Takao was exhausted. The card tournament he was in had ran over time and all he wanted to do was get home and snuggle up to Midorima, who was surely still going over medical files from his patients on the couch. The thought brought a smile to Takao's face, no matter how much his boyfriend denied it every single time, it was obvious that Midorima went over those files to wait up for him, because he never did it on any of the nights that Takao made it home first.

Which is why when he walked into their shared apartment, Takao had to walk back out and check that it was actually their apartment, because Midorima wasn't there.

He knew that Midorima was home, knew that his boyfriend wouldn't have left lights on if he'd gone out, so only one question remained: where was he?

In fact, he was about to call out to call out to him when he caught sight of the light coming from underneath their bedroom door.

Bingo.

As he got closer to the bedroom, he could hear that Midorima was…talking? There weren't any large pauses between his words so Takao could only assume he wasn't on the phone talking to someone, but was in fact talking to himself. He resisted the urge to laugh. Shin-chan talking to himself? That was something he had to record to use as future blackmail material.

Pulling out his phone, he quietly approached the door, careful to stand next to it lest Midorima notice him and – oh god, was Midorima pacing? This was almost adorable – tapped to find the correct app and start it up. He covered his mouth so Midorima wouldn't hear him giggle, and pressed record.

It took a while for Midorima to say anything again, the only sounds that Takao could hear was that of his boyfriend pacing, it stopped every few seconds, then continued with a muttering of 'no, no, no, that isn't right'. Takao almost thought he'd missed the whole spectacle, when Midorima started talking.

"Takao."

He froze. Did Midorima know he was there? Had he heard him? He thought he'd been so quite as well.

"We…We've known each other a long time. Years, in fact. And…and through those years, our relationship with one another has changed a lot, I think we'd both agree."

Takao breathed out a quite sigh of relief. So he hadn't been noticed. However, he was also the topic of whatever Midorima was talking about. The grip he had on his phone tightened slightly…Did he really want to listen to this? He could feel the curiosity nagging in the back of his mind, could feel himself wanting to know what Midorima was saying about him more and more as the seconds went by. Damnit. He couldn't leave now, he needed to know!

"We were rivals, once upon a time, even if I don't remember it all that well. Then acquaintances, then friends, then…Well…More than friends. I can even say that I grew to love you."

Takao could feel his cheeks heating up. Even after years of hearing those words said over morning coffee or while lying in bed or as he was walking out the door of an evening to go on a run, he still didn't think he'd even get used to it.

"The stages of relationship have all ended at one point or another. We're no longer rivals, no longer acquaintances, no longer just friends…And I think it's time for this stage of our relationship to end as well. The stage where we're partners."

The blush on his face went cold, and his fingers were almost white from the hard grip he now had on his phone. Was…Was Midorima going to break up with him? His free hand flew to his mouth to try and control his breathing. He could feel tears gathering in the corner of his eyes.

He thought they were going so well. Yes, they had their arguments, but what couple didn't? Midorima had opened up so much in the time they'd been together, had been smiling more and seemed so much happier as their relationship progressed and Takao…Well.

Takao didn't think he'd ever felt so loved in all his life.

But was it all over? Was he the only one who was content with their relationship? Was Midorima regretting this? How had he not noticed that his boyfriend was unhappy with the way things were?

Takao could feel ice in his veins. He didn't want to listen to this. He regretted staying. He went to walk away – to walk out of their apartment, to get some space – when the next words Midorima said stopped him in his tracks.

"I think it's time that we begin the stage where we're husbands instead."

…What?

Takao could feel his heart stop. He wondered how he happened dropped his phone because he was pretty sure his entire body had just gone lax. Was…Was Midorima doing what he thought he was doing?

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you Takao, if you'd let me."

Oh god.

"Will you marry me?"

Oh g o d.

He was frozen. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Midorima was practicing a proposal. He might of squealed if he wasn't aware that Midorima didn't know he was there.

He was rooted to the spot. He didn't – couldn't – move away, even when Midorima muttered 'no, that's not it either, it needs to be perfect' and continued his pacing. He just stood there with a dumb grin on his face while the minutes ticked by, with only one thought going through is mind:

Shin-chan's going to propose to me.

Eventually, he moved away from the door, quietly as to not disturb his boyfriend – future husband, his mind provided giddily – and made his way to the living room, deleting the recording he'd made on his way. He didn't need it, didn't want it either, it wasn't very good black mail material and he didn't want to have evidence of it in case Midorima ever found it.

Besides, he'd much rather have a recording of the real one.