Chapter 17
This is an intervention
"We actually came because we wanted to talk about Takaocchi."
Midorima's breath got caught in his throat.
"That's… that's none of your business."
"I'll make it my business if I want to. You're our friend, and we can't just let you ruin your life like this."
Shintarou took a deep breath, his emerald eyes glued to the table. Should he confide in Kise and Aomine, the two biggest idiots he'd ever come across, with something this important? And even if he did, what could they do to fix it?
"It's pointless to talk about it anyway. He was the one who decided to leave I don't think he wants to see me anymore."
Aomine gulped down the last of his tea and frowned at him. "But have you stopped to think about why he left?"
"I…" his memories of that day were blurry and distant. He remembered Takao's angry crying face and his broken screams.
You just gave up!
"I… I don't know… Everything was going fine and then…" and then Kanako showed up, and with her, his own responsibilities came to pull him back to reality, and Takao had been angry about that and then he'd started crying and screaming and asking questions and everything had turned confusing.
Do you love me?
Why was Takao crying? After everything he'd done to keep him safe, why did it all end up in tears again? They loved each other; he had no doubts about it now, why couldn't they be together? Why couldn't Takao understand how hard it was for him to think about pushing his family away? Why had he been born in a family that would never accept the man he loved? Why did it have to turn out like this?
I wanted you to fight for us!
And he'd tried so hard to fix it, to make it better, but anything he said only seemed to enrage Takao further. He'd tried to grab him and stop him from running away, but no matter how far he stretched his arm, he couldn't reach him.
Are you breaking up with me?
The memories from the first time they parted started flooding his mind and getting mixed with the ones from last week, and everything was more confusing by the minute. You were the one who broke it off, he thought bitterly.
We are through. Over. THE END
He wanted to go back to those two weeks, when his home was a bubble where he didn't have to worry about whatever happened outside and all that mattered was Takao, his warmth, his smiles, his love that made everything better, how perfectly he fit in his arms, how they fulfilled each other, how happy they were together.
I love you, Shin-chan. With all my heart.
A single tear slid down his cheek. The wet feeling on his face brought him back to reality, where he faced his two former teammates, who were staring at him with concern and confusion.
"A-are you alright, Midorimacchi?" Kise asked tentatively, handing him a tissue
"Of course I'm not fucking alright!" How could he be, when Takao wasn't by his side? This was all Akashi's fault. If he hadn't given Kanako that crazy idea about the double date with Tozai, none of this would have happened and he would've gone on with this marriage and jumped head-first into lifelong domestic misery, without the pain of losing the love of his life again.
But if we hadn't met then, that man would still be hurting Takao, he mused briefly. Maybe this unhappiness was a small price to pay for Takao's well-being.
"Okay, man, you're gonna take a deep breath and explain this to us in a way that we can understand, otherwise we can't help you." Aomine said, handing his cup over as a sign that he wanted a refill.
Midorima's hand trembled as he refilled the cup, causing a few drops to splash onto the table and for some reason that was the last straw for him. He spilled everything, barely even giving himself time to breathe. He told them about the omiai and how Takao ran away the first time, he talked about Kanako, their marriage, Akashi's stupid idea to bring Takao back into his life, the horrible wedding planning, how Takao's touch would linger just a second too long when they were trying on the wedding suits, all the times he'd been this close to telling Takao how sorry he was, how much he wanted him back; he even talked about Tozai Toujiro, how he'd hurt Takao and how powerless he had been, he told them about the time they kissed and how perfect everything had been and how it had all crashed and burned.
When he finished talking, he felt like a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders, although he didn't really know why. Talking didn't change the situation, but for some reason, just letting go of his pent up anger and pain seemed to make it a little more bearable.
His two friends gawked at him in disbelief, and the silence ran for a full minute that made Midorima doubt the use of telling these two idiots about his woes.
"Of course he would get mad at you!" Kise finally exclaimed, slapping his own forehead.
"Damnit man, it's almost as if you were trying to piss him off on purpose."
Midorima didn't understand their reaction. Had they completely missed the part when Takao had made extreme requests and refused to listen to any reason? His teammates seemed to catch on to his confusion and decided to fill him in before he could ask any question.
"Speaking from firsthand experience…" Kise began, his expression showing he was not excited about this particular topic "… you obviously want the person you love to make you their first priority. It really hurts when that person's thinking of someone else." He eyed Aomine casually, which didn't go unnoticed, and Aomine returned an apologetic glance. So their relationship did start as a rebound. Were they just sticking together out of habit then? No, the way they looked at each other showed that maybe that had been the case in the past, but now it was completely different. He saw their mismatched hands lacing together on top of the table and he remembered how it felt to hold Takao's hand. He longed for that familiar warmth.
"But I… I'm not thinking of someone else at all. Takao has always been the only one." He objected. What did all this have to do with him?
"Oh, and he knows that, I'd bet. So imagine how much it hurt him when he knew you were still going to marry that girl. You do realize what that implies, don't you? It's not just that she's your official 'wife'; she's the one you'll take to social gatherings, the one you'll introduce to your family, and your mother will show her your baby pictures and they'll laugh together about it. She'll live with you and you'll most likely end up having sex with her, she'll be the mother of your children, and you'll grow old together. She'll be the one telling you "Have a nice day" in the mornings and "Welcome home" at night. That's marriage. Where does Takaocchi fit in this picture, Midorimacchi? At best he'd be 'the other woman'. And really, playing second fiddle for someone you love is like… the most painful thing ever."
Aomine looked away regretfully, but Kise just leaned into him, resting his golden head on top of his shoulder, a peaceful smile gracing his lips and showing that, much as he disliked to talk about the past, he was completely content with how things were for them now..
"That… that was never my intention…" maybe when Kise put it that way, it did make some sense that Takao was so upset with him, but even so, it was just a misunderstanding. The scenario that Kise proposed was certainly not something he ever thought of or wanted. If anything, he'd figured he could have the "official" marriage to save face and then go on with his life as if it had never happened. But he realized it had been naïve to believe something so absurd would've worked.
"If that wasn't bad enough, you also lead him on all the time, even though you still intended to carry on with the wedding." Kise continued, a severe look on his golden eyes that Midorima hadn't really seen often.
"What do you mean by 'lead him on'? I didn't lie about my feelings."
"Well, you just said you two were basically playing house for nearly a month and being all lovey-dovey and shit, but you never really considered the possibility of breaking off the engagement, did you?"
"I never said I would, I didn't lie to Takao." The truth was that he'd been so caught up in the bliss and happiness of being with the man he loved, being able to hold him, kiss him, hear his voice; making him smile, talking about stupid things, watching basketball games and enjoying each other's warmth, that he'd completely forgotten there was a world out there, and that there were things he didn't want to face waiting for him there.
"That's still lying by omission, Midorimacchi. It's obvious that, if you're with someone, you expect that person to have no other commitments. You were the one who kissed him first, and given everything that's happened, of course he would assume you had somehow sorted through the marriage thing. You even told him he was more important than the wedding, what did you expect him to infer from that? That's not just a small lie, it's an extremely hurtful one. If I didn't know you better I'd think you were purposefully trying to be an asshole."
"Like, seriously man, you're such an idiot." Aomine punctuated casually.
"I don't want to hear that from you, of all people." His snark side replied on autopilot. Being called an idiot by Aomine Daiki, for crying out loud…
"Oh? And I suppose being smart is working out pretty great for you, isn't it?" Aomine challenged with a low growl.
Shintarou gritted his teeth. So now they were going to mock him? He stood up suddenly, slamming his fists on the table, looking down at the former Ace with fire in his eyes.
"Say that again?"
Aomine smirked. "I just said that your smarts haven't been of much use, have they? Or maybe you're not as smart as you think, if you need an idiot like me to help you with your romantic drama."
If Kise hadn't pulled Aomine away in that precise instant, Midorima may have broken his nose. He was about to jump over the table and punch the smug grin away from Aomine's stupid face when the doorbell rang again.
"Awesome timing." He heard Kise sigh in relief. "You stop trying to pick a fight this instant, that's not why we're here."
Midorima tuned out of their lovers' spat and left the room to go open the door.
"My apologies for the intrusion, Midorima-kun."
"'sup Midorima! Long time no see."
Shintarou's face now went completely blank, and he just moved aside to let the light-and-shadow combo inside. Because he totally needed all three most idiotic people in the world plus Kuroko in the confined space of his living room.
"Kurokocchi! You came just in time! Daiki and Midorimacchi were going to kill each other!" Kise wailed dramatically once the three of them made it back from the entrance.
Kuroko sighed and glared at Aomine, then at Midorima. It occurred to the him that he'd been on the receiving end of such chastising glare on more than one occasion. "Behave, you two." He said in his usual deadpan, and that seemed to calm the tension in the room. Midorima pondered briefly that Kuroko may possess some natural angry-mother-like threatening aura.
He served the two new guests and boiled more tea.
"Thank you, Midorima-kun, I very much enjoy your family's tea." Kuroko commented casually.
"And I assume you two are here because…" he already knew –and dreaded- the answer, but he still felt compelled to ask, in vain hopes that it might turn out to be something different.
"We have to talk about what's going on with Takao-kun. This has become utterly ridiculous, and can't be allowed to continue like this."
Now that he'd unloaded all of his pent-up feelings by telling his story to Kise and Aomine, it was starting to grate on him that all this people somehow felt entitled to mess with his personal life as if they had any clue of what he was going through. Everyone kept acting like the whole thing had been his fault, as if Takao hadn't been the one to start every fight with ridiculous demands, then storm out of the room in between screams without even giving him the chance to argue.
"And I suppose you have some brilliant idea of what to do about this? Or are you just going to tell me that I'm an idiot and that I deserve everything that's happening?"
"Well, you kinda do, mate."
He probably would've punched Kagami, but his previous bout with Aomine had drained him of all energy, and thinking of Takao left him with little to no fighting spirit whatsoever. He was stuck in an insufferable middle point between blind rage that made him want to punch the walls full of holes, and heart-wrenching unhappiness that made him want to just curl up in a corner and cry until he stopped breathing or something of the sort. Every time he started to feel pissed off, he remembered Takao's crying face and he felt like a pile of undeserving trash, and then he remembered how everyone was putting all the blame on him which made him insanely angry, rinse and repeat.
"What Kagami-kun means to ask is whether you've even tried calling Takao-kun or anything of the sort since your last fight."
The question threw him off a bit, and he had a feeling Kuroko already knew the answer, so he wasn't really sure of why he was asking. What did that have to do with anything?
"Well… I guess I haven't, but I don't see how it's rel-"
"Wait, hold on right there, Midorimacchi. You're complaining that Takaocchi wouldn't even listen to you or let you apologize, but you haven't even tried to call him ever since? You're supposed to be the smart one here!"
"It seems school smarts don't cure emotional retardation, though."
Did Aomine feel an intense desire to get a broken nose, he wondered? "Why would I-"
"When you two broke up the first time, did you call him then?"
This was getting even more confusing. Why did that matter all of a sudden? Back then Takao had made it crystal clear that they were through and that he didn't want to see him ever again. Why would he have called a guy who had explicitly said he didn't want to hear from him?
"Oh my god, Midorimacchi, when someone says they don't want to see you ever again after a big fight and lots of tears, they actually mean 'you have to chase me to prove you care'. Seriously, you have a sister, have you never watched a chick-flick before? This is basic stuff!" Kise squealed, his face pale with horror. "No wonder Takaocchi hates you."
"And how am I supposed to get such a confusing message?" Why was this also his fault? Why did people expect him to understand something so weird and complicated? He'd heard that women would usually deliver confusing messages, but Takao was a guy! How was he supposed to guess there was an underlying meaning to all of that?
"I understand that an emotionally constipated person like you would find it difficult to understand." Kuroko said with a straight face, as if he hadn't just thrown three insults at him in a single sentence. "But Takao-kun specifically said he wanted you to fight and show you cared about your relationship didn't he? It really could not get more straightforward than that, I believe. But instead you just gave up once again. It's almost as if you will quit trying the moment things get a little bit difficult, it was to be expected that Takao-kun would feel upset and hurt about it."
Midorima would've stopped to wonder how come everyone in the room seemed so privy to every detail of his disastrous love life, but what Kuroko said made a lot more sense than he would've wanted to admit. Maybe he was right. Over the course of their relationship, it had always been him who'd back away and give up when the minimum problem surfaced. Takao had been the one to walk away both times, but it had always been because Midorima hadn't been up to try and find a way to make things work. And both times, instead of trying to figure out something to solve their problems and get the love of his life back, he'd just forced himself to come to terms with things and try to move on, even if his life was so empty and colorless without him.
"But… he wanted me to give up my family. He was being unfair. I- my family is very important for me, I could never…"
Kuroko looked at him severely. "Midorima-kun." He interrupted. "You must have a very poor opinion of Takao-kun if you really think he would ask you to do that."
Shintarou's chest tightened.
"Are you kidding? That guy knows you and loves you more than anyone, you really think he doesn't know what your family means to you? That he'd tell you to walk away from them, knowing how much you love them?"
He swallowed thickly. What other option was there? Even if he talked to his family, his father would certainly reject him, possibly even disown him if he knew he was gay. Even if Takao didn't explicitly want him to cut his ties with his family, asking him to break off the marriage and try to work out their relationship necessarily included confronting his father about it.
"Y'know, that guy had promised the mini-basket kids that a certain someone would show up to see them play, and that someone never showed up, so he asked me to help them train, to make it up to them." Kagami commented. "But y'know he was… he would look around every once in a while. He didn't say it out loud, but I'm pretty sure he was still sorta hoping that someone would show up. He seemed pretty heartbroken when you didn't. And like, that guy really doesn't deserve any more heartbreak, he's gone through too much shit already. You need to sort this shit out, you can't keep hurting him like this."
Midorima clenched his fists, his head spinning. "You are all just saying this to make me feel bad as if I was not miserable enough as it is." He said, bitterly.
Kuroko frowned.
"Yes, Midorima-kun we are trying to make you feel bad. And in spite of it, nothing we tell you will make your situation as bad as Takao-kun's. After everything he went through, the way you broke his heart is most unfair and unforgivable." The look on his eyes was hard. Midorima remembered that Takao had been hiding with Kuroko and Kagami when he first ran away from his abuser, and how worried and guilty Kuroko had felt after Takao was attacked. He wondered if Takao was taking shelter with them now too. His chest tightened painfully again, thinking of how much Takao must have cried and how hurt he must feel. "Midorima-kun, it is not your obligation to respond to Takao-kun's feelings if you don't reciprocate them. That would only hurt you both even more. But it is obvious to everyone that you two love each other and could make each other happy if you stopped being stubborn about this. If this were only about you, I would still be displeased, since we are friends and none of us wish to see you unhappy, but that would be your call to make. Yet I can not stand idle and watch you ruin both of your lives. I am not telling you to separate from your family, but you must at least try to make them understand that you will not be happy if this marriage takes place."
"If you don't care about your own happiness, at least do it for Takao's. He's gone through enough shit." Aomine sentenced.
Midorima grabbed his phone absentmindedly, not even looking at the screen, but knowing there was a photo of Takao as the background picture. He had set it up after they reconciled and although he'd thought of replacing it when Takao left, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He remembered Takao's bright face, smiling back at him every time he looked at the screen. How long had it been since he'd last seen that beautiful smile that he so loved? Takao's tearful face from seven years ago flashed through his mind.
"What… what about us?"
"Do you love me?"
"What… what am I supposed to do?"
The doorbell rang for the third time today, but there was no more strength left in his body. In a faraway place, he heard Kuroko saying he would get the door, and the sound of footsteps going out of the room. A few minutes later, Kuroko came back, followed by an extra pair of footsteps. Midorima looked up to meet fire-red hair and ruby eyes.
"Akashicchi!"
"Oi, what are you doing here?"
"Took you long enough, for the one who set this whole thing up."
"In that you are mistaken, Daiki. The idea was Tetsuya's to begin with, I just happened to share his goals."
It had already crossed his mind that all these idiots wouldn't just happen to drop by his place to slap him in the face with the failures of his life on the same day by pure coincidence, but it had never occurred to him that they would all sort of agree to gang up on him. It was just wildly unusual for all of them to be sitting in the same room when they could barely stand each other (the ones that were life partners non-withstanding).
"Just what is going on here? What's the big idea with you lot?"
"I believed it would be clear at this point, Midorima-kun. This is an intervention."
"A what?"
"You know, when everything's going wrong with your life and the people that love you get together to try and help you fix it."
For starters, it was a little bit difficult to wrap his head around the idea that this trio of idiots, plus Kuroko who didn't stand him, and Akashi who was, well… Akashi, could somehow agree to be 'the people that loved him' and put together some elaborate scheme to make him fix things with Takao.
"All of us have come to the conclusion that we simply can not allow you to continue down this road. In our own particular way, we are your friends and do not want to see you ruin your life like this. Not when you could easily be happy with your chosen partner if you would just let go of your sense of obligation." Akashi explained, quietly taking a sip from his tea. "The Midorima family tea remains as excellent as ever." He added, and Midorima was for the first time in his life growing tired of people complimenting his tea brewing skills.
"Oh, by the way, Akashicchi, why didn't you bring your boy over? I so wanted to get to know him better, seeing how he's got you all tamed and everything."
"Kouki thought it would be inappropriate for him to be here, since he is not that closely acquainted with Shintarou." Akashi replied. "And I certainly have not been 'tamed', whatever it is that you mean by that, Ryota."
"Of course you haven't, Sei." Someone in the group whispered teasingly and the four of them sniggered, exchanging an accomplice glance, and even Midorima allowed himself a small chuckle. This of course didn't go unnoticed by their former captain, who cleared his throat and looked away, noticeably embarrassed by the insinuation.
"But that is beyond the matter at hand. Would you be so kind as to put me up to date with our progress so far?" he continued, trying to distract attention from that matter.
"Midorima seems to have finally caught up on his screw ups but is still not smart enough to know what he's supposed to do now." Aomine summarized.
"The answer should be obvious to you by now. You have to call off your engagement. It is the only thing standing in the way of your happiness. I am truly surprised that you did not make such a decision since you first encountered Takao Kazunari on that double date."
Before Midorima could consider Akashi's opinion, something he said set off an internal alarm in his head. "So you did know Takao would show up, that was the reason you got that absurd idea into Kanako's head in the first place!" He was enraged. Akashi had been pulling the strings all along. Who did he think he was to meddle with his life like that? To what purpose, truly? The only thing that had accomplished was making him even more miserable than he already was.
"The opportunity arose unexpectedly and I thought it was a good moment for you to steer back into the right direction. It may not have been the best approach, but I did it purely out of concern for your well-being. Kanako may be my relative, but she is not right for you."
"Who the fuck are you to decide what's good for me, anyway?!" Somehow, Akashi's nonsense about Takao always brought out his angriest side.
"Midorima-kun, please don't be ridiculous. Are you really implying there is someone else on this planet that is good for you apart from Takao-kun?"
There wasn't, and there would never be, he knew for sure. He was letting his pride get the best out of him, even when all his "friends" were trying to help him. He took a deep breath, reminding himself of why he had tacitly agreed to this so-called "intervention."
"Now, as I was saying, the immediate solution is to cancel the wedding, the sooner the better. If you are concerned about the repercussions this may have on your father's business, you can leave that in my hands. The Karasuma are a branch of the Akashi family, I can easily make all the necessary arrangements."
Akashi made it all sound so easy, he momentarily wondered why indeed he hadn't done that in the first place, but…
"It's not that simple, I'm afraid."
"Eh? How come? Didn't you say the reason you're going through with this is because it's good for the shop? If Akashicchi can fix it, what's there left to be troubled about?"
"It's just… my father… he would never approve of it. He would be extremely disappointed in me. I don't want to turn my back on my family, when I owe them so much."
The other five guys stared at him blankly, as if they had no clue of how to follow up such reasoning. And that was indeed the problem. He didn't have it in him to go against his father.
"There really is nothing to be done. My father would never forgive me if he learned that I'm…"
"Gay? What's the big deal with that?" Kagami finally spoke up. "Parents want their children to be happy, I'm sure your folks'd understand if you explain it properly."
Midorima clenched his fists in frustration. "That's easy for you to say. Your family has lived in America for a long time, they have a different mentality. They even gave you their blessing for your marriage. The Midorima clan has an ancient tradition that my father upholds with pride. There are expectations for the first-born son of this family that I can't disappoint. It is bad enough that I will not be taking over the shop, but my father would surely collapse if he thought I would not continue with the family lineage."
"Oi, oi, oi, wait a minute!" Aomine exclaimed alarmed. "Family lineage? You do realize that to make babies you have to fuck your wife, right? You're gayer than a rainbow unicorn, can you even get it up with a girl?"
Shintarou wanted to make some comment about the 'gayer than a unicorn' part, but he had to admit he hadn't really considered the physiological implications of sex with a woman. He'd never done it before, and the part of his brain in charge of activating his reproductive instinct (which would normally start sending crazy hormones all over his body when he thought about Takao), would downright flatline if he tried to imagine naked women. It's not like he thought women were repulsive or anything, but he felt as much sexual attraction towards them as he did for, let's say, a tree. Maybe when the time came he could try to think of Takao and the way he would blush with the heat, and how his eyes would glaze over with desire, and how he would call his name in the throes of passion… and then he'd end up crawling down to some corner to cry.
Well, he had a month before the wedding to come up with a contingency plan. Because this was unacceptable. His father would certainly not find this in any way amusing.
"Oh, for fuck's sake, would you quit it with your father? You're not marrying him, he'll just have to live with having a son that happens to like dicks, no big deal."
Midorima's face went bright red, a mixture of embarrassment and irritation.
"Easy for you to say, your family wouldn't expect anything from you."
Aomine rose again, enraged, and lifted his fist menacingly "Feeling like getting a new pair of glasses, asshole?!"
"That's the only way you can deal with conflict, isn't it?!"
"Stop it you two!" Kuroko yelled while Kagami held Midorima and Kise stopped Aomine to prevent them from beating each other into a pulp. "Aomine-kun, please go outside for a minute, you need to cool your head."
"Fucking prick." The miracle Ace spat before leaving for the garden.
Midorima huffed indignantly, still too riled up to admit he had been the one in the wrong.
"You know, Midorimacchi? Daiki's family disowned him when he told them about us. They haven't spoken in years." Kise commented gloomily. "Maybe if you could get your head out of your own butt and realize that other people have problems too, you wouldn't be in this shit." He remarked, and rushed outside presumably to help his lover calm down.
"And regardless of how long they've lived in America, my parents weren't particularly excited when they knew 'bout me 'n Tetsu. They did give us their blessing, but Mum still calls to whine about how she'll never have grandchildren." Kagami added, although he was clearly not as upset as the other two. "Tetsu's dad doesn't even know about us, he fucking hates me already, he'd probably hire some goons to kill me if he knew I was banging his precious boy."
"Kagami-kun is quite right. I must admit I have avoided telling him the truth because I worry about his reaction. My father still thinks I am a child; he would be wrecked if his illusion was shattered. Especially if he knew who is the one doing the 'banging'." Kuroko commented, his expression as blank as if he were talking about the weather. Kagami's face turned so red, his skin matched the color of his hair, but before he could protest the sudden outing of the details of their private life, his shadow kept talking "My mother does know, but she has always been quite fond of Kagami-kun, so she wasn't troubled. And I also told my grandmother when we moved in together, and she was most upset. Although she was more concerned with my choice of partner rather than what they might have between their legs." Kuroko mentioned nonchalantly.
"Oh, yeah, that was funny actually. She said that if Tetsu was gonna' swing this way, he should've at least picked someone smarter and that didn't look like a drug dealer." Kagami's face, still not entirely recovered from his husband's not-so-subtle insinuations from a moment ago, showed he was everything but amused by that. "But she also has early stages of Alzheimer, so we have to remind her that we're married every time we visit and she seems less resilient about the idea each time."
"The point is that you're not the only one disappointing your family, Midorima-kun, and you can't keep using that as an excuse to make yourself miserable." Kuroko sighed, looking at him in the eye.
"Yeah, look at that guy." Kagami followed, pointing at Akashi, who had remained conspicuously silent during the whole exchange. "His father's much worse than yours and he still went and got married with whoever the hell he wanted."
Midorima, who had been silently taking in everything Kuroko and Kagami said for the past few minutes, tried to think of something to reply in this particular case, but found that he had nothing to say. Because really, was there any parent in the world more controlling and strict than Akashi's?
"Oh, my father has not spoken a word to me since I told him about Kouki. I did have to threaten to facilitate a media scandal that would compromise the Akashi Group's position if he tried to interfere with us, so we have reached a gentlemen's agreement of sorts. Since I am the only heir and he is much too proud about the purity of our bloodline, I did have some leverage in the negotiations, so it mostly worked out in our favour. Our wedding has been so far kept in secret because I doubt he would take it kindly, he surely harbors hope of marrying me to a more suitable heiress eventually. But I believe he is less concerned about whether Kouki is a man, and more about how unremarkable he perceives him to be." Akashi explained nonchalantly. "Of course he is also not aware of how unique and special Kouki is, but that is his loss."
Midorima watched in awe as the usually cold and severe look in Akashi's ruby eyes softened and a small, almost imperceptible smile drew itself on his lips. Although he'd known of Akashi's relationship with Furihata Kouki, he had never really noticed the way his eyes grew warm when he spoke of his beloved. So even Akashi could fall in love and care for someone in that way. Midorima's attention was brought to his friend's left hand and the golden band on his ring finger, which he was stroking absentmindedly. It must be wonderful, Midorima thought, to be with the person you love and know you will share the rest of your lives together. He wanted that so badly.
"See, Midorimacchi? If Akashicchi could pull it off, you can do it too!" Kise exclaimed enthusiastically. "You love Takaocchi, don't you? Stop being an idiot and fight for your love!"
"It is true that your parents may disapprove of your choice, it is, in fact almost certain that they will, especially your father. This may be hard to hear but I believe that if they reject you for your choice, they are not truly thinking about your happiness. From my personal experience, I can assure you do not need that kind of controlling filial bonds." Akashi said severely "Besides, your sister has always supported you in this, has she not?"
He nodded. In spite of their differences, Shizuku had always supported him. When he started dating Takao, she would always point out how much happier he looked. And after they broke up she had comforted him, made sure that he took care of himself, and made up excuses for their parents so they would not see him in an unsightly state. When his wedding with Kanako was decided she'd tried to talk him out of it, knowing how unhappy he was about it.
"That reminds me. One of the reasons I came was to deliver these to you. Like I said, Shizuku-san is as concerned with your well-being as we are."
Akashi handed him a large yellow envelope. He opened it and reached inside to find a bunch of photographs, and as he looked at them, he realized it was not his first time seeing them. When they were dating, Takao had gifted him a photo album, as well as a bunch of pictures of the two of them together, for White Day. At that time, they had just decided to move in together after graduation, and Takao had said "Let's make it our Memory Book, so in ten years we can see how much we've changed." They broke up the following week, so he'd never actually gotten around to putting the pictures in the book, and he had thought them lost a long time ago, but these were, unmistakably, the same pictures that Akashi had brought him. He would've never imagined that Shizuku had kept them all this time; he hadn't seen them in years.
"Shizuku-san said she had about a thousand of these, and I think she meant it literally."
Some photographs showed them playing basketball together, there were many cut-outs from magazines, from the year when they won the Winter Cup and every sports magazine wanted a word with Shuutoku's Ace and his Captain, and he remembered just how much he'd loved receiving Takao's perfectly timed passes. Other photos had actually been taken in secret by Takao, when Midorima wasn't looking. Most of them showed Shintarou in the background doing some random activity –eating, reading, practicing his shots- whilst Takao winked at the camera in the foreground and made a peace sign with his free hand; but there were also many pictures of the two of them lying together in bed, the school's rooftop or the basketball court near their houses, in which Midorima would be sleeping and embracing Takao's lithe frame, while Takao smirked mischievously at the camera. And there were plenty other pictures of them going out in dates, holding hands, attending the summer festivals (Takao looked so handsome in a yukata). There were even two pictures of them kissing. In one of them, they had been in the middle of a crowd watching the Sumidagawa Firework Festival, when Takao had suddenly grabbed him by the wrist and, disregarding their surroundings completely, planted an intense kiss on his lips. The photo had captured that precise moment, as well as the exploding fireworks in the background, and their light let him appreciate just how immersed in the kiss they both were, and just how much they had wanted each other in that instant. The second one was a lot more modest; they were both sitting on Midorima's bed, and he couldn't really place the specific context of the scene. Takao's hands were clinging to the collar of his shirt tightly, while Shintarou's arm was circling his short lover's waist and his shooting hand was gently lifting his face by the chin. It was an extremely intimate moment, the position of their bodies made it seem as if they were gravitationally drawn to each other and couldn't even stand the thought of being torn apart.
"Midorima-kun?"
"Are you alright, Midorimacchi?"
"Oi, Midorima, are you still with us?"
"Have you made up your mind yet, Shintarou?"
He looked up to meet his friends' concerned faces and noticed that the tears he'd (mostly) been successfully holding back so far were now flooding out of control down his cheeks and had started to fall on to the photograph he was holding. He wiped them away quickly, not wanting to damage the image, but he couldn't stop them from spilling out of his eyes.
"I've… I've made a terrible mistake." He choked on his own tears and felt he was losing his breath.
He wanted him back. He loved Takao, he always had and always would, more than anything or anyone in the entire world. He couldn't imagine the rest of his life without him, or rather, he didn't want to. Losing him once had been painful, and made him resign himself to a life of dutiful unhappiness. Losing him the second time was so excruciating, he feared his heart would stop beating from the pain. How had he even considered giving up and letting him go? Why had he been clinging so desperately to his father's desires, when Takao had always been much more important than anything his father might want from him? He'd tried to put the blame on Takao, not wanting to admit just how much he had hurt the man he loved, but he couldn't keep denying it anymore.
"But now you know how to fix that mistake, don't you?"
He remembered how Takao's voice wavered and cracked the last time they spoke, how he'd held his wrist, desperate not to lose him.
Are you going to marry her?
His heart twisted painfully. Why had he let go? He could almost feel it, how the warmth holding Takao slipped through his fingers and how he'd been unable to do anything but watch the love of his life walk away. His hands trembled, the photograph still tightly clasped in his fingers.
"But how… Could he even forgive me?"
He'd wronged Takao deeply. He hadn't thought of it before, but what Kise had said made a lot of sense. He'd been sincere when he said Takao was much more important than anything else, and yet been unable to follow through with it. He could talk a lot of words, but when it had come to acting on them, his words had become worthless. And he'd kissed Takao without telling him the truth and never even questioned himself on what he was doing. He'd promised he would never hurt Takao, and yet he'd only made everything worse. He felt like garbage.
"Midorima-kun". Kuroko placed his hand gently on his shoulder. "Put yourself in Takao-kun's shoes. If it had been him, would you forgive him?"
He chewed on his lower lip. His eyes were still fixed on the photograph. If he looked closely, he could see Takao was smiling into the kiss.
"Of course I would. I would always forgive him, no matter what."
"Well, there you have it." Aomine sentenced harshly.
"But—" he wanted to say he didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve to be forgiven. But Aomine cut him off before he could.
"Stop it already with the stupid excuses. And stop moping around and pitying yourself. Go out there and fucking apologize and make things right fucking already. I'm fucking done with being worried about you, so stop crying and go fix your own mess." He pointed at the door. His brow was scrunched in a frown, but his tone was warm.
Shintarou wiped the tears off his eyes and carefully put the photo in his front pocket. That's right, he thought, not all hope is lost. He knew what he had to do, and he had to do it soon. The more he waited, the more difficult it would be to make everything right again. It might not be a magical solution for his problems, but it was a first step, and if he didn't take it, nothing would happen. He wouldn't give up this time. Like Takao wanted, he would fight to prove he loved him, to show Takao he cared. And he'd show his father that Takao was the only one who was right for him and the one with whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life. If his father did not approve… well, that would be his loss.
"I apologize for my rudeness, but there are some matters that I must tend to immediately. You can help yourselves to more tea if you so desire, and I trust that you can show yourselves out whenever you wish to leave. I sincerely hope this moment of inexcusable discourtesy will not tarnish your opinion of this family's hospitality." He blabbered, bowing formally before storming out of the house.
Akashi smiled and sighed with relief "If that is the case, I shall take on Shintarou's offer for one more cup of this excellent tea. If you gentlemen would care to join me in a toast for our friend's happiness?"
The other four nodded, exchanging triumphant smiles.
To be continued
Well, here it is, Shin-chan getting his ass whopped (emotionally) and the MiraGen (metaphorically)beating some sense into him. Gratuitous AoKise, KagaKuro and insinuations of AkaFuri too! Hoo boy did I hit it out of the park or what (for anyone askin about MuraHimu, I have no fucking clue of how to write them)
I also apologize for the pathetically cheesy ending of the chapter, it's an embarrassment whoops.
When I first wrote this story, KuroFes hadn't come out, and thus it hadn't been revealed that Kagami doesn't have a mother in his life. KuroFes is not really specific about whether she's dead or his parents are divorced, it just says that his only family is his father in the US. My point is that I mention the mother here because I mentioned the parents in plural when Kuroko talks about how they got married, back in chapter... 8? I just wanted to keep the continuity withing the story, even if it contradicts canon (prolly no one would've noticed because it's such a minor detail lol)
Also, I failed to mention it (there was no place to add it), but Kise's family was completely supportive when he came out to them. The sister that got him into modeling said she'd had her suspicions for a while. They've pretty much adopted Aho too. Also, the ones taking the pictures of Midorima and Takao kissing were their sisters, they ship their brothers together really bad.
The Sumidagawa Fireworks festivel takes place in Tokyo's Sumidagawa river at the end of July (the 26th?). I was lucky enough to be in Tokyo when it took place last year so I went, it's really cool and beautiful. Japanese firework festivals are pretty amazing, but that thing was crowded as fuck too lol. IRL Midorima and Takao couldn't have stopped to kiss because the crowd would've pushed them lol.
I apologize for the delay, as you can see the chapter is quite long and I posted a lot of stuff for TakaMido and KagaKuro day. I hope you don't run out of patience with this story and that you enjoyed this sort of fanservicey chapter. Sorry for these dumb long author notes. Please let me know how you feel about it!