Six years after high school graduation, Takao is now engaged to a wonderful woman he's met in college. On the night of the Bachelor's Night celebrated specially for him, he goes very drunk, and Midorima had to bring him home- only to end up bringing him to a hotel room.
- o -
Takao had to be assisted by Midorima in going home after an all-night long drinking and jesting. Midorima rejected helping Takao go home, but eventually agreed upon the coaxing (and apparent threatening) by everyone present.
- o -
It was a night of fun. A Bachelor's Night was held in celebration of Takao's marriage which will be held a week after. Surprisingly, it was his high school senpais who organized it. Not only were his former comrades at Shuutoku were present- their rivals from Seirin and Kaijou were invited, along with Himuro (who is the Best Man), Momoi who he is pretty close with, and Aomine who was only dragged along (but heck, deep inside he goes, "who says no to free drinks?").
As the chilly Friday night on a January went, he grew more intoxicated at the coaxing of Ootsubo-senpai, Kagami and Hyuuga, who goes as far as "you're not a real man if you cannot go for another drink!" in persuasion.
Surprisingly, Midorima was only being silent in his own table, separate from everyone- seemingly enjoying the company of the frog stuff toy which was today's lucky item for Cancer. Of course, silently, he's in pain. Takao eventually noticed him.
"Hey, Shwin-channnn... you're not gonna drink?" Takao clearly was drunk already.
"No thanks, I have hospital duty tomorrow morning." Midorima replied as he fixed his glasses. He can't wait to go home, he doesn't want to endure the pain of seeing the person he loves marrying someone off.
"Dammmit what a killjoyyyy..." Takao turned back and fetched a shot of vodka. "Drink," He looked at the green-haired man with serious eyes, far from the former playful attitude he had just displayed.
"I, in fact, said I won't drink." Uneasiness have set in the entire crowd at the scene.
"I. Said. Drink." Takao commanded. The place was instantly silenced, all eyes were fixed on the physician.
"O- okay, fine. I will. Calm down." He took the glass, stared at it in mental preparation as he bears with the uncomfortable attention, and gulps it all in one go.
"Alriiiiight!" Takao shifts back from seriousness to his usual carefree attitude, easing the tension among everyone present. Midorima was almost relieved, but the Hawk uttered. "One more!"
He sighs, knowing how unstoppable this man is.
- o -
Now, his predicament shifted from being forced to take five shots in one sitting (thankfully, with his large build, it will only be enough to make him tipsy) to carrying a heavy body that he could have abandoned out of annoyance. But with the weird grin from Ootsubo-senpai, saying "be patient with him, he's very stressed lately", he should at least safely bring him home out of courtesy.
'Not that I don't care if he's stressed or not, he just shouldn't mismanage his stress by drinking like crazy and worrying everyone', he mused to himself, as he walks them both through a passageway where no one would see their embarrassing state.
'Or were all of them even worried? They seem to know something I don't.'
"Sheeen-chaaaaaan~" Takao softly murmurs, his speech was slurred.
"What?" The taller man tries to keep his composure, despite annoyed.
"Can I crash... at your place?"
"Why?" His eyebrow flinched.
"I don't know how... to come home... at this state... hic-," the shorter man's body shook along the hiccup. "She'll definitely... worry..."
"My house is too far nodayo." Midorima replied, "the trains have already stopped running, and I wasn't even expecting I'd be this late nanodayo".
Silence ensued as they continued to walk. Takao simply kept moaning in his drunken stupor.
"Then... rather than an expensive taxi ride... how about a hotel room?" Takao giggled.
Midorima was stupefied, to the point he stopped walking. Weighing his options, he comes to a decision.
"Okay.
- o -
Taking a twin bed room, Midorima continued to assist Takao up to the bed closer to the window, gently laid down the almost unconscious man, loosened the collar of his long sleeves and took off the shoes. After pulling and pushing the shorter man to arrange him in the bed, he then motioned to go to the bathroom to shower, thinking he stinks of liquor. But Takao moans, capturing his attention and making him look at his former teammate.
The man he came to love after all those years.
He simply has never seen Takao this drunk. No, even if he chugged a dozen mugs of beer when their team reunites, he still remains the center of the festive aura of the gathering.
More than Kuroko taught him the value of team work, Takao was the one who made him experience the fun of being in a team. The fun of attaining victory with the team, not as someone who'd only do his contribution to win.
"Shiiiin-channnn..." Takao, half-lid eyes looking straight at him, almost silently moans, but it was clearly audible to him.
His composure returns. "What is it?"
"Shin-chan... let me hold you."
The green-haired man brushed off the drunken man's incomprehensible words. However, he suddenly caught what the drunk meant. Wide-eyed, he was at loss for words.
"W- what... did you say?" He finally mustered to ask.
"Let's... have... sex..." The shorter man then simply giggled.
"Takao, there is a limit as to how much can you joke around. This time, it is very improper nodayo." He fixes his glasses. But the shorter man, who knew him so well, only caught on with the uneasiness behind the stoic appearance of the taller man. Slowly, he rolled himself off the bed so he could sit down on the bed.
"What if... what if I tell you... I'm being serious?" Takao shows the usual smirk that he does when teasing.
"Takao. You're getting married in a week." Midorima approached Takao so he could lay him back down to bed. "You're just... sexually frustrated." He averts his eyes, his cheeks turn red. He motions to hold Takao by the shoulder, but the Hawk instantly grabbed on both his wrists. Takao looks at him with a sharp gaze, his expression turns from a smirk to a serious face.
"It is you... that I want to do it with." He then sharply pulls the taller man, making him lose balance and fall to the bed as his upper body, too, hit the cushion. Midorima panicked as he struggled to break free.
"T- Takao, you ca- can mess a-around but n-not like thi-"
"Shin-chan..." Takao, now with tears forming at the edges of his eyes, looked at him. "...at least, for once... let me hold you... so I could... start getting over you..."
Midorima's eyes widened.
'All this time, that I've silently kept my feelings... it was actually mutual?'
"Why have you not told me earlier?" He continued to struggle, but Takao's grasp is too firm.
"Why have I not told you?" Takao now starts sobbing. "Who would... confess to a guy like you- like, who knows it... might ruin our friendship. Heck, what chances... do I have? You're not gay. I... too, am not... but fell in love... with someone like you. We're both guys... w- what chance do I have on you?" He broke into sobs as he finished, tears streaming down the sides of his eyes. He loosened his grip, letting go of the former shooter's wrist. Midorima was silenced, and the two continued to lay in bed for a few minutes. The room was silent save for the buzzing of the air conditioning and Takao's soft sobbing.
Midorima proceeded on holding Takao's cheeks with the palm of one hand, the other wiping his tears with his fingers. Takao continued to sob, but in a silent manner. Closing his eyes, Midorima softly confessed:
"I... loved you too."
Takao stopped sobbing, surprised with what he heard.
"What- wh- since when?" With wide eyes, he proceeded his gaze at Midorima, looking straight at him.
Shifting his palm from the cheek to the back of Takao's head, he motioned the former point guard's head right in front of his. "Since... high school". With one sudden swoop, he kissed Takao in the lips. His other hand moved to the shorter man's back to move their bodies closer. Takao, in turn, closed his eyes and kissed the taller man back, their tongues fondling each other's. Takao held on Midorima's back, grabbing his shirt.
The former miracle only held on and continued kissing, feeling the warmth of each other's bodies interact, the smell of liquor lingering at the other's cavern. Up until he noticed the other isn't responding to his touches anymore, the grip on his shirt no longer felt.
Takao, in other words, fell asleep.
Midorima pulls them apart. "Takao?"
No response other than snoring.
He decided to get up and arrange Takao once more in the bed. He motioned to go to the bathroom to shower. After which, he closed all lights save for the desk lamp, put his glasses down and went to sleep.
'Let's save the confrontation for tomorrow.'
- o -
Midorima wakes up with the sound of clothes rustling. Assuming Takao had already woken up, he gets up and sits in the bed, groping the bedside desk for his glasses. He looked at the clock- it read: 5:30 am.
"Oh, Shin-chan, you're already awake. Good morning." Takao looked at him as he went on fixing his shoes. "I woke up quite ahead and showered, guessed I didn't have to wake you up until I left-"
"Um- about last night-" Midorima began.
"You don't have to worry about that." Takao cut him off. "More like, I'm sorry I dragged you into my impulsivity." He stood facing the door and paused.
"I have to go. I made my fiance worry for not texting here I was safe in a hotel." Facing back at the green-haired man and bowing, he spoke, "thank you very much for troubling yourself from me last night." He started turning back to the door.
Midorima knew it shouldn't end that way.
"WAIT." He got up and stood to face him.
"What?" Takao calmly faced him back.
Midorima look straight at him. "I-is it true...? When you said... you wanted to get over me?"
Takao only stared back, pausing for a while.
"I liked you." He smiled lightly. "I am sorry if it doesn't match with your "love". I appreciate your feelings, but it's not like I don't love my fiance."
There was no shaking in his voice. He clearly implied his sincerity and truthfulness.
"So... that was it..." The former miracle averted his eyes. "O- okay... it makes sense... thank you for that." This time, he moved his gaze to the former point guard, trying to appear calm.
"I gotta go. See you on the wedding ceremony." Takao smiled his usual cheeky grin. "And that last kiss was great."
"Okay." Midorima only agreed, averting his eyes out of embarrassment. Takao proceeded to the door of the hotel room, exiting without looking back.
When the door shut softly, Midorima walked back to his bed and sat, only to notice a \10,000-bill on the bedside desk and a note that said: "Thanks for accommodating me. I hope this fits the payment for the room."
"You're really... mean..." Midorima mutters as he rests his forehead at his palms, his elbows at his knees. Tears streaming down his eyes.
- o -
Takao walked out of the hotel, a teal-colored dawn greeted him. Only a few people are to be seen walking at that early in what supposed to be busy streets of Tokyo.
He rides the train going home. He arrives in what is supposed to be their shared apartment, greeted by the lonely atmosphere. He went as far as deliberately lying his fiance was there, when in truth, she went to her home in Nagasaki in preparation for the wedding. As the room gradually brightens from teal to a shade of baby blue, he prostrates himself on the floor, weeping.
"I'm sorry... Shin-chan..."
Curling himself into a ball, he whispers...
"...even if I still love you..."
OMAKE
On a different side, the rest of the attendees were at unease after they let the two leave early.
"Ootsubo-san... are you sure those two will be okay?" Kuroko nonchalantly asks, but the worry is obvious.
"I think it will work out somehow." Ootsubo replied.
"Midorima isn't that insensitive." Miyaji remarked. "The fact that everyone other than them knew all these years what they actually feel... surely, Takao's got some talent in hiding, for someone with an outgoing personality as his."
"And of course, how would he notice Midorin's feelings for him, when he's got that stoic face?" Momoi spoke.
"Well... it was only a matter of time before they both confessed their feelings," Miyaji replied. "It is just surprising it took so long."
"What we don't know by now, is if Takao continues with the marriage ceremony or not." Ootsubo concluded their discussion, as he motioned them to start going home.
Soon, most of them had gotten up. Hyuuga, who turns out to have such low alcohol tolerance, had to be carried by Kiyoshi. The same applies with Kise, who passed out long before Takao made a scene, now being carried by Kasamatsu. The rest either had to be assisted or is assisting someone in a noisy murmur, teasing or rowdy laughter.
Miyaji, walking far behind the others, murmurs to himself.
"He'd obviously take his pretense further."
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hello everyone, and thank you for reading this impulsively-written fanfic. I'm pretty devastated with my life right now, so I chose to write a oneshot than attending class.
First of all, Takao is just being playful, okay. I am conscious that he seems like someone with Borderline Personality Disorder at the first half. But trust me, I didn't intend to write that way.
Second, it just hurts so bad when it would have been requited love if everyone were to be honest instead of being pretentious.
Third, I did write a fic before where it was Takao who was in Midorima's place. That one got quite the rude comment- just because the other person carried on with the pretense. HECK, it was categorized as tragedy. I have the prerogative to write it as such.
Lastly, I am just an inexperienced writer. Nor have I that much experience with reading English literature. I simply hope this one was at least consistent with the sequence of events, even if the form and style sounded forced.
Thank you very much for reading up until this point!
PS. My other fic may take long in updating, sorry!