"... And Cancer scored the lowest on the chart today so be extra careful today and remember to carry your lucky item no matter what!" the overly cheerful woman in the radio said, not helping the already panicked Midorima feel better at all when he turned off the radio. Today's horoscope must have been a plot against him or something. Not only will he not be able to find today's lucky item anywhere, but to think that Cancer scored last. Any other time he would have been fine if he'd carried his lucky item, but now he seriously contemplated staying home. However, his mom had scolded him multiple times with the line "Bad luck isn't a sickness." and arguing against her was pointless.
Therefore, despite his better judgement, he took his bag and went down the stairs, nearly tripping at the last step because of some toy car his sister had left behind. Cursing silently to himself, he managed to avoid all toys laying around and felt quite proud of himself, until he stubbed his toe into the leg of the kitchen table.
Hissing at the pain and jumping around on one leg was definitely a bad start on the day and he was secretly thankful that his sister and mother already left. Sitting down and eating breakfast wasn't something he usually thought much about, but after burning his tongue on his hot cocoa and biting his lip by accident, he decided to skip most of it for once. He decided that it would be better just going already, knowing it would probably become much worse whether he left the house or not. With determined yet watchful steps he walked to the front door and reached for the knob, only to have the door opened from the other side, causing him to fall forward and almost hit the floor.
"Good morning Shin-chan! Let's get going!" The person appearing on the other side was none other than Takao, who despite living closer to the school always took the detour around his house every morning to pick him up. Seriously, what was wrong with him? Straightening up himself, he looked at Takao with a rather sour face. With a dumb smile on his face he held up his hand in a greeting and Midorima started to feel a bit irritated. He knew his day was going to be bad and knowing that Scorpio, Takao's sign, scored fourth place today didn't help him feel any better.
Quickly putting on his shoes and noticing straight away that a small rock or something was pressing at his sole, Midorima let out a sigh. Not bothering to take it out he picked up his bag and was about to pass by the other boy and proceed to the rickshaw when he was stopped by an arm blocking his way.
"Shin-chan, aren't you forgetting something?" Takao said in a sing song voice with a devious smile on his face. Confused, Midorima simply turned his head with a frown on his face, until he noticed Takao's hand curled up in a fist. That's right, they always played rock paper scissors for the privilege to be the passenger. Knowing that he always won regardless of Cancer's score or lucky item, Midorima let out a chuckle. Maybe winning this would make him feel better.
With that in mind he brought out his hand, also curled to a fist, and they both simultaneously started shaking them up and down in a pattern.
"Rock, paper, scissors..." Takao mumbled to himself and on the last word they presented their hands to each other. Both stood shocked however, when Takao's hand showed a stone and Midorima's a scissor.
"I..." the dark haired boy began with a questioning look, before he seemed to realize the situation and suddenly loudly exclaimed "I won! I actually won!" he beamed and Midorima watched almost in horror as Takao sat down in the cart with a gigantic grin. He glanced down at his hand, still forming scissors, before he reluctantly put his bag in the cart and mounted the bike. How was he going to survive this day?
After arriving at the school with minor incidents, one including almost crashing into a parked truck, they both went to their class. Walking in snail pace whilst avoiding things that might potentially harm him, Midorima and Takao, who refused to let him go alone and act weird at the same time, barely made it into class before the bell rung.
With a deep sigh the green haired boy sat down by his desk and tried to focus on the words written on the whiteboard while opening up his desk. However, he was jabbed in the back by something rather sharp and dropped the lid in surprise, right on his right hand. The other hand quickly shot up to his mouth to stifle a pained groan and when he turned around he saw Takao looking innocent as ever with a freshly sharpened pencil. Midorima knew that the other boy was far from innocent, but with the pain in his hand still fresh he could only manage a glare.
"Sorry Shin-chan." Takao whispered to him and looked almost apologetic, but the hint of his smile was enough to know that he'd found it funny. "Is something wrong today? I haven't seen any lucky item on you today." he said with feigned concern and peered to the front of Midorima's empty desk with a curious look on his face. Seeing as the pain in his right hand had lessened, he removed his left hand from his mouth.
"Cancer scored the lowest today." an annoyed whisper escaped him. "Also, the lucky item for today is something I definitely don't own or can buy." he sighed to himself and saw that Takao suddenly went quiet and avoided his eyes. Confused to why he suddenly shifted attention, Midorima let out a quite loud "What?" before he realized that the whole classroom was silent. Suddenly turning cold, the green haired turned his head to the front, only to see his home room teacher looking quite pissed off and staring right at him.
"Midorima! Care to tell all the others what you shared with Takao or can we start the lesson?" he asked loudly and when Midorima didn't say anything he turned to the board and scribbled down some numbers. "Excellent. Everybody, take out your textbooks on page 229."Midorima quickly brought up his textbook, making sure not to drop the lid again, and then cast a glare to the boy behind him, who looked into the book with a smug smile on his face. Midorima quietly muttered 'Idiot' towards him and then wondered if bad luck would be the death of him or if Takao would. He guessed the latter.
Luckily for him, or as lucky as he would get today, the rest of the day passed by rather uneventful. He'd only managed to slip on wet floor, spilled some red bean soup on his school uniform and gotten a locker door in his face. All in all, it wasn't so bad as he expected it to be, but he was still exhausted from being on his guard all day long. Still, the only thing he had left now was basketball training. Seeing as basketball was something he enjoyed he decided to risk getting a ball in the face or tripping over his own feet. Besides, if he skipped it today he might mess up the good rhythm he had this week.
But it seemed that bad luck would only keep haunting him today. When the team all went to change Midorima noticed that he had forgotten to pack a shirt. Or rather, he was sure that he had packed a shirt, but it seemed as if it had fled from his bag. But that's just stupid, right?
Instantly refusing to play without a shirt, Midorima considered asking the coach for a spare. Before he could voice his thoughts however, someone nudged his side. Glancing over to his side, he wasn't very surprised to see Takao sitting next to him. In the same hand he had poked him with he held a garment, which Midorima quickly realized was a black t-shirt.
"Here, you can borrow it if you'd like. I always carry a spare one." he said with a grin. Slightly wondering how he knew it was a shirt he was looking for, he grabbed onto it and gave it a quick inspection. For Takao it would probably be baggy, but for Midorima it would be about the right side. Did that mean that he always packed a shirt in Midorima's size? However, not wanting to be rude, he mumbled a thank you and accepted the garment, making the grin on Takao's face grow wider.
"No problem, Shin-chan." the black haired one said in a playful tone and got up from the bench, making his way to the court. Midorima quickly pulled the shirt over his head and followed suit.
They had been running around the court ten laps and Midorima was surprised to find out that nothing had happened at all. Sure, running around was rather dull but today was different. Even when he had been standing still he had been the target for everything that wanted to hurt someone. Hell, if a fly had been inside the gym hall he was sure that it would have found him and try to make him choke on it. But as he was catching his breath while the coach split them into two teams, nothing had happened.
"Alright, we'll play forty minutes and then take a break." the coach calmly said as he held the ball. Not surprisingly, Midorima was in the same team as Takao. The coach always managed to place them with each other, probably because of their great compatibility, or maybe teamwork was a better word?
With a blow on the whistle, the match started and Midorima's team won the ball, passing around until Takao got it and passed over to Midorima. Suddenly, the same sense of dread that had filled him the whole day came back as he saw the ball fly straight towards him. But instead of getting it in his face, his hands automatically shot up and caught it. He stood stunned for a second, before he decided to shot at the basket. Flying off in a perfect arc, the ball went straight through the net, not even a touching the ring.
What was going on? The bad luck following him around this whole day was gone, just like that? Was it because he was playing basketball that it all of a sudden had turned around? No, he was sure that even on the court something would harm him. However, before he could think about it more the ball was in play again and the opposing team made their way to their half of the court, leaving him no choice but to focus on the game.
"Hey Shin-chan, you sure that Cancer scored the lowest today, because your shots were fiercer than ever." Takao approached him as he walked out of the schoolyard, heading towards the bikes. Furrowing his eyebrows at the question, Midorima answered him with an annoyed tone.
"Of course I'm sure, how else would you explain the rest of the day?" Still, he was still a bit shocked about the training. As Takao said, his shots had been flawless as ever and he even pulled a few successful dribbles, which he usually avoided. Maybe the bad luck had a time limit and the new day's horoscope was already in motion? As soon as he thought that he dismissed it. Even his lucky days lasted until he went to bed, so this day shouldn't be any different.
"Come on, let's go home already. Since you've had a pretty shitty day, I'll pedal." Takao offered with a kind smile that made Midorima feel self-concious, as if he should decline his offer and pedal instead. But despite that feeling, he only nodded and sat down in the cart with both of their bags beside him.
After fifteen minutes they arrived at Midorima's house and he quietly jumped off and took his bag, before realizing that Takao's shirt was packed in it. Not wanting to be seen as a thief, he immediately thanked him for lending it to him and told the other boy that he would wash it for him.
"Yeah, it's probably for the best if you keep it the rest of the day." Takao said with a smug smile before he quickly started trampling, leaving a confused green-haired boy standing by the road.
Not knowing what he meant, Midorima slowly turned away from the steadily disappearing figure and walked to his house. Did he mean that he didn't want to wash it? No, he would have probably said so if that was the case. Shaking his head he reached for the doorknob when a sudden realization hit him and he glanced down to his bag where Takao's shirt laid. It had to be a mistake, right?
Unfortunately, now that the thought had passed his mind he couldn't drop it and therefore spent the whole night thinking it over, unable to fall asleep.
The next morning, a very tired Midorima walked up to the front door where he knew Takao was and waited for him. With the newly washed t-shirt in his bag as well as the yellow toy car he had tripped over the day before, he opened the door.
"Good morning Shin-chan!" Takao greeted him with the usual enthusiasm as he glanced to the taller boy's hand. "Is that today's lucky item?" he asked him and Midorima nodded before Takao opened his mouth again. "By the way, what was yesterday's lucky item? You never told me." Suddenly feeling embarrassed, Midorima looked away from Takao's prying eyes.
"Just 'something lent'" he replied curtly and tried to pass by the other boy, but an outstretched arm stopped him. Takao shook his head at him.
"Not just something borrowed? Then you should have just asked me or someone else." Takao mused, still holding out his arm, not letting Midorima pass. The taller boy didn't say anything, not really wanting to tell the long description. However, Takao beat him to it.
"'Today's lucky item is something lent from someone who loves you' am I right?" he repeated what the woman on the radio had said yesterday and that smug smile was back, wider than ever. Takao removed his arm and reached into his bag and brought out a white t-shirt and offered it to Midorima. Suddenly red in his face, Midorima saw that it was the shirt he had packed and lost yesterday. But that could only mean that...
"You listened to Oha Asa?! Wait, d-does that mean that you planned this?!" The green-haired boy managed to stammer out in shock and felt his face heat up even more. He thought it had been just been the basketball being stronger than his misfortune, but when he had gotten home his suspicions had been cleared that it was in fact the black t-shirt he borrowed from Takao that made his bad luck turn good. Then he had thought about it all night, thinking it was a mistake either way, that fate played with him. But Takao's smile told him that he knew exactly what he was doing.
"I need to make sure you have access to your lucky item everyday and I was going to confess to you eventually, but yesterday seemed to be the perfect opportunity seeing as you are so obsessed with that horoscope program." Takao said with a shrug before he looked the other boy in the eye. "It was sort of planned, seeing as I stole your shirt while the teacher yelled at you, but you didn't seem to realize until after school. Well, you are pretty dense sometimes so I'll be as clear as I can with you." Takao paused before he took a step closer Midorima.
"Shin-chan, I love you." he said, his smile softening. Midorima was turning redder and redder by the second and could not find any words to say. Sure, he had thought of this probability the whole night but he still wasn't prepared to hear it the day after. At the same time he didn't have much doubt that he cared for the other boy as well, maybe more than a teammate or a friend, but when he tried to voice out all the thoughts swimming around in his head he turned mute.
Still red as a tomato without any coherency he looked at the ground with unfocused eyes, trying to collect himself. That was until something came into his line of vision and something hot pressed against his lips, not forceful but still noticeable. Shocked by the foreign feel Midorima's eyes found focus again and he was unable to move as he was met by a pair of eyes looking at him. More specifically, Takao's eyes.
When he realized that, his mind went blank and the only thought that he had was that Takao was kissing him and he had no idea how to respond. That single thought was too much to take in at once and when the other's lips pressed a bit harder against his he felt himself panic a bit and quickly pulled away. It wasn't as if the kiss was unpleasant, but being caught off guard with no chance to think this over was.
Midorima's hand slowly made it's way to his lips, still feeling a tingling sensation all over them, all while looking at Takao, who for once had a look of uncertainty planted in his face. Did he take it the wrong way? The shorter boy suddenly turned around with a fake cough.
"Well, I wasn't really expecting you to feel the same..." Takao quietly said but Midorima heard him anyway. "Anyway, we're going to be late for school, so we better get going." he said as he started to walk towards the rickshaw.
"Wait!" Midorima suddenly yelled out, surprising both Takao and himself. The other boy turned towards him again with a confused expression, patiently waiting for an explanation.
"I-it's not like I don't feel for you, you just caught me off-guard and didn't give me any chance to say anything..." Midorima explained nervously, looking anywhere but the boy in front of him. He didn't know if he could yet call it love for the other boy, but he definitely liked him more than anyone else he knew. Moreover, know that he had some time to actually think, he realised that he wanted to try that kiss again. Of course, he wouldn't dare to say it out loud, wanting to save some of his embarrassment.
"I guess you could say that I like you too, I guess..." he muttered and if he were red before it was nothing compared to now. He glanced over to Takao to see his reaction and the other boy didn't look smug nor playful. He had a bright, genuine smile on his face as he reached for the taller boys hand and brought him closer.
"Aw Shin-chan, you're too cute." he exclaimed and before Midorima could retort that he was not cute, Takao leaned forward and pecked him on the lips. Though the contact was short, it managed to shut him up. With a low chuckle the shorter one started to drag Midorima towards the rickshaw, but the green haired one stopped him.
"Can we walk to school today?" Midorima mumbled almost inaudible and glanced down, and when Takao saw that he was looking at their entwined hands he smiled wider.
"Sure thing, Shin-chan." Takao replied and started to walk down the road, both side by side and hand in hand. As if suddenly remembering something funny, Takao let out another chuckle. Confused, Midorima glanced down to the shorter one with a questioning look.
"I just remembered that Oha Asa said that Scorpio was placed tenth today and Cancer fifth, but I still feel like I was the luckiest today." Takao said and squeezed the other boys hand, smiling wider when Midorima looked away, embarrassment apparent.
"Idiot." the taller muttered quietly but still gripped the other's hand tighter, a small smile forming on his lips. Today might not be the luckiest day for him according to Oha Asa, but right now he didn't really care.