AN: Hey, guys! I'm back with a one shot. Honestly, I'm not sure about the quality of this, so feel free to review what you think. I figured a bit of angsty fluff was in order, so here it is! I hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke.
"Daikiiii," Taiga slurred as he shuffled into the kitchen of their shared apartment. He yawned a bit, normally fiery eyes looking remarkably unfocused. His hair, always spiked during the day, was lying flat, but the natural hombre look was still clearly visible. A tiger on the court, maybe, but when pretenses were dropped and all that mattered was each other? No. Those moments, reserved for only him and Daiki, were when he resembled a kitten more than anything.
"Go back to bed, babe," was the quiet response, but any idiot off the street could sense some underlying strain in it, and so Taiga sat down in a chair at the table and let his head droop on his boyfriend's shoulders instead of following the simple instructions.
"Daiki," he repeated, this time a bit more clear and stern. "Back to bed, c'mon. Usually I'm the one who can't sleep before a game. Tomorrow's an important one, you need your rest, mkay?"
"I'm trying," the navy-headed ace whined. "Seriously, go back to bed, I'll be there in a second."
"No, you need sleep too," Taiga retorted, but judging by the returned slurring and odd spacing between his words, he was already on his way to dreamland.
"I can't just fall asleep whenever I want, idiot! Don't you think I'd be asleep already if I could?" His tone of voice was a bit harsh, much harsher than how he had meant it to come out. He flinched for a second, hoping he hadn't accidentally started a fight, but his boyfriend was much too tired to participate in such a thing.
"What's wrong, then?" It was a simple question, not that anything more could be expected from someone who looked and sounded like they were about to pass out, but one that unfortunately had a much more complicated answer. Obviously something was wrong if he had decided to sit alone in the kitchen and brood instead of get much needed rest, but Daiki wasn't sure how to voice the concerns that had been fighting for his attention lately.
At long last, he finally answered with a, "What if I'm not good enough?" that sounded meeker, more vulnerable, than the way he usually acted. Not just around Taiga, but with everyone.
"That's silly." Daiki almost snorted. No, Taiga had never been one to comfort gently. "Of course you're good enough. Sure, the NBA is tough, but back home, the only one who could beat you was me, remember?" It was a clear nod to his old catchphrase, and Daiki found himself wanting to laugh for the second time in thirty seconds.
The joking mood didn't last. "Even worse, what if I'm too good? What if it's just like middle school?"
Taiga didn't answer for a second, thinking back to the many stories he'd heard of Daiki's Teiko days. The man sitting next to him wasn't the one who'd arrogantly smiled when he got the news that they'd been drafted to the NBA together, that they'd be moving to L.A. together, but rather a broken middle schooler, terrified of the one thing he loved most, (maybe second to Taiga, though) becoming boring, of him being the best, of there not even being someone who could be a challenge.
"Don't be so arrogant, Ahomine," he finally chastised with a chuckle. "You may have been one of the best in Japan, but there'll be plenty of challenges here. You'll have to practice, you know, natural talent won't get you through a battle of stamina." It was still far from the careful and soft way many people would've responded, but it was the perfect wake up call for Daiki, who would much prefer a bit of tough love to someone coddling him. "Now, come on, I'll kill you if we lose tomorrow because you pass out in the middle of the game."
Daiki sighed dramatically, slipping his hand into Taiga's as they got up slowly, and he didn't let go even as their eyes closed and their breathing evened.