Chapter Text
FIRST PROMISE - Two Lives
Prompt: Firsts
The school bell rang once more, signaling the end of another class period. For most of the students of Touou University, one hour has passed since the ringing sound was heard. For some, time had passed differently— whether it would seem longer or shorter. For one, time passed as if it would never end.
Aomine Daiki was the first one to exit one of the classrooms, sprinting as far away as possible from it. After a gruesome hour of lectures regarding DNA profiling and forensic investigation under a poorly-lit classroom, a chapter quiz and a good scolding, it seemed like he had gone through seven levels of hell and back. The fact that this particular subject was scheduled right after his basketball practices, made him go to class either sweating, absent-minded, or a combination of the two. He runs late most of the time and was the laughing stock every time he found himself catching his breath on the door of the classroom.
He was relieved that he had yet again barely survived an hour being in that classroom, and had run away before anything else happened. As punishment for being late once more, he knew that he would get instructed by the professor again to do some menial yet time-consuming activity that has nothing to do with academics. It was his last subject for the day, though, but he had to go to somewhere else now.
He only had minutes to get there. He exited the university campus and hollered a cab. He let out an exasperated sigh, swearing that he will never take a class from that blasted professor ever. Because of the teacher’s inconsideration to students with lives, he once more had to spend what little money he had on another rather expensive cab ride.
As soon as he arrived at his destination, he swiftly paid the driver while exiting the cab. He ran to the convenience store that was infront of him. He made a rather grand entrance — taking the attention of all the people inside the store. Fortunate for him, there were only five people inside. One of the five people, the one behind the counter, had waved casually to him. "Just on time, Aomine."
"I know, I know," the tanned man hissed, still catching his breath. He stood up straight and went to the door with the 'employees only' sign, which was behind the cashier. He glared at his co-worker as he passed by him, who in turn let out a small laugh.
Aomine took his employee card for his time-in. He then proceeded to the dressing room to, of course, place his things and prepare for his shift. Luckily, the cashier whose shift was before him — the same guy from a while ago, covered for him for a few minutes to let him rest and change. It wasn't because the cashier was a nice person by nature; it was because he was a good friend from way back.
Imayoshi Shouichi, the man from a while ago, was his senior and was the captain of the male basketball team from his high school days. He loved, and still loves taunting Aomine. But then this man can't bear to lose sight of him. Imayoshi sacrificed his studies at a reputable university to transfer to Touou — an unknown university that has just recently opened. He also cared enough to follow him up to his part-time job. Aomine simply thought that he was just there to enjoy himself by constantly mocking him.
"Aomine." He turned to the door as he heard someone turn the doorknob. Expectedly, he saw the raven-haired nerd. The nerd's glasses reflected what little light was in the room, blinding Aomine's dark blue eyes. "Five minutes is up, the manager will check up on you in a few minutes so you better go out there." He had expected a taunt following glasses' statement, but heard nothing more.
"Okay," he simply responded. He stood up from the chair that was in the locker room, going towards the door. Aomine passed by his friend, and expected him to say something. He did:
"Today's pay day by the way. Report to the manager's office after your shift." Imayoshi's voice, for the first time was serious. It felt like no sarcasm was mixed with it and a joke will not come after it. He wasn't mocking him, but he knew Imayoshi knew that he knew it was pay day today.
"I know that," Aomine replied. He was about to walk again when Imayoshi continued talking. "Check my locker after your shift. I have something for her. Bring it to her when you visit."
Aomine sighed, knowing who he was talking about. Despair had now come into his eyes as pain started pumping inside his heart again. Without moving his head, he tried to look at the man that was now behind him, only barely seeing him. He then looked infront of him, and then his eyes trailed on the ground, finding any kind of stain at the white-tiled floor.
He didn't reply. He just went and took a hat that was hanging on a nearby coat rack, placing it on his head. He had work to do, and he didn't want any distractions, mostly depressing ones. Depression was the last thing he needed, and he didn't want that to run over his head for the rest of his shift. The last time he did, he nearly got fired because he almost punched a customer.
As he was walking, he tried to calm his head of the darkness that was creeping up on him. Thankfully, it wasn't as severe as the usual. Putting a smile on his face, he had opened the door that led to the store itself. He walked behind the counter, ready to serve any luck-deprived person who had the luck of finding the place.
"Good morning, Ryouta. Wake up."
He could hear a female voice calling out to him. It was either his mother, or one of his two sisters. Whoever it was, she should know he wasn't a morning person. As he was shook slightly to wake up, he draped his blanket over his messy blond hair. He groaned, throwing the usual line of giving him five more minutes to sleep.
Of course, it didn't work. They were strict of him, no matter whom of the three (or four, include his father for some cases) it was. He was instructed to wake up at the designated time, lest consequences are faced. He was shook harder, and was threatened that the blanket would be removed from his body. Groaning louder than the last time, he removed his blanket over his head, and tried to sit up. He was helped by the person waking him up, telling him not to get up quickly. She supported his head and let him rise up slowly. He finally sat up, revealing his soft blond hair in a mess.
He looked at the witch who woke him up, who was the middle child. Taking the small mirror that was on the drawers of his end table, he looked at his reflection and saw that his hair was unusually a mess. He grabbed his lucky comb from under his pillow and tried to fix his hair, thanking that his hair wasn't such a hassle to deal with it in the morning. Satisfied, he shone a smile to his reflection, then shining that smile to her sister. "Good morning," he greeted to his sister, who sighed at his actions.
"I cannot believe you, Ryouta." She shook her head, glaring at her younger brother who was still sitting up on bed, smiling like an idiot. She then retained to her slightly smiling face, thinking that frowning brings out wrinkles fast. Finally, she took the tray of food from the table beside to her brother's lap, who was having second thoughts on opening the covers on top of the bowls.
"What are these, sister?" he asked, pointing to the entire course.
"You shouldn't be complaining. There are a lot of people these days who're not eating, especially healthy food," his sister lectured, and there he was preventing himself from rolling his eyes again.
"I just wanted to ask, that's all. I'm not complaining." The male teen pouted, his sunset-colored eyes glaring at his sister.
"The usual. Just as the doctor ordered on your diet plan," she responded. He retained his pout while opening the covers, dissatisfied of what he saw. But as opening his final bowl, he saw steam coming out. By shaking the bowl slightly, he knew it was some sort of fluid. The steam ran through his nostrils, and instantly wore a smile. He recognized that kind of smell anywhere — it was onion gratin soup, his favorite meal.
"And maybe a treat?" his sister continued. She smiled as she saw his brother being jolly over his meal. She took the chair that was near his bed, watching him as he took his chopsticks and split them into two. "Thank you for the food!"
"You need to eat more than you usually do, and the doctor increased your medicine intake," his sister started, watching him slurp the last of his soup. As he lowered the bowl, he stared at her with curious eyes, his lips still soaked with the dripping liquid. She picked up a towel to wipe it up but he had offered to clean it himself. He still looked at her while doing so, anticipating what she was saying a while ago.
If anything, the boy hated medicine. One because he didn't like the taste; nobody did. Another reason was that his intake wasn't getting any smaller, but would always get bigger. That would mean a bigger tablet or a bigger capsule. He didn't like things that could potentially choke him - not after that incident where a unagi bone had lodged into his throat.
"But don't worry; it's only just for today," the woman continued. She looked almost similar to her; basically she was his genderbent version. She had long eyelashes, and had a tall stature (but was not as tall as he was). Her long blonde hair was kept in a ponytail. The only difference to the both of them was that her eyes were of a dark chestnut color.
"Why, am I finally allowed to play basketball?" he asked nonchalantly, knowing that a straight no would come from his sister; but he still hoped. He had always dreamt to play basketball, after watching a streetball match at the basketball court by their neighborhood. Yet, the doctor said he is not allowed to engage in any kind of physically exhausting activities. He was exempted of his Physical Education classes back when he was still atttending college. Now because of his sickness, he was advised to drop school completely until he was strong enough again to do so.
"No. But one of your dreams is finally going to be fulfilled today." The young woman had noticed that his brother was done with one of the bowls, so she had taken them out from his current tray and placed it somewhere else as to prevent from having bigger messes. She then gave out a smile as her brother continued to stare at her while eating.
"Hmm?" He stared at his sister, with his hand still on the chopsticks, holding onto food that he was about to place in his mouth. He furrowed his eyebrows, thinking that his sister was once again talking gibberish.
The young woman had closed her lips tight, itching to smack his idiotic little brother in the head. Instead, her hand made their way on her blonde hair, twirling the end strands. "You've forgotten about it already, Ryouta? You were so excited when we told you the news..."
The teen blinked twice, tilting his head to the side as his sister turned irritated by his actions. He returned the food he picked up a while ago unto his plate, placing down his chopsticks to its holder. His sister just breathed deeply, and went on with what she was about to say.
"Don't you remember? We're going to Tokyo for your advanced check-up and treatment," she replied, waiting for a change in his brother's face. He retained his former expression so she continued. "Older sister found a new doctor from Germany and he's willing to check up on you. But, our hospitals here in Kanagawa don't have the technology they need so we have to travel to Tokyo, where apparently, they have the technology there."
As she told him of the news, the confused expression of the boy slightly turned into a jolly one. His frown turned into a smile then into a huge grin, showing his teeth. He remembered it now, and he remembered how he jumped for joy when he heard it the first time. His reaction was pretty much the same the second time around.
"I see!" The teen was known to be easily excited and tends to overreact, but he couldn't help but feel so giddy. His face seemed like it would burst anytime but has reflected little of what he really felt. He was literally shivering with excitement. He curled his hands into fists. His face is wearing a huge grin as he looked at his sister, who was amused by his reaction. She then reminded him of his condition, which made him calm himself down, but he was still wearing that cheeky smile on his face.
"Ryouta, you silly little— You made such a mess!" his sister reacted, pointing at his tray. Looking down, he realized his mistake. Some of his bowls were toppled over, and splatters of food were found here and there; some had even gone to his mattress.
"Oh, I'm sorry." The teen still remained oblivious to the world, looking at the spilled food, then to her sister, then back to the spilled food. His sister yelled at him continuously until he was sentenced to go down and she was to clean up his mess again.
Aomine's shift at the convenience store was good — the customers were nice, and that not much commotion had occurred; not like anything else happened in that store, anyway. The manager didn't find Imayoshi taking his shift for a few minutes, so he wasn't given any salary deduction or any overtime work with no pay. The manager had given him his paycheck with a straight face, but Aomine had no complaints. A straight face means he's done nothing wrong. He wasn't expecting any good remarks for him because he doesn't really do exceptionally.
He had taken Imayoshi's word and took a look at his friend's locker. Upon opening it, he saw a bouquet of flowers. It was great — she loves flowers, and always expected him to bring some whenever he visits, whether he bought it himself or it was from someone else. Quickly exiting the store, he ran towards the train station, expecting another round of pushing and shoving considering it was rush hour at this time of day.
Aomine dashed his way through the crowds of people, trying to get a certain train to a certain public hospital. Even if another train that was headed for the same destination was to come minutes after the previous train had set off, he couldn't afford to waste such precious time. He promised.
He forced himself to get to the next train that had just opened. Now, a modern-day war has come into place — people pushed and jostled each other in order to get in the train. They didn't care about anyone else. Women, the elderly, and people with disabilities were not exempted to this cruel procedure. Thank God.
"Passengers, the train is about to close." Aomine muttered a soft 'shit' under his breath as he tried once more to enter the train. He was almost there, and he was not darn patient to wait for the next train. He used his arm as a shield and pushed his way through the small gap he was creating, while trying his best not to crush the flowers that was inside a bag. After some force, he was able to find himself inside the train. He saw the train's doors close behind him, and now he could feel the train slowly gaining speed.
Aomine had little space to stand on, and people's heads were crowding on his chest level. As a man who's height is nearing to two meters, he was lucky not to have people's faces or their hairs in his face, and that he could breathe a little. But then he could only breathe the warm air that surfaced at the top of the train.
He suddenly remembered the flowers he was holding on. He raised it and held it with the same hand he used for holding on the rails, as to prevent people from crushing it.
Time had passed and people were slowly getting off the train. He then had the privilege to sit, praying that some elderly or pregnant woman would stare at him with daggers to let him offer up his seat.
The train had once again stopped in order to let some passengers out, but more importantly, to let them in. A few people exited the train and there came another crowd of them. Aomine sighed, trying not to look at the people coming in. He wasn't getting squished anyway, meaning it wasn't as bad as the first time he got in here. That was good enough information for him.
He took a look at the window that was behind him, watching the sunset amidst the busy setting Tokyo had. In his peripheral vision, he saw something yellow in color. This made him turn his attention to it (Yellow's a really striking color according to Aomine). He mentally cursed as he did so, feeling that the person having that yellow color with him or her would look at him and stare down to his soul until he would give that certain person a chair.
But then, his hormones begged to differ. His eyes had laid upon an exceptional beauty. She was tall, and had gorgeous blonde hair was tied into a high ponytail. She wore a tank top that hugged her curves and a pair of jeans that did the same thing for her thighs and legs. The jacket that was loosely tied on her waist and the huge sling bag were the final touches to this woman. She was simple, but damn it was enough to keep his blood pressure levels from rising up. She was in her 20's, a bit older than he was, but mature girls were one of his types (next to girls with huge breasts, and damn she had that too).
This particular woman found him staring at her, which made him immediately turn his head to the other side. His heart beats wildly as he could feel her approaching him. His muscles twitched when she slightly tapped his shoulder. Oh shit, shit, shit...
"Hi there." Her voice was as smooth as caramel, and he knew he was going to melt. Her dark brown eyes met his, as he gulped slowly, not letting her feel he was nervous.
"Y-yes?" Aomine managed to say. The woman's smile grew wider with his reactions. Damn, that smile can burn the sun any day.
"So, I was wondering... My younger brother has an illness and is very weak. He wouldn't be able to survive if he were to stand our entire train ride. You looked like a strong and reliable man, so could you please heed this concerned, older sister's request?"
Everything she said seemed like it came from an angel's lips. She was one, anyway. With her leaning on him was something he couldn't take. He prevented from looking down, for if he did, he would miss the chance of a lifetime. He will get humiliated if this goes on, so he simply nodded to the woman's request, not understanding even half of what she said.
"Aww, thanks so much, You're such a nice guy..." She then stood up again, removing the closeness that they were in a while ago. He gasped, feeling like his breath was taken away. Thinking she was the one, he looked up to her again to say something, only to find out a tall blond was blocking his vision of the woman.
"There, Ryouta," the woman from a while ago said, pointing at Aomine directly. She was with a tall blond teen around his age. He seemed rather pale, and his back was slightly hunched.
The blonde beauty looked at Aomine and realized the deal he had gotten himself to. He agreed that he would give up his seat for this angel's sick brother. He mouthed a curse, looked at the woman, and stood up from his seat. She let the blond teen, which presumably was his brother, to the seat he was previously sitting on.
He analyzed the male blond. It was obvious he was sick, yes, but he could see that he still looked dashing. He had blond hair like his sister, which reached up to the lower back of his neck, fashioned downward. He wore rather expensive clothing, but it seemed he was still comfortable with it. He wore a piercing in his left ear, wondering why a sick person wear accessories. His eyes were of a warm honey color that could bright up the world, but it seemed that it lost all of its light.
The woman who tricked him looked at his brother worryingly. She then turned to Aomine, and gave her a warm smile. He smiled back as well. He couldn't be angry with this woman; she was indeed an angel.
"Sister, you're evil," the blond teen named Ryouta said to his sister. He looked at him— he was pouting slightly, peering at his sister with his eyes. She only smiled at him sheepishly. The teen then turned away, not believing what his sister had just done.
The boy named Ryouta looked at Aomine. He was confused as the blond was just staring at him and not saying a word. He was about to say something when his eyes instantly light up, as if they were glowing. He gave out a smile, and mouthed a 'thank you'. His smile was not like the sun compared to his sister. His smile can burn a thousand of them.
His eyes widened of what the blond did, but was able to make a smooth comeback when he simply smiled at him. He looked away from the blond, looking back at the orange sunset. It reflected well on Ryouta's hair and eyes.
Damn, he is gorgeous.
'Yellow Bubble:' The tanned man started to write on a clean sheet of paper. He then looked at his paper with only those words on the left-hand side of the paper, seeing that it was written straight even without any guide lines on the paper. He looked at the combination of words, thinking on how on earth did this person come up with that kind of pen name. I mean, Yellow Bubble, seriously? Are you gay or something?
Sighing deeply, he adjusted the lamp that was directly above his paper, and leaned down as he tried to write once more.
'I'll have to apologize to you now if this letter turns a bit rowdy. I just got home from a night shift and I don't have any other free time to write back to you. I also don't have the luxury to look over what I wrote and rewrite it if I find if not okay.' He didn't stop to look back and read what he just wrote. He was confident. He was writing to a person who would understand. He doesn't know his voice but he laughs at his jokes. He doesn't know what the person looks like but he knows he is a beautiful person. He knows that if he made a mistake, that person would just laugh it off and accept it.
'Well anyway, life's been good. Studies have been good.' His writing pace turned slower, and he was calm. He wrote casually as if he was just talking to the person he was writing to right now. 'But then, I would always get scolded by the Mr. Nijimura for being a dumbass. Y'know, the instructor from my Forensic Investigation class. Well, I can't help it if that sweaty after a rousing session of basketball practice. I can't help it if I'm this awesome.' Aomine knew he'd laugh once that person saw that he was praising himself again.
'For her, she's doing fine. The doctor said that her chemotherapy sessions would now be down to once a month. Finally I could buy those magazines. I don't have to skim them at the bookstore now. If you're thinking, it is a need. I also need a time-off out of things too, you know.' Leaning at his chair, he took a deep breath and stared listlessly at his ceiling. After a short while, he went back to writing.
His heartbeat beating at a steady pace, and his hand steadily holding the pen, he let the ink of the pen stain the white-washed surface of the paper. 'I hope you get well soon, too. I still hope for that.'
"Ryouta, you need to go to bed now. It's not healthy to stay up so late," The male teen turned to the door, seeing his older sister, the second one, standing behind it. Her face were filled with concern as she looked into her brother. He had taken out pieces of paper, a pen, an envelope, and a stamp.
"I need to finish this now..." he insisted, not taking the option of going back to bed. "He'll be upset of me if I delay my letter..." He let out his signature pout and puppy-dog eyes. As a former model, he was used to making expressions that made his fans (mostly girls) faint. However, there are some who were immune to this — example is his family, particularly the woman he was facing. Well, it was worth a shot, anyway.
He continued to look at her with that kind of face. She stared at him, and it turned into a glare over time. It was pretty much a staring contest. No one flinched. The boy still tried to convince her by widening his eyes while the woman narrowed hers even more.
Eventually, the sister turned back to her normal face, and sighed afterwards. She looked at him once more, seeing that he still hasn't given up on making such a ridiculous face.
"Fine. But, you're only allowed to be up for thirty minutes. After that, I'm checking up on you again," she stated, slightly irritated. The smile crept upon the face of the teen and had thanked her multiple times. She couldn't help but smile back and close the door to let him write in peace.
As she did, he looked back to his desk, rubbing his hands together. His hand took the pen at the drawer while he used his other hand to hold the paper in place. Taking a deep breath, he started writing a letter to a friend he's never personally seen in a lifetime.
'Hey there, Monster Zone. What's up?' He slightly laughed at his friend's pen name. He was over-praising himself, but he had no sense of eloquence. It seemed to him like he had no idea what to use as a pen name so he just place together two of the most awesome things that person could think of at the moment.
'Hope you're not over your head again. Just sayin', but I don't think there's anything wrong with it, believe me. I think that everyone needs some kind of boost from themselves once in a while.' He smiled while writing down those things. For a person like him who's going through some issues, he believed in that in order for him not to kill himself.
'Anyway, if you're going to ask me, I'm still fine. I haven't had an increase in medicine dosage for almost three months, and that's a record. I'm still under the doctor's constant supervision so I still can't eat anything tasty. Sometimes, I would just go crazy when I don't get sweets in more than a month.
'My parents also said that our eldest sister found a doctor from Germany who's willing to check up on me. Since we don't have the technology in our hospitals here in Kanagawa, we decided that we would go to Tokyo. That's going to be in a month, though. But, isn't that great?! I could finally travel again!'
He grinned at his next thought. He'd been having doubts to say this for a while, trying not to open it up in any way possible. Asking this question was a violation to their agreement, but he knew this was the perfect time to ask. This was might be his only chance to see his long-time friend— the only true friend he had. Confidently, he wrote these words on the next paragraph:
'By the way, could I see you when I go to Tokyo?'