Aomine hated going to the dentist - with a passion. More than Momoi's food, more than Kuroko's infamous Ignite Punches which somehow always hit with dead accuracy, and more than going to practice. However, said man currently had an excruciating toothache. As if his mouth had a mind of its own, a sharp pain pain shot through his jaw, and his handsome face twisted into a pained grimace. A dark hand shot up in an attempt to nurse the swollen cheek as he cursed silently.
"Ne, Dai-chan. You should really go get that checked out. You didn't even eat anything," the pink-haired woman sitting across from him said concernedly.
"Hmph. I'll be fine, this is nothing. Stop naggin' me Satsuki," Aomine drawled in his usual lazy tone.
Momoi gave him a skeptical look as she crossed her arms in front of her and let out a soft puff of air. "Oh yeah? Fine is it? Then why haven't you eaten anything?"
She pointed to the pile of teriyaki burgers in front of Aomine, left untouched. The blue-haired man gave the burgers a quick glance from the side before looking away again.
"I'm not that hungry."
"Then why did you order so many if you weren't hungry?" "I thought that you might want them - I was being considerate. I'm being nice for once and you're questioning my words?" Aomine put a hand over his chest, mocking hurt. At this point in time, his stomach decided to betray him and let out a loud growl.
Blue and pink eyes widened at the sudden outburst for a good five seconds before Momoi burst out laughing "How stupid are you, Dai-chan? You can't lie to me. You know that I don't like teriyaki burgers! Considerate and Dai-chan can never go into a sentence together." Aomine tched and silently cursed his stomach for being honest.
"Fine, I was hungry. Can't eat cuz of this stupid toothache," he grumbled.
"And that's why I'm telling you to go check it out," the woman huffed, clearly annoyed. "I'm pretty sure this is at least the fifth time this week."
"But I don't like going to the dentist. I don't trust them. Who knows what they're gonna do with my teeth? They're gonna sell my pearly white teeth in the black market!"
"Dai-chan, they're not yakuza! Where did you even get this crazy idea?! And why would they even need to sell teeth at the black market?" Momoi swore that talking to Aomine sometimes was worse than talking to a three year old. "They're just going to give you a filling for your cavity and that's it. It doesn't even hurt! Just admit you're scared" the pink-haired woman chuckled.
"Shut up Satsuki. Who's scared of some dentist?" Aomine growled.
"Anyways, my lunch break is going to be over in 10 minutes. I'm going to head back to the office. And oh, by the way, we just recruited a new dentist. From what I hear, they're pretty good - everybody's swooning! I guarantee that you'll like them. So I made you an appointment for this Friday afternoon at 5! Don't be late! If you don't come, I'm taking away your precious shoe and Mai-chan collection! Bye~"And with that, she had already walked out the door before Aomine could protest.
"Damn that Satsuki. Doing unnecessary things. I don't needa go to some dentist." As to prove his point, he unwrapped one of the burgers from the pile and took a large bite. Before he regretted it. It was so painful, he had squeezed the life out of the poor burger that was still in his hands and tears had started to form in his eyes. 'Damn this, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Stupid cavities. Gonna kill you.'
'Now can you say "Ahh" for me, Daiki-kun?,'the young dentist had asked an eight year old Aomine, lying down on the reclined chair.
"Ahh".
"Very good." The dentist probed around in his mouth, making some small hms, and ahs before retracting the tools. "It seems like you have been eating a bit too much candy Daiki-kun. You have three cavities."
"I brush my teeth everyday!" the young boy had exclaimed, obviously a bit offended. "And I don't eat that much candy! M-maybe a little bit..."
The dentist chuckled. "Well that may be so, but we do have to fix these cavities. Or else they're going to hurt a lot and make big holes in your teeth. When that happens, you're going to have to take out the teeth. You don't want to have no teeth left, do you?"
"N-no! I don't want that to happen!" Aomine had cried out, horrified. He would be made fun of at school if he had no teeth. He also wouldn't be able to eat his favorite teriyaki burgers and karaage.
"Alright, then we'll need to fill your cavities in. It will be just a little bit painful. But don't worry, if it gets too painful, we have medicine so that you won't feel the pain? Are you ready, Daiki-kun?" the dentist kindly explained.
"Yeah! I don't want to have no teeth! And I can take a little pain. I'm on the basketball team at school. I get hurt all the time!" Aomine proudly huffed.
"Is that so? That's very cool. I bet my son would be really glad to play with you; he's been complaining that he has no one to play basketball with. He's actually around your age, Daiki-kun," the older man smiled gently at him.
Excited, Aomine whipped his head up to stare at the doctor, sparkling eyes and grinning wide. "Your son plays basketball, sensei?"
"Yes he does. He doesn't play on a team though-". The older man didn't get to finish his sentence as an attendant popped her head in. "Sensei! I need your help! There is another boy in the other room getting his cavities filled and he won't sit still. He keeps screaming and won't listen to us, his mom or the other sensei. Kagami-sensei, I think you can get him to listen though," she explained frantically.
"Alright, I'm on my way," the dentist calmly said as he pushed himself off his chair. "Daiki-kun, I'll be right back. Don't move and sit right here, okay?"
Aomine nodded and sat right where he was. He warily turned around towards the door where he could hear the panicked calls of the other attendants trying to hold the other boy down. Was it that painful to get their cavity filled? And he had three! No, he was strong! He always got his shots without crying - this couldn't be more painful than taking shots, right?
All of a sudden, a boy with a bright yellow shirt with a tiger on it walked in. He looked around, then made himself comfortable on the large chair that the sensei had been sitting on before. Aomine turned around to stare at the boy who seemed to be around his age. His hair was a ridiculous shade of red, with black undertones and his eyebrows were the weirdest thing he had ever seen. They were split in half!
"What are you doing in here? This is my room," Aomine accused the other. The redheaded whipped his head towards the voice, staring at Aomine with wide eyes as if he hadn't seen him in the first place. "O-oh. Sorry, I didn't see you here. I was just walking around. I'm bored. My dad is busy and I don't have anybody to play with," the boy explained and shrugged.
"Your dad? Is he getting his teeth checked too?" Aomine asked the other boy curiously. The redhead shook his head. "No, my dad is one of the dentists here. He brought me to work today because my mom is busy, and nobody else can look after me. I wanted to go play baske-"
He was interrupted by an agonizing scream coming from down the hallway, startling both the boys. They raised their eyebrows and stared at each other.
"W-what was that?" Aomine asked the other boy, trying his best not to look scared. "I think he's getting his cavities filled," the other replied. "I-is it that scary? I have to get three of them filled. Sensei said it wouldn't be that painful." The split-eyebrowed boy looked at him incredulously. "He lied to you! They're super painful! They cut off your tooth, and they then dig holes into your tooth and gums! And then they put these worms into your holes, and then they put glue in it so that the worms don't come out! And then they put a fake tooth on top! It's so scary, and so painful! My dad said so!"
Aomine turned pale as a ghost, and cold sweat broke out on his face. His hands were gripping the chair so tight, his knuckles were starting to turn white. This wasn't what his sensei had told him. They were going to put worms into his teeth!? And they leave them there? Weren't worms dirty? Just as he was going to ask the other boy a question, another agonizing scream came from down the hall. THIS WAS IT. HE WAS NOT GONNA LET THEM PUT WORMS INTO HIS TEETH.
Aomine scrambled off the chair and ran out of the room. "Wai-wait!" the redhead called after him. "I was just lying..."
That event had left the poor eight year old Aomine traumatized. He had run out of the clinic as fast as his small legs could carry him, hauling his confused mother behind. That was the last time that Aomine had been to the dentist. That was 15 years ago. Because of that, one of his cavities had opened into large holes, causing him the stupid toothache he was not experiencing. No way was he going to let some mad scientists put worms into his teeth. He shivered at just remembering that memory. The bloodcurdling screams, the stupid fork-browed redhead, the wriggling worms (there weren't any).
Aomine Daiki, a 23 year old, 6'2" tall basketball player, lover of ample breasts, but was deathly afraid of going to the dentist because he seriously thought they were going to put worms into this teeth. Thinking back on it, the dentist had said that his son played basketball too. Aomine wondered if he ever played against him as an opponent before. 'Stupid Satsuki. Making me go to the dentist - this new dentist better be some smoking hot lady with huge boobs or else I refuse to let someone put worms in my teeth.
COME FRIDAY AFTERNOON
Aomine walks into the dental office, already regretting going there. Posters upon posters of dental hygiene, braces, and other related information line the pristinely white walls of the office. A cheery voice from behind the counter greets him.
"Ah, Dai-chan! You actually came," grins Momoi happily. The bluenette scoffs. "Course I did. I told ya I wasn't scared of some dentist."
"Says the one who thinks that they're going to sell your teeth on the black market," the pink-haired woman teases, a tad bit louder, so that people could hear on purpose.
"Shut up, Satsuki!" Aomine hisses, frantically looking around to see if anybody heard. To his dismay, there were chuckles coming from several people, looking in his direction. He could instantly feel his face heat up with embarrassment. "Look what you did, now those people are gonna think I'm a dumbass. Thanks."
"It's not like that statement is exactly false," Momoi sing-songed. "Anyways, sign in here. There's a couple of more people before you, so you'll have to wait around 15-20 minutes."
"Hn, whatever." Aomine scribbled his name on the patient list, then sauntered over to an empty seat and plopped down. He tried to keep his cool, but it was evident that he was nervous. He attempted to take out his phone, but his shaky hands had failed him and his phone had landed face down on the floor. He tsked, and picked it up, checking to see if there was any damage; luckily, there wasn't. 'Calm down, Aomine Daiki. It's just a dentist. It's just a cavity. They're not gonna put worms in my teeth. They're not gonna put worms in my teeth. They're not - OH GOD OH GOD. THEY'RE GONNA PUT WORMS INTO MY TEETH. I'M LEAVING! GODDAMIT, I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE. IT WAS A DUMB IDEA TO COME HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE.'
Just as he got up to leave, he heard his name being called. "Aomine Daiki?" A nurse called from the doorway. He looked up slowly to see the smiling woman calling out his name. If he wasn't such a nervous wreck, he would be checking her out. He moved slowly to her, his arms and legs stiff, his face pale, and cold sweat beading his skin. "Y-yes, that's me," he managed to croak out. "Ah, Aomine-san, please follow me," the nurse smiled politely as she led the way inside. "Good luck, Dai-chan! It won't hurt, I promise!" he heard Satsuki call from behind the register. 'Yeah right, won't hurt my fucking ass. This is all your fault.'
The short brunette led him inside of a room and guided him to a chair to sit. "My name is Aida Riko, and I'll be taking some x-rays for you before the dentist comes in. I hear from Momoi-san that you have some cavities that you have to fix right? Don't worry, those are a completely painless procedure, and even if you do experience pain, we can give you some anesthesia to help lessen it, alright?" Aomine froze, his eyes going wide. That was what his dentist 15 years ago had said. Was this all a trick? Why were they lying about putting worms into his teeth?
"Aomine-san? Hello?" Riko waved her hands in front of the unmoving Aomine. "I'll be taking the x-rays now, can you sit back for me?"
Sighing as she couldn't get a response from him, she gently pushed him back and put the x-ray protective apron on him. This was gonna be hard. She had heard from Momoi that her childhood friend who had a morbid fear of the dentist was coming into visit soon, but she did not expect it to be this bad.
"Aomine-san, can you open your mouth for me?" Aomine robotically opened his mouth, his eyes unfocused and glazed over, choosing to block out everything that was going on. Riko sighed in relief as the man opened his mouth; at least she wouldn't have had to open his mouth by force. She carefully slid a thin piece of x-ray film onto the wand and placed it inside the bluenette's mouth. "Close." Aomine bit down on the tool. Even though he was obeying the commands, his mind was totally somewhere else. 'Think happy things, think happy things. Rainbows, unicorns, Poptarts, teriyaki burgers, karaage, basketball... Anything but worms in my teeth!'
A tap on his shoulder jolted him out of his reverie. "Aomine-san, I'm all done with your x-rays. Just sit here and your dentist will be here shortly," Riko informed him. "Ah.. thank you, Aida-san." "You're very welcome. See that wasn't so bad was it?" she asked leaving the room, without waiting for Aomine's response. 'What even happened? I was too busy thinking about eating teriyaki burgers. Guess that wasn't so bad - it didn't feel painful.'
A soft knock on the door gained Aomine's attention. He turns his head around and a tall male dentist, probably as tall as he, with a shocking bed of red hair, and split fork-brows walks in. "Aomine-san, is it?" he asks, a soft grin adorning his handsome face. Aomine's heart instantly skips a beat, and he can feel his face turn red. 'What is this? Why is my heart beating so fast? It's not like this dude is some hot bombshell lady. In fact, he looks like some muscular dude who's as tall as me. B-but h-his smile. Oh my god, his smile is to die for.'
"Y-yes, thash mee," Aomine squeaked and half screamed, his voice cracking on the last syllable. His face instantly turned bright red as a ripe tomato, cursing himself for being so incompetent that he couldn't even speak properly. A chuckle from the other had him gaping at the miracle that was the angel standing in front of him (he's in deep). "You don't have to be so afraid, Aomine-san. It will just be a cavity filling. The procedure will be done in less than 15 minutes."
The bluenette swooned at the deep voice coming from the other man in front of him. "O-oh me? Afraid? Nah I'm not afraid. Just recovering from a cold, that's all." The dark man cleared his voice to make a point.
"Ah in weather like this, it's easy to catch a cold. A lot of my patients and employees are coming in sick lately - it's awful." The redhead sounded sincerely sympathetic and it made Aomine feel a tad bit guilty that he was lying about not feeling well. "Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Kagami Taiga and I'll be the one who is going to perform the procedure for you today. So, let's get started shall we? If you could lie down for me please?"
Aomine didn't even notice the familiar name, for he was way too nervous as to what was going to take place in two minutes. He took a deep breath in, and slowly exhaled. This was it, this was the moment that he was going to get worms in teeth. No backing out now... He warily laid himself down on the reclined chair, and stared up at the figure who was currently putting a mask on. Even with the mask covering a majority of his face, Aomine could still tell he was a very handsome man.
Kagami rolled up a chair and sat in front of the computer screen that was inside the room, checking up on Aomine's x-rays. "Hm, besides the cavities that you mentioned, there isn't anything else that seems to be wrong. But the cavities seem to be really bad - has it been a long time since you've been to the dentist," he asked, swiveling around in his chair to face his patient.
"Er..," Aomine sweatdropped, fumbling around for words to say. "I've been very busy - I haven't had the time. My job requires that I move around a lot," he finally lied, not able to look Kagami in the eye. "Oh, I see," the redheaded dentist nodded in understanding, turning his chair back to face the computer. "That must have been very painful - the holes look really big. Let's see what we can do - hopefully you'll leave here smiling today. Shall we get started?" Aomine gulped, and crossed his fingers, hoping he would survive. "Y-yeah, please."
Kagami tugged his gloves on, and once more coaxed Aomine to lie back down. He flicked on the overhead light, and guided it towards Aomine's open mouth. "Hm, since it's been a long time since you've been here, let's give your teeth a nice cleaning too." "W-wait!" Aomine suddenly bolted into an upright position and craned his neck to look back towards the still smiling dentist? "My teeth are clean enough, what's wrong with them? Why do they needa have a cleaning?" The redhead pulled down his facial mask and chuckled, sending the blunette's heart into overdrive, for the third time since their brief meeting. "It's not that you have dirty teeth, or anything like that. Cleaning your teeth prevents further cavities and other bacteria which can lead to other things like tooth loss, and infections. You wouldn't want to have no teeth left, that wouldn't be so nice."
Aomine raised his brow... /em 'You wouldn't want to have no teeth left...' That phrase sounded oddly familiar, but he couldn't exactly place his finger on where exactly he had heard it. He shoved that thought in the back of his head – he could figure that out later. "B-but Sensei, you said that it didn't look like I had anything wrong with my teeth right? So could we skip the cleaning?" Aomine nearly pleaded, attempting to give the dentist the best puppy eyes he could muster
Kagami finally frowned at the odd patient in front of him. He wasn't sure but it seemed as if this Aomine-san were afraid of the dentist. He was very jittery, couldn't speak right, he hadn't been to the dentist in years, and he doesn't even want me to clean his teeth. "Aomine-san, it really is better if you get your teeth cleaned. It's important to keep your dental hygiene up to par."
Aomine was taken aback by the scolding tone the dentist had decided to take. He frowned, and said offensively "I keep my teeth very clean, thank you very much." Kagami sighed and swore that he was going to take a nice long bath once he stepped through his door. "Yes, in fact your teeth are very nice Aomine-san. But, it's important to get them cleaned as well. When you get them cleaned at the dentist, it is easier to prevent bacteria and infections from happening," the dentist sighed, for probably the third time since he walked into the room. "Is there a reason why you're so against getting them clean?"
The bluenette looked away, feigning disinterest. "I just don't think I need one – that's all. I've never gotten infections."
Kagami looked at the other incredulously. 'Never got infections? Yet here he was, sitting in the dentist office after a decade of never going to one, claiming that he was "too busy", nursing 3 cavities.' He closed his eyes and mentally screamed inside. He finally let out a breath of short air. "Alright, it seems that there is a strong reason for not wanting to clean your teeth, so let's get straight to fixing those cavities okay?"
Aomine breathed a sigh of relief and silently thanked whatever dentist gods were out there listening to his prayers. "Thank you, sensei," he beamed a bright grin at the redhead. Kagami's eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat (although he strongly denies this). "Y-you're welcome," he stammered, and turned around as to hide his steadily blushing face. What was this? Just two seconds ago, he was frustrated to no end at this patient. With just one small smile, he was all smitten? 'C'Mon, Kagami Taiga, you see bright smiles all day. In fact, it's your job to make brilliant smiles! What's so special about his? Just because he's a little attractive, dammit!'
He took a deep breath and turned back around, tools in hand, ready to start the procedure. "Alright, Aomine-san, before we start the procedure, would you like to get anesthesia so that you won't feel the pain?" When his patient declined, he was confused. He was sure that the reason why he avoided the dentist for such a long time was because he was simply afraid of going. em 'Hm, I guess there's another reason. Guess we'll find out soon.' /em
"Okay, Aomine-san, please open your mouth for me again. I'm going to start working on removing the bad parts of the cavities and then filling up the holes. Please tell me if the pain gets too great – we will give you anesthesia in that case." Kagami informed the man lying in front of him. Aomine curtly nodded and proceeded to open his mouth. He couldn't see what was going on, and the anticipation was nearly killing him.
Cold sweat beaded his brows and started trickling down his face, his hands clutching the chair tightly. He heard rustling from behind him as the dentist readied the tools. "Vrrrr…" Aomine froze… Was that drill he heard? It stopped for a second and before Aomine could sigh in relief, it started up again. He slowly turned around to see the dentist readying a small drill. He gulped, and gripped the chair even tighter.
The drill came closer to his mouth as the noise rang louder and louder in his ear; he felt like a hopeless victim in a horror movie, about to be hacked to pieces with a chainsaw. 10 inches… 8 inches… it inched ever so close. At six inches, he bolted upright from his seat, screaming "NOPE NOPE, CAN'T DO IT! I DON'T WANT FUCKING WORMS IN MY TEETH!"
Kagami, who got the living daylights shocked out of him could do nothing but stare in plain shock, then started to outright guffaw at the plain sight before him. Oh he found his answer alright. The answer to why this man wouldn't go to the dentist for 10 years. And it was all his fault.