Biglobe's anime Rankings asked female fans which female character
aggravates them most and male fans which male character annoys them
most. Some heinous villains made the list. So did some weak and/or
irritating protagonist. So did a number of characters generally regarded
as fan favorites.
Female on Female (17,764 votes)
1. Bleach's Inoue Orihime
2. Gintama's Tsukuyo
3. Haruhi Suzumiya
4. Sword Art Online's Asuna
5. Madoka Magica's Homura Akemi
6. Listen to Me, Girls. I Am Your Father!'s Hina Takanashi
7. Bakemonogatari's Nadeko Sengoku
8. A Certain Scientific Railgun's Mikoto Misaka 9. K-On!'s Yui Hirasawa
10. Hyōka's Eru Chitanda
11. Kill Me Baby's Yasuna Oribe
12. Familiar of Zero's Louise
13. Toradora's Taiga Aisaka
14. Macross F's Sheryl Nome
15. Fate/stay night's Saber
16. Evangelion's Asuka Langley Shikinami
17. Madoka Magica's Sayaka Miki
18. Inu x Boku SS' Ririchiyo Shirakiin
19. Nyarko-san
20. Blue Exorcist's Shiemi Moriyama
21. Gundam SEED Destiny's Lacus Clyne
22. Smile Precure's Yayoi Kise
23. Mobile Suit Gundam's 0083's Nina Purpleton
24. Gundam SEED Destiny's Cagalli Yula Athha 25. YuruYuri's Sakurako Ohmuro
26. K-On!'s Mio Akiyama
27. Naruto's Sakura Haruno
28. A Certain Magical Index's Index
29. Hakuōki's Chizuru Yukimura
30. Squid Girl
31. YuruYuri's Akarin
32. Sailor Moon
33. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha's Fate Testarossa
34. (tie) Magic Kaito's Aoko Nakamori
34. (tie) My Neighbor Totoro's Me Kusakabe
36. To Love-Ru's Lala Satalin Deviluke
37. Yu-Gi-Oh's Kotori Mizuki
38. (tie) Joshiraku's Uzannu Uzattei
38. (tie)Taisho Baseball Girls' Akiko Ogasawara 40. (tie) Detective Conan's Sonoko Suzuki
40. (tie) Kuroko's Basketball's Satsuki Momoi 42. Another's Mei Misaki
43. Macross F's Ranka Lee
44. K-On!'s Azusa Nakano
45. A Certain Scientific Railgun's Ruiko Saten 46. Idolmaster:
Xenoglossia's Haruka Amami 47. Clannad: After Story's Sanae Furukawa
48. Detective Conan's Ayumi Yoshida
49. Dragon Ball's Lunch
50. Tiger & Bunny's Karina Lyle/Blue Ro
--
Male on Male (9371 votes)
1. School Days' Makoto Itou
2. Accel World's Haruyuki Arita
3. Sword Art Online's Kirito
4. A Certain Scientific Railgun's Toma Kamijo
5. To Love-Ru's Riko Yuusaki
6.IS 's Ichika Orimura
7. Gundam SEED Destiny's Shinn Asuka
8. Hyōka's Satoshi Fukube
9. GundamA GE's Flit Asuno
10. Nyarko-san's Hastur
11. Gintama's Okita Sogo
12. (tie) Kuroko's Basketball's Taiga Kagami
12. (tie) Blue Exorcist's Rin Okumura
14. Toriko 1)
15. Gundam SEED Destiny's Athrun Zala
16. (tie) Gundam 00's Setsuna F. Seiei
16. (tie) Fate/stay night's Shiro Emiy
18. Code Geass' Lelouch
19. The World Only God Know's Keima Katsuragi
20. Gintama's Kamui
21. Highschool DxD's Issei Hyodo
22. Kimi ni Todoke's Kazehaya Shota
23. Gintama's Gintoki Sakata
24. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei's Nozomu Itoshiki
25. Death Note's Light Yagami
26. One Piece's Franky
27. Detective Conan's Kaito Kuroba
28. Blue Exorcist's Yukio Okumura
29. Gundam SEED Destiny's Kira Yamato
30. Persona 4's Yu Narukami
31. Hayate the Combat Butler's Hayate Ayasaki
32. Gurren Lagainn's Simon
33. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig's Kazundo Goda
34. Baccano's Jacuzzi Splott
35. Natsume's Book of Friends' Shuichi Natori
36. Naruto's Kiba Inuzuka
37. Kokoro Connect's Taichi Yaegashi
38. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure's Dio Brando
39. Gintama's Ayumu Tojo
40 Tiger & Bunny's Barnaby Brooks Jr
--
certainly these are interesting results as i knew the first-placers
were hated but i am suprised. Kaito kuruba? Aisaka taiga? Yui hirasawa?
Ayumi Yoshida? hah!
Kuroko's Basketball Stage Play Unveils Remaining Cast, Visual
This year's combined fifth and sixth issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine is revealing on Monday the remaining cast and visual for the stage play adaptation of the Kuroko's Basketball (Kuroko no Basuke) manga. The play's official title is Kuroko's Basketball The Encounter.
The all-star cast includes:
Seirin High School Team
Pre-sale tickets are on sale until January 11 and cost 7,800 yen (about US$63).
Tadatoshi Fujimaki launched the Kuroko's Basketball manga in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2008, and Shueisha published the 30th and final volume (pictured at left) in Japan in December 2014. Viz Media will start releasing the manga in English in summer 2016, and it describes the series as follows:
Seirin High School Team
- Kensho Ono as Tetsuya Kuroko
- Yūya Asato as Taiga Kakami
- Tetsuya Makita as Junpei Hyūga
- Ryutarō Akimoto as Shun Izuki
- Kaisei Abe as Shinji Koganei
- Ukyō Matumoto as Rinnosuke Mitobe
- Daiki Kajimoto as Satoshi Tsuchida
- Asami Tano as Riko Aida
- Mario Kuroba as Ryōta Kise
- Ryunosuke Matsumura as Yukio Kasamatsu
- Shinichi Wago as Yoshitaka Moriyama
- Kōshü Hirano as Mitsuhiro Hayakawa
- Ryō Hatakeyama as Shintarō Midorima
- James Takeshi Yamada as Kasunari Takao
- Spi as Taisuke Ōtsubo
- Daisuke Takenouchi as Kiyoshi Miyaji
- Shōta Onume as Daiki Aomine
- Akihiro Hayashi as Shōichi Imayoshi
- Kazunari Matsufuji as Kōsuke Wakamatsu
- Eiji Akaso as Ryō Sakurai
- Arisa Sugi as Satsuki Momoi
Pre-sale tickets are on sale until January 11 and cost 7,800 yen (about US$63).
Tadatoshi Fujimaki launched the Kuroko's Basketball manga in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2008, and Shueisha published the 30th and final volume (pictured at left) in Japan in December 2014. Viz Media will start releasing the manga in English in summer 2016, and it describes the series as follows:
Kuroko Tetsuya doesn't stand out much. In fact, he's so plain that people hardly ever notice when he's around. Though he's just as unremarkable on the basketball court, that's where his plainness gives him an unexpected edge – one that lets him execute awesome moves without others noticing! And now that he's a high school student, he's on a mission to defeat each member of his legendary middle school team, known as the Miracle Generation.The first anime season based on the manga aired from April-September 2012. The second season aired from October 2013 to March 2014. The third season aired from January-June 2015. Crunchyroll streamed all three seasons outside of Japan as they aired. Daisuki also streamed the third season.
INTERVIEW :: CHAZ BUNDICK ON TORO Y MOI, LES SINS AND ‘WHAT FOR?’
LOOSELY EXPLORING THE THEMES OF LOVE, BEAUTY AND NATURE, TORO Y MOI TEACHES US THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING A GOOD HUMAN WITH HIS LATEST RECORD, WHAT FOR?
South Carolina artist Chaz Bundick has just dropped his fourth studio album, under his longstanding moniker, Toro Y Moi.
The first release since, Michael – his debut record as Les Sins – Bundick continues to captivate his audience by simultaneously venturing into new sonic territories, whilst showcasing his distinctive production style.
Opening the ten-track record with the velocity of a buzzing racecar engine, the title track follows with an alien assortment of guitars and drums, bound together by the adhesive of Bundick’s appropriated vocals and underlying synth arrangements. A composition that deviates from previous Toro Y Moi records, we as an audience agree to fill the invitational car spot, and trust that Bundick’s new creative avenue will see us partake in an excitingly bold journey.
Having recorded, What For? completely live over an eight month period in his Californian studio, Bundick constructed the LP with the help of his touring associates, as well as album collaborators Ruban Nielson (The Mint Chicks, Unknown Mortal Orchestra) and multi-instrumentalist Julian Lynch. Acknowledging the effort and versatility poured into What For?, Bundick has once again impressed us with his perpetual thirst for experimentation and exploration.
Shortly after its Australian release, Hannah Galvin had the pleasure of discussing What For? alongside other artistic projects with the man behind it all.
You’ve been working under the Toro Y Moi moniker consistently for five years. What inspired the Les Sins project?
Chaz: I was listening to a lot of house music at the time. There’s so many things that influenced that album, from house music now, to house music two years ago, to [laughs] stuff from the 80s, but really I was just focusing on production and actual sonics; and you know, how deep the bass can get, and how high the highs can get, so I was just messing with different frequencies in the realm of dance music. I kinda felt like I wanted to do a more accessible take on what I like right now.
Were any of the tracks on Michael originally to be released under Toro Y Moi?
No, they were all sort of written in the mindset of making dance music or in the mindset of just making electronic music. It wasn’t really like I was thinking, “Oh this isn’t a good Toro song, I’ll just give it to Les Sins.” I wasn’t thinking like that at all.
Your new record What For? is really guitar driven and has seen you working with a much different sound. Was this intentional or something that has happened organically?
A bit of both. I kind of wanted to take the music there and I’m also a fan of that kind of music. I’ve been listening to guitar stuff since I was a teenager, so either it was just a coincidence or it was just my luck that Toro blew up as a more electronic thing, as opposed to guitar based. I like all kinds of music so I felt like I was bound to make an album more guitar focused, eventually.
I know many artists don’t necessarily enjoy being tied to one genre. What is your stance on this?
I don’t feel pigeonholed, I just like music that I think is good, I guess. Like I don’t mind labelling, but it’s necessary you know? I don’t feel pigeonholed by it at all. I kind of know now what not to do again, because I think when artists repeat themselves it’s lazy and they’re probably just getting comfortable.
I feel like if you had to associate Toro Y Moi, it would be deemed “chillwave” or the like, but I feel as though the new record has taken you out of that completely. Would you agree?
Oh thanks! I guess, I mean I can’t really say, just cause whenever I was making a Toro album, I wasn’t thinking like I should be breaking out of some box. But I see what you’re saying, I guess this album is just very different considering it has guitars and it’s all live.
What is the story behind the title of, What For?
That was just a question that I would ask myself, especially since becoming more successful in music, like becoming more recognised. Something I think of often is longevity and/or just being aware of your work. Also knowing that there’s an honest motivation behind creating something; whether that be music or a building or just a random piece of pottery, it should be coming from an honest place. So I guess that’s a theme that I touched on for the whole record.
Would you say that’s the main focus that unfolds as you listen to the record?
Oh, somewhat. I mean all the songs are so different lyrically, but in a general sense, yes, it’s all about just having your priorities set and going with the flow of things and learning to choose your battles, learning to be a good human.
What For? also features collaborators, Julian Lynch and Ruban Nielson. As their own respective artistry shines through the album, were they chosen aesthetically or for more personal reasons?
Ruban I’ve known for a while, since we went on tour together in like 2011. We’d been talking about working on music together. When he came over to do ‘Half Dome’, that was like a one in a million sort of thing that happened, because he just happened to be in town and I happened to be working on the record, and he’d planned to come over. It worked out so perfectly, you know, we tried to meet up before our schedules were both so crazy.Ruban I admire hugely, because his taste is on point. I think he’s doing good stuff for music; and same for Julian Lynch.
Julian Lynch is one person I really want to work with in the future. We hung out just in his hometown of Madison in Wisconsin a couple of times. Every time we were in Madison we’d call up Julian, cause he’s an awesome person to be around, so yeah.
How did you craft those songs with them? Did you just jam together and they happened?
The lyrics of the songs that they played on were already pretty much done. When Ruban came over, I just played the song and was like, “So I’m thinking if you play a lead part here, and I’m hoping maybe you or someone else can sing on this part here,” so he pretty much did that. Same for Julian, I was like, “I’m looking for some horns right here, and maybe mess with them later,” so that’s what he did. So it was pretty straightforward, but also pretty different, because Ruban was in person and Julian was over email.
Can we expect an Australian visit sometime soon?
Possibly within a year. I think so, I’m not sure. Hopefully we get on that next festival round and we can be there in February.
Plans for the remainder of 2015?
Yeah! I’m just going to tour this record and see where it goes.
Expansion and conversion of human pancreatic ductal cells into insulin-secreting endocrine cells
The pancreas is a vital organ with exocrine and endocrine cell functions, and a root of lethal human diseases including diabetes mellitus, pancreatitis, and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Exocrine acinar cells produce digestive zymogens that are delivered to the intestines by a branching network of exocrine ductal cells that secrete bicarbonate and other products. Pancreatic endocrine functions derive from clusters of epithelial cells (islets of Langerhans) called α-, β-, δ-, and PP-cells that respectively synthesize, store, and secrete the hormones Glucagon, Insulin, Somatostatin, and Pancreatic polypeptide (Benitez et al., 2012). Insulin production by islet β-cells is highly regulated: key features of mature β-cells include preproinsulin (INS) transcription, proinsulin processing by endo- and exo-peptidases and storage of the proinsulin cleavage products insulin and C-peptide in dense core vesicles. Likewise, cardinal β-cell functions regulate insulin release in response to glucose and other secretagogues, including glucose sensing and metabolism through the enzyme glucokinase, and use of ATP-dependent potassium channels (KATP) and voltage-gated calcium channels to induce insulin exocytosis (reviewed in Suckale and Solimena, 2010). Deficiency or malfunctioning of β-cells produces impaired glucose regulation and diabetes mellitus, a disease with autoimmune (type 1, T1DM) and pandemic forms (type 2; Ashcroft and Rorsman, 2012). Thus, replacement or regeneration of functional human β-cells is an intensely-sought goal.
Human islet transplantation can be used to replace β-cell function in T1DM (reviewed in Vardanyan et al., 2010), but a shortage of donors currently precludes broad use of human pancreatic islets for β-cell replacement. Because of their expandability and multipotency, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have been explored as sources of replacement insulin-producing cells (reviewed in Hebrok, 2012). However, directing the differentiation of these developmentally ‘primitive’ cells through multiple sequential fates into β-cell-like progeny that synthesize, process, store, and secrete insulin while lacking tumorigenic potential has challenged investigators worldwide (Fujikawa et al., 2005;McKnight et al., 2010; Cheng et al., 2012). Moreover, different hESC and iPSC cell lines exhibit significant variability during development into insulin-producing cells (Nostro and Keller, 2012). Recent work demonstrated that differentiated cell types in adult organs, including the mouse pancreas, can be experimentally ‘reprogrammed’ into progeny resembling islet cells, suggesting a new strategy for β-cell replacement (Vierbuchen and Wernig, 2011). For example, adult mouse pancreatic acinar cells can be converted into insulin-producing cells in vitro and in vivo (Minami et al., 2005; Zhou et al., 2008). However, little progress has been made in reprogramming primary human epithelial cells into different cell types, including conversion of pancreatic non-β-cells toward a human β-cell fate (Vierbuchen and Wernig, 2011). Thus, systems permitting expansion and genetic modulation of human pancreatic cells could powerfully influence studies of β-cell biology and replacement.
Pancreatic ducts constitute 30–40% of human pancreas and have been proposed as a potential source of replacement β-cells (Bouwens and Pipeleers, 1998; Bonner-Weir et al., 2004). During pancreas development, fetal endocrine cells derive from primitive ductal epithelium (reviewed by Pan and Wright, 2011; Pictet and Rutter, 1972). In addition, some studies have suggested that in adult mice, β-cells may be produced from pancreatic ductal epithelium (Inada et al., 2008; Xu et al., 2008; Rovira et al., 2010). However, recent lineage tracing evidences have not supported this view (Solar et al., 2009; Furuyama et al., 2011; Kopp et al., 2011). In humans, prior studies have suggested that adult human primary ductal cells in heterogeneous cell mixtures may harbor the potential to generate endocrine-like progeny (Bonner-Weir et al., 2000; Heremans et al., 2002; Swales et al., 2012), but interpretation in these studies was limited by the probability of islet cell contamination. Therefore, the potential for conversion of pancreatic ductal cells toward an endocrine fate remains unclear. Moreover, prior studies have revealed only limited proliferative capacity of primary human pancreatic ductal cells in culture (Rescan et al., 2005). Thus, despite their relative abundance, multiple practical issues have prevented development of human pancreatic ductal cells as a source of replacement β-cells.
Here we report that normal human adult pancreatic duct cells can be sorted, clonally expanded, and genetically converted into endocrine cells. Human insulin-producing cells (IPCs) produced from sorted duct cells exhibited hallmark features of functional neonatal β-cells including high-level preproinsulin (INS) expression, proinsulin processing and dense-core granule formation. Moreover, secretion of insulin and insulin C-peptide from IPCs is stimulated by glucose and KATP channel stimulants in a calcium-dependent manner. Together these studies reveal a new system for investigating human pancreatic duct cell biology, genetics, and β-cell regeneration.
Purification and expansion of primary CD133+ human pancreatic ductal cells
To identify human pancreatic epithelial cells that can be grown and maintained in culture, we systematically screened cell isolation methods and culture conditions with dispersed adult human pancreatic cells obtained from cadaveric donors without known pancreatic cancer, diabetes mellitus, or other pancreatic diseases (Table 1). With primary cells plated at low density, we observed formation of multicellular epithelial spheres, when cultured in Matrigel with a serum-free culture medium without feeder cells (‘Materials and methods’, Figure 1—figure supplement 1A). The multicellular sphere formation suggested primary cell expansion, so based on this assay we fractionated cells by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) to isolate and characterize sphere-forming pancreatic cells. A survey of cell surface markers used for fetal mouse pancreatic cell isolation (Sugiyama et al., 2007) revealed that antibodies recognizing CD133 enriched sphere-forming cells by four fold, whereas sphere-forming cells were depleted in the CD133neg fraction (Figure 1A,B). Immunohistochemical analysis of the human adult pancreas revealed CD133 expression at the apical portion of duct epithelial cells that co-expressed keratin 19 (KRT19), whereas CD133 was undetectable in islet endocrine cells or acinar cells (Figure 1C, Figure 1—figure supplement 1B), consistent with prior reports (Lardon et al., 2008). We have achieved sphere formation from over 35 consecutive adult donors (Table 1); thus, the sphere formation of primary adult human pancreatic CD133+ cells was highly reproducible.
To assess the properties of FACS-purified adult pancreatic CD133+ cells, we performed quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). This revealed that CD133+ cells expressed high levels of mRNA encoding ductal markers (KRT19 and CAR2), while mRNAs expressed in acinar (CPA1 and CEL) and endocrine (CHGA, INS, and GCG) cells were exclusively enriched in the CD133neg fraction (Figure 1D, Figure 1—figure supplement 1C). Immunostaining confirmed that >98% of sorted CD133+ cells produced KRT19, whereas CD133+ cells produced no detectable islet hormone (Figure 1E,F, Figure 1—figure supplement 1D). Thus, FACS efficiently eliminated islet endocrine and acinar cells, and enriched for a population of primary adult pancreatic duct cells that expanded as epithelial spheres in feeder- and serum-free culture.
Maintenance of ductal phenotypes by self-renewing human pancreatic CD133+ cells
After commencing in vitro cultures, the epithelial spheres from CD133+ ductal cells attained diameters ranging from 40 to 520 µm in 2 weeks (Figure 1A, Figure 1—figure supplement 1A and Figure 2—figure supplement 1A). Spheres 350–500 µm in diameter were composed of 1470 ± 310 cells (n = 5); thus, based on evidence of clonal expansion (see below), we calculated that spheres resulted from a minimum of 10 cell divisions in 2 weeks. Sphere epithelium maintained KRT19 protein expression and a polarized monolayer as indicated by apical localization of CD133 (Figure 2A, Figure 2—figure supplement 1A,D). Neither acinar (CPA1) nor islet endocrine (CHGA and insulin C-peptide) markers were detectable (Figure 3C and data not shown), suggesting epithelial cells in cultured spheres maintained ductal characteristics.
To assess whether sphere growth was achieved by cell proliferation or by other mechanisms like cell migration and aggregation, we analyzed spheres by immunostaining and time-lapse imaging. Immunohistochemistry revealed the proliferation marker Ki-67 in more than 25% of cells comprising 2-week-old spheres (Figure 2A, Figure 2—figure supplement 1B; labeling index 26.5 ± 5.1%), data further supported by detection of a second proliferation marker, phospho-histone H3 (Figure 2A). Time-lapse imaging revealed that spheres arose from single cells (Figure 2B), providing strong evidence that sphere formation resulted from CD133+ ductal cell proliferation, rather than through cell migration and aggregation. Enzymatic dispersion of 2-week-old G1 spheres and subsequent culture revealed that the spheres can be passaged up to seven generations (G7, 3 months) and that the total number of cells increased with each generation (Figure 2C,D, Figure 2—figure supplement 1C). After G7, ductal cell expansion was not achieved, and the spheres were not formed (Figure 2—figure supplement 1C and data not shown), supporting the view that ductal epithelial cells are not immortalized, and consistent with the origin of pancreatic cells from donors without neoplasia.
Neurog3 converts pancreatic duct cells into progeny expressing islet hormones
The endocrine potential of human or mouse pancreatic ductal cells remains controversial. To investigate the potential of purified human pancreatic ductal cells to achieve an endocrine fate, we used an adenovirus-mediated transgenic system. Neurog3 is a transcription factor necessary and sufficient for pancreatic endocrine cell differentiation in vivo (Gradwohl et al., 2000; Gu et al., 2002) and, combined with other factors, can induce pancreatic acinar-to-islet cell conversion in mice (Zhou et al., 2008). To test if Neurog3expression could respecify human duct cells toward an endocrine fate, we infected cultured spheres as well as primary CD133+ cells with recombinant adenovirus co-expressing red fluorescent protein and Neurog3(Ad-RFP-Neurog3), and assessed changes in gene expression by qRT-PCR (Figure 3A–C and 4C).Neurog3 induced the expression of NEUROD1, INSM1, and RFX6 (Figure 3C), genes whose mouse homologs are known direct targets of Neurog3 in pancreas development (Mellitzer et al., 2006; Smith et al., 2010). Ad-RFP-Neurog3 infection induced expression of the pan-endocrine markers chromogranin A (CHGA) and synaptophysin in both primary CD133+ duct cells and cultured spheres (Figures 3C and 4C, and data not shown). Ad-RFP-Neurog3 infection also induced expression of mRNA encoding PAX4 and NKX2.2, transcriptional regulators of pancreatic endocrine cell fate (Sosa-Pineda et al., 1997; Sussel et al., 1998), and mRNA encoding crucial β-cell factors such as the prohormone processing enzymes PCSK1(PC1/3) and PCSK2 (PC2), KATP channel components KCNJ11 (KIR6.2) and ABCC8 (SUR1), and glucokinase (GCK) (Figure 4D). Moreover, Ad-RFP-Neurog3 significantly induced mRNA encoding the pancreatic hormones ghrelin and somatostatin, but not mRNAs encoding insulin, glucagon, PPY or the intestinal hormones cholecystokinin and gastrin (Figures 3C and 4D, Figure 4—figure supplement 1A, and data not shown). These findings support the conclusion that human adult pancreatic ductal cells harbor pancreatic endocrine potential upon induction of Neurog3.
Immunostaining confirmed these qRT-PCR findings and demonstrated that only RFP+ cells produced by Ad-RFP-Neurog3 infection were immunostained with antibodies recognizing NEUROD1, NKX2.2, CHGA, SST or GHRL (Figure 3B,D, Figure 3—figure supplement 1). We also confirmed that no insulin-, glucagon- or PPY-positive cells were observed by immunostaining (data not shown). While only a subset of cells infected with Ad-RFP-Neurog3 (RFP+) expressed CHGA, we noted all GHRL+ or SST+ cells co-expressed CHGA (Figure 3D). Quantification of CHGA+ and hormone+ cells revealed that 30% of infected cells (RFP+) expressed CHGA. At least 45% of CHGA+ cells produced SST or GHRL, and less than 2% of CHGA+ cells expressed both hormones (Figure 3D,E). Thus, Neurog3 expression efficiently converted primary human ductal cells and cultured ductal epithelial spheres into hormone-expressing cells with cardinal features of endocrine pancreas.
In mice, Neurog3 gene dosage can determine commitment between exocrine and endocrine lineages in pancreas development (Wang et al., 2010). Therefore, we next assessed the possibility that the 70% of RFP+cells infected by Ad-RFP-Neurog3 failing to express CHGA may have achieved inadequate levels of Neurog3 expression. We fractionated cells produced by Ad-RFP-Neurog3 infection by RFP intensity and measured mRNA expression of Neurog3, CHGA, SST and GHRL by qRT-PCR (Figure 3F,G). We found that cell fractions with the highest levels of RFP expression (‘P4 and P5’, Figure 3F) had the highest levels of mouse Neurog3 mRNA, and only these cell fractions produced mRNA encoding CHGA, SST or GHRL (Figure 3G). These data suggest that relatively high threshold levels of Neurog3 may be necessary and sufficient for directing endocrine differentiation of human pancreatic cells.
Conversion of pancreatic duct cells into progeny that produce, process, and store insulin
The transcription factors MafA, Neurog3, and Pdx1 (a combination hereafter summarized as ‘MNP’) were sufficient to convert adult mouse acinar cells into insulin-producing cells (IPCs: Zhou et al., 2008). We constructed three adenoviruses expressing MafA, Neurog3, or Pdx1 (see ‘Materials and methods’; Figure 4A), and infected cultured spheres with this MNP combination. Within 5 days after infection, we reproducibly detected INS mRNA induction but at extremely low levels relative to adult human islet controls (0.0035 ± 0.0012% of islet levels; Figure 4B). Thus, we sought additional factors and discovered that mRNA encoding PAX6, an important regulator of mouse pancreatic endocrine cell development (Sander et al., 1997), was induced by MNP to only 0.03% of levels in control islets (Figure 4—figure supplement 1A). When combined with MafA, Neurog3, and Pdx1 (encoded in four viruses, ‘4V’), Pax6 induced INS expression in primary CD133+ ductal cells or spheres by over 30-fold relative to MNP (Figure 4A,C,D). We observed ductal conversion to IPCs with four consecutive, independent donors (INS, Figure 4D). We also detected substantially increased expression of other islet endocrine markers, including SST, GCK, PCSK1, KCNJ11, and ABCC8 (Figure 4D). Immunohistochemical analyses demonstrated that the number of Insulin+ cells was increased by 18 to 20-fold in spheres transduced by the four factor combination (4V) compared to the MNP combination (Figure 4F,G). ELISA studies quantified and confirmed this increase of proinsulin levels, showing that the spheres derived from 4V exposure contained proinsulin levels that averaged 0.7% of those in human islets (Figure 5E). Systematic removal of individual factors from this four virus combination revealed that omission of Neurog3 prevented expression of INS, CHGA or SST (Figure 4E). Omission of virus expressing MafA or Pax6 from this combination significantly reduced INS expression (Figure 4E–G), whereas omission of virus expressing Pdx1 did not significantly decrease INS expression. Thus, Neurog3-mediated endocrine cell conversion is required for the production of IPCs as well as other hormone-producing cells from ductal spheres.
love letter | akashi seijuro
“Hello Satsuki.” Akashi held a luxurious phone to his ear, sitting upright in a black, leather office chair. Even his greetings reeked of dominant authority.
“Huh… Oh! It's Sei-chan!” It took a moment to decipher the low, male voice, but it no doubt had the delivery only Akashi could manage. Momoi even wanted to add, ‘I almost thought you were a serial killer,’ but wisely thought better. “What's up?”
There was a pause on the other end. “I have a favour. I just finished writing a love letter to (F/N) and I wa–”
“A love letter!” She shrieked. To be honest, it was pretty old-fashioned, but it somewhat suited Akashi. “How did (F/N) respond? Was it a yes?!” A blabber of questions escaped her mouth. Momoi always suspected Akashi’s crush on you, but never dwelled on it for too long. Perhaps it was the yandere yearning eyes that blew his cover, or the threats of murder because look at those damn scissors you can kill a bear with them jealousy whenever another male lay eyes on you.
The Rakuzan Captain narrowed his mismatched colour eyes in slight annoyance from the interruption, but continued on. “I haven't given it yet. That's why I want you to judge it.”
He could hear a light chuckle on the other end. “Of course! I'd be glad to.” And Momoi meant it. She would provide any amounts of advice after he was done reading.
Akashi was already smoothing out several sheets of paper from his pocket, positioning the phone between his shoulder and ear. “Very well…” Akashi said. He cleared his throat before finally beginning.
“It is with the greatest effervescence of heart that–”
“Woah! Woah! Woah!” Momoi blared over the phone. “Hold it there! Bring it back, bring it back. What on earth is ‘effortence’ ?!” The pink-haired girl asked incredulously, her plan of feedback after it was finished suddenly forgotten. Akashi blinked twice, puzzled at her reaction.
“It means lightness in spirit.” He elaborated. “Also, it's effervescence, not effortence.”
Momoi ignored the last part. “Then why don't you say ‘lightness in spirit’? And what's with your wording? It sounds more like a funeral than a love letter.”
Akashi, too, ignored the last part. He didn't even budge at her blunt words. Personally, he was quite fond of the format and structure of his writing, not to mention the colourful language he used. “That would be too platitudinous, I would say.”
Momoi’s eyebrows shot up. First effervescence, and now platitudinous, the Tōō manager thought. She paused to gather her thoughts so not to offend Akashi, treading gingerly over thin ice. “Look, Sei-chan. Maybe you should make your love letter,” emphasizing heavily on the two words, “a little more understandable?”
“Nonsense.” Akashi challenged. The redhead dismissed her suggestion with the wave of a hand. “(F/N) is an intelligent person.”
Momoi slumped back into her seat, sighing exasperatedly as she switched hands on the phone. “I doubt that you're righ-”
“I always win.” Akashi said almost immediately, cutting off the last word. “Therefore, I am always right.”
Momoi rolled her eyes. “I've heard this too many times. This is why people seriously question your mentality.”
“Are you defying me?” Akashi said, raising an eyebrow. A look of bewilderment and vexation crossed Momoi’s features, followed by a flimsy hand gesture. This conversation is getting nowhere, she thought. She even nearly forgot the very reason for this phone call.
A deep sigh escaped her mouth. “No I'm not, Sei-chan. Just get on with it.” Momoi said. After all, it was futile arguing with Akashi. “Let's here more of your love letter. How long is it?” Momoi guessed roughly a page or two.
“38 pages.”
She choked on her own spit. But before she could protest, Akashi already begun talking, and didn't plan on stopping until the end.
“It is with the greatest effervescence of heart that this composed letter of liaison has reached your illustrious presence on the most auspicious of felicitous zeniths to render affection to one of the most revered and cherished companion of my youthful years.” Akashi read it out loud as though it was a piece of literature that could rival Shakespeare.
“Good grief.” Momoi muttered, preparing for a long, platitudinous night.
“Huh… Oh! It's Sei-chan!” It took a moment to decipher the low, male voice, but it no doubt had the delivery only Akashi could manage. Momoi even wanted to add, ‘I almost thought you were a serial killer,’ but wisely thought better. “What's up?”
There was a pause on the other end. “I have a favour. I just finished writing a love letter to (F/N) and I wa–”
“A love letter!” She shrieked. To be honest, it was pretty old-fashioned, but it somewhat suited Akashi. “How did (F/N) respond? Was it a yes?!” A blabber of questions escaped her mouth. Momoi always suspected Akashi’s crush on you, but never dwelled on it for too long. Perhaps it was the yandere yearning eyes that blew his cover, or the threats of murder because look at those damn scissors you can kill a bear with them jealousy whenever another male lay eyes on you.
The Rakuzan Captain narrowed his mismatched colour eyes in slight annoyance from the interruption, but continued on. “I haven't given it yet. That's why I want you to judge it.”
He could hear a light chuckle on the other end. “Of course! I'd be glad to.” And Momoi meant it. She would provide any amounts of advice after he was done reading.
Akashi was already smoothing out several sheets of paper from his pocket, positioning the phone between his shoulder and ear. “Very well…” Akashi said. He cleared his throat before finally beginning.
“It is with the greatest effervescence of heart that–”
“Woah! Woah! Woah!” Momoi blared over the phone. “Hold it there! Bring it back, bring it back. What on earth is ‘effortence’ ?!” The pink-haired girl asked incredulously, her plan of feedback after it was finished suddenly forgotten. Akashi blinked twice, puzzled at her reaction.
“It means lightness in spirit.” He elaborated. “Also, it's effervescence, not effortence.”
Momoi ignored the last part. “Then why don't you say ‘lightness in spirit’? And what's with your wording? It sounds more like a funeral than a love letter.”
Akashi, too, ignored the last part. He didn't even budge at her blunt words. Personally, he was quite fond of the format and structure of his writing, not to mention the colourful language he used. “That would be too platitudinous, I would say.”
Momoi’s eyebrows shot up. First effervescence, and now platitudinous, the Tōō manager thought. She paused to gather her thoughts so not to offend Akashi, treading gingerly over thin ice. “Look, Sei-chan. Maybe you should make your love letter,” emphasizing heavily on the two words, “a little more understandable?”
“Nonsense.” Akashi challenged. The redhead dismissed her suggestion with the wave of a hand. “(F/N) is an intelligent person.”
Momoi slumped back into her seat, sighing exasperatedly as she switched hands on the phone. “I doubt that you're righ-”
“I always win.” Akashi said almost immediately, cutting off the last word. “Therefore, I am always right.”
Momoi rolled her eyes. “I've heard this too many times. This is why people seriously question your mentality.”
“Are you defying me?” Akashi said, raising an eyebrow. A look of bewilderment and vexation crossed Momoi’s features, followed by a flimsy hand gesture. This conversation is getting nowhere, she thought. She even nearly forgot the very reason for this phone call.
A deep sigh escaped her mouth. “No I'm not, Sei-chan. Just get on with it.” Momoi said. After all, it was futile arguing with Akashi. “Let's here more of your love letter. How long is it?” Momoi guessed roughly a page or two.
“38 pages.”
She choked on her own spit. But before she could protest, Akashi already begun talking, and didn't plan on stopping until the end.
“It is with the greatest effervescence of heart that this composed letter of liaison has reached your illustrious presence on the most auspicious of felicitous zeniths to render affection to one of the most revered and cherished companion of my youthful years.” Akashi read it out loud as though it was a piece of literature that could rival Shakespeare.
“Good grief.” Momoi muttered, preparing for a long, platitudinous night.
Male & Female Anime: Fans find it Annoying
Biglobe's Anime Rankings asked female Fans which female character aggravates them most and male Fans which male character annoys them most. Some heinous villains made the list. So did some weak and/or irritating protagonist. So did a number of characters generally regarded as Fan favorites.
Female on Female (17,764 votes)
1. Bleach's Inoue Orihime
2. Gintama's Tsukuyo
3. Haruhi Suzumiya
4. Sword Art Online's Asuna
5. Madoka Magica's Homura Akemi
6. Listen to Me, Girls. I Am Your Father!'s Hina Takanashi
7. Bakemonogatari's Nadeko Sengoku
8. A Certain Scientific Railgun's Mikoto Misaka 9. K-On!'s Yui Hirasawa
10. Hyōka's Eru Chitanda
11. Kill Me Baby's Yasuna Oribe
12. Familiar of Zero's Louise
13. Toradora's Taiga Aisaka
14. Macross F's Sheryl Nome
15. Fate/stay night's Saber
16. Evangelion's Asuka Langley Shikinami
17. Madoka Magica's Sayaka Miki
18. Inu x Boku SS' Ririchiyo Shirakiin
19. Nyarko-san
20. Blue Exorcist's Shiemi Moriyama
21. Gundam SEED Destiny's Lacus Clyne
22. Smile Precure's Yayoi Kise
23. Mobile Suit Gundam's 0083's Nina Purpleton
24. Gundam SEED Destiny's Cagalli Yula Athha 25. YuruYuri's Sakurako Ohmuro
26. K-On!'s Mio Akiyama
27. Naruto's Sakura Haruno
28. A Certain Magical Index's Index
29. Hakuōki's Chizuru Yukimura
30. Squid Girl
31. YuruYuri's Akarin
32. Sailor Moon
33. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha's Fate Testarossa
34. (tie) Magic Kaito's Aoko Nakamori
34. (tie) My Neighbor Totoro's Me Kusakabe
36. To Love-Ru's Lala Satalin Deviluke
37. Yu-Gi-Oh's Kotori Mizuki
38. (tie) Joshiraku's Uzannu Uzattei
38. (tie)Taisho Baseball Girls' Akiko Ogasawara 40. (tie) Detective Conan's Sonoko Suzuki
40. (tie) Kuroko's Basketball's Satsuki Momoi 42. Another's Mei Misaki
43. Macross F's Ranka Lee
44. K-On!'s Azusa Nakano
45. A Certain Scientific Railgun's Ruiko Saten 46. Idolmaster: Xenoglossia's Haruka Amami 47. Clannad: After Story's Sanae Furukawa
48. Detective Conan's Ayumi Yoshida
49. Dragon Ball's Lunch
50. Tiger & Bunny's Karina Lyle/Blue Ro
--
Male on Male (9371 votes)
1. School Days' Makoto Itou
2. Accel World's Haruyuki Arita
3. Sword Art Online's Kirito
4. A Certain Scientific Railgun's Toma Kamijo
5. To Love-Ru's Riko Yuusaki
6.IS 's Ichika Orimura
7. Gundam SEED Destiny's Shinn Asuka
8. Hyōka's Satoshi Fukube
9. GundamA GE's Flit Asuno
10. Nyarko-san's Hastur
11. Gintama's Okita Sogo
12. (tie) Kuroko's Basketball's Taiga Kagami
12. (tie) Blue Exorcist's Rin Okumura
14. Toriko 1)
15. Gundam SEED Destiny's Athrun Zala
16. (tie) Gundam 00's Setsuna F. Seiei
16. (tie) Fate/stay night's Shiro Emiy
18. Code Geass' Lelouch
19. The World Only God Know's Keima Katsuragi
20. Gintama's Kamui
21. Highschool DxD's Issei Hyodo
22. Kimi ni Todoke's Kazehaya Shota
23. Gintama's Gintoki Sakata
24. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei's Nozomu Itoshiki
25. Death Note's Light Yagami
26. One Piece's Franky
27. Detective Conan's Kaito Kuroba
28. Blue Exorcist's Yukio Okumura
29. Gundam SEED Destiny's Kira Yamato
30. Persona 4's Yu Narukami
31. Hayate the Combat Butler's Hayate Ayasaki
32. Gurren Lagainn's Simon
33. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig's Kazundo Goda
34. Baccano's Jacuzzi Splott
35. Natsume's Book of Friends' Shuichi Natori
36. Naruto's Kiba Inuzuka
37. Kokoro Connect's Taichi Yaegashi
38. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure's Dio Brando
39. Gintama's Ayumu Tojo
40 Tiger & Bunny's Barnaby Brooks Jr
--
certainly these are interesting results as i knew the first-placers were hated but i am suprised. Kaito kuruba? Aisaka taiga? Yui hirasawa? Ayumi Yoshida? hah!
Female on Female (17,764 votes)
1. Bleach's Inoue Orihime
2. Gintama's Tsukuyo
3. Haruhi Suzumiya
4. Sword Art Online's Asuna
5. Madoka Magica's Homura Akemi
6. Listen to Me, Girls. I Am Your Father!'s Hina Takanashi
7. Bakemonogatari's Nadeko Sengoku
8. A Certain Scientific Railgun's Mikoto Misaka 9. K-On!'s Yui Hirasawa
10. Hyōka's Eru Chitanda
11. Kill Me Baby's Yasuna Oribe
12. Familiar of Zero's Louise
13. Toradora's Taiga Aisaka
14. Macross F's Sheryl Nome
15. Fate/stay night's Saber
16. Evangelion's Asuka Langley Shikinami
17. Madoka Magica's Sayaka Miki
18. Inu x Boku SS' Ririchiyo Shirakiin
19. Nyarko-san
20. Blue Exorcist's Shiemi Moriyama
21. Gundam SEED Destiny's Lacus Clyne
22. Smile Precure's Yayoi Kise
23. Mobile Suit Gundam's 0083's Nina Purpleton
24. Gundam SEED Destiny's Cagalli Yula Athha 25. YuruYuri's Sakurako Ohmuro
26. K-On!'s Mio Akiyama
27. Naruto's Sakura Haruno
28. A Certain Magical Index's Index
29. Hakuōki's Chizuru Yukimura
30. Squid Girl
31. YuruYuri's Akarin
32. Sailor Moon
33. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha's Fate Testarossa
34. (tie) Magic Kaito's Aoko Nakamori
34. (tie) My Neighbor Totoro's Me Kusakabe
36. To Love-Ru's Lala Satalin Deviluke
37. Yu-Gi-Oh's Kotori Mizuki
38. (tie) Joshiraku's Uzannu Uzattei
38. (tie)Taisho Baseball Girls' Akiko Ogasawara 40. (tie) Detective Conan's Sonoko Suzuki
40. (tie) Kuroko's Basketball's Satsuki Momoi 42. Another's Mei Misaki
43. Macross F's Ranka Lee
44. K-On!'s Azusa Nakano
45. A Certain Scientific Railgun's Ruiko Saten 46. Idolmaster: Xenoglossia's Haruka Amami 47. Clannad: After Story's Sanae Furukawa
48. Detective Conan's Ayumi Yoshida
49. Dragon Ball's Lunch
50. Tiger & Bunny's Karina Lyle/Blue Ro
--
Male on Male (9371 votes)
1. School Days' Makoto Itou
2. Accel World's Haruyuki Arita
3. Sword Art Online's Kirito
4. A Certain Scientific Railgun's Toma Kamijo
5. To Love-Ru's Riko Yuusaki
6.IS 's Ichika Orimura
7. Gundam SEED Destiny's Shinn Asuka
8. Hyōka's Satoshi Fukube
9. GundamA GE's Flit Asuno
10. Nyarko-san's Hastur
11. Gintama's Okita Sogo
12. (tie) Kuroko's Basketball's Taiga Kagami
12. (tie) Blue Exorcist's Rin Okumura
14. Toriko 1)
15. Gundam SEED Destiny's Athrun Zala
16. (tie) Gundam 00's Setsuna F. Seiei
16. (tie) Fate/stay night's Shiro Emiy
18. Code Geass' Lelouch
19. The World Only God Know's Keima Katsuragi
20. Gintama's Kamui
21. Highschool DxD's Issei Hyodo
22. Kimi ni Todoke's Kazehaya Shota
23. Gintama's Gintoki Sakata
24. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei's Nozomu Itoshiki
25. Death Note's Light Yagami
26. One Piece's Franky
27. Detective Conan's Kaito Kuroba
28. Blue Exorcist's Yukio Okumura
29. Gundam SEED Destiny's Kira Yamato
30. Persona 4's Yu Narukami
31. Hayate the Combat Butler's Hayate Ayasaki
32. Gurren Lagainn's Simon
33. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig's Kazundo Goda
34. Baccano's Jacuzzi Splott
35. Natsume's Book of Friends' Shuichi Natori
36. Naruto's Kiba Inuzuka
37. Kokoro Connect's Taichi Yaegashi
38. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure's Dio Brando
39. Gintama's Ayumu Tojo
40 Tiger & Bunny's Barnaby Brooks Jr
--
certainly these are interesting results as i knew the first-placers were hated but i am suprised. Kaito kuruba? Aisaka taiga? Yui hirasawa? Ayumi Yoshida? hah!
Just Write Me An Article Already
“What do I have to do to get an interview with this guy?” Momoi muttered to herself as she paced around her office, bluetooth attached to her ear, but no longer speaking to anyone on it, as Aomine walked in.
"Interview? With who?" Aomine lazily drawled.
“Oh, look who’s on time.” She glanced at Aomine before returning to her pacing, tapping away on her phone. “Kuroko Tetsuya. He’s a reporter with a large following, and this is my third time trying to get you an interview with him, but he keeps on turning me down. He didn’t even answer his phone this time!”
Aomine was personally offended, "Why not? Everyone wants to interview me. I'm great!" He turned down a lot of interviews with people, but no one turned down interviews with him. Everyone wanted the latest news on the Aomine Daiki.
“Well, he doesn’t.” She glared at Aomine. “Your turn. You convince him to write about you.”
Aomine arched a brow, "How do you expect me to if you can't convince him to? You want me to walk around his house naked or something?"
“If that gets you an article, sure, I really don’t care what you do, just do something.” She answered.
Aomine hadn't expected that. He'd been expecting something more along the lines of 'you're going to get arrested' or 'no one would want to see it,’ which was a lie, everyone would totally want to. "Why’s this guy so important anyway? I've done tons of interviews."
She sighed, finally stopping her pacing to sit on her desk. “Kuroko Tetsuya has one of the largest followings of any celebrity journalist. He’s very picky about who he will interview, and is known for writing very honestly. It doesn’t hurt his popularity that he’s pretty attractive too. He gives his opinion at the end of his articles instead of mixing it in with the facts, and doesn’t sensationalize the facts or make things up like many journalists do. He’s also all over the place in what kind of celebrities he writes about, so he’s got fans of all different types, which means that getting an article from him exposes you to a whole new group of people. And he has no interest in writing about you.”
"Well why the hell not? I'm pretty fucking great." Aomine was still offended that someone didn't find him interesting enough to want to write about him.
“I don’t know. He just told me that he was very sorry but he wasn’t interested enough in writing about you to make time in his schedule for it.” She said with a shrug.
"What exactly about me isn't interesting?" He really didn't get it, most people found openly queer celebrities to be pretty damn interesting. His few scandals were another topic altogether. "This guy's probably just being an ass," he grumbled.
“Possibly.” She shrugged again. “But it doesn’t matter. I want you to get an article from him, so you’re going to make it happen.”
Aomine really couldn't see how he would if the guy already said no to Satsuki. She was a lot better at smooth talking people into things than he was. "I don't think I can if the guy’s as stubborn as you."
"You're going to try anyway. I don't care how, but you are because I am not losing to him. We are getting you an article."
"So this is more a fight between you and him over me. Great," Aomine sighed. "I'll think of something. Maybe," Aomine spoke over his shoulder, already turning to leave.
"No maybes. You will think of something." And then her eyes lit up with an idea. "I mentioned he's attractive, right?" She knew Aomine's type so she quickly pulled up a picture of him on the internet on her phone and showed it to Aomine. Hopefully he'd feel more inclined to spend time around Kuroko after seeing him.
Aomine's lips grew into a grin at the picture. The guy was really hot. Forcing himself out of being distracted, he looked back up at Momoi, "So he's hot. What about it?"
"From what I've heard he's also gay. It's too bad you can't spend any time around him, say like in an interview for instance, where you could potentially convince him to hook up with you." She said loftily.
Aomine narrowed his eyes at her, "Showing me that he's hot doesn't mean he'll be convinced to give me an interview just so I can get his ass."
"No." She agreed and grinned at him. "But it motivates you to try." She scrolled further through pictures of Kuroko until she found one from the back. "Speaking of his ass..." She held out her phone again.
To say Aomine was more than a little interested now would have been an understatement. "Okay! I got it. Get an interview with this guy and I can try to get his ass." Aomine still really wasn't sure how though.
Momoi smiled brightly at him. It was almost too easy, really, getting Aomine to do what she wanted. "Good. Then you're free to go." She replied, pocketing her phone.
Aomine turned to leave, going through ideas of how to get this guy to give him an interview. He shrugged to himself, he’d think of something eventually, for now he had other obligations he had to get to, obligations that he hoped Momoi would never find out about unless he wanted to be teased for days.
Aomine spent about half a day checking with people he knew who knew Kuroko to find out where the guy spent most of his time off work. He was pointed towards a small coffee shop by three different people, which is where he sat at the moment, waiting for the reporter to show up. It was somewhat creepy now that he thought about it, but too little too late, he guessed.
Kuroko noticed Aomine immediately when he walked into the shop, but didn't give him a second glance as he walked up to the counter and ordered his usual vanilla latte.
Aomine was immediately by Kuroko’s side, giving him his most charming smile. “Hey, so I’ve been told you do really good interviews.”
"And I've told your manager that I do not wish to write about you, Aomine-san." Kuroko answered, taking his drink and moving to a table.
“Yeah...” Aomine mused following Kuroko, “And I’ve been told to try and convince you to change your mind.”
"I have a business phone. Feel free to try to contact me during work hours." Kuroko sighed as he noticed Aomine was following him.
“Why would I do that, when seeing you now has the bonus of getting to stare at you and you getting to stare at me?” His charming smile grew into a smirk as he openly let his eyes roam over Kuroko.
Kuroko narrowed his eyes at Aomine. "No thank you." He then pulled out a book and hoped that Aomine would take the hint.
“Why not? I’m hot and bi, you’re hot and gay, sounds like the best combo to me.”
"No thank you." He repeated, starting to read.
Aomine frowned at Kuroko openly ignoring him. He could see why Momoi pushed the job of convincing Kuroko onto him. This guy was stubborn and apparently was not going to fall for Aomine’s attempts to get an interview or to get him in bed. “What’s wrong with just a little interview in bed? I think that sounds pretty great,” Aomine tried again.
Kuroko glanced up at him, meeting Aomine's eyes. "Aomine-san. You are bothering me. Please go away." And then he looked back down at his book.
Aomine heaved a loud sigh, but conceded for now. He could see his current method wasn’t getting him anywhere. “Fine, but expect to see me again soon,” He grumbled.
"You sound creepy when you say things like that. Avoid it in the future. A simple "see you around" sounds more casual and less like a threat." Kuroko advised absent mindedly.
Aomine didn’t give Kuroko a response, he simply turned towards the door with a half hearted wave and left. He definitely needed to think of a new approach.
Aomine was finishing up his performance for the day’s special event at the mall, when he spotted Kuroko in the crowd. Not taking more than a second to grab a towel to wipe his sweat once he was done, he headed straight towards Kuroko greeting him with a smile, “Hey, didn’t think this would be where I’d run into you.”
"I come to most of these events for my job, and since it's getting close to the holiday season I figured I would do my shopping after all of the performances finished." Kuroko answered.
Aomine nodded more to show he was listening than anything else, “So what did you think?”
"You did well. I think you seem to have attracted the most fans for the event." Kuroko glanced around and shifted uncomfortably as he noticed a lot of eyes on the two of them.
Aomine followed his line of vision, “Oh, yeah… I guess. I thought it was a pretty even split in fans for me and Kise.” Not that he didn’t understand. Kise usually drew a crowd wherever he went. “You wanna duck outta sight from them or something?”
"I'm assuming that you're hoping to tag along?" Kuroko asked, arching an eyebrow. "It wouldn't be very out of sight of they're looking because you're here."
“Suit yourself,” Aomine shrugged, “We can totally just stay here in the middle of the crowd.” Aomine was trying to hold back his laughter at Kuroko’s discomfort.
"Or I could go and you could stay here and distract them." Kuroko suggested.
“Now where’s the fun in that?” Aomine did figure that it was probably about time to leave. A handful of the fans looked just about ready to jump him.
"We don't get mobbed by your fans. That's where the fun is." Kuroko replied.
“No, you don’t get mobbed by my fans. You walking away is just leaving me as sharkbait.” He made a side glance at what was ‘backstage’. It would give them a bit of a break from the fans but not that much considering it was set up in the middle of the mall.
"I'll manage to live with the guilt somehow." Kuroko replied, turning with every intention of leaving Aomine to his fans.
Aomine simply chased after him, resting his arm on Kuroko’s shoulder. “Don’t think you’re getting rid of me that easily. If I die you’re going down with me.”
Kuroko ducked out from under the arm. "I'd rather not be associated with your death."
“You would have gone down bravely,” Aomine snickered.
"That is where you are wrong. I would have pushed you into the mob and made a run for it." Kuroko told him.
“You would have tried,” Aomine corrected. It was starting to quiet down somewhat, the both of them having walked a bit of a distance away from the crowd and fans. He supposed it was lucky that none of the fans followed after them.
"I think in a desperate enough situation I could manage to push you." Kuroko said, sizing Aomine up with a calculating expression.
“Can’t push away something that plans to pull you down.”
"I think you'll find you are incorrect."
“Really?” Aomine arched an eyebrow, wrapping his arm around Kuroko’s shoulders to challenge him.
Kuroko shrugged. "It's your own fault of you get in trouble for bruises." And that was the only warning he gave before jabbing Aomine in the side with his elbow and stepping away from him, the slightest glint of amusement showing in his eyes.
Aomine let out a loud yelp with a slight jump. “Okay, so you proved your point. Kinda,” Aomine muttered holding his side. “You’ve also got boney elbows.”
"And you have a hard stomach. It wasn't exactly pleasant for my elbow either." Kuroko replied.
“I thought that would’ve been obvious with how many pictures of me shirtless there are.” Aomine pointed towards one they passed by, displayed on a store window as an ‘advertisement for pants’.
"I'm not saying that I was surprised. You can see my elbows right now. Your statement shouldn't have been a surprise either." Kuroko held up his elbow to prove his point, before walking into a store across from the one where Aomine was apparently selling pants.
Aomine continued to follow him, looking around the store Kuroko just entered, “You need to get something?”
"I told you, I'm trying to do my holiday shopping." He glanced over at Aomine. "I'd prefer if I could do it without someone following me around."
Aomine simply smiled cheekily, “I got nothing better to do so you’re stuck with me until Satsuki finds me.”
Kuroko sighed, but if telling him to leave and elbowing him hadn't worked he wasn't sure what else to do, so he simply went about his shopping.
Aomine continued to look around the store. He supposed he should start looking for presents too. He only ever bought gifts for his parents and Momoi so he usually left it until a few days before Christmas. Although he wasn't sure he was going to buy anything from this store, especially not for Momoi.“You buying something for your mom or something?” He honestly wasn't sure who else Kuroko could be shopping for in a kitchen appliances shop.
"Huh? No, for my friend." His mother was a terrible cook. It would be almost mean to get her cooking supplies.
Aomine looked at Kuroko incredulously, “You have a friend that can cook?” Aomine wasn’t sure he knew anyone who could actually cook well. At best they could make something not terribly.
"Yes. Kagami Taiga. You've probably met him." Kuroko took a few pictures on his phone, sending them to Himuro for his opinion on what was better since Kuroko didn't know much more about cooking than a few basic dishes that Kagami had taught him. "Actually, weren't you the guy he got into a fist fight with a few years ago?" Kuroko asked, looking at Aomine curiously.
Aomine wasn’t sure how surprising this new revelation was to him, considering the one unfortunate time he had run into Kagami while he was in the middle of a meal. “I always wondered how he managed to feed himself with how much he eats. I thought he just killed take out places one by one for every meal.”
“He does that too. I can't tell if Maji Burger loves him for the business or hates him for draining their supplies.” Kuroko answered.
“That I believe more than Kagami being able to cook. Can he actually cook though? Like does his food come out edible but not great like Kise’s?” At least it was still better than when he or Momoi tried to cook. Aomine, somehow, was capable of burning anything he put over the stove while Momoi just simply didn’t understand the concept of ‘following a recipe’.
“He can actually cook, and it turns out quite good.” Kuroko answered, checking his phone to see Himuro’s reply and picking up a few things.
Aomine was about to respond but his stomach interrupted with a loud growl. “Uh… Speaking of food, you want some? I’ll buy.”
Kuroko looked over at Aomine with mild surprise. “Why?” He asked with a tilt of his head. He was doubting he was going to lose Aomine any time soon, but if he was just going to be pestered for an interview like the last time he’d run into Aomine then he didn’t want to owe him anything by letting the other buy him food.
“I dunno,” Aomine shrugged, “This could be a date, me trying to get that article from you or it could just be me being nice.”
“Pick one.” Kuroko replied, walking towards the counter to pay for Kagami’s kitchenware.
“How about we start with being nice?” Although Aomine would have preferred either of the other two, he didn’t think Kuroko thought the same.
Kuroko eyed him suspiciously for a moment before nodding. “Okay.” He agreed, turning to face Aomine when he had his things. “Where are we eating?”
Again, Aomine shrugged, “I’m good with anything. You got any preferences?”
“I like the shakes at Maji Burger.” Kuroko offered.
Aomine’s eyes lit up a bit at the mention, “Really? ‘Cause they also have the best teriyaki burgers.” He was silently glad that Kuroko wasn’t pretentious enough to not like fast food.
“I think they have one in this mall…” Kuroko tried to think of where. He didn’t go to the mall very often.
“I know where it is.” Aomine had been in and out of this mall for the past two weeks getting ready for the special event so he’d pretty much memorized where the places he cared about were. He lead Kuroko to the other side of the mall, where the food court was. “Want anything other than a milkshake?” He asked as he got in line.
Kuroko shook his head. “No, just the milkshake is fine.” He replied.
Aomine nodded. He bought the food and sat down at a seat near the corner of the mall, trying to hide from the eyes on him. He handed Kuroko the milkshake and tore into his first burger, trying to keep his ‘table manners’ like Momoi always told him to out in public.
“Thank you, Aomine-kun.” Kuroko said when he was handed the milkshake and started sipping at it happily.
“You sure just the shake is enough?” Aomine eyed the shake skeptically. There was no way a medium milkshake could be filling in any way.
Kuroko shrugged. “I don’t need to eat that much. Just the shake is enough. But you aren’t alone in thinking that it’s not.” Kuroko thought about the countless times that Kagami had forced him to take one of his burgers.
“Well, yeah. Most people need to eat actual food to be full. Not just drink something.”
“You were the one that wanted to get food.” Kuroko pointed out. “All I wanted was a milkshake.” He sighed and stole one of Aomine’s fries. “Does this make you feel better?”
“That you’re eating? Yeah. That my fries are getting stolen? Not so much.” Despite his words, Aomine had a small grin on his face as he ate.
“You can't complain about me not eating and then complain when I take your food. You've got to pick one, Aomine-kun.” Kuroko replied, taking another fry.
Aomine simply waved his hand, letting Kuroko continue to eat his fries, “I’m good with the burgers. You can have some of my fries.”
Kuroko gave him a small smile and continued to steal fries between sips of his milkshake.
Aomine was pretty sure he was staring, but Kuroko had just smiled. This was the first time he’d ever seen Kuroko’s face do anything other than be blank or annoyed.
Kuroko glanced up and tilted his head. “You’re staring.” He commented.
“Huh?” Aomine blinked out of his dazed staring, “Oh, um… no I wasn’t?” He didn’t sound convincing even to his own ears.
“You were.” Kuroko said. “Why? Is there something on my face?”
“I wasn’t,” Aomine tried to argue, even if Kuroko could tell he was obviously lying, “And no your face is perfect...” Crap, he hadn’t meant to say it like that.
Kuroko blinked a few times, uncertain how to reply before he settled on laughing. “Thank you, I suppose. That’s certainly an interesting way to tell someone their face is clear.”
Aomine felt his face grow red as he redirected his gaze to the burger in his hands, “Yeah, well I still wasn’t staring.”
“You were.” Kuroko said simply, but started sipping at his milkshake again to let Aomine know that he’d let him drop it if he wanted to.
“Either way, I thought you knew I liked your face. I said you were hot,” Aomine grumbled around his burger, taking a big bite.
Kuroko shrugged. “You were also trying to convince me to write about you.”
“I don’t call people hot if I don’t mean it.” Aomine bunched up the wrapper for his finished burger and reached for his next one, taking another big bite to hide his embarrassment.
“Well then . . . thank you.” Kuroko said, not looking at Aomine.
They both sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, keeping their attention purely on their food and drink, until Aomine couldn’t take it anymore. “So… How ‘bout today’s weather? Crap right?” He said in an attempt to break the awkward silence.
“I kind of like when it’s cloudy like this. It’s not too hot and bright, but I don’t get drenched going outside.” Kuroko replied.
Aomine blinked a few times before bursting into laughter, “People usually don’t answer that. They usually end up laughing at me instead of the other way around.”
“I was trying to make conversation.” Kuroko muttered around the straw of his milkshake.
“Then, I like it when it’s cloudy too, but I like the rain,” Aomine managed to say after calming down his laughing.
“Rain is inconvenient. You have to change if you go out in it for too long because your clothes are wet, it makes it harder to see when people are driving, and it’s overused in romance and tragedy stories.” He looked at Aomine curiously. “So, why do you like it then?”
“It’s calming to watch,” Aomine shrugged, “I like falling asleep while watching it.”
“Ah, but then you’re watching it from inside. Would you like it as much standing out in it?”
“I wouldn’t mind being outside if I had an umbrella,” He thought about his statement for a second and then added, “Or maybe if I was with someone really hot.”
Kuroko rolled his eyes, not dignifying that with a response. He finished the last few sips of his milkshake and placed the cup down.
“What? You don’t think it’d be nice to see someone really hot all rain soaked with their clothes sticking to them and they’re all wet?” Aomine asked as he finished his last burger.
“They won’t be hot though. They’ll be shivering and cold.” Kuroko pointed out.
“Good reason to warm them up,” Aomine grinned suggestively.
“You won’t think it’s so great when you and the other person both catch colds.”
Aomine gathered the dirty wrappers onto his food tray and got up to head to the garbage can, “That’s what hot showers are for.”
“A shower doesn’t get rid of a cold, unless you know something about modern medicine that the rest of the world doesn’t.” Kuroko said, throwing away his cup, and picking up his bag from the kitchen store.
“A hot shower helps to stop a cold,” Aomine argued, dumping the trash into the garbage and placing the tray on top of it, “You wanna test this with me?” His suggestive grin grew into a smirk.
“No thank you. I don’t feel like catching a cold just for your attempts at flirting.” Kuroko replied.
“We don’t have to be out in the rain. Just would be nice if we were. Rain make outs are nice.” They walked side by side, not really paying attention to the stores they passed or the eyes on them when they walked by.
“They are wet and cold.” Kuroko argued. “I'm convinced the only reason they are a popular trope for romance is so that viewers can stare at people in clothes that are so wet they are practically see through on the actors.”
“Then how about we skip straight to the shower making out?” Aomine couldn’t really disagree with him though. The whole clothes sticking and see through thing was nice.
“Didn't I already reject you?” Kuroko replied.
Aomine shrugged, not too bothered by the rejection, having expected it. “Doesn’t hurt to try again, especially not when it’s someone as...” Aomine gave Kuroko a sidelong glance, “Nice as you.”
Kuroko almost laughed at the choice of words, considering he hadn't been all that nice to Aomine. “In the spirit of niceness then, thank you for buying my lunch for me, Aomine-kun.”
“A milkshake isn’t much of a lunch, but you’re welcome.” Aomine was planning on accompanying Kuroko for the rest of his christmas shopping until he heard his name being called by a very distinct voice from the end of the mall path.
“Dai-chan!” Momoi called out, furious. She had been looking for him for nearly an hour and a half.
“Shit!” He kept his face straight and put a hand on the small of Kuroko’s back to urge him to walk faster, “Keep walking and don’t look back.”
“Is that your manager?” Kuroko asked, obliging Aomine by walking faster.
“At this point she’s more like my second mom.” Aomine knew if Momoi caught up to them she was going to kill him. Or maybe smirk at him when she notices he’s with Kuroko. Either way, he didn’t want to find out what she would do.
“But she's already seen you. Wouldn't it be better to go see what she wants?” Kuroko asked, looking up at Aomine curiously.
Aomine violently shook his head, “I’m not waiting here to see how she’s gonna kill me.”
“She probably won't kill you in public. It might be better to see her here.” Kuroko suggested.
“She’d still rip me to shreds with just her yelling.” Aomine picked up his pace when he heard the sound of very familiar heels approaching them. He grabbed Kuroko’s hand, ready to run, until he felt a hand on his shoulder, with manicured nails digging into it.
“Dai-chan!” Momoi gritted out through her teeth, sickeningly sweet, “Where did you go for the past hour and a half?”
“I-uh-was with a friend?” Aomine tried, pointing at Kuroko, hoping that the fact he was with someone would lessen the blow.
Momoi turned her gaze to the blue haired man next to him that she only noticed once Aomine pointed to him. “Who is… Kuroko-san? I thought your first meeting with him blew up in your face.”
“Wow, thanks for the faith,” Aomine sarcastically grumbled out.
Kuroko contemplated just leaving Aomine to his fate, but Aomine still had his hand trapped. “He's been following me around since he saw me at the performance earlier.” Kuroko explained to her.
“No. He’s been following you around even though he knows he’s supposed to have left immediately after so we could plan out details for the next event.” She glared at Aomine. If this didn’t result in him getting an interview then she was really going to kill him.
“We don’t have to be there for like another hour! You just like getting to places stupidly early!” Aomine whined, keeping Kuroko’s hand in his, making sure he couldn’t run off and abandon him.
“Early is good! Traffic is terrible at this time of day!” She turned her sickly sweet smile onto Kuroko, “You wouldn’t mind if I drag him away now, would you?”
“Please do. He's starting to hurt my hand.” Kuroko answered, tugging it to emphasize his point.
Aomine was about to protest when Momoi kicked him in the back of the knees, causing him to fall down and let go of Kuroko’s hand, “Ow! What the fuck Satsuki!” He cradled his legs with an angry frown.
“Let’s go.” She pulled Aomine up and dragged him by the ear. “It was nice seeing you Kuroko-san,” She said curtly before turning to leave.
Kuroko stared after them with wide eyes, and he probably wasn't the only one judging by the many cell phones out recording Aomine getting dragged off by his manager. “Goodbye, Aomine-kun.” He gave a tiny wave.
“So, Dai-chan, what was happening there?” Momoi asked when she had him in the car.
“What do you mean what happened?” Aomine muttered, cradling his throbbing ear.
“I mean, do you have an interview, a date, a new friend. What happened?” She pressed.
“No interview, no date. Maybe new friend but that’s also kinda iffy. More like he somewhat tolerates me now and doesn’t completely hate me.” And in Aomine’s mind that wasn’t too bad. It was still getting somewhere.
Momoi smiled brightly. “Progress. When are you harassing him into liking you next then?”
“I don’t harrass him!” Aomine defended himself, offended that Momoi would accuse him of such a thing. “And today just kinda happened. It wasn’t planned. If it was, you wouldn’t have dragged me out of the mall.”
“Which is why I’m asking when the next time is so that I don’t have to drag you out of anywhere. I’m sure there's already video of you getting your ass kicked by a girl half your size going around the internet.” She told him, rolling her eyes. “And probably pictures of you hanging out with Kuroko-san for the press to speculate about.”
“And like I said, I don’t know. Half stalking him for the first time I met him was weird as fuck. Don’t think I wanna do that again.” Aomine leaned back into his seat, his ear no longer in as much pain.
Momoi pulled out her phone and started searching for already up pictures and commentary. “Looks like you bought him lunch. Seems like a date to me. You even let him take your fries.”
“I was being nice?” At least that’s what he told Kuroko. Was it a date if only one person thought of it as one? Probably not.
“You don’t let me take your food.” She pointed out.
“That’s ‘cause you say you’ll only take a bit then keep eating and then cry to me about it later and blame me for letting you take so much ‘high calorie food’.” Other than that though, he also wasn’t too keen on getting into Momoi’s pants. He almost grimaced at the thought.
“You like him~” She practically sang at Aomine, ignoring the comments he made about her.
“I only like his ass!” Aomine could feel his face growing warm and he made an effort to not meet Momoi’s eyes.
“Nope, you like him!” She grinned. “I’ll make sure to get you an invitation to that charity thing he’s going to in two weeks. You’ll have to wear a suit, but good news, you can see him in a suit as well.” Momoi winked at him.
“I only like that he’s hot,” Aomine muttered, knowing it was impossible to convince Momoi otherwise at this point. “What kinda charity event is it?”
“Ballroom dancing, auctions, champagne. Fancy kind. It’s to raise money for cancer research I think, and since a lot of celebrities will be there, so will he.” She said, tapping away at her phone to send an email to get him in.
Aomine grimaced at the word ‘ballroom’. Who the hell does that kind of shit anymore? “Fine, but only because his ass would be hot in a suit.” Really, why would he like a guy who had sass for days and would willingly throw him to the sharks. Even if he had the most mesmerizing smile and soothing voice, Aomine found no reason why he would like him more than just for how hot he was.
“Sure, sure.” She waved him off, not looking like she bought it at all.
Aomine pulled at his stiff, uncomfortable collar. He hated wearing these monkey suits. He managed to spot the whole reason Momoi had signed him up for this stupid event and debated with himself whether or not approaching him would prove Momoi right. In the end, he still found himself walking over to him. “Hey, fancy meeting you here,” He smiled at Kuroko.
Kuroko glanced up in mild surprise when he heard Aomine. “Oh, hello Aomine-kun. I didn’t think I’d be seeing you here.” He couldn’t really deny that Aomine did look quite nice in a suit though, despite how uncomfortable he seemed to be with wearing it.
“Yeah, me coming here was kinda last minute. Satsuki thought it’d be good to go.” Aomine tried to not openly ogle Kuroko in his suit. He lookedreally good.
“Ah, right, your manager. I can’t tell what’s more popular on the internet right now, you getting dragged off by her or the rumor that we are dating. I actually had to make myself a twitter account to say that I was still very much so single, but it doesn’t seem to have made much of a difference. If anything it only spurred people on.”
“Yeah, I’ve been getting a lot of tweets about it too. I think the dating is what people care more about. I got a few people telling me they expected me and Satsuki to have that kind of disciplinary relationship so they weren’t surprised by the video.” Aomine honestly wasn’t sure if he should’ve been offended by that or not.
“I’ve already deleted the twitter account that I made for that. I got too many messages from your fans. I was uncomfortable.” Kuroko said before taking a sip of his drink.
“I don’t blame you. Fans can be harsh.” He inwardly shuddered at the memory of the time he got shit tons of messages from his fans when they thought he was dating Momoi. That was a horrible time.
“You coming up to talk to me probably isn’t helping with those rumors.” Kuroko pointed out.
“What? I can’t talk to a kind-of-friend?” He would be lying if he hadn’t noticed the stares from the other people in the room.
“Is that what we are?” His voice was flat, but there was a sparkle of amusement in his eyes.
Aomine shrugged, a smile on his lips, “We could be. Or I could go back to being the guy chasing after you for an interview, which Satsuki still wants me to get.”
“Please don’t. That was annoying.” Kuroko informed him.
“Then looks like we’re friends,” Aomine laughed.
“I’m not sure that’s what I agreed to.” Kuroko protested.
“Why not?” Aomine tried to lead Kuroko to the dance floor with a hand on the small of his back, “I thought friend would be the thing you would agree to the most.”
“Out of the options you give me, probably.” Kuroko’s eyes widened as he realized where Aomine was taking him. “Aomine-kun, I can’t dance.” He had the sense to put his drink down though, knowing it wasn't likely that he would escape.
“Well then, if you step on my toes I promise I’ll pretend I didn’t notice,” Aomine grinned, pulling Kuroko close and placing his hands on his waist.
“Aomine-kun!” He tried to argue, but it didn’t really seem to matter, so he did his best to just try to follow Aomine’s lead without looking as lost as he felt.
“See, you’re not doing that bad.” It was only a bit of a lie. Kuroko wasn’t exactly great, his toes could attest to that, but he’d danced with worse.
Kuroko was sure his face was a bit flushed with embarrassment, but he made himself smile a little bit at the encouragement.
Aomine lead them around in small circles, keeping their dance simple fo Kuroko’s sake. Aomine tried to not let the feel of Kuroko being so close to him and the sweet scent that came off of him distract him, which he realized he wasn’t really doing a good job at. “Are you wearing vanilla cologne?” He hadn’t actually meant to ask that out loud and felt his face grow warm once it left his mouth.
Kuroko had been watching his feet but looked up at the question. He laughed a little when he noticed that Aomine was blushing. “Yes. I didn’t think I put that much on. I’m surprised you could tell.”
“Y-yeah well, it’s kinda hard not to notice from where I am,” His words, which had started off as an embarrassed stutter drifted off into a mumble as he spoke.
Kuroko shrugged, not seeming too bothered by it. “Does it smell good at least? It’s new, so I’m not sure.”
“Yes,” Aomine answered probably a little too quickly. It was really nice.
Kuroko smiled at him. “Thank you, Aomine-kun.”
“Y-yeah, no prob.” Aomine may or may not have pulled Kuroko closer to wrap his arms around his waist.
“Moving me closer is not going to help your toes.” Kuroko said, looking down to make sure he wasn’t stepping on Aomine.
“My toes are fine. It's not as bad as when I'm dancing with someone in heels. And you're not that bad.”
“You could prevent toe stepping all together by listening to people when they tell you that they can’t dance.” Kuroko argued, chancing a glance at Aomine before continuing to watch their feet.
“Most people ask me to dance with them instead of the other way around,” Aomine argued with an amused smile. “You're just an exception.”
“You didn’t even ask me. You just sort of dragged me onto the dance floor.” Kuroko pointed out.
“Still makes you an exception of being the only person I've ever actually wanted to dance with.” Aomine honestly hated to slow dance. It was boring.
Kuroko felt his face heating up and he kept his head down so that Aomine wouldn’t see. “Well, thank you, Aomine-kun.” He mumbled.
Aomine's smile grew at being able to get Kuroko's expression to change from its usual straight face. “You're cute when you blush.”
“I’m not. It’s embarrassing.” Kuroko replied, frowning.
“It is,” Aomine chuckled. As the song ended, Aomine figured he could free Kuroko from his embarrassment. Taking a hand that was still on his shoulder, he spun Kuroko around and lead him off the dance floor.
“You know that probably didn’t help with the rumours about us dating.” Kuroko pointed out, relaxing a bit once they were no longer required to do anything similar to dancing.
“Eh,” Aomine shrugged, “Let people think whatever the hell they wanna think.” Aomine definitely wasn't using that as an excuse to keep holding Kuroko's hand.
“I’m just a writer. I don’t really think I like having my face splashed across tabloids.” He said, sending a glare at someone pointing a camera at them until they lowered it.
“There are already a ton of pictures of you online and in magazines and shit. You've got a lot of fans staring at you too. It's not just me.” Still Aomine did feel a little bad that he was giving Kuroko more exposure than he wanted. His hand was really soft though.
Kuroko ran his free hand through his hair, starting to wonder how long Aomine was going to hold the other one captive. “Yeah, I guess, but I’ve never been front cover or anything. I went to the store this morning and had to look at my own face on a tabloid as I waited in line to check out.”
“You kinda get used to it. It is a little unsettling at first though.” Aomine ran his thumb over Kuroko’s knuckled before finally letting go of his hand. There were probably enough pictures of them dancing together already, the extra pictures of them holding hands would probably make Kuroko more uncomfortable than anything else.
“Hopefully it will just die down soon so that I don’t have to get used to it.” He muttered, picking up a new drink from a waiter walking by. “You’re a good dancer, by the way.”
“Thanks,” Aomine grinned, “At least all those dance classes were good for something.” He had hated them while he first started going to them, finding it ridiculously boring, and he still found it boring. It was more or less an unwillingly used skill.
“My grandmother wanted me to go to one of those, but it just never happened. If I had known I would be dancing on camera back then I might have been more willing to go, but six year old me couldn’t have imagined this situation.” Kuroko replied.
“Nah, I know what you mean. If I had the option to, I totally wouldn’t have taken them either. Knowing how to ballroom dance isn’t too useful now.” Aomine grabbed himself a drink as well from another waiter who passed them.
“No, I suppose it wouldn’t be. It does give you a basic knowledge for dancing along to beats though, which probably helped in learning more common dances to do while you’re singing on stage or in music videos.” Kuroko pointed out.
“I guess a bit.” He still didn’t really enjoy those stupid classes.
Kuroko opened his mouth to say something, but then spotted Kise. “Hide me.” He said, ducking behind Aomine.
Aomine looked over in the general direction Kuroko had before he had hid behind him, finding Kise approaching them. “It’s Kise. Why do I need to hide you?”
“Exactly. It’s Kise-kun.” Kuroko said as if that was a good enough explaination, holding onto the back of Aomine’s suit and pressing against him to keep him from moving where Kise could see him.
Aomine was about to argue that Kise wasn’t too hard to deal with when Kise himself called out to him. “Hiya Aominecchi!” He half shouted, not really looking at him, too busy searching around him, “I thought I saw Kurokocchi here, actually wasn’t he with you?”
“Well, he uh...” Aomine couldn’t think of a proper response before Kise’s face lit up and tried to tackle Kuroko who was still behind him.
“Kurokocchi! I was looking for you!”
Kuroko found himself knocked to the ground, glad he’d finished his drink and somehow managed to not break the glass in the fall. “Well, you seem to have found me.” He replied, struggling to get out from under Kise.
Aomine was between laughing and getting somewhat protective of Kuroko. He settled on doing both. With a small chuckle he hauled Kise off of Kuroko and pushed Kuroko back behind him after helping him up.
Kise let out a small yelp as he was pulled back to his feet and away from Kuroko, “Wah! Aominecchi! Why’d you pull me away?!”
“‘Cause Tetsu doesn’t like you tackling him to the floor,” Aomine responded simply, hiding Kuroko more behind him.
“Tetsu? Oh! Right there were rumors about you guys dating. I guess those were true,” Kise smirked nudging Aomine slightly with his elbow.
Kuroko stood up on his tiptoes to peek over Aomine’s shoulder. “We aren’t.” He told Kise.
Kise quirked an eyebrow at Kuroko’s actions despite his words, “Are you sure? You don’t really look like you’re not dating.”
“I’m sure.” Kuroko said firmly. “Aomine-kun isn’t though.”
“Hey! What do you mean I don’t seem sure?! If we were dating we sure as hell wouldn’t still be here and you sure as fuck wouldn’t still be wearing that suit,” Aomine frowned, momentarily forgetting that Kise was there.
Kise hummed in amusement, “He has a point Kurokocchi. But I’m thinking he wishes you guys were dating.”
Kuroko was blushing a bit at Aomine’s words, so he stood so that he was hiding behind him again to keep both Aomine and Kise from seeing. “I know. He’s made that clear.”
Aomine simply shrugged, “First thing I did was tell him he was hot.”
“That does sound like something you would do,” Kise mused. “But since you guys aren’t dating, it should be fine to still hug Kurokocchi right?” He looked between the two hopefully.
“It is not. Your hugs are painful.” Kuroko answered.
“But Kurokocchiiiii!” Kise whined, fake tears welling up in his eyes.
Aomine smirked at him, “You heard the man. No hugging.” He would have stuck his tongue out at him had he been anywhere else but a formal event.
“Well it’s not like you’re going to be doing much cuddling with him either,” Kise countered with a small pout.
“More than you. He’s clinging to me right now, not you.” Aomine replied.
“Why?” Kise directed his question towards Kuroko, “He’s more likely to jump you and try to have sex with you!” Kise pouted.
“He’s actually shown a better ability to keep his hands to himself than you generally do. I haven’t experienced bodily harm from him, but I do recall you sending me to a hospital one time.” Kuroko answered.
“But Kurokocchi! You’re just so huggable! It’s hard staying away from you!” Kise tried to reach behind Aomine to wrap his arms around Kuroko again only for Aomine to stop him before he could.
“Didn’t Tetsu just tell you your hugs hurt?” Aomine frowned, keeping an hand on his upper arm to stop him. Kise simply pouted at both of them.
“Y-yeah, but I can be gentle. I promise!” Kise tried, still reaching for Kuroko, despite Aomine’s arm blocking him.
“No thank you.” Kuroko said simply.
Aomine pulled Kise away, back to where he originally was, standing in front of him. “”You heard him.
Kise’s pout grew bigger, “If you’re not his boyfriend then you could at least stop acting like a protective one.”
“I-wha-no! I’m not acting like a protective boyfriend!” Aomine felt his face grow hot and he let go of Kise in his flustered state.
“Yes you are.” Kise tried not to laugh at Aomine’s embarrassment and tried to keep his sad pout on.
“You are, but at the moment it’s keeping me out of the hospital, so please continue.” Kuroko commented.
Aomine felt his face grow warmer and his frown deepen, “Why am I helping you again?”
“It’s the nice thing to do, and I’m pretty sure you’re still hoping for either an interview or a chance to get into my pants.” Kuroko answered.
“Me keeping Kise away from you isn’t gonna get me either.” Aomine wasn’t dumb enough to think Kuroko would give him either just because he was being nice to him.
“It probably gets you closer to both than letting him tackle me a second time though.” Kuroko pointed out.
“I feel like I’m getting cheated,” Aomine muttered mostly to himself.
“Should I leave you guys alone to flirt?” Kise asked with an amused smirk, no longer trying to keep up his sad act.
“If I said yes without clarification would it actually prompt you to leave?” Kuroko asked.
“I’ll leave with a full assumption that you guys are gonna hook up tonight,” Kise smiled sweetly, holding down his laugh.
“But you'll still leave, right?” Kuroko raised an eyebrow.
“Have fun later tonight~” Kise practically sang as he bounded away with a smirk and a wave.
Kuroko's shoulders slumped as the tension finally drained out of him. “Thank you, Aomine-kun.”
“Yeah… don’t mention it, I guess.” Aomine would be lying if he said that Kise’s words didn’t get his hopes up a little bit even if he already knew that Kuroko wasn’t planning on letting him into his pants at all.
Kuroko glanced at his watch. “Oh, I've got to get going. May I see your phone, Aomine-kun?”
Aomine stared at him, a little more than a bit confused, as he handed him his phone, “Why?”
“Because you were decent company tonight so I'm hoping I won't regret giving you my personal number before I go.” Kuroko answered as he typed his contact information into Aomine’s phone.
Aomine felt his lips pull into a wide smile as his mood brightened up considerably just from Kuroko’s simple action. “I-um-thanks,” Aomine managed to say dumbly.
“You're welcome.” Kuroko handed him his phone with a small smile.
Aomine stared dumbly between his phone and Kuroko with a goofy smile as Kuroko walked away. He considered today’s meeting a huge success and he was incredibly proud of himself, even if all he really got was Kuroko’s phone number instead of something like a date or sex or that interview.
Aomine hadn’t really meant to, but he abused Kuroko’s number much more than he probably should have, constantly texting him whenever he had time. The texts were usually simple, things like asking how how his day was or complaints about work. Something he didn’t expect was growing maybe a little attached to texting Kuroko, feeling kind of lonely when he didn’t. He realized this a week after he got his number as he texted him good morning, at least in the most Aomine way he could.
its fukin early. gmornin btw
Too early. No coffee. Text later. Was the reply he got.
Aomine frowned despite having realized and gotten used to the fact by now that Kuroko didn’t really function before coffee. He honestly thought it was ridiculously cute and endearing. nah, feel like makin u suffr with me he sent back.
No. Suffer alone. I am sleeping. Kuroko put his pillow over his head to try and shut out the world.
cant u show me u care n suffr with me? Aomine didn't mind too much that Kuroko didn't feel up to being awake though. He wasn't either, but he didn't really have much of a choice. Stupid photoshoot.
I don't care without coffee. Go away. If he had been talking that probably would have come out as more of a whine because it really was too early for this and he was regretting giving out his number at the moment.
fine i guess i wont give u that dum vanilla coffee i bot the next time i see u. Aomine almost laughed just at the thought of what Kuroko's reaction would be had he told him that in person.
Kuroko's eyes lit up at that before he frowned as he realized he probably wasn't getting that coffee any time soon anyway. You won't see me soon. Talk when you bring me coffee.
could always c u sooner insted of l8er if u’d just gimme that dumb interview, Aomine tried to bargain even though he knew it wouldn't work.
STOP! It was too early to come up with the words ‘morally unethical’, which is what he wanted to tell Aomine he was being by trying to bribe him when he wasn't in a proper state of mind.
Aomine burst out laughing causing Momoi to look at him funny. Ya didnt think that would work how bout i stop by ur place later the tub of instant coffee takes up alotta room.
I'm not giving you my address. You already text me too early. Not that it wouldn't be easy enough for Aomine to find his address. Other reporters had managed it easily enough.
u say that like i willingly wake up this early. Aomine was tempted to call him just to hear his sleepy voice instead of trying to guess what it would sound like through text but Momoi was already looking at him funny. He didn't think he wanted to risk it.
You willingly wake me up. Please stop. He even added a frowny face to try and convey his displeasure with this conversation.
fine but im still dropping off the stupid coffee at ur place l8er. He was almost at the photoshoot place anyway, he supposed it was fine to let Kuroko sleep now.
Kuroko didn't reply to that. He dropped his phone back onto the nightstand next to him and flopped back into his bed.
“So, who were you so happy texting? You hate talking to people in the morning.” Momoi said when Aomine put his phone away.
“Huh, oh uh no one? Just a friend,” Aomine replied a little too quickly. He would be damned before Momoi found out he texted Kuroko almost every morning, especially after she accused him of liking the guy.
Momoi looked at him skeptically before stealing the phone and entering his pass code. “We call him Tetsu now?” She asked with a grin as she started scrolling.
Aomine tried to grab his phone back, his seatbelt keeping him locked in place. “I call him Tetsu. You still call him Kuroko-san, and it doesn't mean anything. Stop reading it!”
“No no, I think it's cute! I'm going to call him Tetsu-kun!” She said with a laugh as she continued to read. “He's so adorable in the mornings. Oh my god! Dai-chan, you didn't tell me you got his number!”
“This is why I didn’t tell you. I knew you would freak out about it and read everything.” Aomine made another futile attempt at getting his phone back as Momoi held the phone out of Aomine’s reach.
“I think he ~likes~ you. He must at least a little bit to put up with you texting him like this in the morning.” She continued as if he hadn't said anything.
“I put up with you waking me up in the morning. Doesn’t mean I like you,” Aomine frowned, giving up in his efforts knowing it was useless to try and get his phone back and that Momoi had probably read over half of everything they’ve ever texted each other.
“Not the same. You don't have a choice in waking up and dealing with me. You choose to bother Tetsu-kun.” She dismissed. “And he chooses to answer you.”
“I like talking to him,” Aomine tried to defend himself, “It’s not weird to like talking to a friend.”
“It is for you when it's not even noon.”
“He’s better to talk to than you are,” Aomine bitterly mumbled. “Since you’ve already nosed your way into it, you wanna get me his address by the time the shoots done?”
Momoi laughed at that, but nodded. “Sure, I can get that for you.”
“Thanks,” He muttered as the driver pulled up into the parking lot.
Aomine rung the doorbell to what Momoi had told him was Kuroko’s house, holding a large tub of instant vanilla coffee that he had raced home to get after his photoshoot. The thing really was huge and he had mostly bought it on a whim before realizing the stuff was too sweet for him.
Kuroko looked a bit surprised when he opened the door to find Aomine there. He'd finally gotten up and gotten caffeine, but he was still in his pajamas since he'd been planning on working from home that day. “Aomine-kun?” He tilted his head, looking at the other curiously.
“Don’t look so surprised,” Aomine laughed, “I said I would be over today.” He plopped the tub into Kuroko’s hands with a large grin, “My bribe for being allowed to intrude.”
“When did you- oh, right.” Kuroko sort of recalled the conversation from that morning. “This is a lot of coffee.” He said, staring at it with wide eyes.
“Yeah, I bought it thinking I’d like it and I felt myself form cavities from just a sip. Thought you’d like it.” Aomine took a glance behind him, and noticed the bushes rustle slightly, “Can I come in? Y’know, before more pictures are taken of you in your pj’s.”
Kuroko's eyes followed Aomine's and he quickly stepped aside. “Thank you for the coffee, Aomine-kun.”
Aomine stepped in, kicking off his shoes as he entered the living room. “No prob, I wasn’t gonna drink it anyway. Don’t know how you drink sugar water to be honest.”
“You don't know what I drink. You haven't seen me in the morning.” Kuroko argued.
“You texted me a few days ago crying about how you didn’t have enough sugar for your coffee and sent me a picture of half a cup of sugar. Kinda want to see you in the morning. You’re pretty entertaining.” Aomine burst out laughing just at the memory. Kuroko had also sent him a picture of himself looking very sad and distraught, it was a great way for him to start his morning.
Kuroko turned bright red. “I did not cry about it, and you're exaggerating about the amount of sugar. Also, we don't talk about things I do before coffee.”
Aomine simply laughed harder, ruffling Kuroko’s hair. “I’ve told you before that you’re cute when you blush right? And you before coffee is better than TV. It’s hard not to talk about it.”
Kuroko pushed his hand away and tried to straighten out his hair. “I change my mind. I shouldn't have given you my number or let you inside. You're rude.”
“I said you were cute?” Aomine tried, hoping the compliment would keep Kuroko from kicking him out, even if he didn’t think Kuroko would actually do that when his house was still surrounded by reporters.
“Not helping,” Kuroko said as he walked towards his kitchen to put the coffee away.
“Aww c’mon Tetsu,” Aomine called out, following Kuroko, “You are pretty cute when you blush and before you have coffee.”
“It's embarrassing, not cute. I can be cute, and that's not it.” Kuroko told him.
Aomine quirked an eyebrow, his interest instantly peaked. “Really? I don’t know, I haven’t seen anything cuter than an embarrassed Tetsu,” Aomine said challengingly.
Kuroko walked over and stood on his tiptoes to wrap his arms around Aomine's neck, looking up at him through his lashes with a tiny smile. “You sure, Daiki?”
“Uh...” Aomine knew he had lost the moment Kuroko’s arms circled around him. He instinctively wrapped his arms around Kuroko’s waist and found himself leaning down closer to him. Their noses brushed against each other’s and Aomine captured Kuroko’s lips in his for a soft kiss.
Kuroko couldn't say he was really surprised, but he still hesitated a moment before he kissed back, pressing himself against Aomine.
Aomine’s hand rose to tangle in Kuroko’s hair, running his fingers through soft blue locks. Only when he pulled away did he realize what he had just done. “Your face is a damn weapon and you should not be allowed to use it that way,” He muttered against Kuroko’s lips.
“You asked to see my attempt at being cute.” Kuroko replied, laughing lightly.
“Yeah, well the next time you ‘attempt’ around me you should expect to be pinned against a wall.” Aomine experimentally pecked Kuroko’s lips again to see if he would push him away. He had let him kiss him so just a peck was hopefully okay.
Kuroko looked at him contemplatively before flashing a bright smile at him. “You mean like that?”
Aomine’s lips were already on Kuroko’s as he pushed him backwards against the wall behind him, his hands having moved to hold him by the hips. He pulled their lips apart to kiss down Kuroko’s neck. “Yeah, exactly like that,” Aomine mumbled against the skin of Kuroko’s neck before nipping it.
Kuroko let out a small gasp and tangled his fingers in Aomine's hair, tugging it in retaliation to the bite.
Aomine thumbed the hem of Kuroko’s shirt, silently asking him if he could remove it as he moved his lips back up to Kuroko’s for another heated kiss.
Kuroko pulled back enough to pull his shirt off and then pressed his lips back against Aomine's.
Aomine’s hands happily roamed Kuroko’s bare chest before lowering down to his thighs to lift him up. “Where’s your bed?” His voice sounded husky even to his own ears.
“Down the hall. First door on the left.” Kuroko answered between small gasp for air.
Without needing to be told twice Aomine headed there carrying Kuroko against his chest, his lips already back on Kuroko’s.
They laid together, tangled up in each other’s arms, still basking in the afterglow of sex. “If I had known coming here with coffee would get me laid, I woulda brought that stupid tub here the minute I got it,” Aomine joked, laughing slightly into Kuroko’s hair.
“It wasn't just the coffee.” Kuroko protested sleepily.
“Yeah? Then what finally got you to agree?” God knows Aomine had tried more than a couple times during the last week to get Kuroko to agree to having sex with him. Aomine kissed along Kuroko’s forehead and down his nose before finally placing a soft kiss onto his lips, hoping it would keep him awake for a little bit longer.
“You made me like you. It's really annoying.” Kuroko hid his face against Aomine's chest to try to get him to leave him alone so he could sleep.
Aomine chuckled lightly, running his fingers through Kuroko’s hair as Kuroko pressed his face against his chest. “Good to know you actually like me. I’m guessing you wanna be more than just fuck-buddies then?”
“If I wanted that I would have taken you up on your offer the first time.” He mumbled. “Let me sleep. I thought you wanted to see me in the morning. It won't happen if I don't sleep.”
Aomine hummed in contentment, hugging Kuroko closer to him for a moment, “I do, but I also gotta go somewhere for a few hours. Wanted to know what you thought before I left and come back here later. I can come back later, right?”
“Okay. Spare key in the kitchen if I'm still asleep when you get here.”
Aomine felt a large grin stretch across his lips. He pressed one last kiss to Kuroko’s lips before pulling himself away from him. “I won't be gone that long.”
Kuroko frowned a bit at the loss of warmth, pulling the blankets closer to himself before opening his eyes a bit to wave goodbye at Aomine and curling up again to sleep.
Aomine quickly dressed, ruffling Kuroko’s hair to say goodbye and headed back towards the kitchen to grab the spare keys. Finding them easily, he locked the front door as he left and drove off in the direction of the animal shelter.
Kuroko whined in protest when he felt something moving him and he pulled the blanket over his head. “Nooo.”
Aomine pulled the blanket away, climbing into bed to pull Kuroko into his arms and cover them both with the blanket. “What? I said I’d be back,” Aomine chuckled with a smirk.
Kuroko didn't answer, cuddling up to Aomine instead.
Aomine knew Kuroko would have preferred to sleep and he did feel drowsy but he was still somewhat energized having come back from the shelter. “Hey, hey. I was thinking, maybe we could do something tomorrow? If you’re not busy.”
“I'm sleeping. Shhh.” Kuroko said, blindly reaching a hand out to try and cover Aomine's mouth, although he really only ended up patting his cheek.
Aomine grabbed Kuroko’s hand placing a kiss on the inside of his palm. “But wouldn’t a date be nice? Give the reporters something true to talk about?”
“Talk later. Sleep now.” Kuroko insisted.
“Later is gonna be half way through tomorrow,” Aomine laughed, placing a kiss over both of Kuroko’s closed eyes.
“Stoooopppppp.” Kuroko curled into a ball against Aomine’s side.
“I think I like you all sleepy like this.” Aomine pressed a few more kisses to Kuroko's hair and what he could reach of his face before simply moving to hug him. “Fine we can talk about it tomorrow, but if you have shit to do tomorrow I'm gonna be pissed.” He snuggled closer to Kuroko, burying his face in his hair.
“Not my problem. Sleep.” Kuroko ordered, words slurring a bit as he drifted off.
“Yes, babe,” Aomine conceded, words muffled by Kuroko's hair, letting his exhaustion from being at the animal shelter take over.
A few hours later Kuroko rolled off the bed with a thud and a mumbled ‘ow’ before getting up and walking towards his kitchen, managing to only hit one wall on the way there.
Aomine felt the loss of heat instantly, blindly reaching out, groping at thin air when he tried to find Kuroko. “Tetsu?” He muttered, pushing himself up from the bed. He heard a small thud from the hallway and forced himself out of the bed to investigate. “Tetsu, you okay?”
“It was just a wall. I’m fine.” Kuroko said, laying on the floor where he had fallen.
Aomine stood above Kuroko and looked down at him with an amused smile. “Then why are laying on the floor naked?”
“I think at least some of that is your fault.” Kuroko replied.
“Well, I’ll take blame for the naked part. Why are you on the floor?” Aomine knelt down into a squat next to Kuroko’s head instead of helping him up.
“No coffee.” Kuroko said as explanation, pouting at Aomine for not helping him.
Aomine burst out into laughter, “Usually people can still stand up even with no coffee.” Regardless Aomine picked Kuroko up from the ground and carried him towards the kitchen. “You wanna try the stuff I got you?”
“Yes.” Kuroko wrapped his arms around Aomine, resting his head on his chest and smiling up at him.
“Mmkay, where’d you put it?” Aomine pressed a soft kiss to Kuroko’s forehead before putting him down on top of his kitchen counter.
“Ummm . . . there.” He pointed at one of his cabinets.
Aomine pulled it out and started to boil some water in Kuroko’s kettle for it. Scooping a few tablespoons of the coffee mix into a mug, he left it to turn back to Kuroko. He placed a hand on either side of Kuroko and leaned up to capture his lips in a slow kiss.
Kuroko let out a small sound of surprise before kissing back. Until he almost fell off the counter trying to move closer to Aomine.
Aomine placed his hands on Kuroko’s hips to push him back onto the counter, parting their lips as he did. “I really like you like this. You before coffee just might be the best thing I’ll ever see.”
“Noo. I need coffee.” He whined.
“You’ll get coffee when the water boils.” Aomine gripped Kuroko’s chin between his thumb and forefinger, pulling his face closer, “I’m keeping you busy until it’s done.” With that he reconnected their lips in another slow kiss.
Kuroko wanted to keep complaining about his coffee, but Aomine’s mouth stopped him and it was too much work to lean back so he just kissed back.
Aomine parted from him once he heard the kettle scream, pecking his lips once more before turning to finish making the coffee. “I need a day where I can just have you coffeeless for maybe a few hours. It’s freaking great.”
“Nooooo. That sounds mean. Please don’t do that to me!” He threw his arms around Aomine in distress.
“But you’re so great like this, Tetsu,” Aomine chuckled, pouring the boiling water into the mug and mixing it a few times despite Kuroko’s arms around him.
“I need coffee.” He answered, releasing his hold on Aomine to reach for the mug.
“Really?” Aomine smirked taking a sip of the coffee he made for Kuroko.
“Don’t do that! It’s mine.” Kuroko whined.
Aomine wrinkled his nose in distaste, “Yeah, still too sweet. Here,” he placed the mug in Kuroko’s hands, “Suits you better.”
Kuroko eagerly took the drink and blew on it before starting to sip at it.
“So, about that date today...” Aomine looked at Kuroko with hopeful eyes.
Kuroko looked up at Aomine with confusion. “We have a date?”
Aomine should’ve expected Kuroko to not remember, considering the state he was in last night. “Yeah, tried to ask you about it last night. You said we’d talk about it later. It’s later. You wanna do something today?”
“Okay.” Kuroko agreed easily. “Can I put on clothes first?”
“What? You don’t wanna spend the day naked?” Aomine laughed. “We don’t even know what we’re doing today.”
“Dates are usually not in someone’s house. I don’t want to get arrested for public indecency, so no, I don’t want to spend the day naked.”
“Yeah...” Aomine sighed. “Too bad,” He leaned down to Kuroko’s collarbone and traced small circles along Kuroko’s thighs, “I was kinda enjoying it.” He started to kiss and nip and suck on the collarbone before moving up to his neck, doing the exact same to it.
Kuroko tilted his head, a pleased sigh leaving his lips. “I thought you wanted to go out.” He commented.
“I do,” Aomine mumbled against Kuroko’s throat, “But maybe after a shower.” His words were suggestive as he continued marking Kuroko’s neck with small bites.
Kuroko had wanted to finish his cup of coffee. And probably three more, but it was hard to think about that at the moment. “Shower sounds good.” He agreed.
Aomine laced his fingers with Kuroko’s as they strolled through the park that was near the restaurant they had lunch in. It was pretty quiet for a dog park especially considering it was lunch but it was nice.
Despite it being pretty quiet, Kuroko managed to interact with just about every dog in the park. Even the ones that people said didn't like strangers seemed to like him for some reason.
Aomine simply smiled as he watched Kuroko with an endeared gaze. “I didn’t know you liked dogs so much. It’s kinda nice watching you play with them.” Aomine knelt down to pet the head of the puppy Kuroko was currently playing with, “You’re pretty good with them too.”
Kuroko smiled at Aomine and then returned to the puppy who was tugging his sleeve with it's teeth to regain his attention. “I just like animals in general, but I think I would probably classify as a dog person since I like them most.”
An idea came to Aomine as he watched Kuroko play with the dog with such affectionate eyes. “Sucks that you can’t play with puppies all the time, doesn’t it?” Aomine asked trying to keep his voice from showing what he had in mind.
Kuroko glanced at him before looking at the dog again. “You sound like you're up to something, so just spit it out.”
“I’m not up to anything,” Aomine tried to act innocent before his lips turned up in a smirk. “Just thought you’d want to visit, I don’t know, about two dozen dogs and puppies. If you’re not interested then...”
“What are you talking about?” Kuroko asked. He tried to sound uninterested, but his attention was clearly caught.
“I might know a place where you can drown in puppies. And I can bring you there...” Aomine trailed off, making it obvious that he had a condition if Kuroko wanted to see the dogs.
“And what exactly do you want in exchange for this? Also, where is this?”
“That interview sure would be nice surrounded by dogs, wouldn’t it, babe?” Aomine smirked at Kuroko, “It may have been where I went yesterday.”
Kuroko narrowed his eyes. “Details?”
“About the interview or the puppies? ‘Cause I think it’s your job to plan the interview. As for the puppies… we could head there now if you want.” The people at the shelter loved seeing him and let him play with the animals as much he wanted, they probably wouldn’t mind if he stopped by unannounced.
“I need more details. Why do you have a place with dozens of puppies on hand? Where is this place?”
“Don’t look so worried, I didn’t kidnap a bunch of puppies and store them in a warehouse,” Aomine laughed. “It’s an animal shelter. I maybe… kinda… help out there every week.” He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, not really able to meet Kuroko’s eyes.
Kuroko tilted his head curiously. “I haven’t heard anything about that. I remember the press being all over you going one time for some event, but I didn’t know that it was a regular thing that you did.”
“Yeah, well now you’re the only person that doesn’t work there that knows. After that event, I actually kinda… liked doing shit there so I… kept doing it.” Aomine could feel his face grow slightly warm from his confession about this, he’d never told anybody. “Don’t mention it to Satsuki. She’d never let me live it down. And don’t write about it either.”
Kuroko smiled at him. “I think it’s sweet. Far more interesting than most of the stunts that the press likes to write about you.”
“It’s not any of the press’s business, and they’re not gonna find out, right?” His words came out a bit more warningly than he had meant them to, but he meant what he said.
Kuroko rolled his eyes. “You told me not to write about it. Of course they aren’t going to find out. I was just saying that I personally find it more interesting.”
“Yeah well, I was just making sure…. Thanks.” Aomine was thankful for his dark skin making his blush look not as intense as it felt. Talking about his soft side was just too embarrassing, not that he would ever admit to having a soft side.
“Okay. Deal. It will be a short piece though. I can’t seem like I’m favoring you just because we’re dating.”
“An article is still an article.” Aomine leaned over to press a chaste kiss to Kuroko’s lips, hearing a snapshot as he did so. “I didn’t think we were alone,” He sighed, “You wanna go now?”
Kuroko started blushing as he looked in the direction of the reporter. “I guess I should reopen my twitter to say that I am not single so it doesn’t look like I lied.” Kuroko said, hiding a bit behind Aomine. “Let’s go now.”
“Good luck with the fans. Send them over to me if you need to; I’m used to it.” Aomine lead Kuroko back towards his car with their fingers laced together.
Aomine opened the front door of the animal shelter he visited every week for Kuroko, greeting the supervisor at the front desk as they entered. “Hey, do you mind if I let the dogs out for a bit?” He asked the supervisor.
“Sure, just don’t let them escape,” She said with a knowing smile directed between Aomine and Kuroko as she handed them the keys.
Aomine lead Kuroko towards the back room where they kept all the dogs, closing the door tightly after them. “You want them on you all at once or you wanna look at them one by one?”
“Surprise me.” Kuroko replied, looking at all of the dogs with a bright smile.
Nodding Aomine, went to unlock every one of the cages, letting the dogs run around freely. “The treats are next to the door, if you wanna give them some,” Aomine yelled from the other end of the room, unlocking the last door.
Kuroko really didn’t get the chance to reach for them since he was knocked over by the wave of dogs, but he didn’t mind, and found himself laughing as he tried, and failed, to sit upright.
Aomine laughed, watching the dogs bowl Kuroko over. He managed to scoop one of the dogs up into his arms before it could fully get away from him, petting its head lightly. “This one’s my favourite. He’s really friendly and happy.” He held the small black and white puppy towards Kuroko, dropping him on his chest.
Kuroko laughed more as the puppy started to lick his chin. “He’s cute. Does he have a name?” He finally managed to sit up, and cradled the puppy against his chest.
“Nah, not yet. None of the dogs have names yet so we don’t get attached.” Aomine affectionately watched the puppy and Kuroko interact until he noticed something. “...Hey, Tetsu… hold that puppy up for a second.”
Kuroko looked up at Aomine with confusion. “I’m already holding him.”
“Yeah, but turn him to face me.” Aomine knelt down in front of him to get a closer look, in case he was wrong about what he was thinking.
Kuroko looked down at the puppy before turning him to face Aomine.
Aomine stared at the puppy then at Kuroko, “This puppy… looks a lot like you.” Aomine couldn’t believe he’d never noticed it before considering how much he played with this puppy.
“Are you implying that I look like a dog, Aomine-kun?”
“Wait, what? No! No. I didn’t mean it like that!” Aomine panicked waving his arms in front of him in his efforts to defend himself. “I meant that uh… he has your eyes?”
Kuroko turned the puppy to face himself again and looked down at him. “I suppose you're right.” He let out a laugh when the puppy leaned up to lick his chin again.
Aomine relaxed when it seemed as though Kuroko wasn’t actually offended by what he’d said. “He seems to really like you.” Aomine petted one of the dogs near him as a handful of the dogs started to surround him too.
“Can I have him?” Kuroko asked, looking at Aomine hopefully.
Aomine looked up from rubbing one of the puppies’ bellies in surprise, “Wait, really? You wanna adopt him?”
Kuroko nodded, scratching the dog’s ears. “I've been thinking of getting a pet, so yes.”
“Well you can. I can get you the papers for it and stuff, just didn’t expect you to leave with one when I decided to bring you here.” Aomine was happy though. That puppy had been at the shelter for a few months now. Apparently he had been abandoned by his first owner and was found in a box on the streets.
“Neither did I, but I really like him.” Kuroko said, smiling fondly at the puppy. “Aomine-kun, you should name him.”
“You sure? He’s gonna be yours, I don’t think I should be the one naming him.” There was still a large grin over Aomine’s face despite his words.
“I'm sure.” Kuroko agreed with a nod.
“Well…” Aomine stared at the puppy, trying to come up with an appropriate name for him but he kept getting distracted by how much he and Kuroko looked alike. “I dunno, I’m kinda tempted to just name him after you.”
“We can't both be Tetsu. That would get confusing.” Kuroko pointed out.
“Yeah, but he’d be, like, the second Tetsu. Like Tetsuya Nigou.” Aomine rolled the idea of the name around in his head before nodding, “Actually I kinda like that. It fits.”
Kuroko rolled his eyes but laughed. “What do you think, Nigou?” He asked the puppy, which barked and wagged its tail at him. “I'd say that's a yes.”
Aomine beamed a smile, leaning over to press a kiss to Kuroko's forehead. “Just lemme round the dogs up and then we can get the papers.” It took more than a bit of effort, chasing the dogs around trying to get them into their cages. Kuroko wasn't helping either as he sat there and laughed at him while playing with Nigou. When he finally managed to get the last dog into its cage he was out of breath and was glaring at Kuroko slightly. “Remind me that if I ever offer to release all the dogs for you, I'm spoiling you too much,” He said between pants.
“I will not be reminding you of any such thing.” Kuroko replied. Somehow, while Aomine had been chasing dogs around, Nigou had ended up perched on Kuroko’s head.
“Then help next time instead of laughing at me.” Aomine tried to sound angry but was more distracted by the sight of Nigou on top of Kuroko's head. “You're not allowed to be this cute in public where I'm not allowed to kiss you senseless,” He muttered walking past Kuroko to the door with what may or may not have been a pout.
“Later. When you aren't likely to make Nigou fall off of my head.” Kuroko replied, carefully getting to his feet before moving the puppy into his arms.
“I’m holding you to that.”
Aomine did get his article, although the interview took forever because he kept interrupting it with kisses and Nigou kept coming into the room wanting to play.