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By twenty and his first (legal) beer, Daiki had gotten a feel for the things that he liked in a person, the things that usually got him every time.By twenty-four, he had a respectable trail of exes: girls with soft features and clever smiles, boys with serious eyes and strong hands. Problem was, he knew what he didn't like by then, too. Most of the girls had wanted too much from him and nothing to do with his oldest friends; too many of the boys hadn't wanted anything to do with Daiki at all outside of a room with a closed, locked door. Sex had been interesting, comforting, exciting-- but not worth the things that he inevitably was asked to give up, pieces of his life that were essential to him.So yeah, he's got a type, and he knows it. He's got a type and he even knows why he has a type, no matter what his friends have to say about how dense he can be. And at twenty-five, drunk in a bar after another break up, he’s also figured out that maybe it’s not that he likes a type of person. Maybe it’s more that he’s only ever really loved two people in his entire life.Shit, all he wanted to do was drink away his latest angst with a buddy, he doesn’t deserve this. “Kise,” he groans, “buy me another. Gotta black out before the memory of this realization sticks.”Kise, beautiful, beautiful Kise, only laughs at him a little as he obliges.Kise met his first, third, and fourth girlfriends in person; the rest he’s heard about during his and Daiki’s occasional bar nights. Kise's also unique from the rest of Daiki's friends in that he also to meet two whole boyfriends--once by pure, uncomfortable chance, and once because Daiki had actually convinced the other man to meet a friend of his like they were actually dating and not mostly fucking around.“It’s like a drama, “ Kise had told him once, after listening closely to Daiki’s latest ordeal at the time with wide, shiny eyes. “I know actual actors and actresses that deal with less drama than this, Aominecchi.” Kise’s still laughing a little when he and Daiki resurface from their newly acquired glasses. “You know, this does make me feel a little better about some of the people you've dated,” he says watching Daiki with his elbow on the table and his chin propped on his hand. The whole scene manages to look incredibly earnest and also a little like a fancy booze ad; the cluster of girls three tables over keep looking at Kise and giggling.“Hah?”"Well, you know. Hana-chan was really-- I mean, I probably don't have to say it right?"Daiki grunts, vaguely interested in hearing where this is going; he's mostly reserving judgement, still."And Sanosuke-kun was, ah--""Yeah, Kise, I get it."Hanasaki Ume (number three) had had long hair she wore loose, draped gracefully over one shoulder and tucked behind her ears. She'd had legs for miles and a high, clear voice that had gone syrupy and foreign around Kise. Hijikata Sanosuke (the unfortunate chance encounter) had been lean and lithe, and shorter than Daiki by almost 18 cm. He had a way of looking at the world from under his bangs that had made a person feel like the center of the universe -- or the least interesting bug to ever crawl out from under a rock.Kise wrinkles his nose across from Daiki, like he's also remembering. Sano hadn't felt the need to be fake sweet with Kise like Hana-chan, but he also hadn't felt the need to be particularly polite, either, attitude souring with a bad combination of natural defensiveness and posturing. It hadn't gone over well with Kise or with Daiki, and that had kind of been the end of that. "So, you know, I was a little worried that that type was just 'assholes with nice asses,' but now that you’ve really thought it out it’s just two specific assholes, huh?"Kise's trying to lighten the mood, and Daiki decides that he appreciates it, mostly. He still shoots Kise a scowl when he catches the man biting back a smile."God, don't remind me," he growls into his drink. "You know, this would never have happened if Mamori-chan had just stuck with me for a little longer. Girl had a mouth on her that could flay a god. And just... the most perfect boobs." All he’d ever wanted, honestly. Unfortunately, Mamori had also broken up with him a mere three hours after meeting Satsuki for the first time, and two days after they had run into Tetsu at a movie theater. She hadn't even been mean about it, or petty-- she'd looked at him with soft eyes and held one of his hands in hers as she told him that she didn't think she was really what he wanted. But Kise didn't know that; he just knew that Daiki had been dumped flat the day before and was here doing his friendly duty on one of his rare weekends off. Or he had been until he had decided that he needed to host a one-man intervention or something. Little prick, making Daiki realize things and shit."I am sorry, really," Kise says, gentler. He leans in across the table, makes the space between them softer, too. "I know you liked her. I know this isn’t the easiest thing to realize about yourself."Daiki had liked her, was the thing. He had liked her a lot, liked her dry humor and her soft curves, her bright eyes. She'd been pale and pretty and perfect, but he always had liked them too smart for his own good."But, honestly-- I noticed it, Aominecchi. I’ve been noticing, for a while. They're going to notice eventually, too, you know? Just be careful, ok?"Daiki flicks a glance at him. Not, Stop being gross about our friends. Not, Make a decision. Just, Be careful. It’s a remarkably understanding thing to hear from a man like Kise, though Daiki shouldn’t be that surprised; they’re not little kids anymore.He sighs gustily and mutters, "Hey, when the hell did crybaby Kise grow the hell up, huh?"Kise throws his head back and laughs, laughs, laughs. They abandon the conversation before it gets too serious and go back to casually drowning Daiki's immediate woes without further emotional incident.
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Sometimes, if Daiki times it just right, he gets the best view in the world in the mornings. Better than mountains and cotton candy fog, better than the sea when the sun comes up. Better than anything he’s ever gotten to see before in his life.Satsuki’s usually awake by the time he finishes his work out and heads back to the apartment—or she’s sitting up in bed, at least. She’s usually squinting without her glasses as she scrolls through her feed on the little tablet she keeps on her bedside table, catching up. Tetsu’s always still asleep curled against Satsuki: an arm slung around her waist still, or a hand curled around her knee— it’s closeness he’d never seek when he was fully awake and aware, and Daiki knows first hand that there’s nothing better than treasuring those moments. That’s awful cute all on its own, but it’s not the same as when he gets in at that perfect gray hour where they’re both only just stirring, still curled into one another on their big bed.When they’re both awake, it’s hard to take the time and just watch them like he wants to. Satsuki won’t waste a chance to get Daiki’s attention about whatever she needs (and she always needs something,) and Tetsu just prefers not to be stared at, as a rule.(“I am sure that I do not have to tell Aomine-kun that after spending so long being praised for near-invisibility, being stared at makes me somewhat nervous,” Tetsu had told him once with his hand curled over Daiki’s eyes.)When they’re asleep like this, they’re both just there to be looked at, to be admired—pale hair tangled together across the pillows, Satsuki usually pressed to Testsu’s side with her head tucked under his chin. He likes the look of it, he always has. They’re soft and complementary, pale skin and light hair and bodies almost as familiar to him as his own; it’s rare that he gets to see either of them this relaxed, and he likes when he can take an extra moment and just take them in. Of course, because he’s the first one awake, he also gets the privilege of waking them both up; he breaks apart the peace and quiet by flopping right onto Tetsu, forcing him to wheeze out that funny sound like a creaky door opening. Daiki presses a soft kiss to the side of Satsuki’s mouth when she jerks awake and scrunches her face up at him; laughing, he rolls away from her weak slap to put Testu and his long-suffering sighs between them.This is a good look, too: both of them bleary eyed and unguarded in a very rare moment. Tetsu sits up slowly, blinking and murmuring Daiki’s name and Satsuki’s, almost like questions, like he’s not sure they’re really there. Daiki and Satsuki are morning people, but Testu is not; he’s slow to wake and very slow to get out of bed unless there’s something forcing him. Daiki’s found it annoying in other partners, and he knows Satsuki has a low tolerance for it, but Tetsu’s so on all the time. It’s nice to know that he can relax and let them be there to see him stutter over greetings and press his lips clumsily against their faces when he finally blinks his eyes all the way open. Tetsu likes kissing, but he doesn’t do it often during the day; but in the mornings before he comes completely awake, it’s different. They get the same indiscriminate press of Tetsu’s mouth wherever he can reach—on the soft skin under Daiki’s ear that makes him want to purr, on the smooth skin of Satsuki’s cheek that makes her smile, on their lips, on their hands—before Daiki completes the ritual and stills Tetsu’s face between his hands to press a solid, smacking kiss to his mouth. Tetsu always comes awake finally at the touch, giving Daiki a small, sweet smile, soft as morning light.Daiki grins back and settles back on the bed with a happy sigh. Yeah, definitely. There’s no better way he can think of to start the day.
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One of the worst things about Kagami's sporadic visits is when he finally leaves. Tetsu usually takes the day off to drive him to the airport, or take the train in with him. With few exceptions, he usually asks to do it alone, with Kagami shifting on his feet behind him, his stiff shoulders and honest face silently asking the same question. Daiki doesn't know what they do on their way over, or what they talk about, but he thinks he gets it. Or, he gets it better than he did when he was younger, testing the waters of a relationship that had felt more than impossible.The thing about Kagami is just the thing about Kagami. There's a space cut out for him around Tetsu, there always is; every time he comes back to the city, he fills it happily, thoughtlessly. Daiki doesn't mind it, really-- Kagami's good people and a good opponent to have around. The rest of the stuff, the kagami-and-tetsu stuff, he doesn't think about that much. Of course, that’s not because it doesn't matter to him, because it does. It's just that it doesn't do him any good stressing about it, is all. Satsuki does enough of that during Kagami's visits. She likes him, too, but Daiki gets the feeling she likes Kagami from a distance, firmly across the ocean where she can keep an eye on him. When he's in the city, there's no getting away from him. This is one of the few things they don't talk about with one another, though, so he can't be sure.Jealousy is just a lot of work that Daiki usually can't be bothered with-- which is a pretty good thing, considering his current situation. He'd put his time in, years ago, when he'd faced Kagami and Tetsu down in their first year of high school. Back then, he couldn't believe that this was who Tetsu had taken up with, couldn't believe they were still trying, couldn't believe how angry all that had made him-- anyway, he'd let it go a long time ago. Kagami had left at the beginning of second year, but he'd been there for Seirin's win during that year's InterHigh; he'd come back again for their loss in the Winter Cup semi-final. He had left, but whatever it was he had with Tetsu wasn't just going to go away, clearly. The rest was just kind of history.Too much work to be jealous of something he couldn't change, honestly. Jealousy over something like the way that Kagami ruffled Tetsu hair or the way that Tetsu would touch his arm to get his attention didn't feel worth the effort; not when it wasn't Kagami Taiga that Tetsu came home to at the end of the day, when Kagami had left across the ocean again.Satsuki was more sensitive to it, sensitive like she rarely was about anything else. Daiki figured that even if he did occasionally (very rarely, really) get caught up in being upset about Kagami's face tilted down and close to share a smile with Tetsu, well, this was just one of those things he had to let go, for her sake. Satsuki and he were different from Satsuki and Tetsu, or Daiki and Tetsu, or even all three of them together. It wouldn't be the first time; it wouldn't be the last, either.So, he doesn't get jealous and he helps ease Satsuki through her worst moments of-- of whatever, of uncertainty, maybe, or fear. Tetsu's possessive of the things that he loves-- Kagami and basketball, his old teammates and especially the two of them; usually there's no conflict, but sometimes, all these things in too close proximity make it a little hard to deal with, for all of them.But luckily, sometimes isn't always; he welcomes Kagami with open arms whenever he shows up on their doorstep. Well, open arms and a thorough ass-whooping on whatever street court was open at the time. God knows what they're teaching him on that prep college team. Daiki wasn't about to let the wimps running around in the NCAA ruin all the hard work he'd put into whipping Kagami into passable competition.