I'm Here For You, So Please Don't Lose Yourself

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He had been waiting with Momoi for Kaijo to come out. He knew that Kise was going to be upset about the game and he wanted to be there for the blond. He had felt the same way when he had lost against Seirin. The crushing defeat was the first defeat he had experienced. After an important game like today, Aomine knew that Kise would feel the same crushing defeat that he had felt against Kagami and Kuroko.

"Dai-chan," Momoi said, gaining his attention. "There's Kaijo." Aomine looked towards the Kaijo players as they were exiting the building. Aomine was able to see all but the blond model. Confused, he walked over to the team with Momoi following right behind him.

"Oi," Aomine said to the Kaijo players. "Where's Kise?" The Kaijo players looked at Aomine before one person stepped forward. Aomine immediately recognized him as the Kaijo captain, Kasamatsu.

"He's still inside the locker room," Kasamatsu said as he and the rest of the players continued walking. "Tell him he needs to be back by tomorrow for practice." Aomine watched as the Kaijo players left, leaving their ace to the Too ace. Aomine looked over at Momoi who only smiled at him.

"I'll see you tomorrow Dai-chan. Be nice to Ki-chan." With that, Aomine watched Momoi leave before heading inside to look for Kise. As he walked closer towards some of the locker rooms, Aomine was able to hear the sounds of someone crying. He immediately started to run towards the sound until he had reached the locker room that Kaijo had used. He slowly opened the door, not to startle the one who was crying inside. Once he had the door fully opened, Aomine saw Kise on the floor. His hands covering his face as he cried into them. His body was violently shaking with his sobbing as it only got louder and louder. Aomine wanted to run over to him but decided to slowly walk over to him so he wouldn't scare the Kaijo ace. When Aomine reached Kise, he slowly pulled him into his arms, giving the blond as much comfort as he could.

"Ryota."

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He was drowning. He knew he was. Kise was drowning in the loss of his team, the lost that he created. There was no one he could turn to for this crushing defeat. Everyone had already left. Kise knew he should have asked for one of them to stay with him. One of the guys could have helped him. They could have helped get rid of a small bit of this guilt.

"You're worthless." A voice said.

"You're pathetic." Another said.

"You're weak" Another one added. Kise immediately started to recognize the voices. They were his teammates' voices, but he knew they weren't here. It was just his imagination. But the voices begged to differ. They grew louder and louder, making him feel even worse by the second.

"You're such an idiot." Hayakawa.

"No wonder Kasamatsu always hits you. You deserve it." Kobori.

"You're supposed to be a member of the Generation of Miracles? What a pathetic excuse." Moriyama.

"Even Hayakawa has better plays and brains than you." Nakamura.

"Maybe it's best that you no longer be Kaijo's ace." Kasamatsu.

"Better yet, you should just stop playing basketball. You think you're amazing at it? What a joke. You're the worst player out there. Can't even beat a ghost at basketball. If you can't do that, then what's the point of having you on the team or even on the bench? You should just quit." Everyone. Kise felt himself breaking, his sobs getting louder, his body shaking much more violently than before. He was sinking further into his despair and there was no one for miles to help him. Everyone should have already left. No one would bother to come and check to see if he was still in the locker room. No one would.