Just a quick note before we get started. If you follow me on tumblr you already know that my financial situation is dire to say the least. I've been running a campaign (I can't link it here due to AO3 policies) for a couple months to no avail, so my next step was to try making fanfiction commissions. So I would like to know if any of you, dear friends, would be interested in commissioning fanfiction to me. Please let me know in the comments. If enough people show interest I'll put together a proper commissioning post on my tumblr and work out the details, but I want to know if anyone's actually interested before getting my hopes up.

On to the chapter now!

Chapter 13

I'm not ready yet.

The next few days were a little bit hectic. As expected, the Tozai family gave in to the pressure from the Akashi group, leaving Toujiro to defend himself with his own means. The ordeal was soon discovered by the media, and the head of the family had to offer a press conference in which he officially disowned Toujiro and declared all his ties to the company completely severed. With his bank accounts frozen, no protection from the family and a soiled reputation, he was denied from bail and was transferred to a correctional facility to wait for his trial. According to Aomine and the officer in charge of the case –a fiercely righteous man with the ridiculously appropriate name of Seigino Mikata- it would probably take a few months before the trial actually took place, but their case and evidence was solid.

"There is no way that man will walk free." Officer Seigino had said with utmost confidence one day. Takao had felt as if he had been born anew when he heard the news. Free. He was really free now.

Little by little, Takao's life seemed to be regaining a semblance of normalcy. Once the bruises on his face faded away, he could finally go back to work, and Kagetora-san welcomed him back with kindness and understanding. He had returned to school too, and he was finally up to date with all the classes he'd missed. He still couldn't shower at the gym for fear of showing the scars on his body, especially the ones on his back. He didn't want or need anyone's looks of pity or horror. He wanted to believe the marks too would fade away with time and then he would be able to put all this behind him, but in truth he knew some of those scars –both in his body and in his heart- would stay with him for the rest of his life. His injuries meant he couldn't play basketball yet, but he was in good enough condition to coach the mini basketball team, and the tournament would get started soon, which gave him a sense of purpose.

Now that Toujiro was no longer a threat, he'd tried to go back to his apartment, but the moment he'd stepped inside he'd been plagued with all the memories and nightmares he didn't want, so he was still freeloading at Midorima's while he found himself a new place to stay.

"I'm home." Midorima said mechanically as he shut the door behind him.

"Welcome back." Takao responded.

They had somehow fallen into an amazingly domestic routine, to which none of them tried to give too much thought, fearing it would break the crystal bubble they'd managed to build around this little space they shared.

Midorima collapsed on the couch. Now that Takao was getting better and Tozai was off the streets, he had no more excuses to keep the dreamy day-shift-only work schedule, and now he had to pay off all the free hours and days he'd taken (although he still tried to be home at night because he knew Takao's nightmares hadn't completely disappeared, and that waking up alone after one such nightmare was horrible for him). Dr. Ienaga had been very understanding, but she still had him going on 40-hour shifts and taking charge of the extremely stressful ER –she'd always seem to favor that as means of punishment-. He tried not to show his exhaustion because it would always prompt an apology from Takao, and he seriously couldn't take such apologies from someone who was going through such terrible things.

"Oh, there is a Michael Jordan special program on. Do you want to watch it? He used to be your hero, as far as I remember."

Takao hopped on the couch excitedly. "Not 'used to'. That man's still my aspiration in life!" he chirped, his eyes already glued to the screen.

"Ho? So you aspire to drop out of your specialty when you're at the peak of your career only to try something new and fail miserably at it?"

Kazunari shot him a deadly glare and stuck out his tongue defiantly. "I won't give you an autograph when I get a movie with the Looney Toons."

Midorima leaned back and allowed a small smile to grace his lips. It gave him a lot of peace to see that Takao was slowly going back to his usual self. He smiled more often, he laughed more often, and he'd even tease him occasionally. In the three months since they had reconnected Midorima had seen Takao forcing countless unpleasant smiles on his face, brooding, hiding his pain, always looking miserable or afraid, crying or screaming in terror, but now he finally seemed to be regaining his default joyfulness, and it made Midorima's heart swell.

"Oh, I just finished making curry-rice, could you bring me some please? You should have some too, I bet you eat nothing but trash food at the hospital." Takao commented absentmindedly, apparently hypnotized by the screen, even if it was on commercial break. Midorima felt slightly tempted to point this fact out, but Takao looked so endearing with the excitement plastered over his face that he couldn't find it in him to protest.

When he brought the food back, they were airing highlights from the 1984 Olympics, when Jordan had earned his first gold medal. Needless to say, Takao was literally skipping on the couch, even though Midorima knew for fact that he'd watched those games at least half a billion times.

"Oh my god the Finals against Spain!" he squealed excitedly. "Damn, he's so amazing! Even after breaking his foot and being out of commission for a whole year, he scored 49 points in his return game! Forty-nine!"

Midorima frowned. He had scored 49 points and more in many games, and Takao wasn't lost to the world watching him on TV. Although, to be fair, back in their Shuutoku days, Takao would smile at him after one of those games and peep delightfully and talk his ear off recalling all of their good plays. Takao had never failed to remark how much he loved their basketball.

They watched in silence for what felt like a really long time. Well, relative silence, since Takao would squeak or squeal in delight from time to time, or point at whatever was going on in the screen and blabber trivia facts about Michael Jordan that Midorima had heard him spew about a hundred million times. He didn't point that out either, too entranced watching Kazunari laugh and smile and jump in his seat and thinking that this moment was absolutely perfect and how he wished he could freeze it and never let it end. Midorima looked up to see Takao's clear eyes glued to the screen as the host talked about the Olympic team vs NBA All-Stars game in which Jordan had scored 24 points and sighed, his heart clenching with the thought of having to give this up.

In one of many excited outbursts, Takao got a small splotch of curry on his cheek, but didn't seem to notice. Still entranced and driven by some primal instinct, Midorima reached out to wipe it away with his thumb. Takao jerked and turned to look at him startled. Suddenly, he realized they were sitting really close, and he felt his cheeks heat up. Kazunari's expression seemed to mirror his own, as his pale skin acquired a strong scarlet tone.

A small, nervous smile graced his lips. "C-can you imagine it, Shin-chan? An Olympic team versus the NBA All-Stars? With Michael Jordan? That must have been the best match ever! I wish I could've seen it" He said, his smile growing little by little, the blush never abandoning his cheeks, with his clear eyes locked with Midorima's emerald ones.

He was beautiful. Again and again, Midorima was reminded of how beautiful Takao was and how much he loved him. Why did he have to give him up again? He couldn't quite remember, and whatever it was, it seemed insignificant compared to how warm and how beautiful and how close he was; oh so close…

Takao was entranced. There was something about Shin-chan's fingers lingering on his cheek and the intensity of his gaze that made him unable to look away or think at all. He was so close and getting closer…

A familiar warmth met his lips. Half-lidded crystal eyes met hesitant emeralds before shutting down completely. The feeling was soft, gentle and nostalgic. The fingers on his cheek traveled to the back of his head, threading in between his raven locks and pulling him forward. A kiss. A kiss from Shin-chan. It had been so long and yet, it suddenly felt like seven years hadn't passed. Because this kiss was so natural, so right, so good… His body remembered this kiss too, and it responded accordingly, without having to think about it, gently moving his lips against the opposing pair.

Shin-chan's wet tongue licked his lips tentatively. "Is it okay?" he seemed to be asking, and God, it was so much more than okay, and he'd wanted this for so long, how could it not be okay? He parted his lips compliantly and allowed the guest in, meeting him with his own tongue, dancing together a slow, wet waltz, tasting each other, rediscovering all those sensations that had seemed long beyond reach, drinking from each other's breath.

When no more oxygen could be found in their lungs, they parted briefly, just a few milliseconds, enough to get air into their system, but not so much as to break off that spark, that spontaneous connection they'd been yearning for so long. This was a dance they'd known once and had thought forgotten, and yet it seemed so fresh and natural now it was hard to believe they'd gone without it for such a long time.

Midorima started sucking on Takao's lower lip, earning himself a muffled moan. Kazunari's small hands bunched up on the front of his shirt, holding on as if for dear life and pulling him even closer, slowly drowning in the passion. His body started heating up so fast his thoughts were getting muddled by the heat.

Suddenly, Takao felt a large hand pushing his shirt upwards and splaying on his bare chest while leaning him down on the couch. Memories of large, rough hands pushing him down started flooding him which set off the alarms on his brain and he shot his eyes open. He forgot what was happening and who he was looking at and just started kicking and flailing, trying to flee to safety again.

"NO! DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Midorima jumped back and off the couch, startled, and he covered his mouth in horror when he realized what he had done. Takao's eyes were blurred and watery, his body was trembling uncontrollably and he had curled into himself defensively, trying to protect himself from the fear that kept haunting him. A few seconds later, his eyes regained focus and he looked up at the taller man, his face contorting into mortification.

"I… I'm sorry, I…" Takao's voice came out thin, breathless, pained.

He'd screwed up. He'd screwed up so goddamned badly he wanted to die. They'd had a moment and he'd completely ruined it.

"No, no, wait, Takao. It's not your fault, don't apologize. I shouldn't have… I'm sorry. Please forgive me, I was careless." He'd gotten so carried away by the sheer bliss of that moment that he'd forgotten about Takao's wounds, not only the physical ones, but the ones left behind in his mind, which were the most terrifying and painful, the ones that made him wake up crying and screaming in terror, the ones that made him sink into a world of nightmares even when he was awake. He had been too caught up in his own hopes and desires to think about the man he claimed to love. He felt like trash. "I… I'll leave if you want me to." He said, not daring to look him in the eye.

"N-n-n-no!" Takao panicked, grabbing Shin-chan's wrist to keep him from leaving. He'd had him. For one fleeting, beautiful instant, Shin-chan had been his again and he was going to lose him because of his disgusting past that wouldn't let go of him. "I-I don't want you to leave… It's more s-scary to be alone. I'm j-j-just not… ready… not yet." His eyes were locked on the ground, too embarrassed to dare look up. He tugged on Shin-chan's wrist, asking him to come back and sit beside him, to which he complied without much resistance.

"I… uhm…" he looked up tentatively, and he noticed Shin-chan looked as mortified as he was, which only made him feel worse. "J-j-just… k-k-kissing's okay…" he stuttered, his hands clenching into fists. He wanted it back, that moment. He wanted more moments. And he wanted Shin-chan so badly it hurt.

"You don't have to… force yourself. You shouldn't feel bad about it. I was the one who didn't think things properly. It's obvious that… t-this would be difficult." He didn't want Takao to think he was forced to give in to his wishes, either by some sort of twisted gratitude, or by fear of getting hurt again. He would never, ever be like the man who'd hurt Takao, and he didn't want Takao to think that he would.

"I'm not forcing myself." Kazunari blurted, finally looking up to meet Shin-chan's eyes, trying to convey his determination. He couldn't really explain it, but there had been something about that kiss, about the gentle touch of fingers on his cheeks, the slow dance of their lips pressed together, something that felt nostalgic, yet sweet and just right. When they were just kissing, even if his eyes were closed, even if his mind was a little foggy, he had no doubts of who was there with him, and how safe and happy he was with that person "It made me… happy. I want this." I want you. I want us.

Midorima blushed and Takao could still see doubts in his eyes, so before he had any time to respond, he laced his arms around his neck and pressed their lips together again, with less doubts and more enthusiasm than the previous time. Shin-chan seemed to hesitate a little at first, but finally he too held Takao by the waist and pulled him closer as he parted his lips to let Takao's tongue in. It was as if their dance had never been interrupted, and everything was right with the world again.

To be continued.

Well, it was about time to give these boys a little break (something like that at least) before we enter the last third of the story. But like everything, this is a slow healing process, so it's not going to be just a magical bygones be bygones and stuff.

At some point in my life I convinced myself that Takao was a major basketball otaku and a huge fan of Michael Jordan. I think I've even mentioned it in two or three of my stories

Seigi no mikata (正義の味方) literally means "ally of justice", you may often hear this term in shonen anime referring to the hero. This officer's name is a play on this, but it's written 正木野実形, which still has a ridiculous amount of righteousness and correctness in it meaning . Don't ask me why I focus on this kind of meaningless details.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed it. Thanks a lot for your comments, although I do wonder if anyone was dissatisfied with the previous chapter, seeing how little response it got. But anyway, let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!