Goodbye, Basketball

- There was only one way that she could be set free - (Kuroko No Basuke Oneshot)

Aomine awoke and turned over to see a framed photo on his nightstand and he sighed. It had been years since he had seen her smiling face.

Memories began to wash over him. It was her birthday today- and it had snowed. She would have been thrilled. He didn't know why she disappeared, but he knew her powers were fading when she left. She no longer had a talent on par with him.

"Ao, let's play!" She pleaded and he laughed. "Nah, you'll just win anyways."

"That's mean." She pouted and lightly punched his arm. She ran ahead...and slipped. She fell on her face.

"Kimi? Oi Kimi!" He rushed to where she lay and he turned her over to find her laughing. Laughing with tears in her eyes. "It's snowing." She stated and he chuckled as he lay beside her. "Oh how I wish these days could go on forever."

The scenery changed to two months later- when he challenged her once again, thinking it may once again be futile- he was shocked.
She lost.
To him.
And he panicked, having a fit. There was no way that he could defeat her without a handicap- there was no chance he should be able to- he just couldn't! So why?
"Sorry." Was all she said.

The days after, she continued to act normal. It was finally the Inter High when he noticed once again something was up. She fumbled on a pass she could have easily caught and her moves were sloppy. He narrowed his eyes.

She refused to talk to him throughout the Inter High, and when finally they went home after their last game, she snuggled up to him as he ruffled her head.

"Oi, what ya want ChibiKimi?" He asked and she sighed.
She turned serious.
So something was up.

"Hey Ao? What would you say if I never played basketball again?"

He chuckled and ruffled her head. "Good riddance!" She tensed and he amended, "Hey I'm just kidding!"

She looked up, eyes filled with tears and he stiffened. She never cried. Not even if her cat died. Not even if they lost a game. She was strong, but she was....crying.

It wasn't possibly because of what he said- there was a deeper meaning to this.

"Oi, what's wrong Kimi?" He asked and she said. "Ao.....I....I'm sorry. I think....maybe..... I like you...maybe...love..you. "

Upon hearing that, I came up with the usual response. "Sorry. You have small b***s...and I'm not really interested."

He stiffened as he said that. What was he saying? 

She laughed bitterly. "I know! I was just kidding around!" She looked up and smiled. And he realized something he had never before-and he hated himself for it. Her smile....it was so...fake. Her eyes told all, they betrayed her true emotions.

"Kimi...." he began to say but her stop was there and she stood up.

"Bye Ao, it's been nice....knowing you." She smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek , disappearing into the night.

He froze- and suddenly he knew he had to go after her. But it was too late. 

She was gone.

Aomine never saw her again after that incident. He went to check on her house, but it was sold to someone else. He tracked her records, but there was no more records of someone named Kimi Kayo.

Until he turned on the T.V. this morning.

He was tired and, yawning, he switched on the T.V. The news came up and his eyes widened. It was Kimi. But no, it couldn't be, because they said this person was a man. Kato Kei, heir of the Kato company. It couldn't be her. But even with her cropped hair and glasses, he knew. It was her, the emotionless shell accepting the company. The one not smiling as he talked. He seemed so....empty. He heard something that caught his ear, though.

"Any passions or regrets, Kei?"

He looked right at the camera as if he knew Aomine was watching.

"Well," he began. "I used to play basketball in my younger days, before I all too easily gave up on the silly sport. But I felt I never got to say goodbye to it, and to someone, and it slowly kills me day by day."

The reporters looked stunned and touched. "What a way to cut to the heart! Thank you, Kato-san!"

He nodded and slowly walked off. Aomine was left staring at the screen.

The next day, he spotted someone walking through the neighbourhood and into the cafe. The one him and Kimi used to always go to. He didn't know why, but he followed the figure and spotted someone familiar sitting on a table in the still empty cafe. Her hair was cropped short, she was wearing a blouse and....a skirt. Something she never wore. She spotted me, smiling painfully and he instantly knew.

"ChibiKimi!" He called and rushed to her table. Something seemed....off about her still.

"Hey Ao."

He patted her back and sat across from her.

"So Chibi....tell me what happened. I mean, you just got up and freaking disappeared!" 

She sighed. "I already called everyone. I saved you for last today. As you may know, I'm succeeding my father's company...."

He nodded, an odd look on his face. He wondered why she had masqueraded as a man. "And?"

"Well....I can no longer play basketball."

"Yes you can!" He urged. "Don't you want to?" He remembered that after she left- Kuroko was able to get him back on the right track.

She sighed, shaking her head. "Nah, I just can't, Aomine. My talent's gone. I can't even shoot a hoop."

He stared in disbelief. "Sure....." he said, unsure.

She sighed. "Well, and sorry for disappearing. I just wanted to see you again before I succeed. Because you won't see me again."

He shook his head. "Chibi...." she stood up and her eyes seemed to grow cold. Seemed to grow distant.....it seemed like a shell.

"I am no longer Kimi. Kimi would have cared. No, Aomine. I am now Kei."

She stood and walked out, leaving payment for the coffee and gave the manager an envelope. He glanced at Aomine and nodded.

It had been a week since the frustrating day. 

Aomine didn't even spot her and was getting desperate. Because he realized something in her absence. He had loved her. It was more than friendship that developed between them over the years. He felt empty. 

Finally, one evening, he received an envelope and before he opened it, he received a call from a private number. He picked it up.

"Hello?" He called into the phone.

"Hey Ao?" A voice called and he jumped.

"ChibiKimi! " he exclaimed but he heard a sniffle and his happiness disappeared. "Oi Kimi! Why you crying?"

"Hey Ao. I just wanted to say....not being able to play basketball is killing me. It's depressing, you know, knowing you had the power to fulfill your dream, but having it crushed and not being able to. To see the one you love drift away."

"Kimi? What are you saying?" He yelled into the phone and she sighed in a melancholy way.

"I'm saying what I'm saying....Ao. I'm done."

"No, Don't tell me-" she cut him off.

"I saved you for last Ao....." she paused. "Daiki. I'm sorry. I know that you'll hate me for this-"

"I won't hate you!"

She laughed bitterly. "I love you.....Daiki. As much as I love basketball."

He heard a muffled noise and the line went silent.

"Kimi? Oi! Kimi!" He yelled. He heard some labored breathing....before it stopped altogether and he knew she was gone. He said something he knew she would never hear, and something that could have changed her fate if she knew. 

"Kimi. I-I love you too." He dropped the phone in defeat. She was, Kimi was......dead.