Comatose

11. Clash

❝My hobbies include having no time for bullshit.❞

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

ONCE:

CLASH

A familiar, tense silence sat between them as the two men walked down the street that led to the basketball court. After all those years in America, Aomine had yet to come across a presence as powerful as Kagami's. But far from feeling intimidated by him, Aomine was eager — thrilled to let adrenaline consume him and his troubled mind.

With a lazy smirk, he glanced at the redhead out of the corner of his eye. "You still play? I don't want to feel too disappointed when I crush you."

Kagami scoffed. "Weren't you the one who started crying when I beat you? You'd better have some new skills up your sleeve if you don't want that to happen again."

A vein plopped on his forehead as Aomine was reminded of that fateful game.

"So you still play?"

"Of course," Kagami replied as they neared the park. "But it's been a while since I've had a real challenge."

Aomine barked a laugh and shook his head. "I guess that's why your confidence is all over the clouds. Shit, no wonder Aria's noticed."

His last statement seemed to have hit the nail on the head, for the other man suddenly became rigid. As no words left his mouth, Aomine raised an eyebrow and glanced at him. Apparently, he was not so confident about winning the girl over. But Aomine couldn't really blame him; it was common knowledge that Aria had only ever had eyes for Kise, even if the blond idiot was too far up his own ass to notice.

Then again, he had never seen Aria blush because of Kagami before.

Aomine frowned slightly. "Is that why you've come to Japan?"

"I could ask you the same."

It was like a needle digging into his heart; the memories of that night of the argument crawled back towards his mind to slap him in the face with the strength of a hurricane. He had been tempted to call her, to message her or even to show up at her door. But Kaiya's broken expression kept popping into his mind whenever he started giving into those ideas, thus not letting him do any of that. For the first time, it wasn't his ego what was controlling his actions; it was something he couldn't fully explain.

Guilt was persistent, never leaving his heart and always there to punch him when he dared to take a break. While that was difficult to ignore, common sense kept him at bay. Because deep inside, Aomine knew how Kaiya worked — he couldn't force her to talk to him; he was slowly understanding how his return was affecting her.

However, he was struggling now. He had to keep looking for distractions, or else he would soon lose his shit. From time to time, his mind would cloud with thoughts of her; with memories of other times, and moments of not so long ago. Like that game in the middle of the night; how that feeling of thrill had developed into longing when she had touched him, when he had felt her skin with his lips again — if only for a fleeting moment. Only for coldness to wash over him when she had suddenly fled the scene, leaving him craving her more than he did before.

"Are we here to play or to talk about chicks?" Aomine muttered when he realized he hadn't said anything yet, clicking his tongue.

Kagami sent him a knowing look but nodded.

Rivals or not, they understood each other more than he would've expected back when they met.

As the trees around them moved away to give birth to a path of dirt, the familiar sound of rubber against asphalt reached his ears. And as if it acted like a trigger, it drew a lop-sided smile on his lips.

"Looks like it's not empty," Kagami commented once the basketball court came into view.

Aomine let out a huff. "Hell if I care."

But then, his blue eyes found a ginger head among the men who were playing. He recognized the man instantly, and his lips curled into a snarl. A sudden wave of fury filled his body, making his skin heat up and his bones tremble with contained emotion.

"You know what, I think I do. Let's go."

Without giving Kagami time to react, he marched towards the court and stepped inside. Instead of waiting for them to stop the game, he skilfully snatched the ball with one hand and gripped it between his long fingers.

"Hey, dude, what the hell?!" exclaimed one of the players while stepping up to him.

A hand stopped him from getting any closer, however. Aomine lifted his aloof gaze to meet the amused eyes of Hayama Kotaro, who smirked knowingly.

"Aomine Daiki, I'm surprised you're here at all."

Said man quirked an eyebrow at him. "The fuck does that mean?"

With a mirthless laugh, Hayama closed the space between them and threw an arm around his shoulders. "I thought you'd be stalking Kaiya... Oh!" He pulled a face of mock surprise and leaned towards his face to whisper, "Did you get tired or her and decided she's not worth it? Was it her desperation or the fact that she's so broken it's too easy to get in her pants?"

Aomine had never felt so furious in his entire life, and it took him less than a second to push him off and slam his fist into his face. Or that was his intention, for his arm was stopped mid-air.

His eyes flickered to meet Kagami's serious expression, and he sneered. "What the hell are you doing, bastard? Do you want to get beaten up too?"

But the redhead wasn't intimidated, even if he let go of his arm. "We're not in high school anymore, Aomine. You think it's a good idea to hit him in front of so many people?"

"I don't give a crap about that," Aomine replied lowly before turning to face Hayama's mocking face.

Kagami's glare followed his. "You should. Aren't you trying to show Kaiya you've changed? Then don't get into fights with idiots."

Before Aomine could speak, his eye caught a familiar figure standing outside the fence. Ah, shit. Aria was watching them with crossed arms and an unhappy expression on her face; which only meant one thing: he was a goner.

---

Kaiya was beyond exhausted when she arrived home, throwing the keys somewhere in the sofa and ready to order something to eat and call it a day. The house was quiet and dark, with the exception of a flicker of moonlight that slip through an open curtain in the living room. A frown settled on her face at the realization that came with that fact: her friends weren't home.

While it was normal for Satsuki to be out late, since she used to have dinner with old friends or Kuroko; it was strange for Aria to not be there. However, the last few days hadn't been easy and she was starting to spend more time out — with Kagami, mainly.

Shrugging, Kaiya kicked off her shoes and unlocked her phone to order a pizza. But just as she was about to look for the number, it started ringing with an incoming call.

Unknown number?

"Who's this?" she asked into the device.

"Hello, Kaiya. I hope this is a good time."

Instantly recognizing the voice, she frowned. "Akashi. Well, I was just about to eat—"

"Meet me at the Italian restaurant that's at the mall. Don't worry, I'm paying."

Startled, Kaiya could only utter, "What?"

"See you there."

Slightly annoyed yet knowing there would be no changing him at that point, Kaiya let out an exasperated sigh and sent a mesage to Aria. 

Letting people know where I am? That's new.

She hit sent and left, curious beyond belief about the reason behind his rare request