Daiki, stop dancing around my questions. You’ve done this for years whenever you don’t want to tell me the truth.” He crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at the numbers as they lit up one by one. They were nearing the top of the building. “I’m not fragile. I’m not stupid. Stop treating me like I am. I know the possible outcomes.”

Aomine grit his teeth. Were they really going to have an argument like this right now? “Then why do you even ask?”

“Is it too much to ask for you to just tell me the truth?” Kise gestured to the space between them. “We know the biggest secret now. Just be honest.”

“I wasn’t being dishonest,” Aomine countered with a frustrated shake of his head. He shoved his hands in his pockets and scowled.

“There you go again.”

“Ryouta––”

“Daiki, just admit we could die from this.”

Aomine went rigid. Kise’s blunt response made what little confidence he had in his plan sink a bit further.

“I’m not scared,” Kise said, taking a step forward. “I had already resigned myself to the possibility that you could kill me.” He took another step forward, nearly pressing his chest against Aomine’s. “I think I have the right to know if there’s a possibility that our lives have a new deadline.”

It took a moment for Aomine to react. He stared into Kise’s eyes, taking in the fierce resolve, the understanding, the acceptance. No, Kise wasn’t stupid, but he was just a reckless as ever. But Aomine wouldn’t have it any other way.

With a sigh of resignation he pressed his forehead against Kise’s and admitted, “Fine. If he doesn’t take to the suggestion, he’ll probably kill us. Unless he has some reason to keep us alive, which could be worse. He’s a sadistic bastard. But I still think I can win him over.”

Kise’s lips twitched into the barest hint of a smile. “You know, you should’ve given me all the details so I could pitch it to him.” He brushed his fingers across the back of Aomine’s hand. “You never were all that great at giving speeches.”

Aomine snorted and grabbed Kise’s hand, giving it a brief squeeze before stepping back. “I’m gonna be great. You watch.”

“And if he doesn’t agree?”

The elevator bell sounded, alerting them to the fact that they had reached their desired floor. Aomine curled his fingers into his palm and thrust his fist forward. “Then we give him hell.”

~~~

“Aomine-san, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I tried to tell him that you were here to talk, but you know how he is and he––”

Aomine raised a hand and tried to wave Sakurai away, but Sakurai stumbled into him and mumbled a few more apologies before gesturing toward the door of Imayoshi’s office.

“He’s…” Sakurai nervously glanced between the doorway and Aomine’s face. “I don’t know what he’s doing. I’m sorry, Aomine-san. I tried.”

Aomine shook his head as if to forgive Sakurai for a slight that didn’t need forgiving when he caught a glimpse of a shadow in the doorway. He took a step back and raised his arms on either side of his head before Imayoshi stepped into the light, Aomine’s favored Browning tight in his grasp.

“Step away, Sakurai,” Imayoshi purred, twitching the gun to the side.

Sakurai’s eyes widened and he stared at Aomine, another apology written in his wavering gaze. He slowly backed away, refusing to turn around and face a man Aomine was certain Sakurai never wanted to look at over the barrel of a gun. He heard Imayoshi chuckle as Sakurai disappeared into the next room and Aomine pulled his eyes away from Sakurai’s retreat to meet the blinding shade of Imayoshi’s glasses. He thought it was a bit cliché for the light to catch Imayoshi’s glasses that way, creating a barrier between himself and Aomine. But the appearance was effective. He felt the intended shiver run down his spine.

“Imayoshi,” Aomine breathed, taking a step to the side. Imayoshi’s outstretched arm followed him, keeping the barrel of the gun perfectly aligned with Aomine’s chest. “We need to talk.”

All of a sudden, Imayoshi drew another firearm and angled it to Aomine’s side. He didn’t have to turn around to know that Kise had drawn his own weapon.

With a barely concealed roll of his eyes he glanced back and hissed a reprimand of, “Ryouta.”

“Daiki,” Kise growled back, gun resolutely leveled at Imayoshi’s head.

“Drop the goddamn gun,” he demanded.

“I will when that bastard does.”

Imayoshi tilted his head back and Aomine saw the sparkle of excitement in his eyes. “Oh, you’re a feisty one, aren’t you?” A wicked grin slowly spread across his lips. “I can see why Aomine is so interested in you. I wouldn’t mind testing just how feisty you are in––”

Aomine drew his own gun before Imayoshi could finish his sentence. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

“Combat,” Imayoshi finished with a smirk. “I was going to say combat, Aomine.” He clicked his tongue and shook his head. “My, my, you’re so touchy. I wonder what has you so on edge.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Aomine grit his teeth and took a step forward, his finger itching to pull the trigger.

“Maybe because you’re standing there ready to kill us,” Kise finished for him, following Aomine’s example and taking a step forward.

“Only because you’re failures,” Imayoshi replied, using the guns to gesture between the two of them. “The fact that you are both standing here is proof of that. Your reputations are tarnished. It’s a shame. You both had so much potential and now…” He shifted his feet and steadied his hands. “You both have to die.”

“Imayoshi!” Aomine shouted, tightening his grip on the handle of his gun. “What if we didn’t have to die? What if you had all the authority to make that decision?”

Imayoshi’s eyes narrowed, but the fatal pressure he was threatening to put on the triggers loosened.

“You give us orders,” Aomine continued, taking the silence as tacit encouragement to offer more information. “but you relay them from someone else.”

“The coach,” Imayoshi confirmed with a nod of his head. His eyes darted between Aomine and Kise, but his arms never wavered. “He gives all the orders.”

Aomine nodded. He was sifting through all the information he had pulled together in his head on their brief ride to the office and found that he didn’t need any of it to win this argument. He could practically see the puzzle fitting together in Imayoshi’s head. Imayoshi had always been too smart, too observant. “But what if you didn’t have to take orders, Imayoshi?”

“What if you were the one who made all the executive decisions?” Kise stepped in. He took a careful step forward, ignoring the dangerous way Imayoshi’s hand jerked toward him. “From what I’ve heard, you do all the work. You even help the coach determine who the next target is. Really, what does he do that you don’t do for him?”

Imayoshi’s brow rose, but he remained silent.

“Imayoshi,” Aomine gestured toward the doorway to Imayoshi’s office. “That’s as much a room fit for a leader as the coaches office, where ever the fuck that is. It’s your expertise that we follow, not anyone else’s. I’m pretty damn sure everyone would choose you over the coach if given the chance to make such a choice.” He was also pretty damn sure that choice would be made more out of fear than actual loyalty, but sometimes he was certain Imayoshi couldn’t tell the difference between the two.

Silence stretched on and Aomine let it engulf the space between them, let the unspoken proposal hang in the air.

Imayoshi’s lips twitched into the barest hint of smirk. “So what exactly are you suggesting, Aomine?”

“I think you already know,” Kise said, lowering his gun a fraction of an inch.

Aomine grit his teeth and fought the urge to tell Kise not to let his guard down. Even though he was almost positive Imayoshi would agree, he didn’t trust that small percentage of doubt that still plagued the back of his mind.

“Are you aware of the measures the coach has taken to remain hidden? To remain safe?”

“And are you aware of what our combined skill set is capable of?” Kise’s voice rose until it was pitched with a hint of desperation. This was, after all, their only chance at survival. “Not just you, or me.” Aomine glanced over his shoulder and saw Kise nod in his general direction. “Or even Daiki. Your entire team. My entire team. Do you know how deadly all of us could be together?”

“Aaaah,” Imayoshi extended the syllable in a soft sigh. “You intend to unite our assassins and hope we can learn the meaning of teamwork?”

Kise scowled. “I want us to work together to put you on top.”

It took a few moments for the words to sink in, but Aomine finally saw the way Imayoshi’s eyes crinkled at the corners, the way his glasses caught the light. His lips curled into that devilish smile that always made Aomine cringe, but he knew it was a good sign. That doubt that itched at the back of his mind was slowly beginning to dissipate. As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, he felt much more confident with Imayoshi on their side.

“I won’t deny that I like the sound of that,” Imayoshi admitted, his smile spreading into a grin. “I really only have one condition and I sincerely doubt you’ll deny me this one little thing.”

Aomine pursed his lips and shook his head. “What the hell, Imayoshi You’re not in any position to be making––”

“Name it,” Kise interrupted, shooting a look at Aomine when he glanced over his shoulder. It was a look he’d seen far too many times during the past five years. He knew it said, Shut up and let me talk, Daiki.

He fought the urge to roll his eyes and glanced at Imayoshi whose tongue flicked out to wet his lips as he whispered, “We kill them all. Every last one of the coaches.” His grip noticeably tightened on the handles of the guns. “If you’re going to put me on top, there will be no other competition.”

“Fine,” Kise easily agreed and Aomine nodded his consent. That had been their intention from the very beginning. He chose to omit that information for fear of losing Imayoshi’s interest with a proposal of that magnitude.

“Then it’s better if we get everyone involved,” Aomine started. “Teamwork might not be such a bad thing if––”

A gun cocked behing them and Aomine froze when a recognizable voice said, “I really am sorry Daiki…. Ryouta…”

Aomine grit his teeth and slowly turned his head. Kise’s face contorted with a look akin to that of pain. Tadashi stood a few feet behind Kise, a handgun steadily pointed at the back of his head.

“I know I said I’d give up, but I have a job to do. And that doesn’t involve you leaving here alive.” Tadashi’s hand wasn’t shaking this time. There was no hesitation in the way he pointed the gun, no frightened timbre to the sound of his voice. Aomine could see every inch of the assassin he was in his confident stance and the way his finger flirted with the trigger.

Aomine swung his body around to level his own handgun at Tadashi’s face, but a shot from behind him made him jump and his eyes widened as he watched Tadashi’s body fall to the floor.

Kise’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped open as he stared at Imayoshi.

He saw Aomine’s face fall as he took a step toward him. “Ryouta, are you––”

“He shot him,” Kise whispered, taking a few steps forward. His arm remained outstretched, gun still at the ready.

Aomine stopped Kise with an arm around his waist. Kise paused and bristled. The sight before him drained the color from his face and he saw Aomine glance at him out of the corner of his eye.

“Daiki, about what you said about Imayoshi….”

“He’s not a threat, Kise.” Aomine tried to reassure him. “He's––” He saw Aomine turn his head enough to see Imayoshi’s face and Kise knew that he understood the reason for his sudden fear. His face blanched and he shook his head and reitereated, “He’s not a threat.” Kise wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince.

Imayoshi’s eyes were sheltered by the glare of his glasses. His knuckles were white from the grip he exerted on the guns and the grin that he’d been sporting only seconds ago had disappeared. His lips pressed into a line so thin they were barely visible on his face and his arms shook, and not from exertion. Kise could almost feel the barely concealed rage that ran off him in waves, so palpable he was afraid to breathe. Kasamatsu’s anger was nothing in comparison to this silent fury. He preferred the yelling and the outright abuse to this.

“Sakurai,” Imayoshi snapped. Kise heard a crash from the opposite room and the apologetic man that had greeted them when they first came in appeared in the doorway, his face whiter than Kise’s.

“Y-yes, Imayoshi-san?”

“How did he get in here?”

Sakurai glanced at Tadashi’s crumpled body on the floor and his eyes widened. “I––” He shook his head. “No one alerted to me to his presence. No alarms went off, Imayoshi-san. I swear, I was monitoring––”

“But he’s clearly here, Sakurai,” Imayoshi lifted his head and smiled. Kise leaned against Aomine and fought against the instinct that told him to shoot. Every nerve in his body told him that Imayoshi was a threat, despite what Aomine said, and seeing the way he looked at Sakurai only confirmed that suspicion.

Sakurai dipped his head in a shaky nod. “I can see that. You’re right, Imayoshi-san. I’m sorry. I should’ve been more––”

Another shot echoed in the room, making everyone but Imayoshi flinch. Another one followed, and then another, and another. Kise finally turned his head to look at Tadashi’s body. He grimaced and gripped at Aomine’s arm. It was the first time he’d ever been effected by the sight of blood. Tadashi’s face was unrecognizable. His body nothing more than a hunk of flesh. His eyes darted to the tattoo on his forearm that read Fukuda Sogo, confirming his admission of who he worked for when they’d encountered him earlier.

“Fukuda,” Imayoshi hissed. Kise pulled his eyes away from what was left of Tadashi. “Fukuda has been given my hit?”

Sakurai darted back into the room he came from and Kise could hear the sound of fingers furiously smacking against a keyboard.

“Daiki,” Imayoshi’s eyes rose to meet Kise’s insistent gaze. “Ryouta.” He shivered. He didn’t like the way his name sounded rolling off Imayoshi’s forked tongue. “Were you aware of this,” he gestured toward Tadashi’s body. “of someone else being on your trail?” Kise opened his mouth to respond and Imayoshi loosened his grip on one of the guns to hold up a single finger. “I’d be careful when you choose your words this time, model-san. What interest I had before might have changed in light of this new development. And…” He leveled the gun at Kise’s face again. “I’m still armed and ready to shoot you in your pretty little face if you so much as try to utter a lie in my presence.”

Kise heard Aomine swallow hard and he had to do the same to dispel the lump that had formed in his throat. “We knew about him,” Kise admitted, refusing to acknowledge Tadashi’s dead body behind them.

Aomine turned, his arm remained locked around Kise’s waist. “We knew about that guy, Imayoshi,” Aomine confirmed, giving Kise’s hip a squeeze in warning. “But he didn’t mention anyone else. If all of Fukuda has been offered the same bounty then we don’t know a damn thing about it. I swear, we would’ve mentioned it.” He could feel Aomine’s reluctance when he glanced back at Tadashi. “We thought we’d taken care of him.”

Imayoshi’s eyes narrowed, but he slowly lowered the guns to his sides. “My agreeable disposition in regards to this proposal of yours is contingent upon you following through with your promise.” He glanced at Sakurai as he returned to the room and said, “What have you learned?”

Sakurai bowed and muttered an apology before saying, “Fukuda knows about the hit. They all do.” He rubbed his hands together as his eyes darted every which way. “And… I could be wrong… The source might not be credible. I’m sorry, I––”

“Sakurai,” Imayoshi’s voice conveyed its intended warning.

“Right… I’m sorry.” Sakurai bowed again and continued, “It looks like they were hired by the coaches. By…” Kise watched as Sakurai bit into his bottom lip and shook his head as if he couldn’t believe the information. “By all of them. They’ve been working for them since before we even found out about the computer coding, before we sent Aomine-san out to get it…. and before Kise-san and Aomine-san were given each other as their next hit. This has been––”

Imayoshi’s grip tightened enough for one of the guns to go off, startling Sakurai into silence. Kise was slowly putting the pieces together in his head, but it seemed as though Imayoshi had reached a conclusion before he did. “They had no intention of letting either one of you live.”

Aomine gasped beside him and Kise knew he’d finally caught up. “Then what about––”

“We’re all expendable, Aomine.” Imayoshi glanced at Sakurai and nodded his head. Sakurai’s eyes widened in his understanding and he disappeared once again. “I don’t know what they were intending, but if I had to guess, the thought of having a married couple of assassins was too much of a liability for them.” He gestured to all of them. “For this very reason. If you had found out sooner, before you were given the same hit, would you have tried to kill one another? Or would you have worked together?”

Neither Kise nor Aomine responded. The answer was clear. They had established their mutual understanding of their positions after they’d accepted their failures.

“I’m taking your silence to mean you’d choose the latter.” Imayoshi tilted his head to the side. “Once you found out your skills as a team were much deadlier than alone, where would your train of thought go? As of now, you are nothing more than pawns. If the coaches tell you to fail a hit, you fail the hit. If they tell you kill your loved ones, you do it.” Imayoshi’s lips curled into a smirk. “If they tell you to die, then you die.”

Kise felt Aomine’s grip on his hip tighten once again. He pressed a reassuring hand against his arm and nodded for Imayoshi to continue.

“As I said, we are expendable. Our skills matter little to them when they can train new, more obedient dogs to take over once we’ve been eliminated.” Imayoshi tapped the barrel of one of the guns against the side of his head. “And how long do you think it would have taken for the two of you to realize that? No one wants to be on the wrong end of the leash. If you two had known about your shared profession earlier there is a chance this scenario could have played out much sooner than right now.”

“They feared rebellion because of our relationship?” Kise finally asked, glancing at Aomine to confirm that he’d understood it in the same way. He could see the way Aomine clenched his jaw and knew he’d been been aboard the same train of thought.

“Something to that effect,” Imayoshi nodded. “And clearly they wouldn’t have been wrong.” His lips stretched in that same smile he’d sported before. Kise tried not to grimace. He didn’t know Imayoshi well enough, but he was almost certain nothing good came from a smile like that.

“If we’ve already been branded as disobedient dogs,” Aomine started, drawing their attention. “then it’s more of a reason to bite the fucking hands of the coaches who trained us.”

Imayoshi laughed, a sound that began as a soft whisper and rose to something Kise could only describe as a cackle of amusement. “Yes, Aomine. We’ll bite the hands and tear them all apart.” Sakurai returned, followed by the few other members of Touou’s elite assassins. Imayoshi glanced at them, his smile widening. “Are you all ready for some team building?”

Each member shifted, clearly uncomfortable with Imayoshi’s excitement.

“Imayoshi,” Kise took a step forward, out of Aomine’s grasp. “There is one more thing you should know.”

Imayoshi inclined his head, silently encouraging Kise to continue.

“I can promise you I won’t contest your claim to the top position amongst these assassins,” He gestured toward the members of Touou and then to himself and Aomine. “But I can’t promise my senpai won’t. After all, he’s the one who got past all your security to break us into your building.”

Silence stretched thin between them and Aomine grabbed Kise’s wrist to pull him back. “Ryouta,” he hissed against his ear. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Imayoshi’s head dipped forward and his shoulders shook. A laugh started low in the back of his throat, gradually rising to something nearing hysteria.

“Nothing wrong with a little friendly competition,” Kise replied, second guessing his response when he caught a dangerous gleam in Imayoshi’s eyes when he finally lifted his head.

“Was he now?” Imayoshi purred as he holstered his guns. His fingers tapped against the handles as he took slow steps forward. The rest of the Touou assassins reluctantly followed and Kise encouraged Aomine to turn and do the same. As Imayoshi passed them, he heard him speak and had to suppress another shudder. His voice was shaking with excitement, barely more than a breathless whisper.

“What?”

“Let’s make a bet,” Aomine repeats, holding out his hand. “You know Seirin?”

Kise nods. He knows it’s one of the schools at least one of them will be separated into when they leave Teikou.

“I heard their coach threatens to have them do some crazy shit,” Aomine’s lips smooth into a smirk. “And you’re gonna do it if you lose.”

Never one to back down from a challenge, Kise purses his lips and nods. “Fine. And if you lose?”

Aomine shrugs and turns to leave, heading toward the court. “Bets go both, Kise. I’ll do it,” He lifts a hand and waves Kise forward. “If I lose.”

~~~

Kise stands at the bottom of the bleachers, wringing his hands in the hem of his shirt. Now that the match is over, he regrets agreeing to that bet before letting Aomine explain this “crazy shit” he has to do. 

Aomine stands at his back and Kise doesn’t have to look at him to know he’s grinning. The score had been so close this time, close enough that it almost looked like Kise would pull through with the win. But here he stands, the loser of another one-on-one and this time the consequence is much more than a mere blow to his ego. 

“Aominecchi, can’t we change the terms of this bet?” He glances over his shoulder, lips tight in his signature pout. “I mean, stripping down to boxers is embarrassing enough, isn’t it? I don’t need to take it all off, right? I mean, I already have to…” He trails off and grimaces. He isn’t ready to admit to his crush just yet and that’s exactly what he has to do, standing naked at the top of the bleachers in front of the Generation of Miracles. 

“Hell no.” Aomine slaps his back and gently urges him forward. “Come on, idiot. You lost fair and square. Besides, what do you have to be embarrassed about? You’re half naked in most of your photo spreads anyway.”

“Not most of them.”

“Yeah, most of them.” Kise glances around Aomine and watches as the rest of their teammates file in. “Don’t tell me you’re one of the assholes who backs out on bets. Never figured you were one to go back on your word.” He shrugs. “Well, if you’re too chicken shit to do it, I’ll––”

“Fine!” Kise scowls and shoves Aomine back. He hates that Aomine knows how to get under his skin. “Fine! Don’t be ogling my perfect body, Aominecchi.”

Aomine chuckles and backs away, shaking his head. “Like you’ve got anything worth looking at, dumbass.”

“Tch,” Kise lifts a single finger and waves it Aomine’s direction before turning back toward the bleachers. He grimaces as he takes the first step up, slowly pulling his jersey over his head and dropping it as he moves higher and higher. His gym shoes follow, one after the other, abandoned on the steps. 

“Mine-chin, what is Kise-chin doing?” He hears Murasakibara grumble around a mouthful of one of his wide collection of snacks.

“He lost a bet,” Aomine replies and Kise hears Midorima wonder aloud about Kise’s little strip show. 

He tunes them out as he reaches the top of the bleachers, left in nothing but a pair of bright yellow boxers. He’s facing the wall, gathering the willpower to turn around and face his teammates. With a heavy sigh of resignation, he finally turns and hooks his thumbs into the waistband of his last piece of clothing. He slides them down his legs and kicks them off, watching them flutter to the final seat at the bottom of the bleachers. 

Someone mock cat calls from below and he doesn’t have to look to know it’s Aomine. He keeps his eyes facing forward, staring at the victory banners that run around the court. They taunt him, reminding him that a victory would have gotten him out of this mess. He’s not body shy, but he’s also never had the intention of baring it all in front of this mismatched bunch of people.

“Tell them why you’re up there, Kise,” Aomine shouts from below.

Kise grits his teeth. This is another part of the bet, admitting his loss aloud. “I lost a one-on-one against Aominecchi.”

“Lost what?” Aomine urges and Kise growls and rolls his eyes. “C’mon, Kise. Say it.”

“I lost another one-on-one to Aominecchi. I still can’t beat him.” He pauses and decides to add, “Yet.”

“So you lost that bet,” Aomine begins and Kise glances down in time to watch him sweep his arms out toward the other members of the Generation of Miracles standing around him. “Tell them who you’re crushing on.”

There’s a lump forming in Kise’s throat and he doesn’t think he remembers how to speak. He can feel all those colorful eyes staring at him and he hopes they’re looking at his face, despite the heat that burns his cheeks, instead of… other assets. 

“Ryouta.” 

He flinches at the sound of Akashi’s voice.

“Get on with it. I will not sacrifice any more practice time to the consequence of your defeat.”

Kise grimaces and takes a deep breath. “I––” He clenches his fists at his sides and finally turns his eyes on the rest of his teammates below. “I like––”

“Who?” Aomine encourages, a grin ready to spread across his lips. 

“Aomine Daiki,” Kise nearly shouts. He watches Aomine’s jaw drop and sees Kuroko dip his heading in a knowing nod out of the corner of his eye. Midorima shoves his glasses up his nose, shaking his head as he turns away. There’s no reaction from Murasakibara, but he doesn’t expect one, and Akashi’s brow rises, a faint twitch at the corners of his lips is the only indication of his amusement.

Kise swiftly makes his way down the bleachers, gathering his clothing as he goes. He’s fully dressed the second he reaches the bottom of the bleachers and shoves past his teammates to head toward the locker room. He knows his face is beet red and saw a similar color darken Aomine’s cheeks as he passed. 

He’s alone in the locker room, pressing his forehead against the cool metal of his locker door. He runs a hand down the front of his face and groans. He’s always imagined he’d admit his feelings in some romantic, cheesy way, preferably fully clothed. Not after admitting defeat in front of a team that only knows the taste of victory. 

The door creaks open, but Kise doesn’t turn to see who has finally followed him into the locker room. He slowly pushes himself back and turns around to return to the court, holding his head high and pretending he’s not morbidly embarrassed about what just happened. But he comes face to face with Aomine and he stumbles back, losing that facade of confidence he exuded only seconds before. 

“Shit,” He gasps, running a hand through his hair. “Aominecchi, I thought you were––” He shakes his head and bites his bottom lip. “Look, I wasn’t going to tell you like that, but you kinda gave me no choice and…” He runs a hand down his face, pulling the grimace even lower as he says, “I mean, I was going to tell you later. Probably.” He shakes his head again. “Maybe. I don’t know. I bet you thought I was gonna say some pretty girl, didn’t you? One of my fans or something, right? I don’t think I could ever like one of them. They’re so annoying and so clingy and––”

“Kise.”

“Probably would’ve gone better if I had clothes on though. I mean my–” He gestures toward his crotch as he continues. “was hanging out and it was kind of cold up there, to be honest, so I don’t want you thinking that was me at my best, because it sure as hell gets better than that. And––”

“Kise!”

“I don’t know why I’m even defending the fact that I was naked. I mean, look at me! I’m a model for a good reason. I have nothing to be ashamed of. I look damn good in and out of clothes. So you just––”

Kise falls silent when a warmth, soft and pliant, covers his lips. He doesn’t realize how close he is to the lockers until his back hits the door and Aomine’s hand braces against the metal beside his head. His lips part in a soft sigh and Aomine’s tongue tentatively caresses his own before he pulls back, cheeks flushed a shade as dark as Kise’s feel. 

“You’re right,” Aomine says after a prolonged silence. His lips twitch into a grin as he stares into Kise’s eyes. “You don’t have anything to be ashamed of.” He takes a step back and grabs Kise’s hand, tugging him forward. “Now let’s go before Akashi stabs us for delaying practice.”

Kise grins as follows behind Aomine, glad that he can’t see the smile spreading across his lips. Sometimes, he thinks, even when you lose, you still win an even better prize than you expected. He gives Aomine’s hand a squeeze. 

He slowly reached forward, hesitating before he grabbed the gun. “Have these been down here this whole time?”

Aomine’s side glance deadpanned and he saw the roll of the eyes seconds before he dropped his hand. “Like you’re one to talk. Bet you had that goddamn shotgun hidden under the bed or something.”

Kise opened his mouth to protest when his eyes landed on the larger gun that Aomine loaded for himself. He pursed his lips and swatted at the gun that Aomine was shaking at him, silently demanding Kise to take it.

“You’re seriously gonna give me the tiny gun?” Aomine turned his head to stare at Kise. “That’s a girly gun. I’m not using the girly gun.”

Aomine’s brow furrowed. “Are you fucking kidding me, Ryouta?” He thrust the small handgun forward again. “It’s a goddamn gun. Just use the thing. We don’t have time for your fucking size complex right now.”

Kise scowled and turned his nose up at the offered gun.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Aomine sighed heavily and pressed the back of his hand against his forehead. “Fine.” He caved, as Kise knew he would. “But don’t lie and claim this isn’t a size complex. We both know I’ve got the bigger weapon concealed in my––”

Kise snatched the larger pistol from Aomine’s grasp and slapped his cheek with his free hand; an effective method of silencing Aomine. He leaned forward, a grin spreading wide across his lips as he breathed, “But we both know I’m better at handling the big guns.” He watched as Aomine tilted his face forward, his hot breath ghosting across Kise’s lips in a near kiss before Kise pulled away. “Now get up. Let’s get out of here.”

Long ago, the two of them had agreed to build a secret passage leading from their basement to the shed out back. Aomine had told Kise that it would be a good idea to have a safe route out of the house. They were both celebrities, after all. Kise’s modeling career had taken off and his fans had been crazy before he went international. Aomine had rabid basketball fans at his heels almost as often as Kise had screaming fangirls in his face. It was a good cover for an escape route if their enemies ever found out where they lived.

As Aomine kicked at the boxes that buried the secret door from sight, he thanked his past self and Kise for agreeing to construction of the passageway. One explosion already rocked the house above and had dust and scraps of wood falling from the ceiling above. Kise held his hand in a tight grip, one that Aomine returned with a squeeze of reassurance every now and then. When he finally managed to find the door and kick it open he pulled Kise in first, keeping their fingers locked as they both dove inside.

He had to briefly holster the gun in the waist of his pants, hoping it wouldn’t slide down the leg as he yanked the door shut behind them. He hoped the dust and debris would effectively hide the exit from sight should their attackers find a way into the basement. Kise gave a gentle tug to urge him forward and they quietly made their way down the passage, listening for more explosions and the inevitable gunfire to follow.

They reached the shed in under five minutes and Aomine pulled Kise back to poke his head out first. The shed was empty except for the pieces of his firearms that still lingered on the floor and the tables. With a sigh, he beckoned Kise forward and the pulled themselves out of the passage and into the shed. He saw Kise glance toward the window, his eyes widening when he saw the ruin their home had become. There was barely a structure left and what existed now could hardly pass as a suitable home for anyone. From Aomine’s vantage point, he was almost certain their attackers had fled. If they were assailants sent from the agencies they wouldn’t linger. Better to leave a mess and no evidence of their existence behind than to be caught and questioned at the scene.

“I think we’re in the clear, Ryouta.” Silence followed his statement and Aomine stepped forward to place a gentle hand on Kise’s shoulder. “We gotta go.”

Kise shook his head and remained rooted to the spot. “They destroyed our home,” he whispered with another shake of his head.

Aomine’s grip on his shoulder tightened as he forcibly turned him away from the wreckage. He tugged Kise forward and met his frown with a kiss. As he pulled back, he noted the surprise in Kise’s eyes and said, “I couldn’t care less about the fucking package.” He gestured toward the destruction out the window. “I care about what’s in it. I care about you.” He slid his hand down Kise’s arm to lace their fingers again, giving a gentle squeeze as he continued, “They can level all the buildings they want. As long as you aren’t in them, I don’t give a shit.”

Kise’s face remained a mask of near indifference, but Aomine knew him well enough to see something shift beneath surface of Kise’s golden eyes. Kise’s head tilted forward in a half-nod and he pressed his forehead against the side of Aomine’s. “I guess we’ll just have to buy a new one.”

Aomine snorted. “Yeah, I guess so.” His eyes darted toward the untouched garage, remembering that their cars had been parked in the driveway. He knew, without having to see them, that they would be little more than scrap metal. “Gotta get some new cars too.”

Kise chuckled softly. “Well, that might not be so bad. I did have my eyes on the Virage Volante.”

Aomine snorted and shook his head as he shouldered open the shed door. “You and those Aston Martins.”

“What can I say,” Kise shrugged and grinned as they stepped outside, a cool breeze from the coming night tickling the bare skin of his legs. “I like cars that invoke envy in others.”

“Speaking of car envy,” Aomine started. “Should we go to Tadashi’s? We gotta get some real clothes and figure shit out. Pretty sure he mentioned that they were gonna be gone today and tomorrow.”

“You actually remember something like that?” Kise’s eyes widened almost comically as his voice rose with that teasing lilt Aomine both loved and hated. “Here I thought you used your memory for nothing but basketball and food.”

Aomine bumped their shoulders together and rolled his eyes. He’d missed the easy banter that had always been signature between them. “Yeah, yeah. Sometimes I can pretend to give a shit.”

Kise smiled and leaned into Aomine, guiding them toward Tadashi’s house. “Keiko had mentioned visiting her parents for a few days. So the house should be free.”

“I’m sure Tadashi’s clothes will fit us,” Aomine said, more to himself than to Kise. “He’s not too much smaller than we are.” He paused and cocked his head to the side as they made their way across Tadashi’s lawn. “Or maybe he’s bigger than us.”

“You see him outside every morning, Daiki.” Kise sighed. “I can’t believe you can’t remember this.”

“Yeah, yeah. Shut up.” Aomine released Kise’s hand to drop to his knees in front of the door. He slowly disassembled his firearm and removed the thin roll pin that holds in the trigger housing, lifting it up for Kise to see. “Think this’ll be thin enough?” He didn’t wait for an answer before slipping one end into the keyhole.

He’d broken his way into more buildings than he could remember, picking locks and jimmying windows open here and there. He angled the roll pin to the side and heard the telltale click of the lock. As he pulled the roll pin out the knob turned. Aomine’s eyes widened. He took a step back to stand beside Kise as the door swung open.

“Daiki? Ryouta?” Tadashi stood in front of them in a pair of black and grey plaid pajamas pants and a plain black shirt to match. He eyed them both with more than a little skepticism, his gaze running up and down their bruised and battered bodies lacking proper clothing to be outside in the chill of night. As he ran his fingers through his disheveled black hair he said, “You know, if you wanted to come in all you had to do was knock.”

~~~

“Aren’t you supposed to be at your mother in law’s?”

Tadashi’s eyes shifted from Kise back to Aomine and a sheepish grin spread across his lips. He laughed, that nervous kind of laugh that Aomine hated hearing and said, “Actually, I have a lot of work to do.” He sighed and glanced at the kitchen table. His open laptop, screen still lit, sat beside a large blueprint spread out on the surface of the table. “Keiko didn’t want me working around her parents because she says I kinda go into my own little world. So she took the kids and left me here.”

Aomine tried not to roll his eyes. He’d never been all that interested in the mundane problems of other people’s lives. Kise had always been the better one at pretending to care about their neighbors. He vaguely knew about Tadashi and Keiko’s children. The oldest brat had kicked more than one ball into their yard and tried to sell him cookies or candies on too many occasions to count. He was aware of Tadashi’s work as an architect, but couldn’t care less about the actual finished pieces. Keiko was a mystery to him and he was quite certain she wasn’t a big fan of his. He probably came off as a villain next to Kise’s sparkling charm.

“So…” Tadashi eyed the gun that Aomine had placed upon the kitchen island. “What brings you guys here so late in the evening?”

“You want the truth?” Kise asked from the fridge, where he pulled out two water bottles and tossed one to Aomine. “Or do you want me to keep you in the dark, because honestly it’s safer if you don’t know everything.”

Tadashi’s eyes widened and Aomine could see him trying to swallow past the lump that had probably grown in his throat. “Well… if it’s safer…” His eyes fell to the second gun that Kise placed beside Aomine’s. “I mean, I’ve never seen you guys with weapons before. I was just curious why a model and a basketball player would need to carry around––”

“Tadashi,” Kise tutted and shook his head. “I thought you wanted the safe version.”

“You don’t need to know,” Aomine added, leveling a warning gaze at Tadashi who shrank back into his seat.

“Right… gotta stay in the dark.” Tadashi nodded to himself and pulled his eyes away from the firearms resting in front of him. “Did you guys… er––did you need something?”

“Clothes,” Kise replied, taking another sip from the water bottle. “We need to borrow some clothes.” Aomine watched him glance around the room before adding, “And we might need to use your phone.”

Tadashi nodded a little too quickly and gestured toward the stairs. “You know where our bedroom is,” He glanced at Aomine for a brief second before returning his gaze to Kise. “Take whatever you need.”

Kise smiled, that fake smile that everyone else received. Only Aomine knew it wasn’t real. “You’re too kind, Tadashi. I promise we’ll get you some new clothes when we return.” He turned to head up the stairs.

“When you return from where? I didn’t know you guys had anything planned for….” Tadashi trailed off as he watched Kise bend forward to tickle under the chin of their pet cat who had mysteriously appeared on the steps.

Tadashi’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped and for a second Aomine thought it was because of the bruises that blossomed on Kise’s pale skin. Then he looked past Tadashi’s awestruck face and saw that Kise’s ass was barely covered, half of it exposed as he bent forward. Aomine’s shirts always were a little too short on Kise to be considered a legitimate boyfriend shirt. Without wasting a beat, Aomine snatched the handgun off the table and pressed it under Tadashi’s chin, using the weapon the urge Tadashi’s eyes away from Kise and onto him.

“Where do you think you’re looking, Tadashi?”

“I–I–I–” Tadashi stuttered and his hands shook as he raised them in the air on either side of his head. “I was just… I didn’t mean… I'm––I was…”

“You have Keiko,” Aomine reminded him.

“I–I know that, Daiki,” Tadashi swallowed hard and stared at the gun pressed to his throat. “I know that.”

“Then keep your eyes off of what’s mine.”

Tadashi frantically nodded and whispered rapid apologies until Aomine lowered the gun with a satisfied smirk. He placed it back on the island countertop and watched in mild amusement as Tadashi visibly relaxed. There was still a tension in his shoulders though, Aomine noted; a tension that left Aomine on edge. Tadashi’s eyes continued to dart between the gun and his face.

Aomine kept a firm grip on the butt of his firearm. Tadashi had never been anything more than a clumsy neighbor, but fear made people do stupid things. Aomine didn’t like the look of fear in Tadashi’s eyes.

“So, Tadashi.” Tadashi jumped when addressed. Aomine had to fight back a grin. He always did like getting into people’s heads without trying. “What’re you working on over there?” He gestured toward the kitchen table with a nod of his head.

Tadashi’s eyes darted toward the blueprint for a fraction of a second. “Oh, just… uh––just some new housing layouts.” He ran his fingers through his hair and Aomine noticed the way his hands shook. “Nothing special.”

Aomine pushed his seat away from the island and stood to take a step toward the kitchen table. “Mind if I take a look? Ryouta and I are kind of in the market for a new house and––”

“No!” Tadashi nearly shouted as he jumped out of his seat and waved his arms in front of his body. “No… I––” He moved between Aomine and the blueprint, trying for a sheepish grin. It only made suspicion roil in the pit of Aomine’s stomach. “It’s… a really rough draft.” Tadashi trailed off, his eyes darting back toward the gun still firmly grasped in Aomine’s hand. “Doesn’t even look like a house right now.”

Aomine’s eyes narrowed, but he returned to his seat at the island and said, “That’s a damn shame. Heard from Ryouta that you do some pretty decent work.”

A shaky laugh left Tadashi’s lips and he palmed his nape in what appeared to be mock embarrassment. “It’s not that decent or anything, but I’d be happy to discuss designs of a new home for you two.”

Aomine nodded slowly. “Yeah,” he replied, carefully watching Tadashi’s mannerisms for a sign that his gut feeling had justification. “A new home.”

“We’ll be sad to see you go, of course.” Tadashi continued and his smile softened. Alarm bells went off in Aomine’s head, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out why. “Especially Keiko. She’s grown so attached to Ryouta.” His eyes were on the gun again as Aomine’s finger’s flexed, tightening their grip. “And… I mean, I’ll be sad too. Of course I’ll be sad too. I'll––” He took a deep shaky breath and Aomine finally pulled his gun into his lap with a resigned sigh.

He usually never ignored his gut feeling, but all he could sense from Tadashi was fear. He was like a cornered rabbit and every grin Aomine threw his way was dripping with murderous intent, like he was the wolf ready to pounce. He tapped the fingers of his free hand against the table and patted the gun in his lap.

“Listen, man. Didn’t mean to scare you. Sorry about pointing a gun at you.”

“I’m not.”

The familiar voice made Aomine jump. His eyes widened as he looked past Tadashi’s shocked face to find Kise standing behind him, fully clothed with a gun pointed at the back of Tadashi’s head. Maybe those alarm bells weren’t just for show.

“R-Ryouta…” Tadashi slowly turned his head to the side so he could see Kise and the barrel of the gun in his peripheral. “What are you––”

“Don’t play dumb,” Kise snapped and looked past Tadashi to meet Aomine’s eyes. Without needing the verbal demand, Aomine slowly pulled his gun from his lap to level it at Tadashi’s face. “I saw the note about the bounties. I found a gun hidden under your mattress.”

Tadashi’s face paled. “You looked through my-–”

“Not too wise to leave things like this laying around,” Kise tossed a piece of paper in Tadashi’s direction and Aomine caught a glimpse before Tadashi’s snatched it out of the air. He’d seen their names; both his and Kise’s. He hadn’t seen the price, but he didn’t need to. If someone put a bounty on their heads, it wasn’t going to be chump change.

“How long have you known what we do?” Aomine hissed, fighting the urge to pull the trigger.

Tadashi’s head jerked from side to side. “I didn’t…” Aomine lifted himself from the chair and leaned across the table, bringing the gun closer to Tadashi’s face. “I swear, I didn’t know until I got the letter about the bounties.”

Kise took slow, careful steps toward the kitchen table. Aomine leaned to the side to get a better look as Kise seemingly pulled a knife out of thin air and swung it down into the table. It lodged in the wood directly in the center of the blueprint.

Aomine didn’t have to look at it to know what it was. “New housing plan, my ass,” he grumbled, his lips thinning into a frown. “I should’ve fucking known. I felt it.” He jerked the gun toward Tadashi, satisfied with the way he flinched in response. “You’re so full of shit. Does Keiko know about this?”

Tadashi’s lower lip quivered as he shook his head.

“Is she your real wife?” Kise asked as he yanked the knife out of the table. “Or is all of this just a set up?”

“No… No, it’s not a set up.” Tadashi shook his head again, quicker this time. “She’s my wife. Those are my kids. I knew who you two were the moment I saw how high the bounties were. I knew I didn’t stand a chance, but do you know what that money could buy for my family? I couldn’t think of anything else and I just––”

“Just thought you’d blow up your neighbors?” Aomine finished for him, a sneer spreading across his lips.

“I should’ve thought of it that way…” Tadashi muttered. “But I––”

He drew in a sharp breath as Kise stepped up close behind him, pressing the blade against his throat. “Enough of the small talk,” Kise hissed as he pulled the knife back enough to toss it in the air. Aomine watched the motion of the knife, a smirk spreading across his lips when Kise effortlessly caught it by the handle before pressing it to Tadashi’s neck once again. There was something so appealing about watching Kise handle a knife. “You answered my question. I don’t need a life story.” Aomine’s lips twitched again as he watched Tadashi’s adam’s apple bob in with each labored swallow. “I only want to know one thing and then I’ll let you go. I’m not a home wrecker. I like Keiko and your kids deserve to grow up with their father in their life. So I’ll ask my question and then release you. But if you so much as turn around, I will shoot you in the head. Understand?”

Tadashi’s head dipped in the barest hint of a nod.

“Good,” Kise increased the pressure on the blade, pressing hard enough to sink into the skin without breaking through. “Now tell me… who are you working for?”

“I’m not––” Tadashi hissed as a thin line of blood ran down his neck.

“Ah, ah, ah.” Kise tutted against his ear. “It’s a simple question. Give me a simple answer and you can run off to be with your family. I’ll ask again, Tadashi. Who are you working for?”

Silence followed the question, permeated only by Tadashi’s ragged, shaky breaths. When Aomine thought Kise was going to lose his patience and plunge the knife straight through his throat, Tadashi finally spoke.

“Fukuda…” he rasped, fingers clenched around the edge of the island countertop. “Fukuda Sogo.”

True to his word, Aomine watched Kise pull the knife back before stepping away from Tadashi. They both watched as he slowly made his way out of the house, listening intently for the click of the door to signal the finality of his departure.

Aomine dropped the gun on the island and ran his fingers through his hair. “Fuck… Of all the goddamn people…”

Kise nodded. “You know, if Fukuda knows about the bounties…”

“All of the other agencies do too,” Aomine finished for him.

Kise nodded again and stepped around the island to snatch the phone off the receiver. He turned to toss a shirt in Aomine’s direction and nodded toward the bottom of the staircase. “Got some shoes over there too. They should fit.” He stared at the phone in his hand and frowned. “We’ve gotta get a hold of someone.” He glanced up at Aomine, a hint of desperation mixed in with the apathy he was trying to exude. “Who can we even call Daiki? Everyone we know that would help is probably ready to tear our heads off for a couple million.”

With a sigh, Aomine extended his hand and tapped his fingers against his palm. “Give me the phone.” He could sense Kise’s reluctance, so he stepped forward to grab the phone himself. “I’ve got an idea.” He punched in a familiar number and lifted the phone to his ear. He recognized the familiar, apologetic voice on the other end as he barked into the mouthpiece, “Get me through to him.” Stammered protests followed his demand. “Goddamnit, Sakurai. I’m probably dead either way. Just send me over there.”

He glanced at Kise, noting the confusion that furrowed his brows.

“You know how we were talking about the mafia numbers?” Aomine addressed Kise while hold music hummed against his ear. “How you said you took out two and three?”

Kise slowly nodded and Aomine could see the way his eyes narrowed. He knew Kise didn’t like where this was going.

“I’m trying to call the guy who was given the order to kill me if I failed.” He gestured toward Kise with his free hand. “And clearly I failed.”

“Daiki, why the hell would you––”

“Because I think I can get him to help us with the right incentive.”

He watched Kise’s face scrunch in disbelief. “And you think you have the right incentive?”

Aomine shrugged. “I sure as hell hope so. Because if I can’t convince him… he won’t hesitate to kill us both.”

Kise flipped the knife between his fingers. “You don’t think we can take him?”

“You took out Two from afar, right?”

Kise nodded. “He was known for being pretty ruthless. It was easier that way.”

“One was known for being worse.” Aomine sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, phone still pressed against his cheek. “Imayoshi killed One in head to head combat. He took him on because it made things more ‘interesting’. Maimed the guy so completely you could barely tell who the hell he was except for the ring still on his finger and the tattoo still visible on his neck. Then he walked out of there with a smile on his face, so wide you would’ve thought it was a kid coming out of a candy shop.” He saw Kise visibly shudder. “Imayoshi doesn’t kill because it’s his job. He kills because it’s what he does… it’s what he is. A killer.”