Epilogue
Eleven years after…
He was really going to get it this time. Throwing down the shiny, black, expensive, chewed-up shoe in his hand, Kagami filled his lungs to confront the issue the way issues were usually confronted in this household; with shouting.
"Goddammit, Daiki, get your ass down here!"
There was a moment's pause, and then his call was answered in the form of one annoyed tan bluenette - wearing only a loose pair of grey sweats and a smattering of stubble on his chin - lumbering down the stairs, the huge german shepherd that followed him like his shadow trotting at his heels, tail wagging like a flag of doom when it spotted Kagami.
"What?" Daiki scowled, tiredly rubbing his eyes with one hand; oblivious to the dog trying to pounce on Kagami, only warded off when Kagami brandished his cane (which also bore its fair share of teeth marks) at it, "I was trying to get at least an hour of sleep, you know, I was up filing case reports all night..."
Ignoring his complaints, Kagami quickly rose to his feet before the canine beast could get any closer, bracing his weight on the cane in his hand, "We are putting a muzzle on your stupid dog; it keeps using everything I own as a fucking chew toy," he snarled.
"Maybe we could put a muzzle on you, Taiga," Daiki retorted without heat, a half-smirk curving his mouth, "You make more of a racket than she d -"
"I thought you said that mutt was trained," Kagami interrupted before his comment could turn suggestive, backing up a step from the dog that had once again tried to leap up at him.
Daiki lazily, unhurriedly turned his attention to the object of Kagami's distress, "Tora, sit."
Obediently, the fearsome animal planted its rump on the ground, turning to look at its master with adoration, tongue lolling out of its mouth. Kagami sighed. Daiki sure had opportunity to hold things over his head; his freaking police dog was named "tiger", a constant reminder of the pet name for Kagami he refused to abandon.
Kagami only put up with the damn dog in the first place because of its purpose to Daiki; after years of hard work and cleaning up his reputation, he'd finally overcome his past for good and made it onto the police force...the K-9 force, specifically, in which he earned his pay tracking down and catching drug dealers. Kagami still shook his head fondly to himself when he was reminded of the irony. In a few cases, he'd used his training - as well as previous knowledge of the minds of the dealers - to put the very same people who used to sell him heroin behind bars...it was almost like closure.
"Weren't you going to pick up the girls from school and take them to Tetsu's place?" Daiki went on after a moment, bracing his hands on his hips.
"I was," Kagami muttered, "But then I saw the state of my shoes; how am I supposed to go out tonight in these?" He leaned down - with difficulty, as his stiff legs protested - and picked up the much-abused objects for Daiki to see.
Daiki shrugged, "You might have time to get a pair of new ones before -"
"No I fucking don't!" Kagami snapped, "Do you know how hard it is to find a decent pair in my size? You should, we have the same size shoe…"
Inspecting the chewed-up leather critically with sharp indigo eyes that had long ago regained their old luster and alertness, his husband just smiled carelessly and patted Kagami's shoulder, "It's not that bad, I doubt anyone will even notice."
"But -" Kagami protested.
"And if they do," Daiki went on, talking right over him, "I'll kick their asses."
Melting at the protective statement, the resistance and hostility leaked out of Kagami in a great rush, "Or you could just flash your badge at them."
"For the last time, I don't have a damn badge," Daiki mumbled. Then he brightened and leaned in to place a fleeting kiss on Kagami's lips, murmuring against them, "You should get going, you're going to be late."
Sighing with the ever-present reluctance to part with him, Kagami stepped back and nodded, "Yeah, I know." Unable to resist, ignoring the dog still sitting loyally by Daiki's side, he shot forward and stole another brief press of lips, "See you tonight, Aho."
Daiki wrinkled his nose adorably, the action making his thirty-year-old face look nineteen again, "That nickname doesn't hold any significance anymore, when are you going to pick a new one?"
Poking him in the chest, Kagami turned to leave, throwing over his shoulder, "Sorry, but you're stuck with it. Whatever you call yourself, you'll always be my Aho."
Giving a parting wave, he shuffled out the door, used to his own uneven stride by now, even if it still pissed him off after all these years. Walking had become a chore, instead of just a bodily function, after the last game of his all-too-short career playing for the Lakers. At first, it had been great, once he'd gotten himself back into shape...sure, sometimes after a particularly grueling day of practice he would find himself braced against the lockers, hacking up a lung, but he'd led his team to several victories before it all came crashing to an end. He hadn't even lasted a year before his legs that had served him so well jumping to extreme, unbelievable heights finally reached their expiration date and gave out once and for all; buckling and sending him violently to the ground before he could complete that last spectacular dunk that would have decided the game. Since then he'd been condemned to hobbling on crutches for awhile, and then sporting a cane like an old geezer...which he'd admittedly used to whack his boyfriend - then fiancée, then husband - when he really got on his nerves.
Forced to retire on account of his failing legs, he'd been unwilling to give basketball up after he'd finally gotten another taste of it and revived the passion that had been tempered for a time after high school, now back full-force. He'd moved back to Japan, bought himself and his beloved a very large house with his last generous paycheck, and took up coaching a small club team instead. It wasn't quite the same as being able to play, but it was enough, and he took pride in their accomplishments even if he couldn't take part in them; only able to watch from the sidelines.
Aomine, of course, had insisted on following him anywhere he went, even if it meant moving all the way to America and back...and, a year after that first, tentative semi-proposal, Kagami had repeated it for real; getting on one knee with a ring and all that crap. Aomine, of course, said yes, and a month later, he was no longer Aomine Daiki, but Kagami Daiki. To Kagami, though, he was just Daiki, and had been from the moment he'd pressed his lips to the ones that had just murmured "I do," with all the sincerity and fervor the arrogant, irritating asshole was capable of. It had been a beautiful white wedding, a new beginning for the both of them, and to this day it was right up there with the very happiest days of Kagami's life.
Shaking his head to himself for being such a sentimental sap - though he supposed today of all days was a good day for reminiscing - Kagami parked in front of the elementary school and gathered up his cane to step outside. The dismissal bell had apparently just rung, because there was a veritable sea of children pouring out of the building, and he barely had time to get to the sidewalk before he was almost knocked flat on his ass on it, when a rapid bundle of spunk and energy and wild, red hair collided with his midriff.
"Daddy~!" the little girl cheered, reaching up to him with tiny, eager hands and beaming all over her sweet face.
Obligingly bending down, Kagami kissed her cheek, laughing and ruffling the bright crimson hair she'd inherited from him - although it was much longer and silkier, tied back in a ponytail, "How was your day, Emi?"
"It was great! We did stuff with plants in science today!"
"Cool, what kind of plants?" Kagami grinned, placing his hand on her shoulder and walking with her to the other side of the school, devoting his full attention to her enthusiastic story about growing her very own bean sprout in a plastic cup and placing it by the window so it could "germinate" (which she put up a commendable effort to pronounce; Kagami doubted even he could have managed it).
When she came to the end of her tale to take a breath, Kagami looked up from her shining chestnut eyes to scan the schoolyard, "Ready to pick up your sister?" he asked.
"Mhm! We're going to go to Uncle Tetsuya and Aunt Satsuki's house today, right? You promised…"
Kagami chuckled, "I did. They're both waiting for you, I'm sure you'll have a great time." His attention was diverted, as a familiar, portly woman stepped through the double doors, leading a much smaller girl with pale skin and a shock of indigo hair out of the school.
"And there's Ai," he smiled, striding as quickly as he could manage over to his youngest, "Thanks, Miss Goya," he said to the translator, and then carefully knelt to his other daughter's eye-level. His hands spoke for him, waving to her, and then going through a series of gestures that asked how her day was.
Ai pouted - a pout she got straight from her egotistical, big baby of a father - and her small, pudgy fingers bent and twisted to tell him another student had pushed her and made her cry. Then her hands stopped talking and both latched onto Kagami's much bigger one, letting him lead her back to the car, her sign language translator and energetic sister trailing behind.
After they'd been married for a year, Kagami had asked his husband to consider seriously if they were going to start a family. Their options were, of course, limited, but they'd both been fine with adopting a child...until Momoi suggested a surrogate parent, which neither of them had realized was a possibility. She'd surprised them by offering herself up as a candidate, saying she was more than willing to help them in that department, and after some more serious discussion and several visits to the experts, Kagami had learned about artificial insemination, meaning neither of them would have to have sex with her or anything. Still, only when he'd asked and asked a thousand times if she was really okay with it (not to mention all the times he asked Daiki if he was), had he taken her up on her offer.
Nine months later, Emi was born, sporting Kagami's redheaded temper and rather odd eyebrows, and every single ounce of Momoi's beauty. She was amazing, perfect, and immediately, Kagami had been struck by a new kind of love and devotion he hadn't been prepared for. Both he and Daiki doted over her, spoiling her rotten and treating her like a princess; in short, she had both of her daddies wrapped around her little finger, and somehow had turned out sweet, caring and kind in spite of that. ...Maybe with just a tiny bit of an attitude, but Kagami would have been disappointed if she hadn't picked up sarcasm and sass eventually, considering who her parents were.
When Emi was five, and showing all the makings of an athletic champion - but also an interest in nature and science - Daiki had tentatively asked if Kagami wanted another child, and this time, there was some difficulty involved. Kagami had insisted that - even if he had trouble getting it up sometimes - Daiki should be the sperm donor this time, and he had adamantly refused. At first his excuse had been that it would be weird, and would feel kind of like he'd slept with Momoi, but eventually that fell flat, and Kagami was made aware of his real reason.
"Do you really want me passing...this on to our child?" At the harshly stressed word, he'd made a crude gesture at himself, and suddenly Kagami understood. With the damage he'd inflicted on himself for years, it was a very real possibility that side-effects would be inherited by his children, and doing some research had put all kinds of terrifying ideas in Kagami's head. Still, he stood by his resolution.
"I want him or her to be strong and beautiful; to look in the mirror and see your eyes looking back."
It took a long time, and a lot of pleading and convincing on his part, but finally Daiki had cautiously agreed, and asked Momoi - now Kuroko's wife - if she would be willing to carry a baby for them a second time. After talking it over with Kuroko as well, it turned out they were both on board.
When Ai was born, completely whole and healthy, it was obvious to Kagami that Daiki was cut deep; helpless in front of her round face and beautiful blue eyes, and he'd been achingly gentle when he held her, as if she were made of glass. He'd done more crying than she had, that first day; first openly in relief, then later into Kagami's shoulder, saying over and over that she was a little angel, a miracle, and he would protect her with every breath in his body.
Almost a year went by before they realized not all was well with little Ai. She was unresponsive to a lot of their attempts to get her attention, and after that first, peaceful day of her resting quietly, she'd cried and screamed at the top of her tiny lungs almost constantly. They took her to a pediatrician, and after a lot of tests and a lot of scratching heads in confusion, they learned that their youngest daughter, their little angel, had been born deaf.
Daiki was devastated, and Kagami knew he blamed himself entirely for what had happened to his little girl. He'd found him leaning over Ai's crib more than once, lightly stroking her soft hair so similar to his own, fighting back tears and whispering shaky, miserable apologies that she was unable to hear.
The spell of hopelessness was only brief, though, and in Ai's second year she was put through every kind of physical therapy they could afford, as she learned to speak without words and her family learned to communicate with her diligently. It got to the point where Kagami sometimes accidentally signed to the kids on the team he coached instead of addressing them verbally, and even Daiki's dumb dog ended up trilingual like the rest of them; knowing several commands in Japanese, English, and sign language. Four years old and now in preschool, Ai was still very shy and a little listless, but she no longer threw screaming tantrums, and Kagami didn't know if she understood, but he'd seen Daiki promise with his hands that one day they would be able to get her a cochlear implant, and then she would hear her daddies' voices for the first time.
Daiki's "girl" had definitely not left their family untouched. It was no longer a daily, unavoidable influence on his life, but his arm still bore the scars from his needles, faded though they were. Scars their daughters had inevitably asked about. Daiki had given Kagami a helpless look, at a loss for what to say, and after a moment Kagami had explained in his place. He'd brought Emi into his lap, and Ai into Daiki's, and wove them a rather ad-libbed and rather tall tale about a strong warrior named Aomine, who had fought a long, terrible battle against an evil witch that put a spell on him and hurt the people he cared about. He told them how courageous Aomine had finally defeated the witch and broke the spell, and the marks on his arm were battle scars.
"They kind of look like lightning," Emi had commented, scrutinizing her father's inner elbow thoughtfully from where she sat.
Rolling with it, Kagami had just smiled, "They are...they're his lightning bolts of bravery."
Later, Daiki had smacked him for being so sappy and "spewing all that fairy tale crap", but while he'd been telling the story he'd seen look of surprise, and then gratitude crossing his face. Gratitude that couldn't even measure up to that which Kagami felt, every day; just knowing he'd given up one treacherous "girl" long ago, and in return had gained two new girls who were so much better for him, who had innocently traced the marks left by the poison he'd once harbored in his veins, and smiled at him in wonder.
.
.
The door opened to a small, pleasant smile and an acknowledging murmur of "Kagami-kun," before Kuroko opened it wider, allowing his guests inside. His winter blue eyes turned a shade warmer with affection as they landed on his smaller company, "How are you today, Emi-chan?"
Emi's smile seemed to hold all the pure, innocent joy in the world as she answered, "I'm good!"
"That's good," Kuroko nodded staidly, but his eyes were dancing with amusement. He turned to Ai and went through a rather slow, choppy greeting with his thin, pale hands - not as versed and accustomed to sign language as those in Kagami's family - and she gave him a rather lopsided smile, bad day apparently forgotten, and answered him.
"Why don't the two of you head to the kitchen?" Kuroko went on, as Miss Goya stepped in and translated the suggestion to Ai from beside him, "We are going to be making cookies tonight; but do not let your aunt near the oven or we'll have nothing but ashes to eat."
Giggling with excitement, Emi dragged her little sister along, letting go of her hand after a few steps to tell her in rapid sign language about all the fun things they were going to do tonight. Miss Goya followed behind more sedately, used to their antics by now.
Kuroko watched after them with a fond expression that Kagami was sure was reflected on his own face, before turning back to him, "You have everything in order for tonight, Kagami-kun?"
Kagami gave a long-suffering sigh, "Almost. Daiki's damn dog chewed up my only good pair of dress shoes."
Kuroko seemed unfazed, and just shrugged, "You have the same size; why don't you just wear his and make him wear yours?"
Kagami blinked, and then shared a laugh with his old friend, enjoying the simple pleasure of it, "I didn't think of that; you're quite the evil mastermind, as always, Kuroko."
"Hm, speaking of evil masterminds," he glanced back at the kitchen, where evidence of Emi's rambunctious enthusiasm was evident in what sounded like a rolling pin clattering to the ground, "I had better rescue Satsuki-san and Ai-chan from your eldest before the whole house comes down."
"Yeah," Kagami agreed absently, "Keep an eye on them, won't you?"
"Two eyes," Kuroko said serenely, starting to step back, "You have a good time, Kagami-kun...and happy anniversary to both of you."
Kagami nodded with a muttered "Thanks," and, waving over his shoulder, started down the steps that posed him a little difficulty before getting back in the car; trusting without a doubt that his daughters would be well cared for tonight. As he headed for home, he halfheartedly hoped his lazy, good-for-nothing husband would be ready to go by the time he got there.
.
.
Of course he wasn't. Sprawled out half-dressed on the sofa, the bastard had actually had the nerve to fall back asleep, chest rising and falling gently; the giant, furry form of Tora curled up on his legs, muzzle twitching in whatever demented dog dreams she was having. Probably about eating more of Kagami's possessions. The demonic creature leapt up immediately when he opened the door, though he'd tried to be quiet, and started barking, eliciting a cringe of barely-suppressed terror from Kagami, as his plans for tonight warred with his instinct to run far, far away from dogs of any shape and size.
With a muzzy, half-conscious groan, Daiki waved a hand at his dog sleepily, "Shut up, Tora, i's probably jus' the mailman."
Tora shut up, jaws snapping together, but her eyes were still fixed on Kagami like he was a tenderized piece of meat, tail twitching dangerously.
"It's not the mailman, dumbass," Kagami scowled, hitting his husband none-too-gently over the head with the business end of his cane.
"Ow! Fuck!" Daiki yelped, sitting up so fast he almost toppled off the couch, before whipping around to glare at his attacker, "What the hell, Taiga?"
"Don't 'what the hell' me; we have reservations, remember?" Kagami snapped, "Get your lazy ass up and finish getting ready."
"Keep your shirt on, we've got time," Daiki grumbled, gingerly rubbing the back of his head where he'd been whacked, "Besides, you're not dressed up and ready to go yet."
"I will be in about a second, and then we're leaving whether you're ready or not."
"Why wake me up then?"
Sighing exasperatedly, Kagami poked his cheek, where he'd apparently forgotten to shave, "You missed a spot."
Daiki blinked, and then smiled defeatedly, "Alright, alright, I'm up." Pushing off the sofa - dislodging all 90-something pounds of solid german shepherd from his legs - he got to his feet and stretched, providing an excellent view of his toned bronze chest peeking through the folds of his dress shirt. Kagami's eyebrow twitched.
"Come here, you idiot," he commanded huskily, jerking him closer by the lapels of his shirt so they were toe to toe, chests pressed together, and attacking his mouth roughly with his own.
Startled, Daiki only stiffened a moment before surrendering to him, parting his lips in invitation. An invitation Kagami was only too pleased to take, plunging his tongue eagerly into his mouth and drowning in the warm tang of the man he'd been married to for ten years tonight, the man he'd belonged to long before then; the dark chocolate and satin that was Kagami Daiki.
He felt himself sway dangerously, having discarded his cane when he pulled Daiki close, and instinctively clutched at his husband's shoulders, trying to regain his balance before he fell and collapsed them both. Immediately, smooth, strong hands wrapped around him, holding him close and keeping him steady, and Daiki disconnected the kiss briefly to place a lighter one on his nose.
"Easy, Taiga," he murmured, stroking a hand down his back, "I got you, babe."
Kagami breathed a short, inaudible sigh of relief, and brought their mouths together again. At this closer proximity, he had full access to the muscled chest that had tantalized him, and he lavished and petted the hot flesh as the ribs beneath his fingers expanded and relaxed with Daiki's breathing. Finding one dusky nipple in the folds of his half-shed shirt, he rolled it teasingly, stroking his tongue slowly against his lover's lower lip and teeth.
A dark, sensual chuckle vibrated against his mouth, and Daiki broke the kiss again, now slightly out of breath, "Save something for later tonight...we're on a tight schedule for this fancy dinner, aren't we?" The back of one of his hands caressed Kagami's cheek lightly, and his burning eyes spoke of exactly how little he cared about the fancy dinner, and exactly how much he cared about the person flushed and panting in his arms.
Smiling weakly, Kagami leaned up a centimeter to look directly into those endless blue eyes he'd loved for fourteen years, and would continue to love for a hundred more, if he could, "...Fuck the schedule. Fuck the reservations; I've got all the fancy dinner I need right here."
The delighted grin Daiki gave him could have melted his heart or knocked him right off his feet, and he leaned in until their lips were a hair's breadth apart, "God, I love you." With that, his hands shot up to tangle in the back of Kagami's hair, stealing his breath with a deep, passionate kiss. As they twined together, bodies, hearts, and souls, the rest of the world seemed to just fall away, and Kagami smiled to himself against the lips he would have chased to the ends of the Earth, feeling his lover's damaged but still resilient heart beating in time with his own.
He couldn't have asked for more.
Fin