I am convinced that adult Takao would love the liqueur Midori and any cocktail that includes it. Especially the Japanese Slipper, you can pretty much imagine him drinking it and winking to Midorima now and then as he sipped from the green liquid, just to mess with the poor guy...


"Can you tell me again just why are we having a party for me making it to playoffs? I always make it to playoffs."

"It's not just for you, it's for Kagami too."

"We both always make it to playoffs."

"But this is the sixth time you have done so!"

"It is because it is our sixth year in our professional league career."

"Whatever. I just wanted to party."

"You would just go to a party at a club or something, like the other time you dragged us to that bar's weekend party..."

"I just wanted to hold a party, maybe. Can't you just go with it?"

"You are planning something aren't you?"

"Jeez Aominecchi, why would you think so? I am not a calculating person."

"Oh you are. You are when it comes to people and relationships."

"Come on..."

"I still remember clearly the big mess after you tried to match Tetsu and Satsuki a few years ago."

"Ah... well, Momocchi liked him for years, it is understandable that I will help my friends."

"It did end up with her bawling her eyes out for days though."

"It is not my fault, I never expected Kurokocchi to so angrily and bluntly and absolutely reject her like that. He had never done that before, he was always caring towards her."

"If you push a guy so much and put in the spot in front of so many people, he will have to. You guys forced him to."

"Oh... so you do believe his actions were understandable? One wonders then why did you go all batshit crazy big brother on him? Huh?"

"That is another matter..."

Kise giggled and tried to imitate Aomine's low voice with a threatening tone to it,

"'Look Tetsu, you are my buddy, but if you humiliate and make Satsuki cry like that again, in front of everyone too, I'll crush you. Into a pulp. You talk properly with her. You treat her right.'"

"God damn that little ghost! He was not supposed tell you guys that..."

"You know we all like it when you are overprotective about us and it is especially cute when it's for Momocchi..."

"She is like a sister to me!"

"I know. Calm down... You don't have to be so tense... hehe, God you are so cute."

"I am not cute. Whatever. All I'm saying is, meddling in others' affairs is not a good habit..."

"Okay, okay, I promise this will be the last."

Aomine looked at Kise in exhaustion and sighed,

"I know you won't keep that promise but whatever, let's hope... So, what do you need from me?"

It turned out that Kise did not need much from Aomine, other than reserving a private booth in Himuro's bar; Himuro was more lenient to Aomine's requests than Kise's, reasonably as Aomine was a silent casual drinker whereas Kise was quite a handful bursting into dancing or singing loudly. The factor of Aomine's personality reminding him of his dear friend Kagami probably helped too but years ago when Kise had first realised this particular tenderness towards Aomine, he had felt very jealous. He had soon, though, learnt through a not-so-nice series of occurrences that first, Himuro was straight as an arrow, and second Himuro hate jealousy and being a target due to it, and third – and this was the most important one – Himuro had absolutely no patience to any insinuation of anything beyond friendship between Kagami and himself for apparently he treated Kagami very much as a younger brother. Their relationship had later improved again, and special thanks for that was to Kagami, still Kise found it easier to ask Aomine to do it in his stead whenever a favour with Himuro was the matter. And Aomine asked and Himuro agreed, while Kise had invited and of all those he invited (which constituted all of the Teikou regulars and Takao), only Akashi had to politely decline as he was outside the country on a business trip that day, however Momoi was still in Tokyo and would attend.

"You didn't come driving right Midorimacchi?" Kise wanted to check as Midorima, 7:30 pm sharp entered the booth they had booked, right on the clock. "Yes, I did not as you made it very clear that even if I did not want to drink you would tie me up and force me to drink, Kise."

"You threatened him?" Aomine raised an eyebrow as Midorima moved towards Aomine to sit, he preferred sitting near Aomine than Kise; in terms of drunken company, Aomine was always the less harmful and more stable one.

"Well, he has to drink! It is a party after all..." Kise smiled sheepishly. They ordered some snacks as they waited others to arrive, the first to arrive after Midorima was Momoi and then Kuroko and Kagami. Murasakibara came with a large pretty box at hand, "I brought cake" he announced impassively while Kise and Momoi jumped up and down at the news of a cake, almost like a bunch of children at a birthday party and Kuroko gave them a silently judging glance till Murasakibara added, "it's covered with my special vanilla cream" and Kuroko turned to Kagami right away, "Can you go and get some plates from Himuro-kun? And some forks and a large knife? For the cake?" Kagami chuckled as he got up and that was the moment when, like so often the case Takao entered the room at last, as the diva. In most parties, assuming Akashi was not to come or Akashi did not see any need to be on time, it was either Takao or Kise who would end up being late, and otherwise it would be Akashi. Then, there was the case of Aomine, who, if not coming with Kise could pretty much come an hour or two later than the designated time out of simple forgetfulness. He was not really fond of meet-ups, especially when it involved the setting which Kise deemed to be a "party"; it almost always meant a night of drunken follies which turned out to be more painful than pleased set of memories and or consequences for Aomine.

Kise pulled Takao to sit between himself and Momoi such that he himself was sandwiched between Midorima and Takao, which was not a common situation but not that anybody minded; except Aomine that is, since he had to endure Murasakibara's constant munching on one side and Midorima's stoic stare on the other, instead of sitting near his overtly cheerful boyfriend. He had to endure it though, he had promised Kise.

The night went on without much problems, various chit chats of various topics dominated the first two hours but by the third hour the conversations got slower and sillier and the words started slurping. Aomine preferred not to drink much as he wanted to be as sober as possible when receiving the award for his obedience to Kise's whims later that night when they returned home. Kise, similarly and surprisingly was not drinking as much as he would otherwise. Kagami was, like almost always, first one to get drunk and his childish antics and giggles were the focus of attention as he bickered with Aomine and Murasakibara. Murasakibara in general did not drink anyway. Kuroko was quite tipsy himself and Momoi took this as a good opportunity to flirt with him; she was over him in more ways than one but flirting with Kuroko had almost become a second nature for her. Takao started feeling intoxication only after the concoction Kise almost begged him to drink: an almost glowing Japanese Slipper.

Takao was reluctant to drink it at first, mumbling "I told you that I stopped drinking that" but Kise was adamant and Takao could not resist it; honestly, he loved almost any and all cocktails that involved "Midori". The name, the colour; it was almost tailor made for his cheesy crush and its sweet taste only added an ironic twist for him. Midori Sweetheart or Midori & Ginger, and of course the classic Japanese Slipper... He loved them. And what he loved the most was drinking them in front of Midorima, who for years still never got the message; it was so blatant yet so inconspicuous at the same time that Takao could not resist. He had been trying his best though, as part of his greater plan to move away from Midorima for some time now, still he thought, "one or two glasses tonight will not change much"...

An hour or two later he would be proven wrong...

"Aw! Kagamicchi started giggling again..."

Looking at where Kise pointed, Takao also saw Kagami, who was now almost crushing Kuroko underneath his large build, to be sleeping so soundly yet giggling, like a small child. Kuroko was not amused but the sight caused Takao to burst out laughing,

"He is so cute! You both are cute! Come 'ere I'll kiss ya!"

Perhaps one or two glasses did matter when they multiplied so fast, not just in number and diversity too... Not that Takao was someone who would get drunk easy, at best he was still what would one normally call "very tipsy" and not fully drunk but he loved acting as one and becoming a "kissing monster" was his thing. Kuroko was furious though you could not realise it in the calm tone of his voice or how his words slurped a little since he was rather tipsy too:

"No. No, please Takao-kun."

"Aw you are so mean."

Momoi had left earlier so Takao was situated right between Kuroko and Kise, he turned his attention to Kise then,

"But I can kiss you right Ki-chan?"

"You can always kiss me Taka-chan"

Takao almost jumped on Kise, giving a big bear hug and a nice little peck on his cheek while Aomine simply looked annoyed and Midorima, who seemed to be very drunk by now stared on.

If one was to define Midorima's personality when drunk, a single word would suffice: boring. Midorima was utterly boring when drunk. He would stay silent and simply watch others. Look on and on. Only good or interesting part would be that he would become a little bit more obedient so it was not that hard to take him back home; you told that it was time to go now, he would get up. No fuss. No fights. No caprices. It was boring.

"Oh but Aomine you are looking so displeased, you want a kiss too?" Takao asked mocking and hurled himself on top of Kise almost reaching to Aomine but Midorima was obviously in the way and Aomine quickly moved further back– hitting Murasakibara in the process, who was watching the parade gleefully.

"Stop being an ass Takao... You are the worst of them all."

"Aw why would you say that Aomine? Murasakibara, can I kiss you?"

"Why not?" Murasakibara mumbled and leaned forward his huge upper body, squeezing Aomine tight in the process, and Takao gave a small peck to Murasakibara's forehead.

"That is so cute!" Kise said cheerfully and they heard a thump, looking at the other side of the table it seemed Kagami fell down.

"I think we should go. Could you take us home Murasakibara-kun? You didn't drink tonight right?"

Murasakibara nodded and got up, picked Kagami from the floor like an adult would pick a child and secured him on his back,

"We'll be out then..."

"But I still didn't kiss you Kurokoooo" Takao screamed, pronouncing the "o" so long and so perfectly with his mouth that Kise burst out laughing and Kuroko gave him a dirty glare,

"Yes, yes Takao-kun and hopefully you will never. It was a good party Kise-kun. Thanks. See you guys!"

And the trio left the room, leaving only Aomine, Midorima, Kise, and Takao behind.

"Well then only one left to kiss is Midorimacchi huh?" Kise said with a cheeky voice,

"Ha?" Takao looked at Midorima who was staring at his face like a zombie. He couldn't help but laugh,

"Ah Ki-chan, I think that is impossible... even for a drunk Shin-chan."

Ah, his intoxicated mind and heart could not stick to his personal decisions apparently as the nickname flowed so naturally out of his mouth but he did not mind really, he was very tipsy anyway and Midorima looked very drunk.

"Oh come on, at least you should ask him! You asked all of us, he will feel left out!" Kise said giggling as he sipped from his Pina Colada,

Takao giggled further and then leaned forward towards Midorima, making a dramatic face, pouting his lips a little,

"What do you say Shin-chan? I can't possibly kiss you, can I?" he said and Midorima simply stared at him, awkwardly, silently, and strangely like he had been throughout the night and Takao burst out laughing,

"See I told you" he said, luckily the alcohol level in his blood prevented the gimmick from becoming coated in melancholy and he moved back to his spot giggling, Kuroko re-entered the room then,

"Apparently I left Kagami-kun's phone somewhere here..." he said a lot tipsy and a little confused, Aomine picked up the phone from the table to the air to give it to Kuroko and at that moment something that nobody expected happened.

Midorima Shintarou, the second tallest man among his friends after the giant that is Murasakibara, almost hurled himself forward towards Takao, crushing Kise underneath him in the process, holding Takao's face within the palm of one of his hands while his other hand held onto the left arm of the raven haired man. Midorima kissed Takao.

Midorima kissed Takao with the passion of a lover who was just reunited with their beloved. Midorima kissed Takao with the enthusiasm of a very young man allowed to realise his fantasies for the first time. Midorima kissed Takao with the hunger of a starved beast devouring its prey, finally.

They kissed and kissed and kissed. It seemed as though it would never end, the split seconds their lips would separate Midorima would attack, right away, again, after a slight lick or a small nibble. As seconds passed and their tempo rose up and fell down in continuous bursts, like a fiery dance of tango, and it seemed Midorima could not stop, that he would not stop...

Kise mumbled "he is quite skilled" despite the pain he was in under the heavy weight of the large man on him and Aomine was speechless with his hand still up in the air, holding the dangling mobile phone... Kuroko was blinking uncontrollably in disbelief but not able to tear his eyes away either.

It was so unexpected at first Takao did not understand what was happening... It was like how drunk people, when thrown into the sea may have a hard time realising the perilous situation they are in and end up drowning a little even if they are great swimmers... It was like that. He was intoxicated very much and it was the least thing he expected, being thrown into such a deep ocean of pure desire that he was not ready, he could not help but drown a little. Return the kisses, the licks, the nibble, the touches a little.

When you are in an unrequited love for a long, long time you come to a point that there has been nothing left that you have not done to your love interest in your mind; you may not have even held their hand once, but you have probably done anything lovely and anything wicked or even worse to them in your mind and dreams and fantasies, in those lonely nights in bed or elsewhere... And perhaps that is the most terrifying thing about the unrequited loves, not only for the love interest who becomes unknowingly a subject or at worst an object in the imaginary world of the lover, but it is terrifying for the lover as well. For you start loving not the real person that you know but the mirage that keeps you company in your own little imaginary world. It may come to the point that if you are given the right, finally the award of realising that very desire you may end up dissatisfied for who you receive, you who share yourself with ends up being a very, very different person than the one in your imagination.

And it was very different... it was very very different than all the times Takao had imagined Midorima kissing him. The point that was both very heartbreaking and captivating though was that he loved it; he loved it. He loved it regardless of how it fit with his fantasies. He loved the taste. He loved the lips. He loved the feeling. He loved how he simply could not define this kiss... These kisses. It was neither solely tender nor rough, it was neither solely calm nor passionate, it was a bit of both, it was a bit of everything, it was both slow savouring of a luxury wine and enthusiastic quenching of the thirst with water... It was everything.

And it was nothing.

Takao's half closed hazy eyes flashed open and he gave a slight push to Midorima to drive him away as well as a light slap on the face.

That brought everyone to reality, as well as Takao, who had really sobered up.

His eyes were big and shocked, and scared to be frank, his lower lip, already swollen and red, trembled a bit as he screamed at Midorima,

"What the heck do you think you are doing?! It's not funny!"

Midorima looked at him with utter innocuousness.

"Well I am out. And I did not see that." Kuroko said, grabbing the phone from Aomine's hand and quickly leaving the room. Aomine on the other hand helped move Kise up a little and pull him to his own side so that the blond was not being crushed under Midorima.

"I am talking to you! Are you kidding with me? That was not funny!"

"You are... angry?" was all Midorima said and Takao shouted,

"Hell yeah! I am angry!"

And the second miracle of the night happened as Midorima sniffed loudly, once, twice, thrice... Then large drops of tears suddenly started flowing from his eyes as he looked at the furious face of Takao in a rather difficult position, holding onto the table for even though he was sitting he was having a hard time to keep himself in balance.

Takao was mortified.

It was very rare he had seen Midorima cry but never like this. No, never like this. It was as if he had turned into a child and was crying after being unfairly reprimanded by his mother. He cried so sincerely, sobbing like a child that Takao's anger and shock faded away as quickly as they came and he held out his hand caressing the cheek of the man in front of him and upon touch, as if that was the cue, Midorima threw himself over Takao again, this time hiding his face on the nape of the smaller man, still sobbing as Takao a little awkwardly but very gently combed the green hair with his fingers... "Shhh... it's okay, I am not mad anymore..." he mumbled.

A little disturbed at the unexpected sight in front of him, Aomine glanced at Kise inquisitively, and Kise looked as surprised as he was. Soon the sobbing and wailing slowed down and got quieter and quieter then it stopped. It happened so fast that they were all shocked. "Um... Shin-chan?"

No response came and then Takao started hearing the very light snoring of the large man who had sprawled himself all over him. He sighed and looked at Kise with confusion on his face,

"What's wrong with him?!"

"I don't know! You are the Midorimacchi expert!"

"I don't know either... I have never seen him like... that... and that... thing he did... Ah whatever. I mean he drank a lot but still... How much did he drink?"

"Well he drank 3 glasses of wine. That I know of and ordered as part of all our drinks. Hmm... but there are some extra glasses here that are not mine.. Kise, did you order these shots?"

"Huh? Ah yeah, but you drank them right?"

"No... I did not drink any shots. I only drank some light beer."

"Oh My God... could it be that Midorimacchi was the one who drank my absinthe shots?"

"You ordered absinthe shots?!" Takao exclaimed,

"Well yeah I thought why not get hammered well tonight... So I ordered some shots but after the first one I felt a little hit hard so I thought I would drink the others later but the next I look they are empty... Oh God... when they had first come and Midorimacchi had inquired what they were I had asked him to try jokingly but he had just 'tch'ed. When I saw the shot glasses empty I thought Aominecchi had drunk them!"

"I cannot believe you! You know he has no tolerance for alcohol... he should not have drunk that much. Oh what will I do now... God..." Takao looked at Midorima with concern.

"I am really sorry Taka-chan... How could I know... Anyway, he won't be able to go home like that, let me ask Himuro to call a cab for him."

"He cannot go alone with a cab..." Takao paused for a second then continued,

"Do ask Himuro to call a cab, I'll tag along and ensure he gets home safely... Ah, stupid Shin-chan drinking stuff he does not know."

When a waiter knocked the door and announced that the cab had come, Kise helped Takao walk Midorima to the car, they hugged and Kise said sorry again but Takao was calmer now and asked him not to worry about it. "It is not your fault" he said with a slightly sad smile as he also got into the car.

When Kise made it back to the private booth they had reserved Aomine was sprawled over their seats, giving a very judging stare over Kise,

"What?" Kise asked, innocently,

"You are a devil." Aomine responded and Kise giggled, almost skipped to the side of Aomine and threw himself near his boyfriend. His Pina Colada was still not finished so he sipped from it a bit looking at Aomine with eyes of an innocuous child,

"Why do you say that?" he asked with a slight pout,

Aomine moved a little closer to his lover and pushed a few strands of unruly blond hair behind the pretty ear of Kise; "does every feature of him have to look so beautiful?" he thought as his thumb caressed the side of Kise's face, his ears.

"You stopped having absinthe shots after that time in Ibiza last summer when you took a few of them when you were already pretty drunk and you were so intoxicated and had such a huge hangover the next day and you spent almost 3 days in bed... 'I hate this vacation! I'll never drink that poison again!' you bawled and bawled and never drank it again."

"Oh well..." Kise said as he gulped down the last drops of his cocktail and leaned to his back, Aomine now playing with his hair.

"So why? Why would you make Midorima drunk? It was surely you who did it."

"Perhaps..."

"You won't tell me why? I am seriously curious. Sure that... weird thing he pulled was crazy. But it could not have been expected? I mean normally he is such a boring drunk... Even Kagami who spends most of his drunk time sleeping giggles and talks in his sleep and is so a bit fun to watch but Midorima just stares blankly and says nothing."

"Yeah right... seems so. The kiss by the way, was totally unexpected. I really did not expect them. He is quite skilful too, isn't he?"

Aomine 'tch'ed at that as he was always a little pissed off when Kise made these type of comments and honestly because he would be a little pissed that Kise made these type of comments. He leaned towards the blond and licked his literally sweet and intoxicating lips, covered and soaked in various alcoholic beverages throughout the night. He continued with a kiss that was neither chaste nor aggressive; if anything, it was a lovely aperitif for their night to come...

"So, why?" Aomine asked as he separated himself a little from Kise looking into the honey coloured eyes and Kise smiled,

"God... I could never keep a secret from you... it is a miracle I kept it a secret so far."

"What secret?" Aomine's eyebrow rose out of curiosity,

"You remember how I held a party like this when Taka-chan first joined to that prestigious school as a teacher? You couldn't come because you were out of town?"

"Yes?"

"Taka-chan left that party early when he got a call from his sister, who apparently had a small accident with her car... and we had forced Midorimacchi to drink too and he was pretty drunk already since he gets drunk fast, and he was in no shape to go together with Taka-chan so when he left, I was tasked with taking Midorimacchi home."

"And?"

"And, as we rode on a taxi to our respective homes, I discovered out of pure luck that our little Midorimacchi was not just a boring drunk."

"Can't you just say it?"

"Fine fine... so I jokingly told him that even though he did not like me at all I was the one helping him again and that he should like me a bit perhaps, 'can't you like me? I am such a good friend!' I told him. He looked into my eyes with the most innocent and honest gaze I have ever seen him give and he said, 'but Kise I already like you the most after Takao... well Akashi too, I like you both a lot.'"

"What?!" Aomine's face read pure bewilderment and Kise chuckled,

"He said it. And I was like 'you sure?' and he was 'yes! Of course! You are very helpful... I like Akashi a lot too and he is helpful but he is always cryptic and too serious about it, you are very nice... you are such a good person.' Then I asked him what else did he think about me and he said things like 'you are so cheerful, it is a bit irritating sometimes but it feels good too' and 'you are so beautiful'."

"You are fucking kidding with me."

"Nope... then I asked him other things too. And he obediently answered with all honesty. Midorimacchi isn't a boring silent drunk. He is a super obedient and super honest drunk. Just ask him and he will tell you."

"But hey, if that is the case how come you never asked him about Takao?"

"Well I learnt this recently myself too right... Plus I was always afraid of knowing to be honest. What if he said he did not like him in that way? How could I live with that knowledge as I watched Taka-chan continue loving the man? So I decided that it was not a good idea to get Midorimacchi drunk in the first place, God forbid somebody asked or discovered this..."

"But you did tonight?" Aomine was puzzled and did not understand his boyfriend's logic but Kise was glad to explain as he wrapped his arms around Aomine and they slightly sank further onto the comfortable seating beneath them,

"Because of you! You Aominecchi planted the idea in my head! You said that Midorimacchi was not 'disturbed' by the idea at all so I wondered... Isn't the main problem between them right now is that neither wants to face the other regarding the changing dynamics of their relationship? What better way to make Midorimacchi honest to achieve that? So far it has been good..."

"Ah... as I said, you are a devil." Aomine said as he leaned down to kiss Kise, who raised his whole body a little higher with desire,

"Oh you have seen nothing of the devil yet, but you will, very soon tonight..." he whispered into their kiss.