Less Is More

by mew-tsubaki

Oneshot, light slash, post-series but pre-EG. During Otsubo's captaincy, Takao and Midorima were given a lot of leeway. But they're second years now, and a new year means changes...including one that Midorima didn't see coming.

Less Is More

A Kuroko no Basuke oneshot

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The Kuroko no Basuke characters belong to Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei, not to me. TFW you're rewatching the series and you gotta create some new Midotaka content. XD Read, review, and enjoy!

- ^-^3

"Ah, Shin-chan," Takao began, "hold on there. Your right elbow's a bit stiff."

Midorima internally huffed and lowered the basketball he'd prepared to shoot. He sent Takao a dry look. "I didn't ask for your advice, Takao."

Takao shrugged. "And friends don't have to ask for advice. Least of all us, Shin-chan," he added with a grin. That prefaced a small chuckle, too, but he waved his amusement off and motioned with his own arms. "C'mon. You had it bent more in practice yesterday, like this."

"I know what I'm doing, Takao," Midorima ground out, his irritation rising despite his even tone.

"Aw, don't be so dismissive, Shin-chan~"

Midorima adjusted his elbows, gripped the ball a smidge harder than necessary, and shot from the half-court line. As expected, it went in touching the net only. He pushed the frames of his glasses up his nose. "I was already in the process of correcting my form when you interrupted me, Bakao," he retorted.

Even without looking, Midorima knew Takao dramatically winced as though physically wounded. "So mean, Shin-chan…!"

Their back-and-forth was interrupted, however, when their new captain stomped partway across Shutoku's gym and halted in front of the duo. "You two do realize your voices travel farther in here than you'd think, right?" the younger Miyaji asked them.

Midorima and Takao exchanged a look, but Takao was the one to hold up his hand in apology. "Uh, oops. Sorry, Miyaji-san." He tilted his head in the direction of the first years. "Is it all right to keep working on our things over here, or do you need help with the newbies?"

Miyaji's right eye twitched. He looked from Takao to Midorima and back before he huffed. "…you two seriously are irritating. You act as if you're third years already, and that's definitely because Otsubo-san and Nakatani-sensei have been far too easygoing with you, being Shutoku's own light-and-shadow pair. Giving Midorima some freebies during games has extended to you, too, Takao, and that's not really how to rein in a team." He punctuated his assessment by crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"I assure you, we are only second years," Midorima pointed out. He debated the merits of wasting the breath to explain that Miyaji need not worry about his authority over the rest of the team being challenged; Midorima wanted to make this team victorious and have a hand in leading it there, but he wanted to do so on the court, not in the gym or from the bench. Whether Midorima would eye the captaincy next year, his and Takao's last…well, that was a consideration for another day.

Miyaji gritted his teeth, but his annoyance wasn't aimed at Midorima. "Yeah, sure," he grumbled in response to the shooting guard. He jerked his chin at Takao. "But, Takao—a word?"

"Oh, uh. Yeah, sure, Miyaji-san." Takao tossed Midorima another ball and jogged after the blond as their captain once more stomped away.

Midorima aimed the ball, elbows in their proper places, and shot again. Another perfect hoop. As he reached for another ball himself, he let his eyes drift above the rims of his glasses to seek out Takao and Miyaji on the sidelines.

Curious. The two conversed by themselves, far from where Nakatani-sensei watched the others run drills. Or rather, they didn't converse so much as Takao listened and Miyaji spoke. Miyaji's grumpy expression didn't change much at all, though Takao managed to hold on to one of his smiles…although was it a trick of the lights or did he blanch as Miyaji heaved a sigh? Hmm.

Midorima adjusted his glasses and turned away so Takao wouldn't discover him looking on. Shutoku's ace shot another three baskets in quick succession before Takao shuffled back to him. Things were quiet between them, but Midorima had had over a year of exposure to Takao Kazunari by now. He knew Takao would fill him in, eventually.

Except this time he didn't. Takao frowned, Midorima noted when he peeked at the point guard, and worked silently on his dribbling. It was a few minutes before he even approached Midorima so they could practice any of their paired attacks…mainly previous ones, as it was difficult to come up with new material with a silent partner.

Also curious. Though Midorima was grateful for the reprieve from the constant chatter, total silence between them wouldn't do. He nodded to Takao and flexed his fingers. "Takao, I'm considerably warmed up. We can continue as is, or—"

Takao blinked. Midorima's voice must've snapped him out of whatever spell he was under. He mustered a smile. "Ah, right. Today…um…let's try something new, Midorima."

Midorima blinked. He glanced at the shorter teen. He hadn't misheard Takao just now. Had he?

Or maybe he had. Takao's enthusiasm returned as he twirled a ball around in his hands and offered Midorima a grin. "Who knows? Something new might pay off if we focus… We might even reclaim our title after Seirin swept the Three Kings last year."

"Focus is only half the battle; there's also fate involved," Midorima reminded him, and he opted to recount Oha-Asa's predictions for the day in lieu of pressing the name slip-up with Takao. After all, Takao had a point, that they had important things to worry about…and Midorima chose to write off the incident as a fluke.

- ^-^3

But that earlier moment that left him confused was not a one-and-done.

Takao, usually with a pause beforehand and with some effort, continued to use Midorima's surname for the rest of practice that evening. Practice ended, but, even in the clubroom and on the way home, Takao used Midorima's last name instead of his nickname.

When Takao dropped him off at home that night, Midorima stood rooted outside his house for a solid minute until his younger sister opened the door and beckoned to him. She asked him what was wrong, but Midorima couldn't find the words to explain what had transpired. Even when their parents pressed him over dinner, Midorima avoided the topic. After all, it wasn't a gigantic cause for concern, and tomorrow would be a new day.

"Yo. G'morning, Midorima," Takao greeted him with a peace sign at the helm of the rickshaw the next morning.

…all right. Same crap, different day. Midorima stared long and hard at Takao before climbing into the back without much more than a "…good morning."

At the very least, Takao still huffed and complained about the rough job pedaling on the way to school, so that hadn't changed. "I always tell you, we should switch off…!" he begged between gasps after they arrived and he caught his breath.

"You always beg me to draw lots or to play rock-paper-scissors, and you lose every time," Midorima pointed out. His lips twitched as he thought fondly of the three-digit number when it came to wins against Takao in this regard. "You can always try again, at the end of the day, but I do have today's lucky item with me: a neon orange rabbit's foot from the hundred-yen store."

Takao raised his eyebrows at him as he trailed behind Midorima at the shoe lockers. "Gods, you buy the weirdest things, Midorima. If you don't yet have a whole separate room for that junk, you'll need one soon…"

Midorima opened his mouth to remark about Takao's change in speech, but the first bell interrupted them. Damn. Midorima frowned, but he also doubted Takao would be able to stick to this change for much longer. One practice and a ride home and to school? That was nothing. They were in the same class again this year. Takao was bound to slide back into his old sense of familiarity soon enough.

…except the stubborn fellow didn't.

Throughout the day, in class and out, Takao continued to call him "Midorima" as would anyone else. Even after school was out and they left since today was a rest day from practice, the pair went past Midorima's preferred bookstore and stopped briefly by the hundred-yen store, and Takao never let up. Just as he'd been stubborn about calling him "Shin-chan" this past year, suddenly he was committed to calling him only "Midorima" now.

The off-putting switch had knocked Midorima off-pace enough that he bought a second neon orange rabbit's foot just in case, even though the day was half gone already. "Man proposes, God disposes" was Midorima Shintaro's primary motto. But "Better safe than sorry," while it lacked some elegance, was a fairly good secondary one.

Takao peered over his arm at the checkout counter. "Eh? A second lucky item? But didn't you already have…?"

"I do," Midorima answered curtly as the cashier passed him his receipt. Midorima took the keychain and clipped it onto the previous one as he and Takao exited the store.

Takao scratched along his jaw and pulled a face. "Wouldn't that be bad luck, then, buying double? I'd think the second would cancel the luck of the first, or some mumbo-jumbo like that," he said, nudging the rickshaw's kickstand out of place.

"No, it only enhances luck," Midorima asserted.

"Whatever you say, Midorima."

Midorima frowned. Perhaps Takao had a point. And yet, when he caught a glimpse of his partner pedaling at the front, Takao smiled nevertheless. Somehow, this felt like one of those rare things that Midorima couldn't understand. But still—Midorima knew Takao well enough that that smile didn't feel the same as usual, either….

- ^-^3

Midorima tried this new strategy, attempting to double his luck and reset Takao's behavior, for the next several days. Two embroidered potholders, two unopened bottles of ink, two bamboo reed flutes—he carried doubles of his daily lucky items each day, and he researched Oha-Asa's site and even follower forums to check that there was no such thing as jinxing oneself in this manner. So far, so good.

Yet this had no influence on Takao. He quirked an eyebrow at Midorima each morning, seeing the ace balanced with lucky item pairs often one in each hand, and he'd chuckle or snicker, but he otherwise left the subject alone. And he, of course, continued to use Midorima's surname.

Takao…was aware of the change, surely? Or did he require Midorima bring it up? This thought occurred to Midorima after practice that weekend, and Midorima leaned forward in the back as the rickshaw slowed to a crawl alongside the street. "Takao," he began.

"Ah, sorry for the stop, Midorima," Takao interrupted. He rummaged in his bag for his wallet and pointed to the market in front of which he'd parked. "Mom texted a few things she wanted me to pick up on the way home, so I'll be a few minutes. You good here or you wanna join me?"

He blinked, caught by surprise. "I don't need anything," Midorima stated.

Takao grinned. "Gotcha. I'll be quick," he promised before jogging inside.

Midorima watched him go with a silent huff. The supermarket was no place to have a serious conversation of any kind. …but it was also frustrating that he'd have to wait longer to solve whatever it was that had changed between them.

Two minutes later, the market's doors slid open, and Midorima couldn't help lifting his head to see if Takao had returned. Unfortunately, an all-too-familiar set of golden eyes alighted on him, coupled with a too-bright smile and a too-cheerful "Midorimacchi!"

"Why of all days are you here in Tokyo, Kise?" Midorima ground out as the blond scampered over to him.

Kise tipped his head to some female fans who slowed down to stare as they passed by, but he leaned his hands on the side of the rickshaw when speaking to Midorima. "Eh, I just came to play. I'm meeting up with Kurokocchi and Kagamicchi, and I stopped for snacks and drinks. Never wanna show up empty-handed, especially with Kagamicchi," he added, that ridiculous smile blinding.

Midorima turned away in preparation to ignore his middle school teammate…but Kise's words got him thinking about Takao again. Though Kise was never his first choice for advice, Kise might offer a unique opinion in this case. "Actually, Kise, if you have a minute to spare, I would like to ask you a question."

Kise blinked at him, but his smile didn't budge. "Like…information? Or—oh!" He clutched his hand over his heart. "Advice! Oh, Midorimacchi! You're coming to your elders for advice! I'm so touched, really."

"You're barely a month older," Midorima growled at him.

"But still older~!"

Midorima glared at Kise. Then he darted his eyes to the store's doors. Still no sign of Takao, but he wanted this over and done with before his partner returned. "Since you're someone insistent on using nicknames, I want to know: What would make you stop using a nickname for someone?"

"Eh~ That's a very specific question, Midorimacchi…"

"Then forget I asked and leave already, Kise."

Kise shook his head at Midorima's attitude and remained put. "I'd probably really have come to loathe that person, if I stopped with nicknames," he deadpanned.

UGH. This thought had occurred to Midorima already, but he'd so far refused to entertain it much… He internally heaved a sigh and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"But," Kise continued, offering Midorima a softer, sympathetic smile, "several of you guys have asked me to stop adding '-cchi' to your names. For years, even," he added with a laugh. "But that wouldn't really stop me because you guys don't really have your hearts in it when asking. But if you ever honest-to-goodness meant it, thennnn I might rethink it," Kise finished, nodding solemnly and assuring Midorima with a wink.

The wink, of course, did nothing to reassure Midorima. But their exchange did give him some new food for thought.

"'Kay, all set and I got us some drinks—did you want oshiruko like usual or green t—" Takao looked up as both Kiseki turned his way when the point guard exited the market. "Oh, Kise! It's been a while."

"Too long! If you like, I could always suggest to Coach we change that, Takaocchi. A practice game between Kaijou and Shutoku," he emphasized, looking between Takao and Midorima. Kise's shoulders fell when Midorima shook his head adamantly. "Aww, Midorimacchi, you're no fun."

Takao laughed. "Nah, he's just grumpy because of the extra stop. Midorima and I are on our way home—"

—ah, there it was; if anyone else were going to pick up on Takao's change in speech, it was Kise, and he caught Midorima's eye before Midorima turned away, though his raised eyebrows and wide eyes said it all in a glimpse—

"—so another time, Kise," Takao said.

"Oh, uh. Y-Yeah," Kise replied. "Safe ride home, you two," he called after them, and Midorima didn't appreciate the feeling of Kise's stare on their backs until Takao took a turn and they disappeared from Kise's sight.

Midorima spent the rest of their journey in silence. He appreciated that Takao didn't prod about what Kise might've wanted, having long since figured out that Kiseki nonsense was sometimes amusing and sometimes plain nonsense. The quiet allowed Midorima to mull over his exchange with Kise.

Kise, similar to Kagami, was far more people smart than was he book smart. It wasn't a trade-off Midorima would take, but times like these he envied those with better social skills. Sometimes it took a simpleton's plain and simple words to put things into perspective.

But several times Midorima caught himself opening his mouth only to close it before he could ask Takao flat out if he'd come to hate Midorima. Strange. Didn't he want and need to know this answer?

Midorima huffed, a sound caught on the wind as he watched Takao's back while they climbed a small incline four blocks from Midorima's house. How silly, letting Kise's words rile him.

…and yet he wasn't ready to stop watching that back, to meet those sharp eyes instead and try to sort his thoughts. Didn't he want and need to know?

Or perhaps that was the problem, knowing. Just as Midorima stopped short of asking Takao anything flat out, he also stopped short of convincing himself that Takao's opinion of him didn't matter to him. He enjoyed their partnership a lot.

And what would happen to it, if he asked and finally knew?

- ^-^3

It didn't help, having Sunday at home all to himself. That left Midorima circling in these confusing thoughts. But then Monday came around and, with it, that day's practice.

And Midorima nearly missed a basket.

It was such an obvious mistake to the shooting guard himself. It wasn't the kind of thing that was imminently noticeable to others, but—had he been looking—Takao would've noticed, too. Thankfully, he was showing some of the first years one of the freestyle passing techniques Kuroko hated coming up against, so Midorima was on his own…for that first basket.

As practice progressed, his shooting also progressively got worse, requiring minor and then major tweaks. Yes, Midorima still made his baskets, but barely. Two balls danced around the rim before slipping through the net, and he had Takao's full attention now.

"Whoa, yikes, Midorima," Takao said. He kept his voice low and he furrowed his brow. "What the hell is going? Did you skip today's Oha-Asa?"

Midorima gritted his teeth, dribbling the ball hard. "No, I didn't," he retorted. "There's an unpainted clay doll with my towel and water bottle today."

"Of course there is…" Still, that didn't deter Takao, and he kept an eye on Midorima as practice continued, no matter how close or how far he was on the court.

Midorima gritted his teeth so much, his jaw hurt. Between Takao's watchful hawk eye and his own horrible shots, his irritation level was at a new level. He took more breaks than usual, before Takao had the chance to suggest it.

But their captain only took note of Midorima's constant breaks. Miyaji stormed over to the bench where Midorima sat triple-checking his nails. "Midorima, remind me," Miyaji began, "didn't we just have a little chat about shaping this team up last week?"

"We did," the ace replied curtly. He kept his focus trained on his nails. No, nothing to file; everything was of equal length.

"Then why the hell are you taking your fifth break of the day?!" Miyaji snapped at him. "If you're injured or sick, then go to the nurse's office. If not, then get back to practice."

Midorima flicked his eyes up to the third year. "Things aren't right today. So I'm taking more breaks."

"The hell you are! I'm the captain—you're not. And I'm ordering you back to practice!"

"And that's not what's best for the team," Midorima countered.

There was that twitch in Miyaji's right eye again. "You mean not what's best for you," he snarled. A vein pulsed in his neck.

"Now we're on the same page."

"You little—"

By then Takao intervened, pulling up beside the other two with placating hands aimed at their riled-up captain. "Ah! Miyaji-san, Miyaji-san, please, just—let me handle this."

Miyaji shifted his glare from Midorima to Takao. "Take care of it," he ordered. The vein still pulsed in his neck as he stood there and Takao nodded his thanks and hauled Midorima off the bench and outside.

Midorima couldn't help but also growl at Takao, especially over that moment just now with Miyaji. "Am I really just something to be handled?" he groused. He tugged, but Takao's grip on his arm was too tight, so there was no escaping as Takao led him to the outdoor sinks.

Takao frowned at him. "Chibi Miyaji isn't all that bad, once you work past his mouth, y'know. He's like his brother, times ten. Just, minus the pineapples," Takao added with a grin.

Midorima was unsure what to do with that information. It also did nothing to better his opinion of the younger Miyaji. Regardless, he turned on a faucet to cool the anger from his face.

Takao sighed. "You do realize we have a whole year ahead of us with Chibi Miyaji as our captain, so you'll have to figure out how to get along," he pointed out.

"…I figured out how to work as part of our team last year. I can do it again," Midorima admitted.

"Good." Takao paused and waited until after Midorima had dried his face with his shirt. "Look, he's a hardass who clearly wants to change the dynamic of Shutoku's team, to tighten it up into something less lackadaisical, and he feels that requires maintaining a certain polite but respectable camaraderie that the kouhai can look up to, as well."

Midorima looked down at Takao. "So we're not…respectable senpai?" He furrowed his brow.

Takao pursed his lips. But the mirth was there in his gray eyes, and the straight line of his lips turned into a squiggle as his tried not to crack up. He ran a hand through his hair, his grin wide as though he'd burst into laughter any second now. "We're too cozy for his liking, Shi—" He screeched to a halt, cutting himself off.

So he'd broken his streak at last. And he'd been doing so well until now, too. But, more than relief, Midorima felt freshly irked, because Takao had almost called him "Shin-chan" again and dammit he missed that! He narrowed his eyes at Takao. "I have noticed you've dropped the familiarity with my first name."

Takao grimaced.

Now coming outside, having this specific chat made sense. "So that's also Captain's doing?" Midorima concluded. He pushed his glasses up his nose.

Ah. Takao paled. "Y-Yeah… He asked…" He dropped his eyes to the ground. "Miyaji-san said friendliness on the court is fine—to an extent. But he wanted all my 'Shin-chan' to stop…so I worked on not calling you that."

Midorima closed his eyes and exhaled. "I don't know whether I should be angrier with him or be relieved…"

That brought Takao's attention back to Midorima. "Huh?"

Midorima met Takao's surprised expression with as neutral a one he could muster. …no, no way in hell could he state aloud exactly how much he missed that stupid, insipid, cheerful "Shin-chan!" out of Takao's mouth all the time…although he was just as irritated by the idea that Takao caved so easily when someone else asked him to stop calling Midorima by that nickname.

Takao twisted his lips around in a not-quite pout before he sat on the edge of the sink. He peered up at Midorima, waiting for a peep out of the taller teen.

He knew he'd have to offer up something if they were to move forward. "…it was…surprising to stop hearing 'Shin-chan' altogether, no matter the setting…," Midorima finally grumbled.

Takao's cheeks puffed up, but he did a better job stifling his laughter this time. His eyes glinted as he explained, "What can I say? The temptation's too great—if I hadn't quit cold turkey, there was no way I could stop calling you 'Shin-chan' only at practice…but…" He shrugged and leaned to the side, propping himself up against Midorima's right arm. "I guess I've just proven I'm just as soft as the others when it comes to you…"

"I don't want to hear 'Shin-chan' out of their mouths."

Now Takao did laugh. "No, I guess you wouldn't." He lifted his head to rest his chin on Midorima's shoulder then, their faces close. "I wouldn't want to hear anyone else calling you 'Shin-chan' either," he admitted as he playfully bumped Midorima's glasses, to wear himself or to get them out of the way….

- ^-^3

"Ah, Shin-chan," Takao said the following day at practice, "looking good. But mind your back—you're slouching the tiniest bit."

Midorima internally rolled his eyes but made the adjustment anyway. He then shot a perfect basket from across the full court, which only made sense since he had procured today's lucky item (a novelty gel pen with a toy sloth topper on the cap).

Takao clapped and whistled. "The one and only Shin-chan!" he chirped with a proud laugh.

Midorima sighed. But…he was pleased. These were genuine laughs and smiles from Takao. It was good to have their world back in order.

Nevertheless, Miyaji headed their way. "Midorima…! Takao…!"

Takao groaned. "Cripes, what now," he grumbled under his breath.

Miyaji gestured wildly behind him, primarily at the first years, many of whom eyed Midorima and Takao with stars in their eyes. "The kouhai keep getting distracted by you two!" He whirled on Takao. "You and I had a very specific agreement in place, Takao."

Midorima bristled at the mention of the demand, but Takao politely laughed it off. "Sorry, Miyaji-san. But some things are kinda hard to stop once they've already started."

Miyaji glared at the pair. But, stunningly, he sighed. "So basically you have no intention to listen to me when it comes to him?"

Though Midorima wasn't a fan of being so obviously excluded from conversations (and discussed as though he weren't right there, to boot), he began to tune the rest out, since it would assuredly be nothing more than bickering or banter between captain and player. Midorima picked up a fresh ball and began to line up a shot. But he flinched at the last possibke second when his ears tuned back in to Takao's voice against Midorima's will:

"Well, on the court, you're our captain, so that's one thing. But I promise I will keep everything on the court and in the locker room G-rated for the sake of the team."

This time, Midorima Shintaro really did miss his basket.

- ^-^3

XD SO! This is my 1st proper Midotaka/Takamido, since I've only previously written them in the bkgd of other fics and for a prompt on tumblr (included as ch5 of my KnB fic collection, Slam Dunks, btw). I love them so much, tho these two have the potential to get angsty REAL QUICK, and my 1st note for this story literally included the reminder "tRY NOT TO GET TOO ANGSTY" bc I'm such a sucker for angst, *lol*, whether I'm writing a happy ending or not. ;P I do find writing Midorima/writing from his POV to be difficult, so this was a challenge, but writing Takao and Kise comes much easier, so the Kise scene and Midotaka making up (and making out? Idk~ B3c) were a delight to write. The making-up scene was almost written out fully ahead of time bc that and the general idea of "What if Takao stopped calling him 'Shin-chan'?" formed right away. Interestingly, I almost didn't include the last/epilogue scene (I had a note to nix it from who-knows-when), but, the more I read over it, the more I realized it fit and helped lighten the mood of the story. -w- Precious babies…! SPEAKING OF WHICH: Midotaka rly are precious bc not even a full week transpires in the story; they can't stay distanced long bc that's the power of love, baby. XD Also, I love Miyaji Yuuya (and, rly, both Miyaji brothers), so here's hoping he never popped a vein while having to captain this couple. Annnd lastly, coming up with Mido's lucky items is hard? Except the pen. I have that exact pen, *lol*. XD Anywho! Dithering's over, I'm happy to be writing and drawing KnB again, and I hope everyone looks forward to some more MDTK (okay, actually closer to TKMD) content I have coming soon… :3c

Thanks for reading, and please review! Check out my other KnB stories if you enjoyed this~

-mew-tsubaki c: