Rating: K
Summary: It's always Kise's fault, anyway. Kagami didn't ask him to help him.
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Tadatoshi Fujimaki.
THIS WAS A GIFT FOR STEPHANERICHER BECAUSE SHE IS AWESOME.
Crossposted on AO3 & tumblr.
Enjoy!
One-shot: Drink it up
Aomine snaps his fingers in front of Kagami's face and scowls.
"Are you listening to me Bakagami?"
Kagami blinks and turns his head to look at Aomine, and a sheepish smile blooms on his lips as he rubs his neck.
"Ah, sorry, I guess I zoned out," he chuckles.
"Kagamicchi was staring at his crush again!" Kise cheerfully pipes up.
"What crush?!"
Kagami tries his best not to feel affected by his friends' words, but the way both Aomine and Kise grin knowingly prevents him from being convincing—he squirms on his seat, he feels his cheeks heat up even a bit, and of course he has always been bad at lying. He averts his eyes in an attempt to tune out Kise's incessant teasing that goes in one ear and through the other, as well as Aomine's snickering that makes him want to punch him.
They are sitting at the counter of a bar, enjoying their evening on a Wednesday with light drinks and music in the background. The bar is packed and it's by chance they could get their usual spot at the counter with this many people; Kagami is relieved to be sitting there as it enables him to see perfectly well the stage in the back of the room, where the musicians are performing.
"Look, you're staring at him again!"
Maybe he should stop meeting the two idiots that are his friends, especially Kise, because the blond always manages to catch his sideway glances when he thought no one was looking—that bastard has one annoying observation skill. And unconsciously his eyes always drift toward the singer, as if they were attracted to that sole figure on the stage, gripping the mic in his hands and looking so entranced by his work, words flowing out of his mouth like a soft river and his eyes half-closed as if he was possessed by the god of music himself. Kagami has always wondered why this man kept his bangs over his left eye, because he is one-hundred percent sure that he is gorgeous as fuck—and maybe the bangs do add something more about him, something more mysterious, more charming.
"You really should talk to him, Kagamicchi! It's not good to keep everything bottled up like that."
"Says the guy who still hasn't asked the bartender out..."
"I didn't ask for your input, Aominecchi."
Kagami frowns, shifting his attention back to his friends.
"Who said I wanted to talk to him?" he grumbles.
Kise rolls his eyes and gestures his glass over the stage.
"Maybe because you're always watching him? Because you look like a high school girl when you sigh? Maybe because you call these meetings only on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the days when he's working here?"
"How do you know that?" Aomine raises an eyebrow.
"I have my sources."
Kise does absolutely not glance at said grey-haired bartender.
"I don't see why you wouldn't ask the guy out, you both radiate way too much sexual tension," Kagami points out, eyeing the man in turn.
"This isn't about me and Shougo-kun, stop avoiding the subject," Kise grunts.
Past Kise, Kagami notices that the bartender slightly shifted when his name was pronounced—so he was eavesdropping; nobody can tell Kagami that something isn't going on between them now, he's even surprised that their dumb flirting has been lasting for months. Aomine snorts and puts his arm around Kagami's shoulders, firm and encouraging like he is going to reveal the biggest secret of the world.
"Come on Kagami, grow a pair and talk to that singer," Aomine smirks.
"Why do you all need to nag me like this?!"
"Because of the same sexual frustration as Kise's."
"I'm not frustrated!" they both yell.
They hear soft giggles, probably from people behind or next to them, most likely girls but they don't really care—they've always drawn all sorts of attention and 'weird' is a word that tags along whenever they go out. Kagami groans and pushes Aomine's arm away, focusing on his much more interesting half-empty drink. He takes a gulp, letting the cold liquid cool his mouth and burn his throat, not feeling better about the whole situation but ready to face whatever shit that will befall him—because it definitely will.
Suddenly the music stops, applause echoes and the musicians step down the stage with grins plastered on their faces. Kagami looks up and sees the four of them settle at a table near the stage, probably reserved for them as a waiter comes to inquire about their order, and he feels a sharp tug on his arm soon followed by a slap. He growls.
"What?"
"Here's your chance Kagamicchi!" Kise excitedly chirps. "Go say you loved his song or something!"
"Hell no!" Kagami retorts. "Do you want me to embarrass myself?"
"You're enough embarrasment as it it anyway," Aomine says.
Kagami punches him in the shoulder and Aomine yelps—a yelp that could have been Kise's, strangely enough. Kagami feels like this is a conspiracy against him and he passes the message by glaring with all his soul at Kise, who simply grins. This cheeky smile makes him want to punch someone again but he will refrain for peace's sake.
He looks again at the singer, observing the smile curving his lips, traces of tiredness but also joy clearly shining on his face as he drinks from his water bottle. This single motion tugs at Kagami's heart that beats, beats, his mind racing with images of how soft these lips look and how smooth this voice is, even when there is no singing.
He shakes his head and rubs his temples. He should stop fantasize like a character from the dramas that Kise watches.
"Oh my god I know!" Kise suddenly exclaims.
He gets out of his seat and scrambles towards the bartender at the end of the counter, something between a smile and a smirk stretching his lips. Kagami actually knows this expression, and something drops in his stomach.
Shitty mischief.
He goes after Kise instantly and calls him, but the bastard plays deaf to the world and waves cheerfully.
"Shougo-kun, Shougo-kun!" he giggled—fucking giggled.
Kise motions for the bartender to come closer, to which Haizaki raises an eyebrow. He still complies, only because he is wondering about the malicious glint in Kise's eyes and the frown on Kagami's face, and he says nothing when the blond asks him to lean towards him. Kagami thought they were going to make out but instead, some words are whispered, Haizaki's lips stretch to an amused grin and if it's possible, Kise's widens.
"Alright," Haizaki snickers.
Kagami notices the look Haizaki casts him. What. Is he preparing a drink? Why is he grinning like the Cheshire Cat? Why does Kise look so smug? What are they planning to do with this drink?
Haizaki takes the glass, goes on the other side of the counter and heads—
Fuck.
"Oi Haizaki!" Kagami shouts, determined to stomp after him.
But Aomine grabs his arm and and wrestles to make him stay put, cackling as he high-fives Kise, and Kagami swears he's going to kill someone and then die on the spot. He watches Haizaki place the drink on the table of the musicians, point him and smirk.
"You're all assholes," Kagami scowls.
"Aw we love you too Kagamicchi," Kise chuckles.
Haizaki comes back and Kise thanks him—did he just flutter his eyelashes? Kagami isn't sure—but what he knows is that the singer glances at him and shit. They made eye contact. He's screwed. He's persuaded that the man thinks he's some sort of love-struck teenage girl unable to offer a drink himself, which he is not, and damn it the other musicians are looking his way too.
He swats Aomine away and deeply sighs.
"I'm embarrassed for life," he mutters.
"Good luck," Kise waves.
Kagami scowls again and starts walking, but still catches what Kise says next with what he's sure is a sly look.
"So Shougo-kun, as a thank you for helping my desperate friend, when are you free? My treat."
Smooth fucker, Kagami thinks—and he hears Aomine snorting and Haizaki laughing. Okay, in retrospect, if his misery helps Kise and Haizaki finally hooking up, maybe everything's not that bad. Maybe. It will depend on how this... meeting will go, and he absolutely doesn't have a good feeling about it.
When he is a few steps away from the dreaded table, he feels the eyes of the guitarist—a guy with black hair and a constant air of intimidation—on him, as if he was judging him and Kagami doesn't know what to think of the sudden snort that escaped the man. The other guitarist, smaller but also surrounded by this daunting aura, even though less scary, settles for staring at him, and the guy at the synthesizer is grinning in a similar fashion as Kise. Kagami swallows and scratches the back of his head, avoiding looking at the singer at all costs despite the fact he's most likely red in the face and that he would appear less awkward if he made eye contact.
"I, uh, didn't really offer the drink," he blurts out. "I mean—it's my friend, the idiot blond, that took the intiative and I wasn't really ready to do it because, uh. That's not appropriate?"
He feels incredibly stupid for saying something like this so he puts his face in his hand and exhales through his nose, mumbling a 'never mind' which he doesn't know has been heard or not, but at this point he doesn't care and just wants the whole thing to end. His heart is beating faster than in any basketball game he's played against Aomine or Kise, and it will likely explode if he doesn't do anything about it—and the beating is so loud that he's pretty sure everyone can hear it.
The guy at the synthesizer loses it and bursts out laughing, holding his stomach, and he has trouble calming down when he speaks, the amusement tugging at his lips.
"Tatsu-chan, this one is the best," he cackles. "Keep him! Keep him!"
"Takao, be nice," the smaller guitarist scolds.
"He has a point though," the other guitarist grins. "It's funny."
Kagami looks at them and at their amused expressions, he feels even more embarrassed but he guesses it's better than been laughed at. He glances at the singer, and surprisingly the latter is smiling softly, even though there is a hint of laughter.
"Well, at least you're polite," he says. "I'm Himuro Tatsuya. You?"
"Kagami Taiga," the reply is stiff. "Uh, I like your songs."
"I figured," Himuro chuckles.
Damn that was lame, Kagami wants to cry. This is exactly why he didn't want to talk to him and now he has to hold a conversation he doesn't even know how to start. Fortunately it seems he doesn't need to think about it since Himuro is actually doing the talking.
"Do you often come here?"
Kagami tries not to focus of the voice of the man, because it's just as intense as the singing one, but also calmer, sweeter.
"Yeah, something like that," he mumbles. "I meet my friends here. If I can still call them friends."
"I want to meet your blond friend," Takao chortles.
Kagami just knows that if it happens, his life is going to be hell—something about that Takao guy screams headaches and mischiefs.
Himuro keeps smiling and taps his chin thoughtfully.
"Then I suppose we'll meet again in the near future," he indicates.
"Sooner than later," the taller guitarist adds.
"Shuu, I'm not going to eat him."
"I beg to differ."
The way Himuro says it makes Kagami blush even harder because holy shit, this goes beyond his expectations and he's one-hundred percent certain that in the back, Aomine and Kise are watching him suffering and laughing at him. He rubs his neck.
"I'm sorry about the whole thing, I'll pay for the drink, don't worry," he says.
"Oh don't be so sorry, I'm glad to talk to new people," Himuro reassures. "Especially when these people happen to be so nice."
"N-Nice?"
Himuro nods. "You're not a crazy fan and you're not rude, so you're nice. Is it that hard to believe?"
The smaller guitarist sighs and shakes his head.
"Give the man a break already, Himuro. We still have some business to attend to."
"You're such a killjoy Yukio-san," Takao whines. "Well, Taiga-chan will probably hang out with us soon anyway, so I guess it's not really a problem."
'Shuu' narrows his eyes at the nickname—so does Kagami—but doesn't say anything. Himuro takes the napkin and fishes out a pen out of his jacket's pocket, and scribbles down numbers. Kagami's throat goes dry as he stares stupidly at the white square and can't seem to process what he's offered—his brain is overheating, the information jumbles together and none of the important details sticks out. He just can't believe that he's standing in front of the man he's been crushing on for weeks, and about to get his fucking number saved on his phone.
This is why he doesn't take the napkin right away when Himuro hands it to him.
"Uh, are you... sure that I can take it?" he asks.
"Of course, if I'm giving it to you," Himuro grins. "Really, you're an amusing guy. I'd be more than happy to hang out with you."
Himuro gets up and stuffs the napkin in Kagami's pocket; he smiles at him.
"See you around."
He then goes back to his seat and that's Kagami's cue to leave, which he does almost immediately. The napkin in his pocket feels heavy and he still can't believe what just happened, so when he joins Aomine and Kise, the first thing he does is slamming his head on the counter. A loud thud cracks his tension out of his body and he lets out a shuddering breath.
"What the fuck just happened," he grumbles.
"You got a date," Aomine replies, teasing in his voice.
"That was amusing to watch, Kagamicchi," Kise chuckles.
Kagami's head whips towards Kise and he glares.
"You," he growls. "I'm still wondering if I should kill you."
Kise shrugs. "Well if you insist, kill me after my date with Shougo-kun."
"That too. I can't believe you pulled such a dirty trick."
Kise smirks and lifts his glass.
"To our new dates, Kagamicchi!"
Kagami sees there's still alcohol in his glass so he picks it up and cheers half-heartedly before drinking it all in one go, ignoring Aomine's nudging and curiosity about his conversation with Himuro. He takes a look at the back of the singer, and thinks that maybe, this hasn't been such a bad idea.
Himuro turns and catches his attention by winking. Kagami groans and buries his head in his palm.
Scratch that, this is going to be difficult.