Return To Me
After a slight struggle to get the door open, Takao finally managed to get into the house, shutting the offending door behind him with a bump from his hip.
He was toting the many bags of groceries towards the kitchen when he smelled something that made his eyebrow arch in confusion. Food? Why did he smell food?
He thought he was supposed to be making dinner, but as he entered the kitchen he realized that this would not be the case tonight.
The kitchen was as impeccable as he had left it, used dishes having been since washed were now drying in the dish rack, and at the oven was his lover, seemingly checking the food.
He swiftly stood again and turned to Takao, and his scowl slightly diminished at the sight of the raven.
Takao grinned. "You're making dinner Shin-chan? Aww, how sweet you are!"
Midorima's scowl returned, but despite his grumpy disposition, he still brushed his left hand over Takao's cheek and leaned down to kiss him in greeting.
But as he pulled away, he took a good deal of the groceries from Takao. "Dinner isn't quite ready yet, I'll put away the groceries, so you go take a bath. It'll be ready by the time you are done."
Takao smiled at him and thanked him, carefully handing the rest of the groceries to Midorima before he retreated upstairs.
The entire time he was in the bath, he couldn't help wondering what had gotten into his lover. He seemed as grumpy as ever, but underneath that, Takao could tell that Midorima really was trying.
There was a reason that Takao did most of the cooking, but he trusted his Shin-chan to not burn the house down. Besides, he could still cook, he just wasn't as well-versed in the ways of the kitchen as Takao.
The raven sank down beneath the water for a few seconds and reveled in the heat of the water a little more before he just decided to accept his lover's niceness for the day. Things like this didn't happen often, and he wanted to enjoy it at least.
With this in mind, he finished his bath and got dressed before heading downstairs. Dinner was indeed ready by that time, and when they sat down to eat Midorima even managed to listen quietly as Takao chatted aimlessly about his day.
There wasn't even a sarcastic answer when he asked him a question, at which Takao raised a brow. "Are you feeling alright today Shin-chan?"
Midorima stopped with his glass of ice water halfway to his lips. "I feel fine Takao, why do you ask?"
Takao shrugged, popping another bite of food into his mouth. "Just making sure!"
After dinner was finished and the dishes had been done by them both, Midorima suggested they watch a movie.
Takao nodded. "Sure. And you can pick tonight since you've done so much already." The raven added, and to his utter surprise Midorima smiled back.
He walked over to their entertainment center and plucked a video cassette off one of the shelves.
He held the cassette up to Takao, and the latter squirmed with joy. It was the movie 'Return To Me', one of Takao's all-time favorites.
It was a truly heartfelt story with a wonderful twist of fate that reminded him warmly of how he ended up here, with Midorima. And the only thing better than watching it was doing so with Midorima, so he could hardly contain himself.
The green-haired shooter had put the movie in the player, and Takao was just about to bounce down onto the couch when Midorima took his hand and pulled him closer.
Takao gave him a puzzled look that soon turned to surprise yet again when Midorima's lips curved into a small smile.
As the opening song began to play, Midorima took one of his hands and placed his other on Takao's waist, and the point guard began giggling after Midorima first spun him around.
For once Midorima didn't comment on the girly sound, but instead he merely smiled and spun him again, swaying back and forth gently to the peaceful music.
He was aware of how much Takao loved the symbolic song, and today it was all about the raven he was dancing with.
Even after the movie started and the two were seated, Midorima was uncharacteristically affectionate.
He willingly initiated a cuddle, which boggled Takao's mind something awful, but he smiled and snuggled up to him nonetheless, recalling his resolve to just accept the shooters actions.
But the affection didn't end there.
They were just into the actual movie when tragedy struck, and Midorima, knowing Takao's feelings on this particular scene very well, leaned down and pressed a few kisses to the top of his head.
Takao looked up at him and smiled with watery eyes, but Midorima would take this over the first time Takao saw it any day.
It is not a pleasant experience at all for one to walk into the living room to find one's significant other sobbing into half a dozen tissues after having to pause the video to get ahold of themselves.
And just awhile later, after the line "This may seem a bit juvenile, but can I hold your hand?" Midorima reached out and twined his fingers with Takao's, at which the raven looked up at him and smiled while pressing a light kiss to his jaw.
Throughout the movie, every affectionate gesture Midorima would copy, and by the time Midorima got up with him to once again dance, this time to Frank Sinatra, Takao was close to glowing.
"I don't know what's gotten into you, but I love it, you big dork!" He laughed and threw his arms around his neck as they sat back down.
But it was one thing that Midorima did towards the very end that made Takao's heart melt completely; he had been somewhat expecting it, but having the shooter actually do it was a whole other thing altogether.
When he felt Midorima's arms begin to wrap around him from the front, tears immediately came to his eyes, even more so when Midorima pressed his ear to his chest, listening to his pounding heart.
Takao grinned through his tears and held Midorima's head, running his hands through his soft green hair and leaning down to kiss the strands.
They stayed that way until the last minutes, when Midorima pulled away with a quick kiss to his lips, then got up from the couch.
Takao tilted his head, confused and somewhat hurt at the abrupt separation, but, as the line was said in the background, "Now can we clear the dance floor? Let the bride and groom have the first dance!" And as the ending song began to play, Midorima got down on one knee and took out a small box from his pocket.
Takao swore his heart stopped beating.
Midorima ruffled his hair nervously before he began to speak. "Kazunari, I know I am not the easiest person to get along with. I know I can come off as rude and uncaring, but I do care, for you especially. I'm sorry I cannot show you how much I love you as often as I would like, but I do love you, more than you can possibly imagine, and I feel like I could spend the rest of my life with you, and you alone. So…Kazunari…will you marry me?"
Takao immediately launched himself off the couch and into Midorima's arms, already crying and wailing. "Yes! Yes! Is that even a question!? That was the sweetest thing I have ever heard come out of anyone's mouth! I think I'm going to cry!"
"You're already crying." Midorima gently pointed out with a smile, rocking him slightly and holding him close.
Takao shook his head a bit and nuzzled Midorima's head with his own. "I don't even care, my answer is yes! I love you so much…"
He sobbed quietly, and Midorima kissed his cheek and rubbed his back. "Sshhh, don't cry."
Takao sniffed and hiccupped. "Can't help it…"
Midorima smiled and turned slightly towards Takao, murmuring into his hair. "Koishiteru Kazunari."
Takao's sobs stopped abruptly, and he turned to look Midorima in the eyes, his own still streaming.
He suddenly broke into a blindingly beautiful smile, leaning his forehead again Midorima's and closing his eyes. "Koishiteru…Shintarou…"
His voice broke badly at the end, but Midorima just held him close and kissed him as his sobs returned stronger than before.
A/N
*huffs* phwew. I had forgotten that I wrote this like, maybe a week ago? *nervous sweating* For lancerswimmer again. So I just uploaded it super-fast so it is known that I AM working on them XD And I think I only looked this over once so sorry in advance for any mistakes ^^;
But as a really quick sidenote, if you've never seen 'Return to Me' and you like the soulmates theme, GO WATCH IT. It's not a recent movie (I learned about it from my mom) But ohoooohhhmygod is it great. It's one of my favorite movies ever :) And as I was thinking about it, these two popped into my head and it was a EUREKA! moment X3
So yeah, I hope I made this so sweet that you get cavities! (And I just feel the need to say this, but while writing both this one AND the KagaKuro I made myself cry from secondhand happiness. I guess I didn't realize JUST how OTP these guys are for me)
So yes, I hope you Enjoi!
characters (c) Fujimaki Tadatoshi
story (c) MarluxiaSutcliff116