"DAIKI, FOOD IS READY!"

Aomine immediately got out of bed and headed straight down the moment he heard his mother's calling. His stomach grumbled in hunger and he found himself drooling a little when his eyes met the delicious food on the table. Without a second thought, he sat down and started digging in.

Aomine's mother smiled before eating, then she spoke, "I haven't seen Sacchan for a while now," His mother has called Momoi that way ever since they were little, and she thought it was cute. "Why don't you invite her for dinner sometimes?"

"Ah?" Aomine gave her a disapproving look.

"We haven't spoken in so long," His mother pouted a little. "It'll just be like how it used to be!"

Aomine ignored her reasonings, only reaching out for a karaage in front of him. The last thing he wanted was two women talking trash about him while they go through his pre-teen photos. Aomine cringed inside thinking about it.

"You know," His mother's voice was softer now. She gently placed her chopsticks on her bowl of rice. "I like Sacchan, and you two have been inseparable since you were little -"

She's the one sticking to me like glue!

"It would be nice if things could develop into something... more."

Aomine choked on his food hearing those words coming out of his mother's mouth. If them going through his embarrassing photos was bad, this was definitely worse. Aomine has never seen Momoi that way and he would never. After all, he already had someone he liked.

A boy.

If Aomine were to say that out loud, his mother would surely freak out.

"At least I'd know you'll be safe."

"I can take care of myself. I don't need a babysitter, and I definitely don't need Satsuki."

Something flashed in his mother's eyes, but Aomine couldn't grasp on what it was. Was it shock? Hurt? Heck, if Momoi heard what he'd just said, she'd probably burst into tears right now.

Tch, women are annoying.

Aomine soon realised that his mother had stopped talking, only eating her food in silence. He felt the heavy tension between them and wondered if he had crossed the line.

He sighed.

"Fine. I'll ask her to come over tomorrow."

"Okay!" His mother beamed at him.

Aomine was excited to see Kuroko the next day, but much to his luck, the smaller boy was nowhere to be found. They had texted a while ago and Kuroko sounded normal. Did something bad happened to him?

The tanned boy stared at his recent text in their chat - Kuroko still hasn't read it yet. Aomine let out a heavy sigh before plopping himself onto the gym floor. His eyes wandered around the gym as he watched his other teammates play, and he accidentally made eye contact with Kise. Kise was laughing, but his expression changed when their eyes met. The blond boy instantly looked away.

Aomine felt guilty for some reason. He doesn't receive confessions often, especially from girls, so he never really knew what rejection felt like. He could only guess that it sucked.

Wait a minute. Something feels off.

Aomine felt his cheeks heat up as he realised he's been confessed to, not one but two boys! It kinda made him feel embarrassed. Am I not attractive enough for girls?

His eyes wandered towards Momoi, who was busy flirting with one of the basketball players. Well, due to her always clinging onto him, there's no doubt that people would assume they were dating. Aomine let out a heavy sigh. If only there was a way for her to leave him alone, but he knew it was impossible.

His mother's words were starting to ring in his head before he felt a cold presence next to him. Aomine and Kuroko shared a confused gaze for a brief second.

"K-Kuroko!" Aomine jumped. "You scared me!"

"I'm sorry!" The smaller boy apologised immediately. A part of him felt bad for scaring Aomine again and again, but another small part of him enjoyed seeing this cute reaction. As he stared at the tanned boy, who was now giving him a lecture about scaring people, he remembered he needed to quickly think of the reasons why he fell for him. To be honest, Kuroko didn't know why either - something about Aomine was attractive to him.

"Oi, stop staring at me." Aomine's low voice brought him back to reality. Kuroko only smiled, ignoring the fast-paced beating heart of his.

Practice went on as usual - Aomine and Kuroko seemed to be the star players for today. Kise noticed how in sync they were and couldn't help but to feel envious. Sure, he wanted to be the one to play with Aomine, but he also cannot deny that Kuroko was the better person for him. They worked well together. Hell, they even looked good together. They were perfect for each other. The light and shadow, that's what they were. He felt his fist clenching.

Kise watched as the two went to the side to rest, body only inches away from each other. He let out a heavy sigh. I shouldn't be staring at them like this.

Kuroko noticed the way Kise was looking at them, or more specifically, looking at Aomine. The latter, on the other hand, was trying hard not to make eye contact with him at all and Kuroko wondered if something happened between the two of them. He didn't dare ask.

Kuroko and Aomine's shoulder slightly touched, which caused Kuroko's heartbeat to quicken. He felt his palms sweat, his mind racing. When it was time to go, Kuroko immediately pulled himself up, only to be held down by other boy. Lightly pulling the hem of Kuroko's shirt, Aomine softly asked him, "Have you thought of the reasons yet?"

Kuroko stood in silence for a few moments before shaking his head.

"Please give me more time!"

Aomine sighed before letting go of Kuroko. "Okay."

When Aomine returned home that night, he heard a familiar voice in the living room. His heart and face dropped, knowing who exactly it was. No, mother...

"Dai-chan, you're back." Momoi beamed at her childhood friend, who obviously didn't want her to be there. She ignored the annoyed expression on his face.

"Satsuki," He groaned. "What are you doing here?"

"I called her!" Aomine's mother chirped, her head sticking out from the kitchen. "We talked about this, Daiki."

"He didn't tell me anything." Momoi pouted. It may seem cute to some people, but it only pissed Aomine more now. This was the last thing he wanted to do. Actually, he didn't plan on doing it at all!

"Come on, food is ready." Aomine's mother announced. Momoi happily entered the kitchen while Aomine reluctantly dragged his feet towards them.

"I'll head out once dinner is over. So you don't have to worry about me interrupting." Momoi managed to whisper to him before they sat down. It's been a while since the three of them sat together for a meal, and she kinda knew the reason why Aomine's mother called her over. She felt a little bad, especially after knowing Aomine's true feelings. She doesn't feel that way towards him too, so this was going to be awkward. They ate in silence for a bit, before Aomine's mother went straight for the kill.

"Sacchan, are you dating anybody currently?"

Aomine choked on his food, again. This was what you get when you eat too fast.

"N-No," Momoi chuckled nervously, waving her hand in dismissal. "Not yet, at least."

"Isn't that great? Daiki is still single, you know. Plus, you've known each other since you were little! You two would be perfect together."

Momoi and Aomine shared a disapproving look.

"If Sacchan dates Daiki, then my heart would be at ease," Aomine's mother smiled softly. "After all, all he thinks about is basketball. I'm worried about his future love life." She added a laugh at the end of her sentence. Aomine stared at his bowl of rice. He was trying to understand where his mother was coming from, but at the same time, it would definitely kill her if she knew the truth. Aomine was definitely thinking a lot about his love life for the past few days, after what happened with Kuroko and Kise, but dating Momoi was definitely a no. Momoi herself knew that.

"Well -"

"You can't force us to be together," Aomine spoke before Momoi could. "It's my love life, or something. Who I date, that's my own choice."

"I know, Daiki. But -"

"No!" He was furious now, hand slammed on the kitchen table. Momoi jumped a little, but it wasn't something she's never seen before. "This is something I need to think about myself."

His mother stayed silent after that, and it was Aomine's cue to leave.

All I want is Kuroko. All I need is Kuroko.

He's my perfect person.