#aokiseday2018

[formlesscopycat]

If Nothing Lasts Forever

A Kuroko no Basuke fanfic. For AoKise day 2018.

Pairing: Aomine x Kise

Rating: T

Summary: Aomine’s plan for tonight is as easy just as it is simple: come down on one knee with a ring and get the boyfriend to say yes. Because after all that they’ve been through as a couple, where else could they be heading?

But just as he thinks that nothing could go wrong, well, he realizes in a rather awkward way that Kise had been right when he said this a few years back: "Nothing goes as planned in life, anyway."

Read on AO3 

If nothing lasts forever, will you be my nothing?

-Anonymous

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It has been agreed between Aomine and Kise that the 7th of May will be their ‘Together-Forever’ Couple Day.

Of course, it was Kise’s idea to have it celebrated every year, though Aomine finds it too childish and silly to be bothered by this made-up occasion. Yet he gives in to Kise’s wishes anyway, however preposterous he thinks this whole idea is, because he asserts that he’s the more loving and understanding boyfriend in this relationship. Aomine will fight tooth and nail with anyone who disagrees with that.

So Kise points out that this day will be something that’s exclusively theirs, not like Valentine’s or White Day where every couple on the planet will be fussing about. Naturally, it’ the 7th of May that he chooses, because he says it’ll be too easy to remember, the date simply being the numbers on their high school jerseys. He insists it’ll be a kind of homage to the sweet, innocent love that blossomed during their youth, specifically, during their high school days—that phase in their lives where they have lots of fond memories of: their first kiss, first real date, first bed scene, etc., etc.

And so, it became a yearly tradition that started a little after they decided to move in together under one roof. At the onset, they managed to spend their ‘couple day’ away from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, somewhere distinctly peaceful and remote, but then, their careers have made it a lot less easier to take a day off so lately, they just end up spending the night at the comfort of their home sweet home. Kise always takes the cooking duties, they have dinner, they exchange gifts, they rewatch NBA games while having dessert then finally, they cap the night with a one-on-one match (the kind that involves a lot of moaning and grinding on their king-sized bed). Last year, they ended up doing it in the kitchen for lack of better judgement (probably because of the whiskey), and at its aftermath is a disgustingly terrible mess they’d rather not remember. Feeling more like animals after, both promised never to taint the kitchen again.

In all this, Aomine’s boyfriend assures him that he does not need to trouble himself so much over it—just a little ‘we’ time every year, a little celebration much like anniversaries for married couples, an opportunity to look back and look forward, while they’re taking their sweet time deciding what they really want for themselves.

In Aomine’s case, he’s always known what he wanted. It’s just like in a game of ball in which winning is the only acceptable outcome. And just like aiming a shot at the basket, everything comes down to the precision of timing.

All things considered, his gut feeling finally tells him that the right time has come.

So tonight, on their ‘Together-Forever Couple Day’, Aomine decides to break away from the usual tradition and go for something spectacular.

Tonight, it’ll be one for the books because Aomine will finally ask Kise, the love of his life, to marry him. Because where else could they be heading? He’s been head-over-heels in love with the blond since they were just sweaty, boisterous middle-schoolers and Aomine is 200 percent sure Kise feels the same way, if not, even more smitten by his boyfriend charms. True, they’re practically married now and quite satisfied with the way things are but Aomine, unbeknownst to many, is a man who puts value in life-long commitments. Yet more than anything, he is committed to go out of his way for his idiot of a boyfriend, who’s always up for whatever that’s romantic and cheesy and dorky, like walking down the aisle in front of close family and friends.

Funnily enough, he’s okay with all these stuff, too, as long as Kise is happy. With these thoughts, Aomine chuckles to himself, realizing how this relationship—this living together side by side, the looking out for each other--has dramatically changed his views over time.

There’s no elaborate plan in his head actually, no flowery speech prepared. He’ll just casually ask if Kise wants to get married, simple as that. After all, Kise understands that he’s not into cheap, sappy talks. Aomine imagines popping the question a little after dinner, the light of candles dancing on Kise’s amber eyes. Or maybe he’ll do it while they cuddle at the balcony under the starry skies. Yeah, he thinks Kise will surely love his second idea better.

Before he drives home from the police station, Aomine checks his phone in case there are some last minute requests from the blond. There’s a message with a single word on it: CAKE!

“Copy that, babe.” Aomine tells himself. Kise’s favorite sugar-free, gluten-free blueberry cheesecake has already been delivered by Murasakibara himself at the police station so Aomine can go straight home after his shift.

Before starting the car’s ignition, Aomine pulls out the ring that has been tucked in his pant pocket all day for one last look.

An easy grin spreads across his face. He’s feeling victorious already.

When Aomine enters their apartment, his mouth waters over the aroma of teriyaki rib eye steak. He finds Kise still in his apron, tending to the dinner table. Aomine is immediately on Kise’s side, puts the cake box on the table and wraps his tanned arms around his boyfriend’s waist, pulling him in for a quick kiss. Super delicious, he thinks mischievously.

“You’re quite early,” Kise hums, licking his bottom lip. “My truffle kamameshi isn’t ready yet.”

Aomine throws a sidelong glance at the dinner table that’s already teeming with food. “More to come? Looks like you’ve already cooked for the entire neighborhood,” he comments.

“That’s because I don’t want you starving in any way.” Kise explains, cupping his boyfriend’s face with both hands. He leans in for another kiss, which Aomine eagerly obliges.

“Alright, then... mmm,” Aomine tells him in between smooches. “I’ll shower first.”

“Great idea… mmm,” Kise agrees while he catches his breath, but he feels the pull of Aomine’s strong arms around him, locking him tight against the taller man’s chest.

“Why don’t you just join me in the bath?” Aomine suggested, his voice dropping into a seductive whisper, hinting that he’s not quite satisfied with a simple make-out session.

With that, Kise finds the resolve to pull away. “I’d love to, but I don’t want our food to be ruined. Other guilty pleasures can wait.” He winks at his boyfriend then takes a step back.

Damn this blond for always teasing him to death, Aomine’s inner self whines.

“Fine,” Aomine says, rolling his eyes as Kise shoos him away with a cheeky grin.

After he comes back from the shower casually dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans, Aomine notices that the ambiance is completely different from before; Kise is seriously outdoing himself tonight. Tiny candles lit the room, light and shadows dancing everywhere. There’s soft jazz music playing in the background and the smell of food a while back has been banished from the air by a gentle, flowery scent. It’s a fancy restaurant feel instead of just a simple dinner at their home and Aomine cheers inwardly for it seems like the stars are just perfectly aligning in his favor.

And there he is, his soon-to-be fiancé, one elbow on the table, one hand cradling his chin. A dreamy look is plastered on his model face, his bright, amber eyes stalking Aomine’s every move.

“What blondie, looks like you’re stripping me naked with your eyes. You could just ask and I’ll gladly drop all these fabric for you.” Aomine makes a gesture to raise his shirt which is just enough to show his well-toned abs.

“Quit making me wait and get your cute butt over here already.” Kise beckons him on to a nearby chair.

A staring contest commences between them as Kise pulls himself to sit up straighter, amber eyes gauging Aomine with intense curiosity.

“Daiki-cchi,” Kise purrs, his face breaking out into a rosy flush which Aomine finds too cute, but would rather not say out loud.

Just as the corners of his mouth turn up, Kise reaches out to hold onto one of Aomine’s hands.

“Daiki-cchi,” he fumbles and blushes some more, long eye lashes fluttering evocatively at the man in front of him.

“…There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask of you for a long, long time…” Kise begins, his hand tightening its grip on Aomine’s.

“We’ve been together for ages and I just can’t imagine myself living without you… and I know we’re fine just as we are right now…”

Both of Aomine’s eyebrows shoot upwards. If this speech is heading towards where he think it’s heading, he’s gonna stab himself with a chopstick.

“You’re the sole reason I wake up to every morning, you motivate me to believe in us, to always become a better version of myself for you…”

Holy fuck.

“You always light the fire in me, you are the joy of my life and I just want to share to the world how deep and limitless my love for you is…”

What is this idiot saying? Why is he doing this?

Kise must have noticed the strange expression on Aomine’s face that he momentarily stopped to ask, “Daiki-cchi, what’s wrong?”

“Ha---what?”

“You’re spacing out.”

“What? No! I just find this too awkward.”

“Awkward?”

“Oh shit,” Aomine mutters under his breath, quickly pulling back his hand to palm his face. So this is why the idiot is looking at him funny all evening, Aomine realizes, as he breaks eye contact with Kise. Unable to hold on much longer, he bursts out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Kise appears baffled.

In between fits of laughter, his mind strategizes on how to better explain the situation to Kise. This sudden development in their couple day throws Aomine off-guard, his thoughts, a train wreck of ideas; while too busy collecting his thoughts, he doesn’t notice how Kise’s jaw had tensed, the pair of charming amber eyes ogling him all evening now narrowing into dangerous slits.

As he recovers, Aomine blurts out with a shake of his head, “I just can’t believe this… Ryouta, are you gonna ask me to marry you just now?”

There is a pause, the inescapable calm before the storm. And Aomine is much too clueless to realize that it’s the stopgap before all hell breaks loose.

“How dare you!” Kise’s sharp, biting tone sounds like it can draw blood any moment.

“Er--what?”

Too angry and disappointed at his boyfriend’s reaction, Kise abruptly stands up that his chair fell backwards. He snarls, “And stop saying what, what, what like a fucking broken record!”

Before Aomine can realize what’s happening, Kise had grabbed something from his pocket—a small blue velvet box—and hurls it hard onto Aomine’s face, one of its corners hitting him squarely on the forehead before it lands to the floor.

“Ouch!” Aomine yelps in pain.

Chest suddenly all too heavy, Kise lets out a deep breath but it doesn’t stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks at once. He’s rehearsed this speech in front of the mirror for so many times, he’s sure he can recite it in his sleep, and yet, this stupid idiot just laughs it all off in his face. Since he bought the ring a couple of months ago, his daydreams have always been filled with Aomine finally saying yes.  In Kise’s vision, it’s always full of fireworks and singing choir of cherubs. He’s pictured a bit of crying, but only of happy tears. More than anything, he’s always believed that he knew Aomine too well, that the two of them are always looking at the same direction, longing for the same things.

Never, in his wildest visions, had Kise imagined Aomine turning him down and humiliating him like this.

“Yes, Ahomine! And I totally regret now that I even thought of it! You’re such an ass!” Kise explodes, hands balled into tight fists at his sides.

"Ryouta, this is not--"

"Will you just stop interrupting me for once?!"

Aomine is rendered silent.

“You could’ve just told me gently that it’s not what you want and I’ll understand.” Kise’s voice trembles as he speaks. Hearing himself say it out loud in admission sends all of his hopes and dreams burning into ashes.

Shell-shocked to react and sort his emotions too soon, the next few moments came to Aomine in a blur, the only thing that registers is the slamming of the door as Kise locked himself in their bedroom.

How everything came down from good to bad to worse within a matter of minutes is beyond Aomine, and he still reels from the impact of what just happened as he pounds hard on the bedroom door.

“Open this stupid door and let me explain!”

No answer.

“Ryouta!”

Still no response.

Aomine calls again, softly this time. “Let me talk to you. Please.” If only the door could speak, it would surely be complaining now.

With a heavy sigh, Aomine gives up. Based on experience, it’s always for the better if he just allow Kise to blow off steam before they get into the talk. Besides, he could use the time to contemplate his next move, think about what he’s supposed to say and salvage what’s left of this evening.

As he goes back to the empty dining room, Aomine sees the small box on the floor and not very far from it, is the engagement ring Kise was supposed to give him. He picks the ring up, thumbs through it and can’t help but admire the design that Kise has chosen: tiny infinity symbols held by two sleek parallel bands circle around the ring’s golden surface. Aomine puts it on his left ring finger and his heart squeezes. If only he can turn back time and undo his stupid antics.

I just want to share to the world how deep and limitless my love for you is…

Kise’s words pound on Aomine’s head, taking him back to the first time he’s laid his eyes on the blond during their Teiko days. Aomine remembers the sudden attraction, the inexplicable pull he felt for Kise, as the model walks around the school, glazed-eye with boredom (which Aomine initially mistakes as an air of superiority), students fawning over him wherever corner he goes. And Aomine can’t believe he’s waited for a full academic year to pass by before he does something to catch Kise’s attention by hitting the back of the model’s head with a ball. Back then, Aomine thought it was just some stupid crush. He’s certain he’d eventually outgrow it in high school since they’re not attending the same academy anymore, but as the cliché goes, absence just makes the heart grow fonder. And the journey from there to now has always been paved with ups and downs, thorns and roses, but they somehow made it through. They just fucking complement each other beyond their understanding and it’s what makes them stronger as a couple.

Aomine ponders these and feels that the ball is in his court now to straighten things up between him and Kise. After all, the night is young and who says he can’t pull up a sweet surprise of his own? He’s the better boyfriend after all, and the only one who can beat him is…

He remembers something before he goes to search for the spare key to their bedroom.

The lock clicks. Aomine swings the door open and finds Kise sitting on the edge of the bed, his back turned on him.

“Go away, I don’t want to talk!” Kise snaps without turning around, the edge on his voice still as sharp as a Samurai sword.

Aomine pads across the room and sits close beside Kise, but he dared not touch him just yet. After a few seconds, he breathes out, “I’m sorry.”

Kise’s eyes and nose were red from crying when he turns to face Aomine; instantly, the latter feels guilt chew on his guts.

“Don’t be. And you don’t have to tell me now that you want us to get married just because you feel guilty. I can take it. At least, you’re being honest with me.”

“But I still want us to get married,” Aomine replies.

“C’mon,” Kise scoffs, with a roll of his eyes. “Too late now.”

To Kise’s surprise, Aomine hands him a battered notebook that’s already been opened to a particular page.

“What’s this?” Kise inquires, screwing up his face as he peers down on the object that Aomine puts in his hands.

“My journal back in middle school.” Aomine explains, a blush spreading on his tanned cheeks. “Read it. Right here.” He points to a particular section of the already yellowed page.

Kise knows that Aomine has this strange habit of documenting his life in a journal. Though he’s dying to snoop on his stuff, Kise never touches them, out of respect for his partner, and he never knew that Aomine is still keeping his old journals in their house. Grudgingly, he skims through the page and reads.

June 22, xxxx

I got an F in Chemistry. Of course, I’m not surprised. Who needs chemical bonds in their life, anyway?

---

Kise makes first string in just two weeks and keeps pestering me for a one-on-one everyday. The baka thinks he can win against me but I put him in his rightful place. All the damn time. Today, I said no, just so I could see him whine. He’s actually cute when he’s begging, putting on those stupid pout and puppy eyes.

Someday, I hope I won’t beg him just as hard, when I ask him to finally marry me or something.

---

All thought processes suddenly derailed, Kise’s jaw drops to the floor. Putting the journal aside, he turns to Aomine and sees him quite red on the face, his dark blue eyes, intent and unwavering upon him.

“It’s what I’ve always wanted, too.” Aomine says.

Not a word but an audible gasp had escaped from Kise’s lips as Aomine drops to the floor on one knee right in front of him.

“I hope you don’t have a change of heart about wanting to marry me because if you do, I won’t accept it. I’ll ask and beg and pester you until you say yes.”

Aomine pulls out the white-gold ring, adorned with three tiny blue diamonds, that he’s especially picked out for his boyfriend for this exact moment.

“Marry me, Kise Ryouta.”

“You’re proposing to me, too, Daiki-cchi?” Kise’s amber eyes widen in disbelief, his gaze shifting from the ring to the blue orbs in Aomine’s eyes.

Aomine confirms this with a nod. “I know it’s crazy…but yes, it’s part of my plans tonight.”

Slowly, slowly it sinks in. Kise has long since given up hope that Aomine will ever ask and right now, his brain still screams surreal despite seeing Aomine down on one knee, holding out an actual ring. An exhilarating wave of excitement overwhelms Kise and it feels as if time stopped and the world has tilted over its axis. Finally hearing the words he’s been dying to hear his whole life, all of Kise goes still, save only for the erratic beating of his heart.

His boyfriend peers at him expectantly. “Are you gonna say yes or are you gonna say yes?”

A smile with the light of a thousand stars brightens up Kise’s face as he exclaims, “Yes! Yes, of course, I’ll marry you, Ahomine!”

On cue, Aomine takes Kise’s left hand and gently slides the engagement ring into his slender finger. A satisfied smile pulls up on the corners of Aomine’s mouth as he sees that it’s a perfect fit. His heart skips a beat, too, when he looks up and catches the priceless expression on his fiancé’s beautiful face, blushing and tearful and smiling.

“Oh my god!” Kise squeals, cupping his face with both hands, as he notices the other ring already in place around Aomine’s finger. “This is so unbelievable!”

“Yeah, beats me.” Aomine chortles, as he raises his own hand to let Kise have a closer look.

“But I should be the groom, I asked you first.”

“Huh? I remembered you throwing the ring, but I didn’t recall you asking. I was told, I’m an ass, though.”

“Shut it, Aho, that was all your fault!”

With his trademark smirk, Aomine stands up and wraps Kise in a tight embrace, pushing the blond down against the bed, right underneath him. And like he usually does, Aomine closes his eyes just as he closes the gap between his and Kise’s lips, feeling the moment, feeling his heart make a sprint, like it wishes to burst at the seams. He deepens the kiss, slowly, with increasing pressure, as he feels Kise’s fingers curl on a fistful of hair at the back of his head, the other hand, warm and soothing just below his jawline.

When they pulled apart breathless, Aomine finds it a glorious sight, Kise’s face all flushed and full of joy, and this brings so much warmth to his heart as well.

“I love you so much, Ahomine.” And Kise’s voice as he says this is a rich melody in Aomine’s ears.

“And I do, too, Ryoutaho” he responds, as he trails Kise’s neck with tiny butterfly kisses, eliciting a moan from the blond.

Just then, they both hear Aomine’s stomach growl in hunger.

“Ah,” Aomine says, as he tries to veer away from the embarrassing interruption, “I need to eat first before I eat you.”

Kise giggles. “Agree. Guilty pleasures can wait.”                                                  

And with that, Kise lets Aomine pull him back up from the bed, towards the dining room where a feast has been eagerly waiting for them all night.

-END-