Warnings: Same as previous chapter

Chapter 3

An auspicious day

If Midorima had been unexcited about dinner with a stranger last night, he was even less enthusiastic about his fianceé's plans for today. Kanako had taken a strong liking to Takao and had insisted that he helped them pick some of the stuff for the wedding. "He looks like the kind of gay that has great taste for fashion and fancy things." She said. "You're hardly cooperating at all, and I do need some help, you know?"

Needless to say, he was almost willing to play sick if that got him out of this commitment. His eyes were still stingy from crying, and he definitely didn't want Takao to notice it.

Takao was already waiting for them when they arrived to their meeting spot. He was wearing a turtle neck shirt, which was odd considering they were in the middle of May. Midorima didn't fail to notice that his lips were slightly swollen and he had dark circles under the eyes. The green-haired prodigy understood too well what this was and he had to turn away and stop looking at the shorter man's face, for his mind was being flooded with images he never wanted to see.

"Oh dear, sorry for the wait Kazu-chan! I hope you haven't waited for long."

Takao smiled meekly. "Not at all, I just got here, don't worry."

"Great then, we have a long day ahead of us, so we should get going right away."

She wasn't lying. For the next nine hours they went hopping from store to store looking for the right flower arrangements for the wedding. Midorima had tried to convince Kanako to order something from an ikebana master that often provided for his own house, but she rejected the idea.

"Don't be silly, if we're going to have a big wide wedding I want to have flowers that fit the occasion. Everything has to be big, what's the point otherwise?"

Takao proved to be surprisingly helpful. Midorima already knew the ex-Point Guard had a very fine taste, and a good eye for beauty in general, so once Kanako told him what she wanted he was quick to make suggestions and explain why this or that flower would be better for the setting, etcetera.

The green-haired doctor found himself quite disheartened when he realized Takao was probably more keen on this wedding than the groom himself.

This was, hands down, the worst day of Takao's life. His entire body was still in pain from what Toujiro had done last night, and he had been forced to cover every inch of skin with clothes so that no one could see the bruises and cuts spread all over his body. His eyes were stingy, he'd cried them dry last night and still hadn't slept at all; it took every ounce of brain power to keep from fainting. As if he was not suffering enough, he'd had to hold this fake smile all day and now his face –that Toujiro had spared because he didn't want people asking questions- was numb too.

He and Shin-chan hadn't exchanged a single word all day, and had barely looked each other in the eye, but Kanako didn't seem to notice. She was such a typical bridezilla Takao wanted to die. She was a very nice girl alright, and they would've probably become very good friends if she wasn't the woman marrying the love of his life, but he was not having a good day and she was so indecisive it was pissing him off. They'd already been to 20 shops, most of which had very good selections of flowers and designs, and each time she'd say she absolutely loved this one the most, but two seconds later she would decide it wasn't good enough. Finally, Midorima said if she didn't choose anything today, he'd ask for something from the ikebana shop so she picked a bouquet with purple orchids, white lilies and large white calla lilies that were dyed purple on the inside and had crystals embedded on the petals. Takao found it quite ironic that she picked flowers that spoke of royalty, beauty and majesty, instead of more typical wedding flowers that meant eternal love, but then he figured this wedding was more about her showing off than some sort of romantic promise. He wondered if it was the same for Shin-chan, but he realized he didn't want to know whether he loved her or not.

After the order had been placed, Takao was about to excuse himself and run for his life, hoping Kanako wouldn't want his help anymore (but who was he kidding, she totally would, that was the price of being so unconsciously likable, having to hang out with the woman marrying your ex-boyfriend that you're still in love with), when she spoke up.

"Hey, Shin-chan, we should give Kazu-chan a ride home, he's been so helpful!"

Takao cringed. Could this day get any worse?

"That's not necessary haha, don't worry, I'll just take the subway, it's not that far away" that was of course a blatant lie, his apartment was on the opposite side of the city, but he definitely didn't want to be in a small confined space with Midorima and his soon-to-be wife.

"Oh, it's no trouble at all! It's the least we can do to pay you back for your time. Come on, Shin-chan, tell him!"

Midorima seemed completely unamused about getting involved in this conversation, and Takao couldn't blame him. He was starting to think Kanako was not completely oblivious to the tension between them and was doing all of this on purpose, although for what reason he couldn't tell.

"If he doesn't want to, you shouldn't force him. He must be tired of being dragged along by you all day, I'm sure he wants some peace and quiet."

Takao wasn't sure if he was relieved that Midorima understood (probably shared) his reluctance to the car ride, or if he was disappointed that the green-haired giant didn't want to spend any more time with him either. He didn't want to think too hard about it.

"Nonsense! Stop arguing, you're coming with us and that's final."

The raven-haired man sighed unhappily and by the time they reached Midorima's car he was so drained he didn't even put up any resistance when he was shoved in the front seat. They drove in silence for about ten minutes when the car stopped in front of a luxurious apartment complex and Kanako got off.

"Thanks again for everything Kazu-chan, I'll call you soon, OK?" she said before closing the door.

Damn.

They drove in awkward silence for ten more minutes before Takao decided this was enough.

"You don't have to drive me there, you know? Just drop me off at any subway station and I'll manage."

Midorima didn't turn his head to look at him. Seven years ago, the green-haired prodigy hadn't learnt how to drive yet, and in fact had Takao pulling him in a rickshaw all the way to school every day. The shorter man couldn't help but notice how handsome he looked with his hands on the steering wheel and his emerald eyes fixed on the road.

"Kanako is right, though. It's the least I can do after today. I'm sorry that she's putting you through this."

Ah, so he calls her by her given name too. Takao thought, turning to look out the window. He never did that for me, no matter how many times I asked. This was horrible. He needed to get off this car or he would end up crying, perhaps he'd even beg Midorima to forget everything he'd said, forget these seven years and his engagement and everything else and just hold him like he used to, but that would be embarrassing as hell, so he had to use every power within himself to hold back.

"Besides, your place is on the way for mine, so it makes more sense like this."

Oh. He realized he hadn't told Midorima his new address.

"Ah, damn, I forgot to tell you. I'm not living with my folks any more, I've got my own place now."

Midorima seemed surprised to hear it. "Why did you move out? I thought you liked that place. Are you living with… with someone else now?"

Takao could tell Shin-chan was thinking of Toujiro, and for a moment he blushed, wondering if maybe the green-haired giant was feeling jealous. But he shook that thought away. It was natural to have a hard time talking about your ex's current lovers, and Midorima had always struggled with words anyway. He couldn't get hung up on petty stuff like that, they weren't high-schoolers any more.

"What, Touji? No, not at all, we're not at that point yet." and they would never be. "He's always traveling so it would be kind of pointless anyway. I just wanted my own space, you know? Kazuha is all grown up now, she's got her boyband music at top volume all day long and it felt about right that I left." That was of course an excuse. He'd moved out of his parents' place right after graduating high school because he couldn't stay in the same neighborhood as Midorima and risk meeting him by chance. He'd been too heartbroken and didn't trust himself to be able to handle such a thing. Anyway, this was a good opportunity. "I really don't want to get you out of your way, the Ginza line runs close by, you can just drop me here."

Midorima seemed deaf to his request, though. "Tell me your address, I already said I'd take you."

Takao huffed. It was as if these people were trying with all their might to make him miserable.

Once again the silence had been hanging over their heads for a while (Takao had clearly lied about living 'close by') and Midorima started to wonder if it wouldn't have been better to just drop Takao by the subway as he'd requested. He didn't know what had possessed him to do it. A part of him (probably the part of him that was still a teenager and couldn't yet understand how the best thing that had ever happened to him had gone so wrong) had just been a little bit thrilled to have some time alone with Takao after all these years, although to what purpose he did not know (maybe to say he was sorry, although he wasn't sure yet about what he should be apologizing for, and maybe he could start asking "why?", because seven years ago Takao had suddenly started screaming at him and said they were 'through' and then vanished from his life before he could catch up to anything, but maybe he should just keep quiet because thinking about it made him want to cry).

He took a sideways glance to get a good look on his former teammate. He'd been so busy avoiding him and trying not to look him in the eye (because reading people was one of Takao's fortes and he knew that if their eyes crossed he'd notice how Midorima never stopped loving him, and that should never happen), that he hadn't gotten the chance to actually see Takao, even though they'd spent the last nine hours together. He hadn't changed much, to be honest. He'd grown just a little bit taller, but anyone who didn't know Takao as well as Midorima did wouldn't notice. He was obviously still playing basketball, he hadn't lost any of his muscular build, although he did look more frail than Midorima remembered. He was very handsome (but then again, Takao had always been so), but his features looked sharper, he was much more mature looking in an oddly attractive way. His lovely clear eyes seemed less lively than before, but that was probably due to the dark circles under them. The shorter man would twitch in his seat from time to time as if he were in pain, but Midorima dared not ask.

His heart started beating faster as he took in his former lover's appearance and his teenager side began wondering if this wasn't a good opportunity to patch things up, start anew, figure out what had gone wrong and fix it, tell Takao how much he missed him, how much he wanted him back in his life, just how much he loved him and maybe…

"So when's the wedding, anyway?"

The teenager in him died as if he'd been shot through the heart, and all those ridiculous hopes and dreams died with him. Of course it was too late to patch things up. He was engaged. Takao had a boyfriend. There was no going back to the time when they'd shared their first kiss under the cherry blossoms and stared at each other's eyes for what felt like eternity.

"October 6. The priest at Kanako's temple said it would be an auspicious day for a wedding. She also wants to have it during Koyou, she wants red leaves in the background to match her hair or something."

He bit his lip. It was a good thing that he'd long learnt how to stop himself from crying in public. He would never forgive Akashi for making him go through this. He couldn't understand what his friend had been thinking.

"Hm. What did Oha-Asa have to say about that?"

He shrugged. "Who knows."

He'd stopped listening to Oha-Asa a long time ago, when he lost Takao and every hope for happiness he'd ever had. He'd been carrying his lucky item that day, and it obviously hadn't worked, so he found no point in going through the trouble again.

They drove the rest of the way in silence.

"So… thanks for driving me all the way here, I'm sorry for the trouble."

"I'm the one who should apologize, Kanako is taking advantage of you too much. You should tell her to back off a little or you'll never see the end of it."

Takao shook his head. "It's okay, it doesn't bother me so much. See you later."

Midorima waved faintly and drove off soon after. Takao sighed with relief, he wasn't sure he'd be able to keep going for much longer, he was too exhausted. He wasn't even going to bother with a bath, he dropped his things at the entrance and was ready to make a bee-line to his bedroom when he noticed someone else's pair of shoes lined at the genkan.

"Welcome home, my dear Kazu. Did you have fun with your Shin-chan today? I bet you did."

Shit, what had he ever done to deserve this? He'd hoped Toujiro wouldn't bother him for the rest of the week at least. "I-I wouldn't say fun exactly haha. Kanako-san is very energetic so I'm really tired, would you mind if I go to bed right away? You may stay over if you want." Not that he really believed he would get away with it, but the least he could do was try.

"Oh, are you? I can't let you do that, can I? Not when you stink of some other man. Are you back to being good friends now? He even bothered driving you all the way here, after all." He was now standing right in front of him and he cupped his chin with his rough hands. "I bet he said he'd do it if you sucked his dick dry. I don't blame him, you're such an experienced whore you've gotten pretty good at that. And you must've enjoyed it too, didn't you, little slut?"

Takao was scared. His body hadn't recovered at all from yesterday, but Toujiro seemed to have no intention to take that into consideration. At this point he was ready to give up on begging or trying to explain himself, since it seemed to get Toujiro more into it, rather than put him off.

"Not even trying to excuse yourself, I see. I'm sure you enjoyed it so much you got hard from sucking his dick. But he didn't touch you, did he? He must've thought you were so disgusting, getting all excited from getting your mouth fucked."

When is this going to stop?

"I wonder what your precious Shin-chan would say if he saw all the marks I've left on you. He'd surely find you gross. Hey, I'll let you fuck him if you show them to him. Although he may find you so disgusting he won't want to do it."

He'd gladly take any form of physical punishment if it made Toujiro shut up. He could handle any sort of physical pain, but he couldn't bear with him saying such horrible things about Shin-chan. Even if he knew they were false, his mind would instantly picture the green-haired man glaring at him with disgust in his emerald eyes and pushing him away. It made his eyes overflow with tears.

Get away from me, you fucking slut.

"Don't worry, Kazu, I'll make sure to leave plenty of marks so you can show him your disgusting true self."

To be continued.

In the language of flowers orchids represent refinement and luxury, white lilies symbolize purity and calla lilies represent royal beauty. Purple is the color associated with royalty. Basically Kanako's flowers are all about her super inflated ego. I don't hate her, I didn't want to make her a detestable bitch, but she's full of herself as fuck (then again, Shin-chan is totes full of himself too, so that's one thing they share). The arrangement I described exists, you can go to affluencefloral at tripod and visit their portfolio, it's the first picture. Funnily, I found it and thought "oh, this looks good" and just then decided to look up what the flowers meant so it was just fate for Kanako to have these super arrogant flowers.

Koyou is the specific season in Japan in which the momiji leaves turn red. Many temples have lots of momiji trees, so when the season comes the scenery becomes breathtakingly beautiful.

I don't really have much else to say because it's hard to add something after writing Takao in such a painful and horrible situation and I just want him to get out of it asap. I hope to hear your comments and thanks for reading. Next chapter is up in two weeks! This one's longer than the previous three, so I hope that makes up for the wait.