"I'm supposedly dating Kise Ryouta, by the way," Momoi Satsuki said.

Aomine Daiki looked up from one of the tabloids from her coffee table that he had begun flipping through. He flipped another page. She continued mixing her clay mask in a tiny green bowl. Her hair was already pushed back and tied up, a handkerchief in place to keep her bangs out of her face. He called it her 'staying-in' look because she took painful means to make sure every strand was in its rightful place whenever she left the house. For someone whose skills were diverse enough to make even the oldest face look young and the youngest look even younger, Momoi Satsuki was proud of her presentation of herself as a flawless, sleek working woman. It worked for her.

She did not look particularly distressed or pleased about the news.

"'Supposedly'?" Aomine said. "Kise Ryouta?"

"Oh, you know. You really liked him in that one movie you saw last month." Aomine also did not watch enough movies that this would have been a particularly brain-teasing question. "The one about the end of the world that I worked on. I gave you tickets for the opening premiere."

"Oh yeah," Aomine said. "The guy who they found in the underground bunker? The one who was always supposed to look disheveled but had hair that looked carefully put together?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. But what do you mean by 'supposedly'?"

"Well, some tabloid took a few pictures of us when we were on set and they're nothing really scandalous but his agent thinks it'll be good publicity for when we're supposed to work together again for a new Takeshi Kitano production in a few months. They're compensating me generously and we've agreed to keep it strictly professional, so I figured why not? He certainly isn't difficult on the eyes."

Aomine turned back and read a few lines about some television drama star's recent romantic tryst. "That's a weird situation," he said, for lack of a better thing to say. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because we'll be having dinner together, the three of us, on Thursday night."

Aomine closed the flimsy magazine with the most dramatic indignation he could muster. "What!" he said, but she did not pause or startle; in fact, the way she applying the mask on her face seemed even more purposefully calm and cool as if to spite him. "Look, I have no intention of third-wheeling some weird not-date date thing with you. And anyway, I probably have practice then."

"I already checked your schedule, Dai-chan, and you did have practice but I called in a favor with your coach. And I didn't want you there either but Kise's agent said that it would make a good story to have a rising, popular actor with his famous girlfriend and her professional basketball player best friend in one place." She giggled. "Can you believe it? Me? Famous!"

Aomine made a face. For once, he regretted signing on to a professional team. "Look," he said. "Look. I...um, have no interest in going on a date with you and some fancy pretty boy. You know I don't really like to get into your personal life and stuff. I mean, what would I even talk about? You two are the ones who are in the movie business...he can talk about acting and you can talk about makeup and...I bet he doesn't even watch basketball."

"He follows the NBL pretty closely, actually. He's actually looking forward to meeting you, so don't say things like that. And I already made reservations for three and it would be really awful to have to reschedule. Come on, Dai-chan. We've been friends for years and years. You can do one little thing for me, can't you?" She finally looked up at him and he recoiled to see her doe eyes, framed behind thick eyelashes. She had mastered the art of looking up at someone in shy pleading, batting her eyes and acting generally bashful. He had experienced it since they were twelve but he had never been able to become fully immune to it.

"Fine," he grumbled. "Fine, but you owe me. Big time." He threw the tabloid onto the coffee table, trying to convey as much malice as possible. He was irritated, yes, but not really angry; Momoi never liked coming to him for favors if she didn't have to and he still had yet to fully thank her for having gotten him to the scouting event for JBL after he had woken up with forty minutes to spare to get to the court. She had been a fabulous gem, having called him a cab from the set and pulled some strings all the way over in Hokkaido after she had called him to make sure he had been on his way and he had answered groggy in bed. "I probably will be boring and look like a commoner next to you two, though. Just a warning."

"I'll make sure you look dashing. Kise's a fan! He'll probably chat your ear off."

[=]

"Aomine Daiki?" Kise Ryouta said, sparkling and looking perfect as if he had a personal Momoi Satsuki at his bedside to quickly make him up every morning. "I'm a big fan. It's so nice to meet you."

Aomine looked down at the hand outstretched before him. The palm looked so soft and the nails were well cared for. He considered his calloused and bitten nails and wished he had asked Momoi to do an emergency manicure for him or something. "Yeah," he said. "Likewise." He offered his hand and jumped when Kise squeezed it before letting go. Momoi had forewarned him that they were dining at a nice, black-tie-black-dress establishment so he had gotten his best suit pressed and relearned how to tie a tie but he did not think he would ever be prepared for that sort of life. His shoes were tight and his cuffs were itchy. Kise was looking quite fetching and he did not feel the need to play with his sparkling silver cufflinks like Aomine did. Momoi beamed at them between them in her lace collared gown.

"You have a game coming up?" Kise asked by way of conversation, casually perusing the wine list. Aomine's back naturally slumped in his seat and he fought to keep his posture straight; Momoi's chin was up - "Sit like you have a string around your neck tied to the ceiling!" - and Kise was lounging easily. "How do you feel about it?"

"Uh," Aomine said, even though this was a topic of conversation that he was very well versed in. Somehow he did not even fathom that Kise would talk about such things and he was caught off guard. "Well. Well, I guess. We've been going over old footage and preparing for the tricks they usually pull."

"Excellent," Kise said, and Aomine thought he was probably the only person he'd met who could say 'excellent' without sounding like a pretentious asshole. There was just a way Kise had with delivering words that sounded so genuine, so real despite Aomine knowing about his skill at parroting the script on screen. "I heard that a Japanese who's been playing on the LA Lakers has been talking about coming back to play for the NBL. Kagami Taiga. Do you know him?"

"Not personally."

"What do you think of his playing style? Do you think he'd be good for the Seahorses?"

"He should come with us if he wants to win," Aomine said without thinking. "I'm on the team and I'm pretty confident we'll win the League, so if his intention is to come back and actually win…" He felt the sharp point of Momoi's heel crash into his shin and he winced. Be good, the kick said. "...but of course, it's up to him. He's a pretty decent player. Not as good as me." He couldn't help it; Momoi's lips were pursed.

Kise laughed. "I like you," he said. That sounded weird. "You're so honest. I think honesty is an admirable thing. I don't know when the last time I could really be myself was." Aomine wondered if Kise's smile was real. He wondered more as Kise leaned over to Momoi, purposefully affectionate. "Which wine were you thinking of, dear?" Aomine had never heard anyone call Momoi 'dear'.

"Maybe one of the moscatos," she said, her voice sweet. "I'm not really a bitter girl."

"Does a white moscato sit well with you, Aomine-san?" Kise asked, his formality make Aomine feel even more out of ease. The seats were cushioned and pillowy and the dim lighting made him nervous. The court was always so substantial and bright. The team always made an effort to host publicity events in a public space, catering and everything, and so he had rarely had to sit through multiple course meals during his rise to fame. Kise was looking at him so earnestly.

"Yeah," Aomine said. "Yeah, that's fine."

Kise and Momoi talked over appetizers and Aomine picked at his shrimp cocktail. They were probably going through the twentieth iteration of passing drills at practice. His hands itched to throw something. "Aomine-san, have you heard of Akashi Seijuro?" Kise asked suddenly.

"Who?" He glanced at Momoi and remembered. "Oh. The director guy. Satsuki complained about him before."

"Yeah?" Kise was very charming with his hand under his chin. His hair looked very good. "And what do you think of him based on what you've heard?"

It was probably a trick question, trapping him into saying something ridiculous. Momoi had a hand over her mouth, a habit of hers whenever she was trying to keep a straight face. They were leaning toward each other in a way that might suggest intimacy, but Momoi's torso was angled out toward Aomine and they had not even shifted their chairs. "He sounds like a personality," Aomine settled.

"That's one way to put it," Momoi agreed.

"He is," Kise said. "But he's also revolutionary. Everything he works on always finishes so polished and efficient. It almost makes working with him worth it. His father was also a famous director, did you know?"

"Hmm," Aomine hummed, dipping a shrimp into the sauce.

"He did a lot of really good period pieces. Have you ever seen Between the Plum Blossoms?"

"Dai-chan doesn't really watch a lot of movies," Momoi interjected.

"I do too," Aomine insisted, momentarily unsure of why he felt the need to defend himself. His success was primarily on the court, not his cinematic knowledge. Kise had spoken of the film so reverently. "But...I haven't seen that one."

"Really? I would thought that Satsuki would have made you watch it. It's a makeup artist and designer's paradise." Kise said Momoi's name in such an uneasy way, like he was still testing it out on his tongue. Couples would let first names slide out of their mouths much smoother than that. Gossip magazines did not really analyze their subjects. "The main lead was a rare find because they liked the way he delivered some of the lines but he was supposed to play a man thirty years his senior and there was no way he could have pulled it off."

"I watched it during cosmetology school," Momoi said. "It was extremely inspiring." He didn't know she'd watched that, but then again he never really asked questions about her work. Momoi was always the one more invested in basketball than he was in her career.

"I have a copy at my place," Kise offered. "You could come by and see it if you'd like." Aomine had put another shrimp in his mouth before he realized Kise had been speaking to him. Momoi was looking at him over her wine glass.

"I...okay, sure."

"Did you know I used to play basketball back in middle and high school?" Kise said conversationally as Aomine was digging into his roast chicken. The showbiz kids, as Aomine had mentally labeled them, had been busy deep in conversation about some tensions on set and how to properly resolve them and he had again sounded them out. He had a mouthful of chicken in his mouth. He struggled to chew quickly as Kise waited patiently. "I was a small forward."

"Really?" Aomine said, mid swallow. He saw Momoi sniff subtly out of the corner of his eye, her mouth turned up ever so slightly. When they had finished their discussion, he could not say. "That's…what made you stop?"

"It was never really something that I intended to do in the long term," Kise shrugged, spearing into his salmon. "Just something to pass the time. Maybe if I had met someone in high school who really motivated me to keep playing, things would have been different. It was fun while it lasted." Kise looked up, gazing at Aomine through his eyelashes and he had seen Momoi do that several times when they went out together and he felt his palms sweat suddenly. "Imagine it though, if we met on the court instead of in this restaurant."

"Yeah." His voice was steady even though he suddenly felt the urge to go somewhere and shoot some hoops. All the sitting was making him impatient. "That would be something."

Aomine was on the train back to his apartment when Momoi called him. It sounded quiet where she was; he figured Kise had gotten a driver to take her home. "Wasn't that nice?" she asked. "Wasn't he sweet? It makes you kind of wish you were dating him, doesn't it?" There was a note of laughter in her voice and it made him nervous.

"No," Aomine insisted. "I wasn't thinking that at all."

[=]

But Momoi's life was her life and after a few days Aomine's life went back to normal. He went to practice and argued with his landlord over his stove and its faulty pilot light. He answered Momoi's calls every Wednesday and Friday at four in the afternoon and soothed her fears that he was on his way to death's door without her constant watch. His suit began gathering dust again in the back of his closet. On Friday, Kise Ryouta called him on his personal phone.

"Hello?" Aomine said, not recognizing the number on the screen.

"Hi, Aomine-san!" the voice on the other line chirped back. Aomine took a moment to place it. "It's me, Kise. I hope I caught you at a good time."

"It's fine," Aomine said. He'd just finished practice and was feeling a little tired and a lot sweaty. The evening air was sweet on his skin as he walked back to the apartment near the training facility. "How did you get my number?"

"I asked Momoi for it. I hope that's okay."

Aomine did not want to say it was okay because he did not know if it was yet. "Aren't you worried that I might plaster your number everywhere for your dedicated little fans to see?"

There was a long pause. "I didn't really think about that," Kise admitted. "My manager always tells me to use the private phone on set."

"You're actually calling from your personal?" Aomine laughed. "Why would you want to do that?"

"I said you should watch Between the Plum Blossoms, didn't I? When are you free to come over?"

Aomine remembered the exchange. "I didn't think you were being serious," he said. "I had no intention of watching it." Momoi might call him cold and insensitive but that was what he thought. It wasn't unusual that someone with Kise's amount of fame and workload would offer something casually but have no follow-up.

"Oh," Kise said.

"So," Aomine said. "I mean. We could." He felt awkward now and this was Momoi's supposed new boyfriend. Even if they weren't really seeing each other and sleeping with each other, he supposed he shouldn't ruin Momoi's image by being some jerk best friend. He didn't really want to see the movie, though. "If you really want."

"Or we could play basketball. It wasn't that long since I played. That probably is more interesting to you anyway."

Why do you want to spend time with me? Aomine wanted to ask but he had the social wherewithal to hold back. He wondered if movie stars had friends. Certainly if he wanted someone with which he could hold a conversation, Kise ought to actively seek out Momoi. Did Kise forget the kind of things they talked about at dinner? "I mean, I just got out of practice so I'm not really feeling it right now, if that's what you mean."

"Oh no! Not today. Uh." Kise coughed lightly. "Sometime in the future, maybe." Then, "It's okay if you don't actually want to do anything with me. It's weird to solicit someone you don't really know, even if you're my...uh...girlfriend's best friend."

"Yeah, a little." Aomine hitched his bag a little further up his shoulder. "But I'm the envy of all your fans." Kise laughed and it sounded relieved. "I don't know about that movie, but I'm down for playing ball with you, whenever you're free."

"Okay," Kise said. He came on a Tuesday and they played on one of the smaller courts in the facility. It was clear to Aomine that Kise had taken a lengthy hiatus from basketball; his reaction times were poor and his accuracy was merely average. His stance was solid and he did not fall for the ameteur tricks Aomine tried, playing at half effort. Somehow halfway through their one-on-one, Kise's movements began to feel familiar.

"I pick things up really easily," Kise said afterwards when Aomine handed him a water without vocalizing the question. "They used to call me the mockingbird of my team because I could copy people's plays just by watching them for a bit. I've gotten rusty, but it used to be pretty good."

"You'll never be as good as the real thing," Aomine huffed, and he played Kise again to prove it.

[=]

The thing about hanging out with an a-lister, while being a b-lister yourself, was that people were bound to notice. Kise slipping off to play basketball at the SunRocker's private facility had not garnered too much attention, but once they began grabbing meals after their one on ones at local burger joints and visiting a high profile sporting goods store to buy Kise a solid pair of basketball shoes, the tabloids smelled the air and pounced.

Momoi sent him a PDF of a cover spread on one of the gossip magazines with a blurry photo of him and Kise on the street together. BEST FRIENDS OR BEST RIVALS the cover screamed. Is the Hitachi SunRockers's RISING ACE testing the waters for his BFF's new BOYFRIEND or is it SNIFFING OUT THE COMPETITION?

"Hah," Aomine scoffed.

"You and Ki-chan are getting really friendly, huh," Momoi said over the phone. "Who was it who said you guys would never get along?"

"I never said that."

"I'm happy though. I always said you don't have that many friends. I'm glad you two can hit it off like that."

Not everyone was as well receptive as Momoi. "Aomine Daiki, sir," Imayoshi Shouichi, head coach of the Hitachi SunRockers, drawled, deliberately and infuriatingly condescending. Aomine hated having private meetings with him. It was the role of the ace to be on good terms with the head coach but Aomine considered this a hassle. "Who was it again who said on the first day of training that basketball was the only thing on his mind? That he had no eyes for anyone other than the big-breasted goddess of basketball? Hmm? Could you refresh my memory?"

"Me," Aomine gritted. Irritating, yes - but Imayoshi was also quite terrifying. His sneer matched that of a king cobra, ready to strike. As much as he was feared, Imayoshi was good at his job and he got things done. Aomine could respect that.

"Yes...you...and yet what is this I'm seeing?" He flourished another tabloid, this one Aomine had not seen. It was of a photo of Kise in casual street clothes, giving Aomine who was not facing the camera a dazzling smile. The sight of it made Aomine embarrassed for some reason. The caption yelled WILL KISE ABANDON FILM FOR SPORT. "Please leave publicity matters to our public relations team, Mister Aomine. Let me remind you our handbook does mention monitoring the sort of friends you make. Please be more discreet in the future." It was obvious those 'please's were only for decoration's sake. Aomine didn't know why he was being dragged into it. More or less all the headlines were regarding Kise.

It seemed Kise had also been getting a scolding because Aomine did not hear from him for a while. Momoi had told him she had been forbidden to bring him to several events so the media could focus on their new movie instead of Kise's basketball skills ("Basketball is fun and exhilarating to me," Kise said in an interview that Aomine begrudgingly read. "But do you know what has been more exhilarating? Working with Takeshi-sensei…"). That was fine. Aomine did not itch to go. His phone rang as he laid at home, watching a movie in the dark and drinking a beer.

(It was a single beer; he swore Imayoshi could sense any fluctuations in blood alcohol content just by looking.)

It was Kise.

"Hey, Aominecchi," Kise said. It was a nickname that Aomine had been given as of late. It also made him feel uncomfortable, the way it was laced with some awestruck affection. It was just the way Kise operated, Momoi explained, but she was smiling with such satisfaction that it unnerved Aomine more. "What are you doing right now?"

"Watching a movie."

"Which one?"

"Uh." Aomine reached for the DVD box and glanced at it. "Janbu Walks a Mile."

"Oh! I'm in that one, aren't I?"

"Are you?" Aomine watched the Kise on the screen lash out at the titular Janbu over the way Janbu had been treating his sister, Janbu's on-and-off girlfriend. Kise's focus in his films rivaled that of his when he played ball. It was an attractive kind of discipline. Aomine frowned at himself. "I don't see it."

"Don't be mean~." There was a silence on the other line and Aomine thought he heard the sound of a television. "I'm watching you play basketball."

"That's creepy," Aomine said, feeling his stomach flip. "We're just watching each other on TV and talking on the phone." It wasn't strange until he said it; now he had an urge to either turn off the television or hang up. He compromised and turned the volume of the movie way down.

"I'm sorry we haven't been able to have our one-on-ones," Kise said. "It's just...I didn't expect people to get so excited about us just spending time together. My manager says it's defeating the purpose of me fake-dating Momoi-san. She says I may as well be dating you."

Aomine laughed and it sounded clipped to his own ears, each one note sound of the laugh coming out in distinct parts. "That would make a story, wouldn't it," he ended up saying, after having exhausted other possible responses.

"I've been spending so much time with you people are wondering if me and Momoi are even dating anymore." The subject matter was irritating Aomine. It didn't really even have anything to do with him.

"Then go and date her more publically then," he grumbled. It was none of his business.

"That's what I'm going to do." Kise's voice had stayed level the entire conversation and did not seem subject to change. "I've got a few more months until the release."

"Okay."

"So I can't see you that much until then, sorry."

"Okay."

"I still think we're really good friends, though."

Aomine hung up.