Work Text:
Kagami looked around the gym for a third time, confirming that he was indeed the only person in the somewhat small room. He's not surprised by this, really. Surely not a lot of people work out while at a hotel. Especially not when it was after one in the morning.
Geez, why am I working out at one in the morning while on vacation? Kagami shakes his head, ridding him of the thought of heading back to his room and going to bed. I'm already here, might as well make the most of it. Sighing one last time, he puts his earphones in and finally starts his work out. He's warming up with a light jog when one of his favorite songs comes on. (Not that he would ever admit that to anyone.) Kuroko would never let me live it down if he knew I actually liked this song. An idea hits him and his cheeks immediately warm up in response. He tries to ignore the thought, but the urge won't go away. Checking the mirrors again, he sighs. What the hell, it can't hurt anything. It's not like anyone is here to see me, anyways. With that last thought, he shrugs and goes for it. He starts singing right as the chorus comes on.
"It's the eye of the tiger
It's the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he's watching us all with the eye of the tiger"
Kagami continues with his jog while singing at the top of his lungs. It felt good to let go like this. Not a lot of people knew, but Kagami absolutely loved singing. What he failed to notice, however, was that he was no longer alone in the room. Another man had joined him not too long after he started signing. The rooms new occupant was leaning against the wall, arms crossed with a small smirk on his face. It was obvious that he was enjoying the free concert. His smirk widened as the chorus came back on and Kagami started singing louder, more enthusiastically.
"It's the eye of the tiger
It's the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he's watching us all with the eye of the tiger"
As the song faded out, Kagami slowed his jog until he was only walking. Now that he was warmed up, he planned on moving to the weights. He took out his earphones and placed his phone on his gym bag, which he placed on the floor beside him, before turning around and promptly freezing. His eyes widen in shock and his cheeks warm inembarrassment as he finally notices the other man in the room. The smirk on the other males face widens when their eyes meet.
"Oh man, you done already? That's a real shame, I was really enjoying it."
Kagami feels his face heat up even more that before and is internally grateful that he can, most likely, use the exercise as an excuse for his no doubt, beet red face. He doesn't respond to the man, he can't. He doesn't know whether to run out of the room as fast as he can, apologize, or yell at the man. Kagami being Kagami, he goes with yelling.
"What the hell man? When did you get here?"
Pushing off the wall, the man responds with, "Oh right about the time you got to the chorus the first time."
"Why didn't you say anything, you asshole?" Kagami, clearly, is not to blame for his own embarrassment. He had checked the room plenty of times and he was alone each time. By Kagami's logic, that means that it has to be the other man's fault. What kind of person watches another do something so embarrassing and not announce their presence?
"And interrupt you? I would never, "the man says in mock offence. "Like I said, I was enjoying the show. I mean, who wouldn't? An incredibly attractive man, such as yourself, acting like a complete dork while working out. I'm pretty sure my heart stopped when I first got here." The man was now standing only a few feet from Kagami, smirk still present.
Kagami was about to yell another insult at the man, but then his last two sentences registered in his mind and all words left him. This time, he could feel the blush travel all the way down his neck. He averts his gaze from the others and lets his eyes rake over the man's body instead. He was taller than Kagami, but only by an inch or so, with dark skin and blue hair. He was only wearing a pair of loose, light grey sweatpants. Kagami swallowed hard as he took in the man's top half. He was leaner than Kagami, but his muscles were nice and defined. His shoulders broad and the muscles in his arms were strained from being crossed. All in all, Kagami thought HE was the attractive one. Great, I just embarrassed myself in front of the most attractive man I'll ever meet. Great Job, Taiga.
"Are you done checking me out , or do you want me to pose for you a little?"
Kagami's head snapped up at that and his eyes narrowed. This man may have been hot, but he seemed to be pretty arrogant. However, he doesn't get a chance to tell the man that.
"I don't mind. Posing, that is. As long as it's for you, anyways." He uncrosses his arms and takes a few steps closer so his face is only a few centimeters away from Kagami's. He uses a finger to lightly snap the headband Kagami was using to keep his bangs out of his face. "My name is Aomine. Aomine Daiki. Yours?"
Kagami considers pushing him away, but decides that the look in the other's eyes is too promising to ignore. Giving a smirk of his own he responds. "Kagami. Kagami Taiga."
The other man, Aomine, is stunned for a moment, much to Kagami's confusion, before he barks out a laugh. Before Kagami can ask him why he's laughing, Aomine gets himself under control, somewhat anyways, and looks at him with amused eyes.
"Well, Tiger, you sure caught my eye."
An Embarrassed Tiger Hitsugayaduckling19 Summary: Sequel to Gym Embarrassment. Kagami keeps running into Aomine everywhere he goes. His embarrassment continues to rise with every meeting.Chapter 1
Notes:
Chapter TextHe must have done something wrong in a past life. That's the only way something this embarrassing could have happened to him, Kagami thinks. Not only did he get caught singing along to an embarrassing song, but he just happened to be caught by one of the most attractive men he had ever seen.
In his rush to get inside his room, he almost slams the door, but he's able to stop it at the last second and gently push it closed. Embarrassment and the desire to get inside his room does not give him the right to be inconsiderate. And despite his rough exterior, Kagami Taiga is not an inconsiderate person. It's close to two in the morning and he's pretty sure that the majority of the hotels guest are sleeping.
Closing his eyes and leaning back against the door, Kagami can feel the heat returning to his cheeks as he recalls what happened just a few minutes ago.
"Are you done checking me out yet, or do you want me to pose for you a little?"
Kagami's head snapped up at that and his eyes narrowed. This man may have been hot, but he seemed pretty arrogant. However, he doesn't get a chance to tell the man that.
"I don't mind. Posing, that is. As long as it's for you, anyways." He uncrosses his arms and takes a few steps closer so his face is only a few centimeters away from Kagami's. He uses a finger to lightly snap the headband Kagami was using to keep his bangs out of his face. "My name is Aomine. Aomine Daiki. Yours?"
Kagami considers pushing him away, but decides that the look in the other's eyes is too promising to ignore. Giving a smirk of his own he responds. "Kagami. Kagami Taiga."
The other man, Aomine, is stunned for a moment, much to Kagami's confusion, before he barks out a laugh. Before Kagami can ask him why he's laughing, Aomine stops and looks at him with amused eyes.
"Well, Tiger, you sure caught my eye."
He wants to be angry at the blue-haired man, Aomine, but he can't. If he were in the same position, he would probably act the same way…..Actually, no he wouldn't have. He definitely would have laughed, though, once he was alone. But he wouldn't have tried to embarrass the other person further. That would just be cruel.
Sighing, he pushes off the door and heads towards the chair in the corner of the room, where he had thrown his bag of clothes when he first arrived at the hotel. He rummages through his bag, looking for his sleep clothes, a pair of red boxer briefs and some light grey sweat pants. After finding them, he grabs a smaller bag from the desk, which holds his toothbrush and shower things, and makes his way to the bathroom for a much needed shower.
Once he's finished with his shower, he starts up his laptop and waits for it to turn on, having decided to watch a few movies before going to bed. He doesn't know what he wants to watch yet, so he figures he'll just scroll through Netflix until something stands out. While waiting for his laptop to finish turning on, he gets up and grab the bag of junk food he had bought earlier, before checking in to the hotel. Grabbing a bag of chips and one of the drinks from within the bag, he realizes that, unless he wants a hot beverage, he's going to have to go get ice from down the hall. Wow, Taiga. Couldn't have put the drinks in the mini fridge, could you?
Letting out a deep exhale, as if the task of getting ice was the most inconvenient thing in the world, he pushes himself off the bed and grabs the ice container that came inthe room. He pauses briefly to consider whether or not he should put a shirt on before walking out of his room, but quickly decides against it. It's probably close to three in the morning, I doubt I'll run into anyone anyways. With that decided, he grabs a room key from the desk, places it in the pocket of his sweats, and opens the door.
And immediately freezes. Lips parted lightly in shock he can feel a traitorous blush makes its way across his cheeks as he stares wide eyed. Unbelievable! What are the chances? There, standing in front of the partially opened door right across from him is the same man who, about an hour or so ago, witnessed one of the most embarrassing moments of his life. This time, however, the man isn't alone. There's a pretty, pink haired woman standing next to him with her arm looped around his. She's looking up at him with wide eyes and…..is that a blush on her face? Why would she be blushing? Oh yeah, you're not wearing a shirt, you dumbass. Shifting from one foot to the other, he slides his gaze from the woman back to Aomine. When his brick-red eyes meet Aomine's navy blue ones, the ever present blush on his face deepens.
"So, we meet again, Tiger," Aomine says seductively, taking a step towards him. Slowly looking Kagami up and down, he continues, "I've got to say, as much as I loved our last encounter, I'm lovin' this one a whole lot more." He licks his lips, slowly moves his eyes up Kagami's chest, his neck, and when their eyes finally meet, he winks.
Immediately, the woman, whose eyes widen further upon realizing that her companion knows the half-naked man in front of them, slaps Aomine on the chest and exclaims, "Dai-chan!" Jumping at the impact, Aomine turns away from Kagami and glares down at his abuser.
"Oi! What the hell, Satsuki? That hurt!" As if to emphasize, he reaches a hand up and begins rubbing the abused spot.
"You should introduce me to your friend," the women, Satsuki, says. The way she's smiling up Kagami would make anyone think that she was interested in him, but the look in her eyes tells Kagami that she's not interested in him the way most women would be. Between the look in her eyes and the way she keeps shifting her gaze between the two men, Kagami's sure she's got the wrong idea. However, he can't find the words to deny whatever ideas she has. He finds it doesn't matter either way, because he wouldn't have a chance to speak, it seems. Because not long after she finishes reprimanding him, Aomine is pulling her closer by her arm and whispering something into her ear. It's obvious she doesn't like what she hears because she pulls back, her cheeks are puffed out and she's glaring up at her friend. Grabbing the front of his shirt, she pulls him down to her level and begins whispering something back to him. The two begin a heated discussion and don't even notice when Kagami takes a few steps backwards, into his room, and closes the door.
A hot drink isn't the worst thing in the world anyways.
Kagami leans back against the door (Wasn't I in this exact position not even an hour ago?) and tries to work through everything that just happened. Seriously, what are the odds that HE would be staying in the room right across from mine?Groaning, he decides that it doesn't matter and that he should just stop thinking about it. Nodding to himself in agreement, he pushes himself off the door and walks to the bed. He makes himself comfortable, grabs his drink and the bag of chips, and pulls up Netflix. He'll watch a movie, drink his hot drink, and got to bed. When he wakes up in the morning, everything embarrassing that happened in the past few hours will be forgotten and he'll never have to think about it again.
Notes: That's it, I hope you liked it! If you did, let me know! Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated! I have no idea when the next chapter will be up, but I have already started it! (Like 150 words, but still) Thanks again for reading! My tumblr -
Chapter 2
Notes:
Chapter TextHe must have done something completely horrible in a past life. He must have. Why else would he be being tortured now?
The morning (afternoon, really, but his morning) has been going fine. He woke up, without the sound of an alarm blaring in his ear, (thank you, vacation) ordered room service for breakfast, and talked on the phone with his best-friend, Kuroko, for a while. All in all, a great start to the day
The second he opened the door Kagami knew the rest of his day wouldn't be so great. Aomine and his pink haired friend, Satsuki, were standing in front of him. They were obviously headed out, which more than likely meant that Kagami would be taking the elevator down with them. Squaring his shoulders, Kagami fought back a groan. Maybe the man wouldn't say anything about yesterday, maybe he would just let it go. Kagami sure hoped so. Kagami nods at them in greeting and then walks down the hall, towards the elevator. When he makes it to the elevator, he presses the down button and waits. He tries not to listen as the two behind him start talking.
"Alright, if I'm going with you, there needs to be rules," Aomine says in a serious voice. "Rule one, I will not go into any lingerie stores with you. There are no exceptions. None." He pauses for, what Kagami assumes, confirmation from his female partner. He must get it because a second later he's continuing, "Second, if you try on clothes, don't expect to get my opinion on them. I'm not Kise. If you want an opinion on something, text him." If Aomine had more rules, Kagami didn't get to hear them because the elevator dings, signaling its arrival.
As Kagami waits for the doors to open he hears the women say, "I know, Dai-Chan, I know. You tell me the same set of rules every time you go shopping with me." She pauses and then says, "I don't know why, though. You end up breaking your own rules. Every. Time. I don't even have to ask for your opinion, you offer it up voluntarily." Kagami laughs a bit at that, and motions towards the elevator once the doors open, allowing Satsuki to go first. She nods in thanks and pulls Aomine along with her. Aomine, with slightly pink cheeks, glares over his shoulder at Kagami for laughing at him. Kagami just gives him smirk in return as he follows them into the elevator. He tucks himself into a corner and smiles to himself. The smile vanishes when the doors close and he sees Aomine looking at him through the reflection of the doors and smirking. He suddenly wishes he could get off and just wait for the next one.
"Oi, Satsuki, let me see your phone for a second." He's still looking at Kagami as he holds out his hand for the phone.
"Why can't you use your phone?" Even though she says this, she still hands him the phone.
"I left it in the room. Kise was being extra annoying this morning. He sent me over six messages about how excited he is about the meet up. I didn't want to deal with it all day." He messes around on the phone as he says this.
"Whatever," she responds with. "What are you even doing?"
"There's this song I heard yesterday and it's been stuck in my head ever since." With that, he presses one more button on the phone and 'Eye of the Tiger' starts playing. Kagami swears his face has never heated up so fast. He can see the smirk on Aomine's face grow at his embarrassment. And to his horror, Satsuki, though she is glaring up at Aomine, has amusement in her eyes and is trying very hard not to laugh. He told her, the ass.
Satsuki, having composed herself, pats Kagami on the arm and says, "Don't look so horrified. We all do embarrassing things." When this doesn't help Kagami's embarrassment at all she adds, "Dai-Chan sings Taylor Swift while he showers. All the time." This brings a small smile onto Kagami's face. It grows when Aomine splutters a bit and glares over at his friend. Kagami lets out a loud laugh when Aomine growls, "What the hell, Satsuki?"
Ignoring her friend, Satsuki grins up at Kagami and says, "I'm Momoi Satsuki. It's nice to meet you."
Kagami, still laughing, manages to say, "Kagami Taiga, nice to meet you."
They don't get to say anything else because the elevator dings, this time signaling that they have arrive at the lobby. Momoi takes her phone back from Aomine and finally turns the song off. She steps off the elevator, her angry friend right after her. She turns to Kagami once they're all off and says, "Have a good day!" Kagami smiles and nods in return. He watched the two of them walk away and laughs as Aomine starts yelling at her. He feels a bit better about his own embarrassing moment now. He shakes his head as Aomine seems to grow increasingly angrier the longer Momoi ignores him. He checks his phone for the time and curses quietly when he notices the time. He begins to quickly exit the hotel.
The whole reason he took a week off from work was because one of his favorite chefs was going to be teaching a two-hour class in Kyoto. He originally planned on just taking the day off, because there was no way he was going to miss that, but then he decided to take the whole week off. He has the vacation days, so he figured why not. Now, if he doesn't hurry, he's going to be late and won't be allowed in. Luckily, it's only about a fifteen-minute walk from the hotel. Still, he sets a fast pace, hoping to arrive early enough to get a seat close to the front. Chef Kasamatsu has been his favorite chef for years. Kagami's dad had taken him and his best friend, Kuroko, out to a nice dinner after they graduated University. Kasamatsu was the chef working that night and Kagami was in love. It was the best meal of his life, he swears. After dinner, Kagami had looked up the chef and was surprised to find out that he was only a few years older than Kagami himself. And that he played basketball throughout high school and University. That was all Kagami needed to begin looking up to the man. After finishing culinary school and getting a job at a five-star restaurant, Kagami made it his mission to go to one of Chef Kasamatsu's classes. And now, finally, he was able to.
Finally making it, Kagami was glad to see that there was still one seat in the front open. He quickly made his way to it and hastily put on the apron that was thrown over the counter. Kagami would never tell anyone this, but when Chef Kasamatsu walked in, he had an internal, mini fangirl moment.
Kagami lets out a deep sigh as he takes off his apron. The class was fast paced, but he was able to learn from his favorite chef, so it was definitely worth it. He starts washing all the utensils he used and cleaning up his area. He was intentionally taking longer than necessary, hoping that if he were the last one in the room, he would be able to talk to Chef Kasamatsu. However, it seems he didn't need to go to the trouble because Chef Kasamatsu was making his way towards Kagami.
"Hey, you're Kagami Taiga, right," the chef asked once he was only a few feet away.
It took Kagami a moment to process the words, but once he did he managed to get out, "Y-yes, I'm Kagami Taiga. It's nice to meet you.
"Likewise. If I'm being honest, I'm surprised your taking one of my classes."
"Why is that," Kagami asks, confused.
"I've been to the restaurant you work at in Tokyo. Your food was wonderful. In fact, I've gone back multiple times, making sure you were the chef that night. All the dished of yours that I've tried have been nothing less than perfect."
Blushing, Kagami wasn't really sure what to say, but he forced something out anyways. "Thank you. That means so much coming from you." Scratching the back of his head and chuckling a bit, Kagami continues, "You've actually been my favorite chef for a few years now. So, when I heard that you were teaching a class, I just had to come. It didn't matter what we would be cooking, I just wanted the chance to learn from you."
The shorter male blushes a bit, but smiles up at Kagami. "You know, I actually teach classes in Kyoto and Tokyo quite often throughout the year. If you want, we can exchange numbers and I can let you know when and where my classes will be. If you're interested in attending another one, that is. And if you ever have any questions, I'd be more than happy to help."
Kagami can't help but open his mouth in shock. However, he quickly closes it and nods. "Yeah, I would like that. A lot, actually."
"Cool. Here's my number." Kasamatsu pauses to write his number on a piece of paper before handing it to Kagami. He then hands Kagami the pen so he too can write his number down. Once he does and hands the paper over, Kasamatsu says, "Seriously of you ever have any questions, or need any advice or tips, don't hesitate to ask."
"Thanks. I won't. The same goes to you." Kasamatsu nods before walking away, back to his place at the front of the room and packing up his stuff.
Once Kagami is done cleaning, he gives a wave to Kasamatsu, which is returned, and leaves the room. Immediately, he pulls out his phone and sends a message to Kuroko, telling him about everything that just happened. He doesn't wait for a response, figuring Kuroko was busy with work. He decides to stop by the basketball court near the hotel before calling it a day. He doesn't want to play, really. He just likes the atmosphere of a basketball court.
Fifteen-minutes later and Kagami's at the court. Only, he's not alone. He's surprised to see Aomine and Momoi there as well. Aomine is on the court playing and Momoi is sitting on the ground nearby, alternating between watching Aomine play and looking at her phone. When she looks up next and notices Kagami, she smiles and waves before patting the ground next to her, indicating for him to sit by her. After hesitating for just a moment, he walks over and plops down in the offered spot.
"How was your day," she asks kindly.
"It was good. What about yours?"
Smiling widely, she says, "It was great! I found a lot of great things at the mall!" She finishes what she was doing on her phone before putting away and then looks back up at Kagami. "And Dai-Chan broke his own rules after only twenty minutes." Kagami laughs along with her, turning his head to watch said man make an impossible shot. Kagami thinks the man must have gotten lucky, because surely a shot like that isn't possible. However, when the man pulls off the same shot a dozen more times, Kagami can't help but let out a whispered "Amazing".
Momoi puts a hand over her mouth, trying to smother her laugher. Kagami realizes that she must have heard him and that he's probably wearing an awed expression. He quickly looks away before asking, "Has he always been that good?"
"Yeah, pretty much," was the immediate response.
"He's incredible." Seriously, Kagami? I think she gets it.
Momoi just laughs again and says, "He really is. I've never met anyone who loves basketball as much as Dai-Chan."
"From what little I've seen, I bet he could go pro."
For some reason, that Kagami can't understand, that comment seems to upset Momoi. Before he can ask why, however, a ball is smashing into the side of his face. He hears Momoi yell an angry "Dai-Chan" as he picks himself up off the ground.
Glaring up at the man he growls out, "What the hell was that for, you bastard?"
"My bad, Tiger. I thought you were some weirdo bothering Satsuki." He looks so serious and honest that Kagami can't help but forgive him.
"Whatever, man. I guess I can't blame you for that. Not really, anyways." Kagami's pretty sure he can blame him, though. He's pretty sure there are other ways of protecting a friend, but Kagami is also pretty sure that he would have done the same thing if he were Aomine, so he'll let it go. Changing the subject, he says, "I heard that you broke your own mall rules after only twenty minutes."
Groaning, Aomine throws himself down in front of them and says, "Satsuki! Why do you insist on embarrassing me? What did I do to deserve this?"
Giggling, Momoi respond happily with, "Dai-Chan, I'm your best-friend. You don't have to do anything! It's my job to embarrass you!"
"You sound a lot like my best-friend. That bastard does everything in his power to embarrass me," Kagami says with a laugh.
Grunting, Aomine says, "I can't embarrass Satsuki. She'd kill me."
"No, Dai-Chan, you can't embarrass me because I don't do embarrassing things."
"Hey! Earlier you told me that we all do embarrassing stuff sometimes," Kagami exclaims, indignant.
"I did, yes. But that was only to make you feel better," Momoi says with a straight face. Kagami can't help himself when he throws his head back and lets out a loud laugh. He has a feeling that he's going to really like Momoi. "So what did you do today," she asks.
"Oh, my favorite chef was teaching a class not far from here and I went to that. That's actually the whole reason I took a week off work."
"Oh wow! That sounds like fun! Dai-Chan and I took a week off work to come here to Kyoto, to visit some friends."
"No. We took a week off because YOU wanted to spend time shopping around Kyoto. I wanted to ride down for the day we were meeting everyone and the go back," Aomine argues.
"What do you do for a living, Kagamin," she asks, completely ignoring Aomine.
"I'm actually a chef myself."
"Ohhh, that's so cool! Do you love it?"
"I do. It's a hell of a lot better than business, which is what I studied in University. I almost wish I had gone straight to culinary school out of high school, but if I had, I wouldn't have been able to meet my best-friend." He pauses, wondering why he's being so open with people he's just met, but they don't seem to mind. "What about the two of you? What do you two do?"
"Well," Momoi starts, "Right now I'm a Sports Medicine grad student, but I work as the manager for my Universities basketball team. Dai-Chan is the coach."
"That's awesome! Have you guys been friends for long?"
"Yep! We've been friends since we were like, four or something. When Dai-Chan joined the basketball club in Junior High, I became the manager for the club because I knew I would have to keep an eye on him. Same thing with High school."
"That's cool. I moved to America with my dad before Junior High and moved back to Japan after I graduated High School. I went to University in Akita, where my childhood friend went to High School, then culinary school in Tokyo."
The three of them sat at the court and talked for a while longer before Kagami decided it was time for him to head back. "I've had a great time talking to you both, but I've got an early morning so I better be heading back now," he says a little sadly as he stands up. He was really enjoying talking with Aomine and Momoi. Sure, Aomine didn't talk much, but he laughed along and had a smile on his face the whole time.
"Alright! Maybe we can hang out sometime before we all leave," Momoi says hopefully. Aomine doesn't say anything, but Kagami can tell that he would like that, too.
"Yeah, I would really like that." With one last wave, he leaves them be and head to the hotel. He doesn't know why, but he can't stop smiling.
That is, until he hears Aomine yell, "Maybe you can sing for us, Tiger!"
Kagami doesn't turn around and acknowledge him because he's a bigger person, not because of the blush that has, one again, taken over his face.
Notes: I hope you enjoyed! Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated! Thanks again for reading! My tumblr -
Chapter 3
Notes: Sooooo, this is super late. My class has been having assignments due every two days. But it's not just the class. This chapter had a lot of background that will come into play in the next chapter and even the next story in the series. So it was really important that I do it right. I'm still pretty insecure about my writing, so it took a while. BUT I'm actually pretty happy with it now! Also, because it was mostly background stuff, I tried hard to add in a few small AoKaga moments in. Not sure I succeeded, but I promise the next chapter is going to be all AoKaga. A few things I feel I should point out:
1) The rating changed to T because this chapter has a part that implies sexual activity and I just want to be safe. The next chapter may have more as well, same with the next story.
2) Tatsuya's messages- italicized. Kagami's- italicized and in bold. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextWhen Kagami opens the door the next day he finds himself face to face with Aomine, who is leaving his room as well.
"We've got to stop meeting like this, Tiger," Aomine says with a wink.
Kagami laughs and says, "Yeah, it's actually kind of weird how we keep leaving at the same time. I mean, what are the chances?" Aomine doesn't answer, but Kagami wasn't expecting him to.
They continue walking in silence, but as soon as the get on the elevator and the doors close Aomine says, "Hey, since we're alone, you should go ahead and sing for me again."
Kagami can feel his cheeks heat up and he tries his best to avoid looking in Aomine's direction. "Why are you always bringing that up," he asks quietly, slightly self-conscious.
Aomine stares at him for a few moments with his head tilted a little, picking up on Kagami's self-consciousness. As the elevator arrives at the lobby he turns his whole body to face Kagami and says, "I like it when you blush. It's cute." With that, he steps off the elevator, leaving Kagami behind. Kagami stands there in the elevator with a look of shock on his face. Aomine hadn't been trying to embarrass him that time, he was just being honest.
The elevator doors starting to close breaks him out of his shock and he quickly exits. He looks around the lobby, but doesn't see Aomine. He doesn't have time to think about it though, because his phone starts ringing. "Hey, Tatsuya, what's up" he says as greeting, after checking to see who was calling him.
"You're late," Tatsuya responded.
"What?! I'm not late," Kagami exclaimed. He curses loudly after looking at his watch and finding that yes, he is indeed late. "Damn, my bad, Tatsuya. I got a little, uh…distracted. The place isn't far from the hotel I'm staying at, though. It shouldn't take me long to get there."
Laughing a bit, Tatsuya says, "Don't worry about. I just wanted to make sure you didn't forget."
They end the call after Kagami promises to be there soon. Putting his phone back in his pocket, Kagami quickly makes his way to the restaurant that he and Tatsuya are meeting for lunch. He notices Tatsuya as soon as he enters the establishment. It's not hard, really, with almost every woman in the place not so subtly staring at his friend.
"How many of these women do you think would start crying if I just leaned across the table and kissed you," he asks as he sits down. Before Tatsuya can answer, the waitress comes over to ask Kagami what he wants to drink. Once she leaves Kagami nods to Tatsuya, indicating for him to say what he started to a moment ago.
Tatsuya has an innocent look on his face when he says, "I'm not sure what you're talking about, Taiga." Kagami doesn't believe him for a second. At Kagami's raised eyebrow Tatsuya laughs and says, "Alright, alright, I give. I know exactly what you're referring to, but it doesn't matter to me. I have a boyfriend and I'm more than happy with him." The waitress, who was bringing Kagami his drink, overhears that last sentence and she visibly deflates. She asks if they're both ready to order, which they respond that they are. Tatsuya doesn't bat an eye at Kagami's large order, but the waitress nearly drops her pad when she hears just how much Kagami wants. She doesn't say anything though and leaves them alone once she's done taking their orders.
"I take that things are going well with you and your boyfriend," Kagami asks, taking a sip of his drink.
"Very much so. He's actually the reason I'm in Kyoto."
"Wait, I thought you said he lived in Akita, like you?" Kagami furrows his brows in confusion.
"He does. But he has some kind of meeting with some ex-teammates of his here in Kyoto." When Kagami looks even more confused he asks, "What are you still confused about?"
"He has a meeting with some of his ex-teammates? What does that even mean?"
"Oh, that. Yeah, I don't really get it either. It seemed pretty weird to me, too," Tatsuya said with a shrug.
"Apparently not weird enough. You still agreed to come with him," Kagami points out.
"Well of course I did. Atsushi is pretty fun to travel with, even if I don't totally understand why he absolutely HAD to go to this meeting. He didn't even seem to want to go."
"Then why did he? From the little you've told me about him, he doesn't seem like the type to do something he doesn't want to."
"I don't know. When I asked why he had to go all he said was, 'Aka-chin said so'. Whatever that means." They both share a look before laughing.
"No offense, Tatsuya," Kagami starts, still laughing, "but your boyfriend sounds really, really, weird."
Tatsuya, having settled down nods and says, "Yeah, he is, but he makes me really happy."
Smiling Kagami responds with a quick, "Good", before the waitress is back and setting down their food. They eat in silence for a while, just enjoying the company of each other.
"By the way, Taiga, how did that cooking class go. I know you were incredibly excited for it."
Quickly swallowing his food, Kagami sits up straight and exclaims, "It was amazing, Tatsuya. Simply amazing. It was a short class, but I feel like I've learned so much form it. I also got to meet the Chef! He came up to me after the class was over and complimented my cooking! He complimented it! He said he had been to the restaurant in Tokyo one night when I was working, and that he absolutely loved the food." He pauses quickly to take a drink and then continues, "That's not even the best part! He offered to exchange numbers, so we can keep in touch, share tips, and answer any question either of us have! He also said that he teaches classes, like the one I went to, throughout the year in both Kyoto and Tokyo. He said he would keep me informed as to when and where the classes would be!" Kagami sits back when he finishes and takes a deep breath. He had talked a bit faster than he intended. Looking at Tatsuya he can tell that his friend is quite amused by his actions. Cursing he thinks, Way to fangirl, Taiga.
Tatsuya senses Kagami's embarrassment and smiles kindly saying, "That's great. I'm glad you enjoyed it. And I'm happy for you. I know that all must have meant a lot to you. That Chef has been your favorite for a while now." Kagami nods enthusiastically. "Besides all that, how have you been enjoying your vacation?"
Immediately, Kagami thinks of Aomine and how he met the man. He blushes against his will and Tatsuya takes notice.
Pushing his food to the center of the table, Tatsuya places his elbows on the newly cleared space and places his face in his hands. "Taiga, did something interesting happen?"
"Uh, no." At Tatsuya's unimpressed stare he rephrases, "Not really. I just had a…..an odd run in with this guy a few days ago. Nothing serious."
Not buying that for a second Tatsuya questions, "An odd run in? Care to explain?"
With the blush growing, Kagami relents. He's never been good at lying to Tatsuya. "Well, I was in the hotel gym and I was doing a quick warm up and listening to some music. Since I was the only one in the room, I figured I wouldn't hurt anything for me to….sing a little." He stops when Tatsuya lets out a little laugh at that. Tatsuya waves a hand in apology and signals for Kagami to continue. He does, but not before throwing his so-called friend a nasty glare. "Anyways, I was singing and at some point, this guy walks in. He doesn't tell me he's there, he just casually watches me. I was so embarrassed. Worst part is, he's staying in the room right across from mine and I literally run into him every time I leave my room!" Kagami finishes his story and hopes that Tatsuya will leave it alone now. He doesn't.
"It couldn't have been that bad! I've heard you sing before, you have a wonderful voice." When Kagami doesn't say anything, Tatsuya asks, "What song were you singing?"
Kagami slid down the chair, as if trying to appear smaller and quietly mumbles, "Eye of the Tiger." Both men are quiet for a moment before Tatsuya breaks out in laughter. Kagami would glare, but he's pretty sure that, because of the deep blush on his face and neck, it would be completely ineffective. Tatsuya laughs for a while longer before Kagami snaps, "It's not funny! He calls me 'Tiger' every time he sees me now!" This only causes Tatsuya to laugh harder. "Tatsuyaaa. Stop laughing! It's not funny," Kagami whines. Tatsuya tries to stop himself, but he can't and just keeps laughing. Deciding nothing he said would help the situation, Kagami just sits there sipping his drink and glaring.
After what feels like hours to Kagami, Tatsuya finally stops laughing. He wipes at his eyes with the back of his hand, still grinning. "I'm sorry, but that's hilarious, Taiga." After taking a long drink he says, "Come on, Taiga, what's the big deal?"
Ignoring the question, Kagami says, "He even told his friend! She's actually pretty cool, though. I feel like her and I would actually be pretty great friends." After hesitating for a second he says, "He's a college basketball coach and she's the manager. He plays too. And his basketball, Tatsuya. It's amazing, like nothing I've ever seen before." He pauses before adding in a quiet voice, "Watching him play made we want to play again. I haven't wanted to play that bad since our second year of University, when I first got injured." Tatsuya gives him an understanding look before asking Kagami more about the two. Kagami proceeds to spend the next half hour telling Tatsuya every detail from the last few days that involve his two temporary neighbors. Tatsuya doesn't say anything, but he does laugh at some parts of Kagami's story.
"So, Taiga," Tatsuya starts, suddenly serious, "Are you ready for dinner with your father tonight?"
"Hell no," comes the immediate, angry response. Tatsuya gives him a sympathetic response and changes the subject and talks about his boyfriend for a while.
As they're leaving, Kagami tells Tatsuya, "You should bring your boyfriend over for dinner at my place one day soon. I'd love to meet him."
Tatsuya happily agrees and says, "I'll talk to Atsushi tonight and figure out when would be best for us." They hug goodbye and Kagami watches Tatsuya walk away until he can no longer see him. Smiling, Kagami slowly makes his way back to the hotel.
Once back at the hotel Kagami takes a quick shower and throws on some sweats, not ready to get dressed for dinner. Noticing that he still has a bit of time before he needs to start getting ready and decides to message Kuroko and see how he's doing. However, he only exchanges a few messages with his friend before he decides that he doesn't want to talk to him anymore. Kuroko kept asking about Aomine, though Kuroko doesn't know his name, and when Kagami was going to, in Kuroko's words, "just ask him out already". Crossing arms, Kagami glares down at his phone as it vibrates, alerting him that he received another message. Why did I think telling him would be a good idea? I'm such an idiot. Kagami knows that he should be upset at himself, not Kuroko. He was the one that told Kuroko everything over skype just last night, after returning from the basketball court. At least he was smart enough to not tell Kuroko Aomine's name. Kuroko, knowing Aomine played basketball in middle and high school, probably would have tried looking this man up. I barely know the guy and Kuroko is trying to set me up with him! Kagami can actually hear Kuroko's voice in his head saying, "You've never shown any interest in anyone, Kagami-kun. It's only natural that I be a bit excited to learn that you're finally interested in someone."
With a huff Kagami lifts himself off the bed to start getting dressed. He'll respond to Kuroko later. Maybe. He gets the suit he brought with him, specifically for this dinner, and changes into it. It's a simple, two-piece, black suit. He pairs it with a nice blood red, button up shirt. Looking in the mirror, he debated on whether to style his hair, or leave it alone. He doesn't know why he cares, but does. Enough to take a picture of himself, send it to Tatsuya, and ask him what he should do with his hair. He gets a response surprisingly quickly.
Do you have any styling gel with you?
Yes, Kagami responds after checking his bag.
Use that to slick your hair back.
Kagami does so and then sends a picture of the finished look. Like this?
Perfect, Taiga. You look good.
Thanks. After getting the confirmation from Tatsuya, he leaves the bathroom. He sits on the edge of the bed and slips on his black dress shoes. Once that's done, he picks up his wallet from the bedside table and places it in his pocket. Next, he grabs his watch and puts it on. He does a mental check, to make sure he hasn't missed anything. His phone goes off again and he checks it, immediately regretting it. It's a message from Tatsuya.
Any special reason you're suddenly worried about your appearance?
Like, say, a certain blue-haired man you couldn't stop talking about at lunch?
Angry, Kagami responds, Why would I be dressing up for him, bastard? I probably won't even see him!
Well, you did say that you run into him every time you leave your room. I just assumed you were dressing up in the event that it happens again. I mean, why else would you be putting so much effort into your looks? For your father?
Kagami can actually see that stupid little grin of Tatsuysa's. Almost as if he were looking right at him. He can even hear his friend's amusement through the message. Bastard. He and Kuroko both. Rotten friends they are, Kagami thinks with no real malice. He doesn't, however, dignify Tatsuysa's message with a response. He just aggressively shoves his phone in his pocket and heads to the door. He pauses a moment, once he reaches it. Did I dress up in case I ran into Aomine, he thinks. However, he quickly shakes his head and dismisses the thought. There's no way he would do something like that.
He takes a deep breath and opens the door. He'll never admit it, but he's slightly disappointed when he doesn't see Aomine. Shaking his head again, he heads to the elevator, already mentally preparing himself for the dinner with his dad. He gets another text from Tatsuya while his way down.
Good luck, bro.
Smiling slightly, he responds, Thanks, bro.
I doubt I'll be able to stay longer than ten minutes, though.
It's the thought that counts.
Kagami laughs at that. I don't think that saying was meant to be used in this kind of situation.
Technicalities.
Kagami laughs again as he steps off the elevator and puts his phone back in his pocket. When he looks up he sees Aomine and Momoi. They're sitting on one of the couches, Aomine watching the basketball game that's on the T.V. and Momoi on a laptop. She looks up and her eyes meet his. Her eyes widen as she takes in his appearance. He nods in greeting and she waves him over. He checks to make sure his ride wasn't there yet, it wasn't, before slowly making his way towards the two. Aomine hadn't seen him yet and Momoi was obviously enjoying looking him over. When he makes it over to where they're sitting, Aomine finally looks at him. He quickly looks away, however. Kagami's not sure, but he thinks he sees a light blush on Aomine's cheeks. He wants to get a closer look and find out, but he's stopped by Momoi, who starts talking.
"Kagamin, you look amazing," she gushes. Kagami pauses briefly at her nickname for him, but ignores it in the end.
Blushing a bit at her compliment he mumbles a quiet, "Thanks."
Smiling widely Momoi asks, "Are you going on a date? If so, the person is very lucky." Aomine, who had still been looking away, quickly snaps his head around and waits for Kagami's response with barely concealed interest.
"Ah, no," Kagami says, scratching the back of his head, careful not to mess up his hair. "Dinner with my father, actually," he manages to grit out. The other two pick up on his less than enthusiastic response, but thankfully don't mention it.
"It's a shame, really. I'd love to go on a date with someone who looks as good as you do," Aomine practically purrs at him. Kagami blinks down at Aomine. Sure, the man had been subtly flirting with him since they met, but nothing quite that blunt. He doesn't get a chance to respond, however, because in the next moment an elderly gentleman is tapping on his shoulder.
He turns and faces the man who then says, "Taiga-kun, I apologize for interrupting, but I was sent by your father to retrieve you and take you to the restaurant." Kagami nods before turning back to the other two.
"Sorry, but this is my ride." He bids them goodbye before following his driver out of the hotel and into a car.
When he arrives, he gives the hostess his name and is promptly guided to the table where his father is sitting, sipping wine. He takes a deep breath and steadies himself before taking a seat.
"Taiga, it's good to see you," his father drawls as soon as he gets seated. Kagami just grunts in response. He hasn't seen his dad in a few years, not since he took Kagami and Kuroko out to eat for graduating University. "Is that really any way to greet your father, Taiga," his father reprimands. Kagami ignores him in order to look over the menu, though he doubts he'll be able to stay that long. His dad sighs before saying, "You know, son, one of my business partners' son just graduated University. He's going to start working for his dad's company as soon as he gets back from vacation."
And it starts, Kagami thinks. "That's good for him," is all he gives in response.
Nodding, his father agrees, "It is. Very good for him, indeed. He seems excited about it."
"I can imagine why. He gets the opportunity to do what he likes. It's a great thing, being able to do what you love for a living, wouldn't you agree?"
Glaring his father bites back, "Yes, doing what you love is wonderful. So is doing something that's actually good for you. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Not necessarily," Kagami says back nonchalantly. "If you hate what you're doing, it can't be too good for you, can it?"
"Why can't you just listen to what I have to say, without any smart comments, Taiga," his dad asks through clenched teeth.
"Because we've had this conversation a million times. I know what you want to say, I know what you want from me. But I don't want the same thing, so really, what's the point?" Kagami can feel anger rising, despite himself.
"I only want what's best for you," his dad says in defense.
Placing the menu on the table and glares across the table at his father. "No. You want what's best for you. You want me to work for your company and take over one day. You want to show me off to all your associates as some kind of trophy. You don't even care that I hate business. You don't care about what I want at all."
His dad doesn't deny anything, just says, "You'd make such a great businessman, Taiga. I know you would." He pauses to take another sip of wine before continuing, "I could give you a spot in my company and introduce you to a nice young woman. I could help you, Taiga. If only you'd let me."
Kagami glares harder and practically snarls, "Yeah? You want to help? Then could you introduce me to any nice young men, then?"
"Absolutely not," comes the immediate response.
"Then I guess you don't really want to help me, then," Kagami shoots back just as fast, expecting that answer.
Slamming his hands down on the table, his father leans in close and says, "I don't what's gotten into you, Taiga, but it needs to stop. I tolerated your experimenting during college, but you're a grown man now. It's time to stop this game and get serious."
At that, Kagami snaps. He quickly stands up and says, "It's not a game and it never was. I don't know why coming here was a good idea." He then promptly turns around and begins taking steps towards the exit. He stops, however, and looks back over his shoulder and smirks. "And I think both of know exactly what's been 'getting into me'," he says with suggestively. "And I like it way too much to stop." With that, he turns his head back and doesn't look back.
He checks his phone once he's outside. Smiling a bit, he sends a quick message to Tatsuya.
23 minutes. I lasted 23 minutes.
He sees a cab and raises his hand, signaling his need for a ride. The driver sees him and pulls over. Kagami tells him the name of the hotel and they take off. Not long after, he gets a response from Tatsuya.
Better than 10.
The message is immediately followed by another.
Better than I would have done. I'm proud.
Kagami smiles, putting his phone away. He'll skype Tatsuya later and tell him everything.
Back at the hotel, Kagami quickly makes his way to his room, messes up his hair, and changes into his gym clothes. After the disaster dinner with his father, Kagami needs to work off some steam. What better way than to sweat it out?
Notes:
Chapter 4
Notes:
Chapter TextKagami takes a deep breath, tenses the muscles in his arms, and lifts the heavy bar, weighed down with massive weights on each side, up as far as his arms reach and holds for ten seconds. Slowly, he lowers the bar back to his chest, rests for a few moments, and then repeats. He does this for a while, occasionally adding more weights to both sides. Because he keeps himself in great shape it takes a while for his arm muscles to begin burning in protest, but he stops when they do. He stays sitting on the bench, stretching his arms and looks around the gym, thinking about what he should do next. He's already been there an hour and part of him wants to head back to his room for a quick shower and then sleep. However, he doubts he'd be able to sleep. There's still plenty of anger that he needs to work off first. Standing up, he rolls his shoulders, still contemplating what to do next. Running's out, he did that when he first got here. Spotting the yoga mat he brought with him, he finally settles for some core exercises.
As he picks his mat up, he belatedly realizes that he is alone on the gym. This realization brings back the memory of what happened that last time he was alone, or thought he was alone, in this room. He mentally curses at the reminder and securely locks away all thoughts and temptation of trying that again.
After laying the mat down, he lifts the bottom of his shirt up and wipes his face with it. He pauses a moment and then takes his shirt off completely, deciding that it will only get in his way. He does a few stretches to help prevent from being sore later on. When he's done, he lays down on the mat and starts with some crunches. Kagami, not being a fan of doing his exercises in sets, just goes until he can feel his abdominal muscles protesting. When that happens, he sits up and reaches for his water bottle. He takes a long drink and then sprays some on his face to help cool him down. Done with the water for the moment, he tosses it to the side and flops back on the mat to rest. A few minutes go by before he starts doing more crunches. He sits up when he feels his muscles start burning again. He sits up and makes eye contact with Aomine, who is sitting with his legs crossed only a foot or two away.
"Shit," Kagami curses as he scrambles backwards, quickly throwing his hands behind him to stop him from smashing his head on the ground.
Aomine laughs, uncurling his legs and crawling towards Kagami. "You alright there, Tiger," he asks once he's leaning over Kagami, their faces only inches apart.
"No, I'm not fine, you dick," he growls at the Aomine. Using one hand, he pushes on the blue-haired mans' chest, hoping to put some space between the two of them. "You scared the hell out of me!"
"My bad, Tiger," Aomine says with a smirk, clearly not sorry at all.
"Why didn't you say anything when you got here, or make some kind of noise to let me know you were here," Kagami questions, having gotten over the shock. He pushes himself up and crosses his legs, mimicking Aomine's earlier position.
"I thought it about," Aomine starts, sitting back down in his earlier place, "but I thought that if I didn't, I might get lucky and you would start singing again."
"Not really in the mood to sing right now, sorry," is Kagami's quick response.
Aomine looks hard at Kagami, so much so that Kagami becomes uncomfortable and begins fiddling with his headband. He's about to tell Aomine to quit looking at him, but Aomine finally speaks up before he can. "Yeah, I can tell," he says seriously. "Everything alright?" Kagami blinks at the sincerity in the other man's voice and debates on what to say.
Finally, he settles with, "Not really, at the moment. But I'll be fine later. Thanks."
Giving a nod in return, Aomine starts staring again. He opens his mouth and then closes again, not sure if he should say what he wants to. When Kagami raises an eyebrow at him, he decides to go for it anyways. "Would your bad mood have anything to do with the dinner with your father?"
Kagami, not surprised that Aomine picked up on his reluctance to go to the dinner, nods and says, "I only lasted 23 minutes before I couldn't stand it and had to leave."
Aomine looks torn between feeling bad for him and wanting to laugh. Kagami can't blame him, he kind of feels the same.
"That means you didn't get a chance to eat, then," Aomine asks with his head tilted. He smiles brightly at Kagami's nod. "Then would you like to go with me to get some food? I was too caught up watching the game earlier that I forgot to eat." He scratches the back of his head sheepishly. Kagami has to force himself to maintain eye contact, as opposed to admiring the way the muscles in Aomine's tense at the action. When Kagami doesn't answer, Aomine adds, "I can't promise that I'll have any good advice or anything like that, but I don't mind listening if you need to rant to someone. Not that you have to tell me anything, of course." He gets more and more flustered as he talks, but he manages to make it through.
Kagami, having realized that he was smiling (When did that happen?), nods and says, "Yeah, that sounds good. I'm starving. Though I won't subjugate you to my rant."
Aomine's face brightens as he says, "Great! There's this burger place not too far from here, just a few minutes by foot." He stands and offers his hand to Kagami, which is taken appreciatively. "And I meant what I said. If you want to rant, I'll listen." Kagami gives him a small smile before bending over to pick up his mat and rolling it up. He retrieves his water bottle before turning back to Aomine.
"I need to drop these off at my room first and get my wallet."
"That's fine. I need to get mine, too."
The trip back to their rooms in made in silence, but not an uncomfortable one. As he opens the door to his room, he briefly thinks if going out with a man he barely knows is a good idea. It's a fleeting thought, however. Tatsuya use to do this all the time. And it's not like I can't leave whenever. Speaking of Tatsuya, Kagami decides to send a quick message to the man, telling him where he's going.
Remember that gut I told you about at lunch. I'm going to dinner with him, right now.
When he's done he quickly throws his mat and water bottle in an empty chair and picks up his wallet before heading back out. He sees Aomine leaning against the opposite wall. The man straightens when Kagami comes out and gives him a slight nod.
"You know," Aomine starts as the make towards the elevator, "Satsuki was really upset when I told her where I was going."
"How come," Kagami asks, confused.
"She seems to have taken a liking to you. She was upset I told her she couldn't go with us."
"Why'd you tell her that?"
"I don't know. Figured you wouldn't want two people you hardly know listening to you rant."
Touched, Kagami gives a quiet, "Thanks," before they lapse into silence again. Like before, it's not an uncomfortable silence. Kagami follows Aomine to the cafe, trusting that he won't get the both of them lost. He's staring at the back of Aomine's shoulders, which Kagami deems to be very nice shoulders, when his phone vibrates.
Nicely done, bro! But remember, don't do anything naughty on the first date, Taiga. Nothing I wouldn't do, anyways.
Scowling, Kagami types out, What wouldn't you do on the first date? He hits send right as he and Aomine make it to the café.
As they're waiting to be seated, he gets a response.
Touché.
Chuckling a bit, he pockets his phone and follows Aomine and the waitress to their table. They give the waitress their drink order and waits for her to bring them. By the time she comes back they're both ready to order.
"I'll take ten cheeseburgers are three orders of fries," Kagami, being immune to the strange stares his order receives, says in a monotone, but polite face. He looks across the table at Aomine and suddenly feels a little self-conscious about his order. Aomine's mouth is agape and his eyes are wide. Kagami quickly averts his eyes, embarrassed. However, his embarrassment is short lived.
"I'll have the same," Aomine states, still staring at Kagami, but with his mouth closed now. The waitress, bewildered, can do little more than nod before leaving to go put their orders in. Kagami and Aomine are the only two in the little café, so the cook starts their order right away, no doubt shocked by the orders.
"I've never met anyone who can eat as much as me," Aomine says in wonder. "Well, I do, but he mostly eats sweets, so I don't think it really counts," he quickly amends after a moment's thought.
Laughing Kagami agrees, "I haven't either. My best-friend hardly eats at all. He's always making fun of my appetite."
"Satsuki used to make fun of me, but I think she got bored of it after a while. Now she just rolls her eyes."
"The two of you seem to be great friends," Kagami comments, thinking of his friendship with both Kuroko and Tatsuya.
"We are. We've been neighbors our whole lives and our families are close, so we grew up together." He has a small smile on his face as he talks about his friendship with the pink-haired women.
"That sounds a lot like me and my brother."
"You and your brothers' families are close? I would certainly hope so," Aomine says with no small amount of confusion.
Laughing at the misunderstanding, Kagami clarifies, "He's not my real brother, we're just really great friends. I met him in America when I was young and we've been friends ever since. He's actually the one that got me into basketball." Aomine nods in understanding and looks excited when basketball is brought up. Kagami's sure he's going to ask more about the sport, but instead the man reaches across the table and snaps the headband Kagami forgot to take off.
"Don't try distracting me with basketball," he laughs. Sitting back, he takes a sip of his drink before demanding, "Now, rant to me, Tiger."
Kagami sighs, not really knowing where to start. He decides to start off broad and let Aomine asks for specifics. "Basically, my father disapproves with everything that I am."
Aomine doesn't looked all that shocked, that he somehow expected that was the case. "Is there anything specifically he disapproves of?"
"My choice of career and my sexuality," Kagami answers bluntly. It's obvious that Aomine was serious about not minding if he talks to him about it, so Kagami doesn't feel the need to be hesitant anymore.
"Woah. Okay, yeah. I can see how that basically disapproves of everything you are. How about we start with the easier topic? You're a Chef, right," he pauses to get confirmation. When he gets it, he continues, "Right, why does he not like that you're a Chef. Seems like a good job to me."
"It's a great job and I love it. But it doesn't fit into his plan," he pauses to gather his thoughts. Aomine allows him to think, not rushing him. "His plan was for me to go to University and study business, which I did. But I hated, so when he offered me a position at one of his companies, I said no. Immediately after I enrolled in Culinary school. And fell in love. I can't imagine doing anything else now."
"Hmph. He doesn't approve because it didn't fit his plan for your life? That's stupid. No offense, or anything, but it's stupid. And immature."
"No offense taken. I'm in complete agreement," Kagami says with a laugh. It's surprisingly easy to talk to someone he just met a few days ago. And it helps, getting an opinion from someone who doesn't personally know his father.
"And he has a problem with your sexuality? How is that even any of his business," Aomine asks, slightly angry.
Kagami sighs. "It's not. But he's under the impression that it could ruin my chance of becoming someone in the business industry. Even if I wanted to be in business, I doubt my sexuality would matter. I think he's just afraid that some of his associates will look down on him or something."
"Why does he think that? Do you think they would?"
"Probably. Not all, but a lot of them believe in the 'traditional' relationships. You know, getting married to a woman and having a few kids, who would one day take over the business."
"That's absurd."
Nodding, Kagami says, "It is. It's not that he thinks that way, really. Or doesn't approve, I don't care about that. I just want to spend time with my dad again. We were so close when I was younger, before I went off to college." With a dry laugh he says, "He seems to think that I'm still in my 'college experimentation' faze and that he didn't know what had gotten into me, but that I should 'just give it up already'."
"He actually said that? To your face?"
"Oh yeah. He did. I bet he loved my response to that, too. But I left without checking. Shame really."
"What did you say, man? You can't just say something like that and then not tell me," Aomine whines, taking a drink.
"I told him that he and both knew exactly what had gotten into me and that I liked it too much to stop," Kagami responds. He watches in amusement as Aomine chokes on his drink and ends up spraying all over his said of the table.
"You did not say that," Aomine accuses, still sounding a little choked up.
"I did," Kagami defends. "I'm actually quite proud I was able to come up with that so quickly." Aomine is staring again, this time with amusement and intrigue.
"I bet he's thrilled to know some of the juicy details of your sex life."
"Oh, I'm sure he is." They share a laugh together.
"Damn, I really wish you has seen his face after that." They laugh again as their food is brought out. They thank the waitress and dig in. Neither had really realized just how hungry they were.
They both eat fairly quickly, so they're both a little over half way done when Kagami asks, "So, you're a basketball coach. That sounds amazing. How do you like it?"
Aomine brightens significantly at the question, "I love it. I didn't think it was possible for me to love anything as much as I loved playing basketball, but coaching is a close second, if not tied for first. And the kids are great. They all love the sport and put their all into it. I don't doubt that they could all go far, if they wanted." Seeing Aomine get so passionate about teaching a sport that he loves is doing funny things to Kagami's heart. They finish their food and pay, before leaving.
"Hey, you want to stop by the court for a while on our way back," Aomine asks, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
Kagami, who couldn't think of anything better, nods. It's not a far walk and as they arrive Kagami looks at Aomine and says, "Thanks. For listening to me. That was really nice of you."
Aomine shrugs and says, "It's no big deal. Sometimes all a person needs is for someone to listen." He looks a little distant as he says this. Kagami wants to ask, but doesn't want to touch a sensitive subject. He has his own sore subjects. Unconsciously, he reaches down and lays his hand on his leg, right above left knee. He shakes his head and removes his hand as he and Aomine take a seat a few feet away from the concrete of the court.
They sit in silence for a while before Kagami speaks up. "How did you get into basketball?"
Aomine, who had been looking at the court, directs his gaze to Kagami and says, "When I was eleven, Satsuki and I were walking around a local park. I saw a few older guys playing and was intrigued. I asked them to teach me the basics and they agreed. I picked up on it quick and fell in love with it quicker. After that, Satsuki and I would go to a nearby court almost every day." Kagami smiles at his story. "What about you, Tiger?"
He ignores the nickname, being used to it by now, and responds with his own story. "I was about eleven, too and in America. I was having problems making friends and connecting with anyone. Then I met Tatsuya, the guy I called my brother earlier. He asked me to play a game with him, his team was short a player. After that, he kept asking me to play with him. Like you, I fell in love with the game quickly. Tatsuya and I could always be found at the court. One day we met who would become our mentor. After finally convincing her to tutor us, both he and I became really strong. We played on the same team in high school. We both came back to Japan for University, but we didn't go to the same one. He didn't play at all in University, but I played my first year." Kagami hopes he doesn't ask why he stopped playing, he's not sure he wants to talk about it at the moment. Thankfully, Aomine seems to pick up on this and doesn't say anything, for which Kagami is eternally grateful.
Aomine's phone goes off and he groans when he sees who it's from.
"Everything alright," Kagami asks.
"Yeah. It's just Satsuki wondering where I am. I guess I didn't realize how late it has gotten."
Kagami checks his phone for the time and sure enough, it had gotten fairly late. "Do you want to head back now?" He looks up from his phone to see Aomine on his phone, smirking.
"Not just yet. There's one thing I want to do first." Kagami doesn't have time to ask him anything before Aomine's phone begins playing a very familiar song. Kagami groans and Aomine laughs evilly. Kagami, deciding not let Aomine think he's won, begins doing the unthinkable. He starts singing along.
"It's the eye of the tiger
It's the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he's watching us all with the eye of the tiger"
Aomine drops his phone in shock and Kagami laughs.
"What? Surprised," Kagami teases, clearly pleased with himself. Aomine had turned the song off, displeased that his trick hadn't gone the way he intended. Kagami laughed again and started messing with his phone. Aomine started getting up, but froze when Kagami's phone started playing a song. He knew the song word for word, but he would never admit such a thing. Playing on Kagami's phone was a Taylor Swift song. Kagami saw the look of horror on Aomine's face and began laughing mechanically, enjoying having the tables turned for once.
"I don't care what Satsuki says, I don't listen to that," Aomine growls. Kagami, not believing him for a second, stands up and offers his hand to Aomine. Glaring, Aomine takes the offered hand, but looks upset about it. Still laughing, turns the music off and they start heading back to the hotel. It's quiet. Until Kagami starts humming the song that was just playing on his phone. Aomine groans and shoves him, which just causes Kagami to laugh harder and hum more enthusiastically.
He continues to hum until they're standing outside their room doors. Then more laughter replaces the humming. One second he's laughing and the next he's being pressed against the wall by Aomine.
"You think it's funny, do you?" Kagami fears for a moment that he took his little joke too far, but relaxes when he sees the smirk on Aomine's face and the amusement in his eyes.
"Mmmm, I do," Kagami responds, a little breathless. Having Aomine this close to him does wicked things to his mind.
Aomine leans closer and says, "Don't start thinking you've won anything. This isn't over yet, Tiger," he's whispering, but he's so close that it doesn't matter. Kagami can hear him perfectly. "You'll be here through the weekend, yes?" Kagami nods, curious as to where Aomine's going with this. He doesn't care, really. As long as Aomine stays this close. Or closer. Yeah, closer would be better. Almost like he can see Kagami's thoughts, Aomine pushes impossibly closer, until their noses are touching. Looking straight into his eyes he challenges Kagami, "You and me, one-on-one." Kagami's not sure if he's talking about basketball, or something else. He finds himself hoping for the something else. Again, Aomine seems to read his thoughts, for he lets out a low chuckle and says, "We can get to that afterwards, Tiger. But first, I want to see how well you move on the court."
Kagami, having to take a few breaths, finally responds with, "You're on." He's proud that his voice doesn't waver.
Aomine's smirk widens and he says, "Good. Then should we shake on it, or…" he trails off, but Kagami's smart enough to know what was supposed to be said. In answer, he tilts his head up, letting Aomine know his decision, but making him do it. Aomine has no problem with that and starts leaning in. Right as their lips are about to touch, they hear a door open, followed by a loud, "Dai-chan!"
Aomine jumps back quickly before turning around, facing his friend, who interrupted them.
"Satsuki," he whines, like she did it on purpose. The smile on her face convinces Kagami that she very well might have.
"Don't give me that tone. It's late, I have a long day planned tomorrow, so you need to get to sleep. And you shouldn't be keeping Kagamin from sleep, either." With that, she pulls the blue-haired man into the room and gives a cheery, "Night, Kagamin!"
Kagami watches the door close. Once it is he brings his hands up and cups his face, breathing deeply. If Momoi hadn't come out when she did, the night might have ended with Kagami doing some very Tatsuya like things. Pushing himself off the wall, he unlocks his door and heads inside. He slips his shoes off and throws himself on the bed. Immediately he gets his phone out and sends a quick message to Tatsuya.
Oh man.
Tell me everything, is the immediate response. Before he can start though, he gets another message.
And please tell me you did something to make me proud, Taiga.
Kagami chooses to ignore the second message and begins typing out an essay to send Tatsuya.
Notes:
Chapter 5
Notes: Well, I got it done before Sunday was over, which was the plan! I'm not completely happy with it though, I couldn't seem to get it to go the direction I wanted, but that's okay. I think it's fine the way it is. (At least I hope it is) And I know, I didn't have them play basketball together, but I figured I should leave some stuff for the next fic! Also, sorry if this seems a bit rushed. This chapter was hard for me. It was supposed to be a quick epilogue of sorts. It's main purpose was to set things up for the next fic. So while trying to keep it short, I feel like I rushed it. Thanks for reading! I hope that you enjoy and are looking forward to the next fic. (I'm going to completely finish writing it before I start posting, so I don't know for sure when it'll be ready. But hopefully soon!)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextLooking at the shelf of baking goods in front of him, Kagami thinks back to the messages from Tatsuya. He and Tatsuya were finally able to work out a night for Tatsuya to bring his boyfriend over to Kagami's place for dinner. Kagami had been told by Tatsuya that his boyfriend loves sweets. Wanting to impress, Kagami decided to make a lemon cake with lemon filling, his specialty. While searching for the proper ingredients, his phone goes off. He checks it, but when he sees that it's a message from Kuroko, he puts his phone back in his pocket without answering. He feels a little guilty, but he doesn't really want to talk to Kuroko. He knows what his best friend wants to talk about and he doesn't want to talk about it.
The morning after he and Aomine went out to dinner, and Aomine challenged him to a one-on-one, he left his room to go get breakfast and saw the cleaning crew right outside the room where Aomine was staying. He didn't think anything of it at the time, but when he returned he saw a family of four entering the room. He realized then that Aomine and Momoi must have checked out. Meaning he wouldn't be seeing them anymore. Of course, he had told both Tatsuya and Kuroko everything that had happened between him and Aomine. So, when he came back from his vacation with no new stories and slightly disappointed, they both figured something had happened. Kagami, however, didn't tell them what. It didn't matter to him, it was over. Yeah, he was a little disappointed, (okay, really disappointed) but there was nothing he could do about it. Kagami would have loved to play against Aomine, and get to know him better, but he assumes it just wasn't meant to be.
Sighing, Kagami grabs the items that he needs and heads to check out. When he turns around, he runs right into someone, nearly spilling his baskets. When he looks up, his eyes widen and his breath leaves him momentarily. There in front of him is Aomine. Aomine looks just as surprised to see Kagami, as Kagami is to see him. However, he recovers first.
"Tiger," Aomine exclaims, a huge smile on his face.
"Aomine," he responds with a nod, still in shock. He honestly never thought he'd see the blue-haired man.
"Oh man, am I happy to see you!" Aomine frowns a bit and then says, "I want to explain why I left so suddenly. You know, before we could play together."
"You don't have to explain anything," Kagami argues as he starts to walk towards the front of the store.
Aomine follows him and says, "But I want to." Aomine waits until they've both checked out and are outside before he starts explaining. "Satsuki and I were supposed to stay longer, and I was so excited to play ono-on-one with you. But shortly after Satsuki dragged me into the room, I got a call saying that one of the guys on my team got in an accident and was in the hospital." At Kagami's horrified expression, he rushes to say, "He's alright now. But when I was told one of my boys was in the hospital, I couldn't stay in Kyoto, I has to come back and be here for him."
Kagami smiles at that. He finds it endearing, that Aomine cared for his players so much. "You're a good coach, you seem to really care for your players," he says with a smile.
Returning his smile, Aomine says, "I do." He stares at Kagami a moment before saying, "I just wanted you to know that I wasn't playing around, that I was serious when I said I wanted to play you. I was serious about everything." His voice drops a little at that last sentence.
Catching on easily, Kagami smirks and teasingly says, "Were you now?"
"Definitely," Aomine responds immediately. Neither of them say a thing for a moment. Finally, Aomine breaks the silence and asks, "So, I take it you live here in Tokyo?" Kagami can hear the hope in Aomine's voice and nods slightly. Smiling broadly Aomine says, "Great, so do I."
Blushing Kagami asks, "So, uh, do you want to..exchange numbers, maybe? That way we can plan a place and date to meet-up?" As soon as he finishes, Kagami can't believe himself. He just asked a man he barely knows if he could have his number. However, at the memory of being presses against a wall, lips almost touching, by the same man, Kagami doesn't feel as strange about it anymore. I was prepared to do a lot more than exchange numbers with him that night.
Even if Kagami hadn't calmed himself down, Aomine's answer would have. "Absolutely," he remarks, eagerly retrieving his phone from his pocket.
After they've exchanged numbers, Kagami remembers that he has dinner to prepare. "I've got plans tonight, so I've got to get going, but we need to schedule that game soon. I've been waiting."
Aomine responds with, "Don't worry, Tiger, we will. I've been waiting, too."
With that, they say their goodbyes and go their separate ways, both equally excited for all the things to come.
Back at his place, Kagami had just finished the cake and placed it in the fridge. He was putting the finishing touches on dinner, Teriyaki burgers, when there was a knock at his door. He opened the door with a smile, but his mouth dropped open when he saw the man standing next to his friend.
"Oh please tell me he plays basketball," Kagami says, looking at his friends boyfriend, Murasakibara. Tatsuya laughs and nods as he and his boyfriend are let in.
The three of them spend the next few hours eating and talking. Tatsuya comments on how Kagami looks a lot happier than he has the past week. Kagami tells him that the man he met in Kyoto had left before they could play, but that he had met him again earlier that day. He explains that this time, they exchanged numbers. Tatsuya makes fun of him for a while, while Murasakibara watches on lazily. They, of course, talk about basketball for a majority of the time. Murasakibara tries to feign indifference to the conversation, but even he can't help but give his opinion on a certain team or player every now and then.
Hours later, as Kagami is walking his company to the door, Murasakibara says, "I think Mine-chin would like Kaga-chin. He plays basketball and his cooking is delicious." He offers up no explanation as both Kagami and Tatsuya give him confused looks.
"I think that's one of his friends," Tatsuya guesses.
Not have anything else to do, Kagami nods. As he opens the door for them he says, "I had a nice time. The two of you should come back sometime."
Murasakibara seems to perk up slightly at the invitation. "We'll be back," he says confidently. "Kaga-chin makes the best lemon cake."
Kagami laughs and blushes a bit. Coming from someone who almost exclusively eats sweets, Kagami knows that those simple words mean a lot. He thanks them both for coming one last time before closing the door. He can't help but smile to himself. HE had finally met the person that makes Tatsuya happy, and he seems like a great guy. Not only that, but he somehow managed to run into Aomine and even got his number.
As if on cue, his phone, which is sitting on the bar, goes off. He makes his way over to it and his smile widens when he sees it's from Aomine.
One-on-one, next Saturday? Is all it said.
Smirking, Kagami instantly responded, Name the time and place, I'll be there. After hitting send Kagami immediately thought, Is it next Saturday yet? What he didn't know, was that miles away, in his own apartment, Aomine was thinking the exact same thing.
A Panther and his Tiger Hitsugayaduckling19 Summary: Notes:(See the end of the work for notes.)
Chapter 1 Chapter Text
It takes all of Aomine's self-control to stop himself from skipping all the way back to his apartment. He can't quite keep the huge grin off his face, however. He can't believe his luck, running into Kagami tonight. When he had to abruptly leave Kyoto, before playing basketball with Kagami, he was beyond disappointed. He didn't nk focus on the disappointment for long, though. Instead, his mind was filled with worry for his player, and hoping that it wasn't anything serious. Even after he was told that his player would be alright, he was restless until he was able to finally see him. The first thing he did was smack the boy over the head.
"What the hell were you thinking, dumbass? You can have died," Aomine yells, giving his player a slap to the back of the head.
"Ouch! Coach, that hurt! You shouldn't hit me, I'm injured," the boy yells, holding up his bandaged arm as proof.
"Your own fault, kid," Aomine snorts. "Who tries to play leap frog on a flight of stairs anyways? Idiots, that's who."
"That's harsh, coach. I wasn't the only one, you know."
"Oh, I know. Trust me, when practice starts back up, I'll make sure the other guys know regret their decision." Aomine stays in the room until the boy falls asleep. Before leaving, he leans over the bed and ruffles the kids head and whispering, "No more stupid games, kid. I'm not cut out for this worrying shit.
Aomine saw red when the doctor told him what had happened. The boy was lucky he was in a cast, or Aomine might have hit him harder. So yeah, Aomine didn't really have the time, at first, to wallow in his disappointment. But as soon as everything calmed down, his player was released from the hospital, and Aomine was back in his apartment, the disappointment came back. And that disappointment had been lurking in the back of his mind ever since. That's why running into Kagami, and getting his number, lifted his spirits so much.
Aomine's not completely stupid, he was aware that he had been coming on to the red-head pretty strong. But he's a man that knows what he wants, and he wanted Kagami. Now, if the man had shown signs of being uncomfortable, or of being violated in any way, Aomine would have gladly backed off. But Kagami had laughed along with him and even flirted back once or twice, which pleased Aomine greatly.
His grin broadens, if that's even possible at this point, when he remembers that Kagami is the one who asked to exchange numbers, not him. That just proves to Aomine that Kagami was at least somewhat into him, as well. Aomine had taken a chance when they had first met. He had no way of knowing whether or not Kagami was into men, but when he saw the man, he decided that it was worth the risk. He's glad he did.
Man, Satsuki is going to thrilled when I tell her. Satsuki had taken an immediate like to 'Kagamin', as she called him. The thought of telling his best-friend has him quickening his steps a bit, ready to get home so he can call and tell her.
He takes the stairs two at a time while he digs around in his pockets, looking for his keys. He manages to find them and pull them out right as he arrives in front of his door. The moment the door is open Aomine starts toeing off his shoes and begins dialing Momoi's number. A loud squeal coming from his living room has him dropping his phone and almost tripping over his shoes. His head snaps up and he's greeted by the sight of his best-friend on his couch, surrounded by empty drinks and food wrappers. Aomine places a hand over his heart and glares at the back of his friend's head.
"Oi, Satsuki! What the hell," he yells, trying to pretend that he didn't almost have a heart attack.
"Sorry, Dai-chan. But Natsu just said his signature line, so I know things are fixing to get good," she responds calmly, eyes never leaving the screen.
Aomine just stares at her with a blank look on his face, not understanding anything she just said. One look at the T.V has him rolling his eyes. Is this anime the only thing she ever watches? "You know what, I'm not even going to ask. It doesn't matter. Why are you even here? And why are you eating all my food?"
She turns to look at him now that the episode she was on is over and explains, "There was some kind of electrical issue at my place and the power was out. I was really in the mood to watch Fairy Tail so I came over here!" Aomine opens his mouth to scold her about coming over uninvited, even though it's a pretty common occurrence, but is stopped when she snaps back around towards the screen and says, "Now shhhh, the next episode is starting."
He just glares at the back of her head, not even slightly surprised that she would tell him to be quiet in his own house. That's a pretty common occurrence, too. "So, you'll never guess who I ran into at the store," he says, trying to act casual about it.
"Don't care," comes her immediate response.
Aomine closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. No matter how many years he's spent are her, he always forgets how she is when she's watching anime. A smirk forms on his face as an idea pops into his head. Opening his eyes, he starts walking down the hall leading to his bedroom. "I guess that means you don't care about how I got Kagami's number, then," he says, trying not to laugh. He's expecting Momoi to yell at him and demand that he tell her everything. What he's not expecting is to hear a crash and a few mumbled curses. The next thing he knows, Momoi is running into him from behind, wrapping her arms around his chest, and pulling him back down the hall. Then she roughly shoves him down onto the couch before jumping on the spot next to him.
"Tell me everything," she demands.
"I thought you didn't care? I thought you wanted to watch your show?" Aomine smirks as she gives him a particularly nasty glare.
"Dai-chan," she says simply. A warning, Aomine knows.
With a sigh Aomine gives in. "There's not much to say, really. I ran into him at the store, told him why we had to leave Kyoto so suddenly, we talked about playing ono-on-one, and then he suggested we exchange numbers." Momoi was smiling by the time he was done talking. "Looked nervous when he asked to, like I would say no to that," he adds on with a snort.
"I don't care about the boring stuff, Dai-chan. What I want to know is when the two of you will have your one-on-one." The little wink she gave him lets Aomine know that her thoughts are nowhere near PG.
"Satsuki," he growls out, feeling his face heat up. "We barely know each."
Her mouth drops in disbelief at that. "Dai-chan," she shrieks. "You had him pinned to the wall, ready to strip his clothes our last night in the hotel! In fact, I'm fairly certain you would have done just that if I hadn't come out when I did."
She watches in amusement as Aomine's blush darkens. "I would not have," he argues. "I've more self-control that that! I just wanted to tease the guy a bit." He tilts his head and adds, as an afterthought, "He is pretty cute when he blushes, though. Makes me want to lose control."
"Aw," Momoi coos, leaning forward to pinch his cheek, "You're pretty cute when you blush, too, Dai-chan!" Aomine swats her hand away and scoots further away from her. She lets him go and continues, "It's such a shame that you don't blush more often." Before he has the chance to tell her off, she's jumping off the couch and exclaiming, "Oh, I know! I can take a picture. That way, I'll be able to see your cute, blushing face whenever I want! I'll even send it to Kise, he'll be so happy!"
"No!" Aomine yells in absolute horror, quickly grabbing her wrist to stop her from retrieving her phone. "If you do that, I won't tell you about anything that happens between me and Kagami," he threatens, mind scrambling for a way to keep her from taking a picture. Or worse, sending said picture to Kise. He shudders at the thought.
However, the threat of not getting any details on his potential love life has her pausing. She purses her lips and thinks about it for a long moment. Eventually, she relents, shoulders sagging. "Fine," she huffs out, yanking her wrist free and plopping back down on the couch.
Aomine breathes a sigh of relief and relaxes back into the cushions. Momoi, a little upset at not getting her desired picture, goes back to watching her anime, ignoring Aomine. Aomine is grateful for this, wanting to relax a bit. Closing his eyes, he thinks back to when he first met Kagami.
Aomine was too restless to sleep. He had stayed in the room with Momoi, who had been feeling sick, all day. He was usually in the gym every day, practicing right alongside his team. His muscles aren't used to being inactive for this long. He had tried stretching a bit, but it hadn't helped any. Not wanting to stay in bed any longer, afraid his tossing and turning would wake up Momoi, he quickly changes into his gym clothes, grabs a key, and exits the room. He quickly makes his way to the gym, wanting to hurry and get back to bed. Momoi was going to make him go shopping with her tomorrow, so he needed a decent amount of sleep.
Arriving at the gym, he's displeased to see that there is someone else already in there. Usually, he preferred to work out alone. He's mentally debating on whether he should just go in anyways, or take a quick jog around the block, when he hears singing. Furrowing his brows in confusion, he takes a quick look around. There's no one else on the hall with him. In fact, the gym is the only room close to him. He turns his head back to the gym door and takes a few steps closer. Noticing that the singing seems to be louder, he keeps creeping closer until his ear was only a few inches from the door. There was no doubt about it, the singing was coming from the person inside the gym. A small smirk appeared on his face as he listened. He knew that song. Quietly, as to not alert the other of his presence, he pushes open the door.
He didn't know what he was going to do exactly, but whatever it was didn't happen. Now in the room, Aomine could tell that the other person in there was a man. An incredibly attractive man. He's perfect, Aomine thought, taking in the mans' wild, red hair. He had to swallow, throat suddenly dry, as his eyes landed on the mans' broad, muscular shoulders. Aomine definitely appreciated a nice pair of shoulders. Eventually, he moved his gaze further down, taking in the way the mans' tank top clung to his back before moving down even further. It took all of his strength, but he managed to not stare at the mans' butt. He figured that would be a little too creepy.
The man started singing louder, snapping Aomine out of his gawking. Shaking his head, Aomine smirks, trying to come off as though he hadn't just been appreciating the mans' form as if it were a piece of art. His smirk widens when the red-head turns around and promptly freezes when he sees Aomine. Shit, he really is perfect, is the only thing Aomine can think as he takes in the captivating eyes and handsome face of the other.
"Oh man, you done already? That's a real shame, I was really enjoying it," Aomine says, watching as the re-head flushes an even darker red. Aomine waits as the other man tries to decide on how to respond.
"What the hell man? When did you get here?" he yells, ignoring Aomine's previous statement.
Smirk growing, Aomine steps a bit closer and says, "Oh, right about the time you made it to the chorus the first time."
"Why didn't you say anything, you asshole," he's clearly upset at getting caught and Aomine can't blame him. He probably would be too.
"And interrupt you? I would never." Aomine says in mock offense. "Like I said, I was enjoying the show. I mean, who wouldn't? An incredibly attractive man, such as yourself, acting like a complete dork while working out. I'm pretty sure my heart stopped when I first got here." Aomine knew that he was laying it on a little thick, but he wanted to be sure his interest got across to the man.
Now, Aomine got to watch as the blush traveled own the mans' neck. Aomine doesn't move as he notices the red-head takes his time looking him over. However, once the man had a good once over, Aomine decided to stop being silent. "Are you done checking me out, or do you want me to pose for you a little?"
At that, the man snaps his head up and narrows his eyes at Aomine. Ah, so he's got a little fight him, does he? Perfect.
"I don't mind. Posing, that is. As long as it's for you, anyways." Aomine's messing with him now, but he can't help it. It's in his nature. He takes a few steps closer, putting his face only a few centimeters from the red-heads'. Using a finger, he lightly snaps the headband that the man is wearing. "My name is Aomine. Aomine Daiki. Yours?" Aomine watches as him deliberate and has to stop himself from jumping in joy when he sees the other smirk.
"Kagami. Kagami Taiga."
Aomine blinks a few times, taking the new information in. After a moment, he starts laughing. Oh, man. I think I'm in love. He gets himself together quickly and says, "Well, Tiger, you sure caught my eye."
At that, Kagami's face is once again bright red, clashing with his hair in a way that Aomine can't help but find adorable. Kagami looks like he wants to say something, but instead just turns around with a huff and starts aggressively gathering up his things. Aomine watches him leave with a smirk, deciding that coming down to the gym was a great idea. He wasn't really in the mood to work-out anymore, restless for a completely different reason now. One that only a cold shower would help, so that's exactly what he planned to do. Decision made, Aomine left the gym and made his way towards the elevator. The doors open right as he walks up and when the doors open, a familiar, pink-haired woman is running right into him.
"Dai-chan!" the women exclaims! "I was so worried. I woke up and you weren't there! I tried calling you, but your phone was in the room!"
"Sorry, Satsuki. I couldn't sleep so I thought I would work-out for a bit."
"You could have at least left a note or something! Or actually take your phone next time!" She looks him up and down, eyes squinting. "You don't look like you've been working out."
"Yeah, well," he responds, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "Something kind of…. Came up?
At his questioning tone, Momoi's eyes narrow further. "Hmmm," she stares at him suspiciously for a moment, before her expression changes, a wide grin forming on her face. "Well, you can tell me all about it after you buy me food." She loops her arm through one of his and starts guiding him towards the hotel entrance.
"Food? Why are we getting food?"
"You said you couldn't sleep, and since you didn't work out, I figured we'd go get something to eat. And while we eat, you can tell me all about this thing that just came up."
"And just what makes you think I want to tell you about it, huh?"
"Oh, Da-chan, I just know." She sighs softly and leans her head on his shoulder. "I always know with you."
Glancing down, he smiles slightly. Yeah, I guess you do, he thinks. He's actually pretty excited to tell her about the Tiger he just met, but would never admit it, let alone bring the subject up himself. He's quietly letting her lead him to where she wants to eat when a thought it hits him. "Oi! Why the hell am I paying for you?"
"Because you're the reason I had to get out of bed. You owe me, obviously."
"I didn't make you do anything! You got out of bed all on your own!" She doesn't dignify that with a response, just pinches his arm. Rubbing the sore spot Aomine says, "I don't even have my wallet with me, so what are we going to do?" Without answering, Momoi just holds her free hand up and Aomine glares as he sees his plain black wallet clutched in it. Snatching it away, he mumbles, "You totally planned this." Momoi just giggles a bit and burrows her face further into his shoulder.
A little while later, food gone and story told, Aomine walks back to the hotel, Momoi's arm once again looped through his.
"That was so cruel, Dai-chan!" Momoi managed between laughs.
"Was not." Aomine defender, though he was laughing too.
They continued chatting and laughing, but fell silent as they finally made it back to the floor they were staying on, not wanting to wake up the other guests.
Aomine had just opened the door to their room when, out of the corner of his eyes, he sees a flash a red hair. He whips his head around and is rewarded with a sight that will surely haunt his dreams for days. Standing there frozen was the same red-head from earlier. Shirtless. Aomine makes sure to get a good look, filing away the image for later.
"So, we meet again, Tiger," he says, finally dragging his eyes away from the mans' shirtless chest to meet his eyes. He takes a step forward, making a show of looking the red-head up and down. "I've got to say, as much as I loved our last encounter, I'm lovin' this one a whole lot more." He licks his lips, slowly dragging his eyes down the toned chest once more. When he looks up into brick-red eyes once more, he gives a cheeky wink.
Momoi, who obviously put together that this was the same man from Aomine's story, gives Aomine a slap to the chest and exclaims, "Dai-chan!"
Aomine jumps and turns away Kagami, glaring down at Momoi. "Oi! What the hell, Satsuki? That hurt!" To emphasize his point, he brings a hand up and rubs at his abused chest.
"You should introduce me to your friend," she responds simply.
Aomine, not at all happy that she's here, grabs her arm and pulls her closer to himself. "Satsuki, go in the room," he whispers.
She pulls back and puffs out her cheeks, clearly annoyed. She grabs the front of his shirt and pulls him down to her level. "No way, Dai-chan. I want to meet him," she whispers back.
"Satsuki, I'm serious."
"So am I."
Before Aomine can respond, he hears the sound of a door closing. Both he and Momoi look up and see that Kagami had retreated back to the safety of his room.
"Look what you did," Aomine accuses, glaring down at his friend.
"Me?" Momoi exclaims. "It was your fault. I was just trying to be polite!"
"Yeah, right," Aomine scoffs, opening the door to their room.
Behind him, Momoi rolls her eyes, choosing not to continue their pointless argument. Opting instead to changes the subject she says, "I know you said he was hot, but damn. I never imagined he'd be that attractive."
Aomine, throwing himself down on his bed, grunts in response. His lack of response has Momoi giggling as she settles into her own bed. She knew that was Aomine's way of saying 'Told ya so'.
Aomine doesn't have any trouble falling to sleep this time. Not when there's a chance he'll dream of a certain shirtless red-head.
As the memory fades, Aomine opens his eyes and blinks a few times to focus. The first thing that he notices is that the T.V. has been paused. He looks over to check if Momoi is still there, and is surprised to see her staring at him with a huge smile on her face.
"Anyone in particular that you're thinking of?" She asks knowingly.
"Leave me alone," he says, closing his eyes again.
"When are you and Kagamin playing one-on-one?" She asks, completely ignoring him.
Sighing, Aomine says, "Don't know. Haven't discussed it."
Gasping in horror Momoi scolds, "Dai-chan, you should have texted him as soon as you got home."
"Why?"
"You just should have! Text him. Right now!"
"Why?"
"Dai-chan," she warns. "Do it."
"But he had plans for tonight. I don't want to bother him. Can't I just text him later?"
"No, you'll text him now."
"But…."
"Now, Dai-chan. If he's busy, he can just text back later."
Aomine wants to argue, but what Momoi said makes sense. He thinks on it a moment longer before sighing and pulling out his phone, sending out a quick message.
One-on-one, next Saturday?
With that being done, Aomine jumps off the couch and announces, "I'm going to take a quick shower. Don't eat all my food."
"No promises," comes the mumbled response before the T.V. start playing again.
Once he's in his room he throws his phone on the bed and quickly strips, tossing the clothes into the hamper before walking to the connected bathroom. He makes quick work of his shower, wanting to finish so he can eat and hopefully sleep. If he can get Momoi to leave, that is. Turning the water off, he reaches out and grabs the towel from the rack and pats himself dry, wrapping the towel around his waist once he's done. Making his way back to his room, he rummages through his dresses, pulling out a pair of boxers and some sweats. He dresses quickly, using the towel from around his waist to dry his hair. On his way back to the living room, he tosses the towel in the same hamper as his clothes. He's at the door when he hears his phone go off. He considers ignoring it, but remembers the last person that he messaged and decides not to. Picking up his phone, he's definitely glad he chose not to ignore it. His favorite red-head had responded.
Name the time and place, I'll be there.
He reads the message a few times, smile widening each time. He quickly sends out the time and location. It doesn't take long before he's getting a response, agreeing to the meet-up time and location. He throws his phone back down and rushes to the living room.
"Next Saturday," is all he says.
Momoi being who she is, immediately understands. "Dai-chan, that's great! I'm so excited!"
"Why the hell are you excited? You aren't going." He's prepared to do everything in his power to convince her to stay home, not willing to let her interrupt his game, but it turns out that he doesn't have to.
"Of course I'm not! But you're going to tell me all about it Saturday night!"
Laughing, Aomine doesn't even think to argue with her. He's actually grateful. He knows he'd want to tell her everything, but bringing it up on his own would be impossible. It's much better if she thinks she's having to force him to talk. It's more work for her that way. For the moment, Aomine forgets all about food and sleep. Right now, he wants to sit next to Momoi and pretend that he's not listening to all the advice she's spewing at him. As he does this, he can only think one thing- Is it next Saturday yet?
Chapter 2
Notes:
Chapter TextAomine had been distracted all week, anticipating his one-on-one with Kagami. He'd been spacing out during practice, to the amusement of Momoi and the team. They had been laughing and poking fun at him all week. Aomine still can't believe that Momoi had told his players about his little (big) crush on and his upcoming game (date? Is it a date?)….actually, now that he thinks about, he can totally believe it. Hell, he should have seen it coming. That's exactly the type of thing that Momoi would do.
The first day of practice had started off fine. The guys had just teased him a bit, but stopped once practice had started. Then he just had to go and mess everything up. Although, he completely blames Momoi, she had to have planned everything. He doesn't know how or why she did it, but he knows she did.
Practice had been going well, Aomine could see the improvement the players had made so far that year and was pleased. He told the players that they should come up with unique ways of scoring, for the times when the conventional methods just wouldn't work. To help them better understand, he decided to demonstrate with one of his famous formless shots. He was getting ready to release the ball when he heard Momoi say something about 'Kagamin'. Distracted, he released to early and the barley barely grazed the bottom of the net. He watches in shock as the ball roll and come to a stop as it hits the wall. Soft laughter makes him snap his head to the bench where he sees Momoi and his players trying to keep their laughter in. Eventually though, as his cheeks heat up, the all collapse into laughter. Some of the guys even fall to their knees, hand uselessly in front of their mouth. Momoi uses both hands to cover her mouth, but Aomine can see the amusement in her eyes. Aomine clears his throat and scratches the back of his head sheepishly, feeling his cheeks heat up even more.
One of the more outgoing players, Chuuya, finally gets ahold of himself and looks up at Aomine with a smirk. "Wow, Coach," he says, "I bet you'll really impress the guy with skills like that." Everyone starts up laughing again, having a great time teasing their coach.
Despite the blush on his face, Aomine scowls and says, "What was that? You want to run lap the rest of practice? Hmm, well, since you asked o-so nicely….." He takes great pleasure when he sees the smirk on Chuuya's face be replaced by a look of horror.
"Dai-chan," Momoi interrupts, finally able to calm herself down, "You can't make them run the rest of practice! There's still two hours left!"
"I know," he says enthusiastically, laughing loudly when the rest of his players immediately stops laughing and stands up straight.
"Dai-chan," Momoi scolds.
Chuuya, seemingly over the horror of possibly running for the next two hours says, "I wouldn't be too happy if I were you, Coach. I doubt this 'Kagamin' will like you all that much if he finds out that you'd rather punish us than actually coach us."
"Yeah? Well how the hell is he going to find out," Aomine asks, smug.
"We tell him, of course," answers Chuuya.
Meanwhile, Momoi and the rest of the players sigh and sit down. When Aomine and Chuuya start, there's no stopping them. They once spent an entire practice going back and forth. And then continued later that night on the team chat.
"You don't even know him," Aomine exclaims, trying not to get riled up like Chuuya wants. It's just so damn hard not to! Chuuya reminds him a lot of a certain blonde ex-teammate of his. The two may look completely different, but they both give off that- 'I may be pretty, and look dainty, but I can kick your ass- vibe. That, and they both annoy the shit out of Aomine and get on his nerves like it's their job.
"As tragic as that is, you're right," Chuuya says dramatically. "But," he continues, "With what Momoi has told us, I'm sure I'd be able to find him with minimal effort."
Aomine, having no doubt that Chuuya could and would look for Kagami, and knowing that he probably could find him, doesn't know what to say to that. Damn that bastard. Chuuya, knowing that he's won for now, looks incredibly pleased with himself. Aomine lets him be, figuring that'll be the end of it.
Oh, how wrong he was. He should have known better, really, he should have. He can see, by Chuuya's smirk growing, that he's not going to like what his player has to say.
"Aw. Don't look so defeated, Coach. Things could work out for you. Maybe this 'Kagamin' prefers a little punishment every now and then," Chuuya says suggestively. "I personally know a lot of guys who are into that."
The rest of the team and Momoi start cracking up again. Sure, their little arguments take time away from practice, but they're usually hilarious. Aomine had to close his eyes and take deep breaths, reminding himself that he loves his job. No, Daiki, it's not acceptable to strangle your player. Resist. After repeating that to himself a few times, he opens his eyes. That was pretty funny, though. Got to give him that. Aomine smiles a bit, trying not to laugh.
Sighing heavily, Aomine announces, "Alright then, no one is going to be able to focus on practice now, thank you, Chuuya. So, I'll go ahead and call practice today. But be ready for a real ass-kicking tomorrow."
The team cheers and pat Chuuya on the back. Chuuya smiles and gives Aomine a wink before exiting the gym with the rest of the team.
That bastard! He planned this! I should call him back in here and make him run by himself for the next two hours.
"Now, now, Dai-chan. You can't go back on your word," Momoi informs him softly, coming to stand next to him, looping her arm through his.
"Fine," he says dejectedly, shoulders slumping. They leave the gym, making sure to lock everything up on their way out.
They walk in peace for a bit, but Aomine lets out a heavy sigh, causing Momoi to tilt her head up to look at him.
"Everything alright, Dai-chan?" she asks. When Aomine's face twists up like he's in pain, she grows concerned and rushes to reassure him. "You know Chuuya-kun was just messing around, right, Dai-chan? About everything. He's not really going to hunt down Kagamin." She corrects herself after a slight pause. "Well, he might actually, but only to make sure that Kagamin is good enough for you. He really looks up to you."
At this, Aomine's face twists up even more. "I know," he mutters. "That's the problem."
"Uhh, I'm not really following, Dai-chan."
"Going back and forth with him, it.. he…it's just that.." heaving another sigh, Aomine takes the hand of his free arm, the one not held captive by one of Momoi's, and rubs at his face and mumbles, "He reminds me a lot of Kise, you know?" He drops his hand and glares. "It makes me miss the stupid, blonde bastard," he finally gets out, looking like it physically pained him to do so.
Momoi looks up at him, eyes wide with surprise. Slowly, a grin makes its way onto her face. "Dai-chan, we saw him, like, a little over a week ago."
"Yeah, I know. But still," Aomine responds. Momoi swears she sees him pouting a little.
"Ahhh, Dai-chan, that's so cute! I bet Ki-chan will be thrilled to know that you actually enjoy his company, and miss him when he's not around!"
Aomine immediately snaps his head down towards her and hisses, "You can't tell him. He'll never leave me alone if you do."
"But, Dai-chan," she teases, "Isn't that what you want?"
Groaning, Aomine looks forward. "You're never going to let me alone about this, are you?"
"Hmmm," she pretends to think. "Not likely." Aomine can't help but groan again, before going silent. He's trying to act upset, but Momoi still catches the slight upturn of his lips. Oh yeas, she's definitely not letting him forget about this. Ever.
That had just been the first day of practice since Aomine had run into Kagami and scheduled their one-on-one. If he thought it was going to get better, he thought wrong. Momoi and Chuuya, especially Chuuya, had been teasing him the whole week. Even when they weren't at practice, Chuuya would send teasing comments through the team chat. Eventually, the rest of the team, following Chuuya's lead, started teasing him as well. There was no escape.
Now, it was Friday afternoon and, because they had won their scrimmage match the day before, Aomine was giving the team the day off. They were all immensely grateful. Perhaps that's why they seemed to lay off on the teasing a bit. Not that Aomine was complaining. Well, he was complaining a little. Now that he didn't have practice, all he had to so was think about his game with Kagami tomorrow. Which did him little good. All it succeeded in doing was working up his nerves.
Kagami had mentioned that he's been playing basketball for a while, but he never mentioned how good he was. And that alone worries him. Aomine doesn't believe in going easy or playing half-assed. He feels like that's an insult to who he's playing. But Aomine also knows, without trying to stoke his ego, that he's incredibly good at basketball. So good that a lot are intimidated by him. Of course, Aomine's not going to care if Kagami is actually good or not; that's not what he's worried about. He worried about how Kagami is going to react to him. He's been called a 'monster' many times, and not as a compliment. He doesn't want to come off as someone who thinks he's better than everyone else, he did enough of that shit in high school.
Aomine groans loudly from his spot on the couch, angry at himself for overthinking things. Momoi enters through his front door right as groans, and looks up from her phone in concern.
"Everything alright, Dai-chan?"
"Yeah," he sighs dramatically. "Just thinking too much. It hurts my head."
"That's because your brain isn't use to thinking," she says, giggling.
"Screw off," Aomine responds, voice muffled now that he's flipped on his front and has his face buried in the couch cushions.
"That's not very nice, Dai-chan. Especially when I came all the way over just to get you out of the house and help take your mind off things."
Lifting his head, Aomine narrows his eyes at her in suspicion. "What are you talking about?"
Grinning widely, Momoi exclaims, "Shopping!"
"No," Aomine says shortly, burying his face back in the cushions.
"Come on, Dai-chan. It's not like you have anything better to do."
Aomine considers arguing more, but he knows he'll give in eventually and he's not really all that opposed to the idea. It definitely would give me something else to think about. Huffing, Aomine sits up and mumbles out, "fine," before quickly making his way to his room to grab his wallet. When he makes it back to the living room he sees Momoi leaning against the bar smiling brightly. He scoffs as he bends down to put his shoes on, acting like he's upset about being forced to go with her. Neither of them are fooled, they both know it's just for show.
Once he's done putting his shoes on, Momoi pushes off the bar and skips to the door.
"I'll drive," she announces.
"I sure as hell wasn't going to," Aomine remarks as he shuts and locks his front door. Momoi doesn't say anything in response, just smiles and loops her arm through his.
Later that night, after hours of carrying around Momoi's bags, Aomine lays in bed and silently thanks his best-friend for distracting him all day. Because now that he's alone with nothing to do, he might be freaking out. Just a little. He doesn't even know why he's so nervous, he's gone on plenty of dates before. Hell, he wasn't even sure if he could consider this game a date. Great, now I'm worried about that, too. He briefly considers sending Momoi a message, asking for her opinion on the matter, but quickly dismisses the thought. He's told her enough embarrassing things this week, like how he misses Kise.
Kise! I can ask him! Aomine hastily reaches for his phone that's charging on the bed side table. Of course, he can ask Kise. Kise is great with all things dating and relationships and despite what most people might think, Kise doesn't push for more information. Well, he might, but it's always jokingly. If he knows Aomine really doesn't want to give details, he'll respect 's pretty great like that, Aomine thinks as he sends the blonde a quick message.
Is a game of one-on-one considered a date?
Short and to the point, Aomine doesn't have time to mess around. Kise, almost always being on his phone, replies almost immediately.
Well, hello to you, too, Aominechii! =)
Yeah, hi. So is it? Patience has never really been Aomine's strong point. It can be, if necessary, but Aomine hardly ever deems it so.
So mean, Aominechii! =(
Aomine's about to respond, telling Kise to answer the damn question, but Kise beats him to it.
But, to answer your question, I'm not sure. You and I go one-on-one all the time, but I'm a taken man, Aominechii! So those can't be dates! ;) I mean, your attractive and all, but heart belongs to another 3
Kise. At first, that's all he sends, but then he figures if he wants an answer, he should give Kise a bit more to work with.
Is it a date if I…kind of.. like the guy?
Well, well. Does Aominechii have a crush? Tell me, tell me!
No.
Fine. Rude. But back to your question, does this mystery man like you?
Uhh….. yes? Aomine's not entirely sure about that, but going by Kagami's reactions to Aomine when he had him pinned to the hotel wall…Aomine's willing to bet Kagami is at least a little bit interested in him.
Uh, you seem a bit unsure?
Yes. He does.
Good! Then I guess it depends on how you asked him!
What?
Aominechii! Asking someone to play one-on-one casually doesn't really give off 'date' vibes!
Uh-huh.
So?
So?
Did you ask him casually or not, Aominechii? =/
Uh. Not really, no. Aomine thinks back to when he first challenged Kagami to a one-on-one. He had pinned to the wall and was seconds away from kissing him. Deciding to correct himself, he quickly types out another message.
No. There was definitely nothing casual about it.
Ooooo, Aominechii, naughty boy! ;)
KISE!
Haha! Sorry Aominechii! To answer your question, it really depends. Do you want it to be a date? Does he?
I wouldn't be asking if I knew that, moron!
Oh. Well, then I don't think I can help much, Aominechii. Just pay attention to how he acts and go off that!
That is actually the worst advice you've ever given me.
Rude, Aominechii, rude! Here I was, trying to help a friend in need.
Aomine smiled and sent a quick 'goodnight, Kise', before setting his phone back down and closing his eyes. He tried not to think of tomorrow too much, knowing he wouldn't get any sleep if he did that. But he couldn't help but think that he would like for tomorrow to be a date. And that he hopes Kagami wants that, too.