Warning for smut BUT WHERE YOU REALLY EXPECTING ANYTHING ELSE BWAHAHHAHA.
Chapter 9: Doubts
"Aida-san!"
Riko turned around at the voice, raising her eyebrows when she saw a young woman running after her on her way to the car. Kagami's call about the station's broken down vehicle had put her in somewhat of a foul mood for the day, but now it was well into the evening and she needed to get home before she started punching something, or someone. Momoi stopped in front of her, pink strands falling out of her bun. She had a piece of paper in her hand that she used to fan her face.
Riko cocked her head. "Momoi-san, is something wrong?"
Momoi looked up at her, her face serious. She held out the piece of paper. "I've narrowed the names."
Riko took the document, her eyes quickly scanning the contents. "Are you sure…?"
Momoi swallowed. "Yes."
Riko's eyes narrowed on more than one name. She had heard of some of these. They were people in top positions, politicians and the like…even higher ups in the police department. Of course, these were just suspects, but it was still a bit discomfiting. She'd have to show her father.
Riko nodded, patting Momoi's shoulder with a warm smile. "Good, thank you, Momoi-san. You've been working hard. I'll show Imayoshi-san, and we'll think about our next step together. I'll let you know when we decide on something."
Momoi nodded, feeling her throat constrict as her boss turned around and walked away. For the past week, Momoi had been researching old suspects from the original Kiseki Syndicate, tracking their movements and locations, whatever information about them she could get her hands on. The ones that stood out, she had their names down. But…
That list…it wasn't complete.
There were two other names. One of them was surprisingly Midorima, but she hadn't heard from the Midorima she knew in a long time, and it hadn't cropped up a lot in her investigations. She still wanted to have a little chat about it to Kuroko later, though.
The other name that kept popping up was more upsetting. Momoi…she couldn't put it on the list. Not until she heard the truth from the man himself.
She chewed her lip nervously as the old face flashed in her memories.
Akashi Seijurou…. Just what are you up to?
Kagami stepped out of the shower, the steam making his skin clammy even after he dried it with one of the provided towels.
The room wasn't exactly five star but it was good enough. At least there was hot water, and two clean towels. A small heater even buzzed in a corner, keeping the room comfortably warm. Aomine had already showered, and they'd decided to dry their clothes out by spreading them on the table and chair that sat in the corner of the room.
This of course meant they'd have to sleep with no clothes on.
Stop it. I'm a full grown adult. Kagami berated himself as he felt a blush warm his cheeks. He clicked open the bathroom door to see Aomine bending over the bed, examining the sheets with just a towel wrapped around his waist. Kagami followed the water beads as the slid down Aomine's dusky skin. Can't the guy even dry himself properly?
"I guess I'll take the floor, but I'll need the sheets…" Aomine trailed off when he looked up to see Kagami staring at him. His own eyes flicked over Kagami before he managed to look away, a slight red tinging his ears.
Floor? "What are you talking about?" Kagami asked, confused.
"Well," Aomine gestured between them. "We're naked. Do you want to sleep in the bed together?"
The implication sent Kagami's heart beating a little faster, and he bit his lip. "W-well…I…" Did he really mind, sleeping next to…well, with Aomine? He…he really didn't. He sighed, sitting on the bed. "This case…it's been really weird."
Aomine looked at him silently, before sitting on the other side of the bed, leaning his back against the headboard. "Yeah. It has."
Kagami clicked his tongue, rubbing the back of his neck. "What I'm trying to say is that…well, I'm glad to have you here for it." Before Aomine could speak, Kagami continued. "I thought…I thought it might be better to do this case alone, I thought it would be easier…to deal with it alone. But I'm glad to have you here."
Aomine's eyes widened as Kagami shuffled closer, his face flushed slightly but his red eyes determined. "What-"
Kagami bit his lip. "I wanted to wait…until after the case ended, but it looks like it might last longer than I thought."
Aomine was feeling a little light-headed, seeing Kagami so close, water spiking those long crimson eyelashes and making that beautiful hair stick to the deliciously tanned skin. "Wait?" Aomine eyes followed Kagami's tongue as it licked his lips.
"I'm glad to have you as a partner," Kagami whispered. "Not just for work…but in my life."
Kagami's lips pressed against Aomine's, and Aomine groaned as his hands slid over smooth, damp skin. Kagami straddled Aomine's lap, tilting his head and opening his mouth for a deeper kiss. His fingers curled in soft navy strands as Aomine's mouth moved lower and his hands wondered over Kagami's chest, the redhead's breath hitching when he flicked his nipples. Kagami grinded down, feeling their erections rub against the towels and each other.
Aomine nipped at Kagami's skin, loving the way it turned red under his lips. Kagami's taste was addictive, he couldn't get enough. His skin was so supple, and Aomine felt himself lose his breath when he felt Kagami's hardness rub against his own.
Kagami pulled at their towels. He knew what he was doing. He wanted this. He wanted it like he'd never wanted anything before. Aomine's mouth tasted so good, his hands felt so amazing. He needed more.
It was when Kagami managed to get the towels off, the moment when their heats rubbed directly against each other, that drove one thought straight into Aomine's head. He grabbed Kagami's shoulders and flipped them around, startling a gasp out of the redhead. Kagami had no plans of letting a change in position stop him. He just wrapped his legs around Aomine's bare waist and jutted upwards.
Aomine's head was swimming, and the feel of Kagami's smooth thighs squeezing his sides wasn't helping. "W-wait-"
Kagami growled, pulling Aomine down and kissing him hungrily. "F-for what?"
Aomine, using every shred of willpower, pulled back, his eyes devouring the scene of Kagami's blushing, sweaty face beneath him, staring at him with a mixture of annoyance and lust.
Wait for what? They were in a love hotel, and Aomine knew there was lube and condoms in the drawers; he had checked out of curiosity. Kagami wanted it, hell, Aomine needed it. But…
Kagami didn't know Aomine. Didn't know him, so how could Aomine just… He couldn't. He couldn't go all the way until Kagami knew everything. Everything about him and his past. After that, if he still wanted Aomine, then Aomine would be the happiest man alive. But this wasn't right.
"What?" Kagami breathed, feeling a little panicked. Did…did Aomine not want him? Weren't they dating? But…was Kagami forcing himself onto him? He felt his cheeks heat with mortification, and he started sliding out from under Aomine, but Aomine stopped him with a hand on his stomach.
"No, Kagami, wait," Aomine leaned down, his forehead touching Kagami's. "I…don't get the wrong idea, please. I want to…I just don't think I can today. You…you mean a lot to me, okay? I don't want our first time being in a shitty love hotel. I want it to be…right."
"Okay," Kagami blinked, feeling his anxiety quell and his embarrassment rise at the corny wording. "Then, we can just sleep…"
Aomine smirked. "Hey, I said I didn't want to go the whole way. We can still have a little fun." He pulled Kagami's legs back up again, letting Kagami lock his ankles behind his back. There was no way he could just fall asleep leaving things like this, and he was sure Kagami couldn't either. He grabbed Kagami's hand, and pressed Kagami's fingers and his own against Kagami's lips. "Suck."
Kagami opened his mouth, feeling his own saliva wet his fingers. Aomine's fingers along with his own felt strange in his mouth, and he had no idea what Aomine was thinking, but when Aomine other hand wrapped both their cocks together and started pumping, Kagami couldn't think anymore himself.
"Unff," he groaned into the fingers in his mouth, his eyes watering at the friction. Aomine pulled their hands out of his mouth, his dark gaze fixed on Kagami's panting face and the string of saliva that glistened on his skin. He leaned forwards, licking Kagami's chin and meeting his lips in a frenzied kiss. He pulled Kagami's wet hand down, past their erections, and pressed it against Kagami's opening.
Kagami jerked under him, squirmed as the wet feeling of his own fingers entering him overloaded his senses. Aomine's fingers were there too, just inside, stroking and scissoring. Kagami's brain was numbing, and he was gasping into Aomine's mouth with his eyes shut tight. His insides were soft and warm, incredibly tight to his fingers and burning his lower half. It was a weird and foreign feeling, but so lewd that he couldn't stop savouring it shamelessly. Aomine's breathing was hard above him, and the pumping rhythm he had set was stuttering. He felt Aomine's finger push deeper, along with his, and they curled inside when-
"AHH!" Kagami felt the breath knocked out of him as a flash of white momentarily blinded him. Aomine chuckled into his skin, resting his forehead against Kagami's shoulder as he pushed his fingers in again at the same angle. Kagami moaned, his free hand gripping the dirty white sheets under them. He felt Aomine's weight leave his chest, and his hand pressed their cocks together even tighter as his fingers pumped. Kagami didn't know whether to ask him to go faster or slower, so he ended up babbling a mix of unintelligible words into either his own fist as he desperately tried to muffle his screams, or Aomine's mouth when the other decided to suck his tongue. Over and over, the flashes of white grew brighter, and the pressure in his abdomen coiled tightly.
Aomine's groaned. "You feel…so perfect…" And I'm not even fucking you. "Hnn…Taiga…"
Kagami lost it when Aomine whispered his name in that deep husky voice, and seeing Kagami clutching his back desperately and coming undone sent Aomine over the edge as well.
They collapsed beside one another, Kagami feeling the strange stickiness on his own fingers and wincing at his soiled chest. He dragged one of the towels they'd discarded onto him and rubbed what he could off, but his movements were groggy.
Aomine draped a hand over him, his nose snuggling Kagami's hair as he pulled the thin blanket over them. "That was great," he whispered tiredly, eyes closed. "We should do it more often."
Kagami smiled at the look of content on his boyfriend's face. They'd ruined the sheets, but right now, the humming of the heater and Kagami's own exhaustion coupled with Aomine's steady breathing against his chest lulled him into a dreamless sleep.
They'd turned Aomine's phone off to conserve the battery while using Kagami's until it ran out. So when the familiar alarm buzzed, Kagami turned around and slapped around to find his phone. Except he ended up slapping Aomine right in the face.
"Ouch, okay, okay, I'm getting up," Aomine groaned, and Kagami felt him roll around. "Don't be so violent…"
Kagami moaned, his mouth feeling disgusting as he got up and turned the noise off. They didn't have toothpaste here…
"Our clothes have dried," Aomine mumbled. "But I need a shower first."
"Same," Kagami sighed, flopping back down. This wasn't the first time he had woken up with Aomine by his side. It was…nice. It was nice not waking up alone.
I'm not alone. Kagami smiled at the thought.
Aomine smirked. "Wanna take a shower together-"
"No." Kagami threw a pillow at him for good measure. They had a schedule to keep.
Shuutoku General Hospital.
It was nothing out of the ordinary, just a large white building with block black lettering on the side layered with blue panelled windows and backed by a large parking area. It looked a little like a cake, actually…
Kagami shook his head. He was feeling a little peckish. They had agreed to stop by a convenience store after checking on their car, which was thankfully where they left it. It was still as good as useless, so they'd used public transport. They'd managed to buy toothpaste to freshen up and food for their empty stomachs, but Kagami wasn't feeling his best.
A lot of it was probably to do with the fact that he had finally found Takao, or at least the place Takao wanted him to find.
He glanced at Aomine. The taller man's expression was a little shuttered, his shoulders stiff. Kagami didn't know what was on his mind, but he had to find Takao first and foremost. He opened his mouth to suggest splitting up when Aomine spoke up.
"I think we should split up."
Kagami closed his mouth, nodding. "Yeah, same. We'll cover more ground anyway."
Aomine nodded, shooting him a small smile before walking towards the exit. He walked like he had a purpose, which was strange, since what could Aomine possibly want from what should be a random lead to him? Kagami hadn't mentioned the heroine to anyone.
He decided not to think too hard about it. He had other things to deal with.
"No one?"
The lady behind the computer shook her head. "No Takao Kazunari in our employee databases, I'm sorry, Detective."
Kagami frowned in disappointment. So either Takao wasn't working here, or he was under another name. Maybe if he described him to her… His eyes widened as they latched onto a short man in nurse scrubs helping an elderly woman sit down. He looked back to the receptionist and smiled. "Okay, thank you for your time."
She blinked dazedly as he took off, making a beeline for the nurse.
"Excuse me, but I don't feel well."
Takao froze, looking up to have his grey gaze lock onto a fiery red one. He felt his heartbeat quicken. This was it. This was his chance. He smiled, and it wasn't as forced as he thought it may have been. "Yes, of course. Please come with me."
He silently walked through a door in the back with Kagami at his heels, ducking into an empty hospital room and closing the door behind him after nonchalantly checking his surroundings for a lack of green hair. He turned around and grinned at Kagami.
"Miss me?"
Aomine wasn't sure if Akashi knew he was here or not. Chances were high he did, but Aomine couldn't change that. Hopefully Akashi wasn't getting suspicious, but right now, Aomine needed to get to Midorima. He marched straight into the hospital like he belonged there, and asked for Midorima's whereabouts with a discreet flash of his badge.
The damn doctor was apparently in the middle of surgery, but it would finish soon. Aomine was asked to wait in the waiting room. He nodded and walked away, but he had no intention of listening. He wanted Midorima somewhere secluded, alone.
His eyes flashed as he saw a nurse wheeling a trolley full of equipment and uniforms into the lift.
"Hold the door!" he smiled, running inside.
He'd always wanted to play doctor as a kid.
Kagami took the vial out of his jacket pocket. The jacket hadn't dried completely, and left some moisture on the plastic bottle. But they could both clearly see the powder inside.
"Care to explain now?"
Takao smiled nervously. "Sorry for all the cryptid clues but I…I was never really sure whether I should involve you or not…"
"Involve me?" Kagami scrunched his nose. "I'm the police!"
"That's precisely why," Takao sighed, sitting down on the empty bed. "I…I never wanted to be involved in it myself, but now it's gotten a little out of hand, and I need help. Not help from just the police, but from a friend." He bit his lip. "The whole heroine thing, it was like a test. To see if you really cared, personally, to come looking for me. I swore I would tell you if you made it. And here you are."
Kagami couldn't help but smile a little, and he sat beside Takao. "Here I am."
"The person I work for, the one who gave me this job, a new identity…" Takao began, and Kagami tensed, knowing something important was coming. "He saved my life. You remember that time I got shot but I ran away before you could take me to the hospital?" Takao recalled with a wry grin. "Yeah, he found me a bleeding mess. Took me to his house and patched me up and said he would kick me out the whole time but never did."
"And he's the bad guy?" Kagami asked. "The drug dealer?"
Takao hesitated. "He helps to keep the operation underground, using the hospital as a front. Over here, drugs are used for everything, so he helps keep it secret. He…he doesn't want to be like this. It's complicated."
"Who is he-?"
"I can't tell you his name," Takao shook his head. "I don't want to get him in trouble, I want him to stop. And the only way he'll do that is if the real drug dealer is caught and out of the picture. The guy I'm talking about, take it like him being blackmailed, okay? It's not his fault."
Kagami had never seen Takao's face so distraught before, and it was unsettling. Even after the man had gotten shot, he hadn't showed this much distress and anxiety. "Okay, I won't go after him. But who should I go after?"
Takao looked into Kagami's determined gaze thoughtfully. If I tell him Akashi is behind all of this, the idiot will probably barge into Akashi's office with no proof, and blow the whole thing. I have to…edge him into it. Start with something he can work with.
Kagami was looking at him quizzically, waiting for an answer.
"Hara Kazuya." Takao got up, straightening his clothes. "He runs the distribution of illegal drugs in Tokyo. He's one of the linchpins to the Kiseki's rising operations, and I think his family's been in the business for a while, always avoiding arrest," he added with a twist of his lips. Hara had been an unspoken name that anyone who had ever been involved in drugs would have heard at least once. "He's got a warehouse nearby, but Kagami, you have got to be careful." Takao stared at him straight in the eye. "Don't do anything rash. Call your men or whatever, storm the place, I don't care. But don't do anything stupid, I can see this case has you on edge as well. I'm trusting you." A small spark was back in his eyes. "I think if you get Hara, you'll get some answers."
"Hara Kazuya, huh?" Kagami rolled the name on his tongue. Would this be the man who could give him what he was looking for? He slapped Takao on the back. "Thanks Takao."
"Wait," Takao grabbed his wrist. "Give me your phone."
Kagami handed it over curiously and watched Takao type in an address, before he went to the contacts function and punched in a number.
He handed it back with a smirk. "The warehouse address, and remember that you didn't get this from me. Also, my phone number. In case you need to call. I think it's about time I trusted you with that."
Kagami grinned back, feeling happier with a solid lead in his hands again. "Thanks Takao. Really."
The door cracked open and Midorima stepped through, sighing as he shrugged his doctors' coat off. It was dark, the blinds being drawn tightly shut. He flipped the light of his personal office on, and turned around.
His stomach dropped.
Aomine leaned against his table, absently picking at his nails. He looked up in mild surprise, as if it was his office and Midorima had just wandered in.
"What are you doing?" Midorima's voice was cold, not from lack of emotion but rather because he was trying to hide it all.
"You see, I'd like to ask you the same thing," Aomine stood up, and Midorima finally realised Aomine was wearing a doctors coat like his own. He'd even snagged a badge, but it was too small for Midorima to read. It shouldn't have surprised him. Pickpocketing had been one of Aomine's strong suits.
"Why are you here?"
"To talk," Aomine said forcefully. "You shot Kagami, didn't you?"
Midorima grit his teeth, leaning against the door. "I was never going to hurt him. It was a warning shot. You know my accuracy."
Aomine sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, yeah. Look, that's not why I'm here. I'm here to tell you that we can stop this. All of this. We can stop Akashi, before he gets too far."
Midorima froze, his eyes instinctively flitting around him as though an ambush would spring at any moment. From where and by whom, he didn't know, but he felt uneasy at the mere mention of going against Akashi. "Don't joke around, Aomine."
"I'm not," Aomine's eyes were hard, resolute, and Midorima was a little taken aback. Aomine was serious. Midorima had never pegged Aomine as the type to take the risk, not when it came to Akashi. Aomine…he was the kind to take the path of least resistance, do whatever was necessary but what wouldn't cause him too much trouble. Going against Akashi was definitely not that path.
"You've changed," Midorima huffed. Was it because of the new company you keep? I wonder. Out loud, he continued, "But sadly, I haven't. My family has been with the Akashis for generations, always helping from the shadows. Why would I do otherwise?"
"Because you're different," Aomine shrugged. "I feel like we all are. Even Kise agrees with me. We were roped into it as kids but…we can make our own decisions now. This Akashi, he's not…normal. And somehow, even Hanamiya is in on it." Aomine never dropped his gaze, and Midorima was feeling pressured to drop his. "Do you really want to keep doing this? Even when you have the power not to? Don't you have anything…anyone to protect?"
Midorima swallowed thickly, trying to keep his voice low even as anger and frustration begged him to shout. "It's because I care about others that I can't go against Akashi. Aomine…you know this. Akashi has enough information on our involvement with the Kiseki from years ago. It's enough to throw us all in jail and…" He couldn't believe his voice had just cracked. He cleared his throat. "And then what? At the moment, at least by doing what Akashi wants, we have our freedom."
"Freedom? You call this freedom?" Aomine scoffed, a pained light in his eyes. "I call it cowardice. And trust me, I know cowardice like the back of my fucking hand."
Midorima's green gaze followed Aomine as he placed a slip of paper on the table behind him.
"You live and hide in a prison of lies." Aomine's voice were poison to Midorima's ears. Poisoned with truth. "And this is your ticket out."
And with that, he pushed past Midorima and left.
The doctor walked up to the paper, folding it out with trembling fingers. It was a phone number, Aomine's no doubt.
Midorima sighed. Even Kise huh? He scrunched the paper in his fist, his knuckles white and his nose burning. How long would he stay in this bubble of his?
He threw the ball of paper in the bin behind his desk. He didn't need to look to know it has gone in.
He'd memorised the number anyway.
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