Chapter 1: lesson one: triangles Chapter Text
If Aomine felt like being lectured about keeping his grades up, he would have just showed his mother his report card despite the great lengths he goes to avoid bringing up the subject. But yet, here he stands, being lectured, quite aggressively he might add, by the captain of the basketball team.
"Aomine, what the hell? How can you get these kinds of grades and still expect to be a member of the basketball team? Anysports team, really? Are you dumb? Are you dense? Do you just not care!?" Hyuuga's glasses were practically cracked from the volume of his speech to the uncaring boy.
Aomine shrugged lazily and sighed, "I don't see the big deal! If I'm scoring baskets, then who cares?"
A vein popped in Hyuga's neck, "The school cares, Aomine! School first, extracurriculars second! This is obvious information, I shouldn't have to tell you this! The team manager is close to kicking you off the team if you don't get better grades."
Aomine shifted his gaze and sucked his teeth in irritation, "That's not my order! Geez, stop nagging me, I'll do better. Promise."
Hyuga frowned, "I don't trust your empty promises, Aomine…"
"But I -" Aomine was interrupted by Hyuga continuing to talk.
"But, I made a deal with the manager. I told him that if you went to tutoring at least three times a week for your lowest grade, that you could still continue to be on the team. Not like you come to practices anyways, so you can go there after school instead." He explained.
"Huh!? Tutoring!? This is unfair...I get enough school during the day and now you want me to do extra school? This shit blows…" Aomine complained once more.
At this point, Hyuga probably already popped a blood vessel talking to his underclassman. Losing patience, Hyuga grabbed Aomine's ear and pulled downwards abruptly, causing Aomine's whole upper body to tip forward toward the ground. "Listen here you ungrateful little boy, my ass is on the line as much as yours for not watching over your grades. I did you a favor so you are going to tutoring and you are going to get better grades. It's not a choice scenario, it's a demand and you're going to follow, got it?" He said through gritted teeth, pulling Aomine's ear even tighter than before.
"Okay, okay! I got it, I'll go! Let me go!"
/
The next day, Aomine groaned as the last bell for class dismissal rung in his ears. Aomine quickly threw his books in his bag to run home before anybody could see him, but as soon as he opened the classroom door, Hyuga was standing outside with his arms folded.
"Geez, Aomine, you sure look eager to get to tutoring with the way you're running out of the room." Hyuga said with a straight face.
"Hyuga, what the hell? Are you stalking me to make sure I actually go? What happened to our inter-teammate trust? Our bonds?" Aomine faked a frown in hopes of earning sympathy points.
Alas, to no avail, Hyuga's eyebrows furrowed in irritation. "I was right not to trust you! I'm surprised you were even in class! Anyway, take your ass to the library. You have a 3:15 private one-on-one appointment with the math tutor."
Aomine groaned once more, "Fine, fine. I'll go to this dumb thing three times a week and stare at this nerd's face for a whole hour.." He turned on his heels and headed in the direction of the library. A part of him wanted to turn around and check to see if Hyuga was following him through the hallways, but the other part of him wasn't sure if he wanted to know.
After a few minutes, Aomine finally arrived at the library, quietly opening the doors and peering inside. He saw a few students at the shelves browsing leisurely at the selection of books the school had, but he saw only one student sitting at the nearby tables, so he walked over and sat down immediately in the front of the man.
Pulling his bag off his shoulder, Aomine greeted his could-be tutor, "Yo. You the tutor?" Aomine examined the person in front of him, including his overly-large frame, his uniquely-shaped eyebrows, and his bright, fiery red hair with eyes to match. It wasn't the exact stereotypical image he had in his mind of what a tutor would look like, but he wasn't complaining. In fact, Aomine thought he was considerably attractive and thought he could get used to the close contact tutoring he was signed up for.
The red-haired man immediately stopped writing his assignment and looked up at Aomine, "Yo? Is that how you greet your teachers?"
Aomine frowned, "But you're not a teacher. You're a student, just like me. Therefore, yo."
The rude response made him frown even deeper than Aomine, "Nice to meet you too." He said sarcastically.
"I'm Aomine Daiki. So, let's get to it. Let's learn some math!"
"I know who you are. You're the oh-so great athlete, Aomine Daiki. Everyone around school knows who you are." The frown never left his face.
"So, what's your name? I can't call you tutor forever." Aomine asked.
"Kagami. Kagami Taiga. What do you need help with? I heard you were taking trigonometry from your captain."
"All of it." Aomine answered honestly.
"All of it, really!?" Kagami replied exasperatedly.
Aomine nodded, "Yes, start from square one. I haven't been paying attention."
Kagami sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation, "Alright, so square one. Do you know what a triangle is?"
This prompted a light chuckle from Aomine, "It's the thing with the three sides. I know that much."
"You just called it a "thing" and not a shape though…"
"You get the idea!"
Kagami handed him a piece of paper and a pencil, "Here, draw one."
"Seriously, Kagami? What am I in like kindergarden?" Aomine frowned.
"I'm just following directions, you said square one!" Kagami replied casually.
Aomine quickly drew the shape on the paper and handed it back to Kagami, who quickly began to scribble down a series of formulas and labels on his triangle. With all the equations, symbols, and variables being written down at such lightning speeds, Aomine thought he was writing in hieroglyphics.
Aomine's jaw dropped, "Wow, you really know your stuff, Kagami. That's impressive and surprising."
Kagami glanced up from his paper, "I am your tutor so I should know my stuff, but why is it surprising?"
Aomine blinked, "Well, I don't know. You just don't look like the type to you know...study. You're more of the athletic type type to me."
Kagami frowned, "Well sorry I don't fit your stereotypical image! It's possible to be good at both sports and academics! You don't have to choose one or the other! If you realized this sooner and put as much time into studying as you do in sports, then you wouldn't need my help, idiot."
Aomine gasped, "Are you allowed to call me an idiot!?"
"I can if you say dumb things like that!"
Aomine laughed at how fired up Kagami got at his remarks, "Alright, alright, my bad. Let's get back to the lesson. The sooner we finish, the sooner I can go home."
In the hour that the lesson continued, Aomine felt like he experienced a whole another day of school with how much information Kagami packed into his lessons. Although he complained, Aomine had to admit that he was actually a really great, patient teacher. Although he was strict with his lessons, Aomine could tell there was an underlying passion beneath his words and that he truly wanted Aomine to understand his explanations.
Feeling a pair of eyes staring at him and not at the paper, Kagami glanced up, "Aomine, are you listening to me? Are you confused or something?"
"Nah, I'm just...I'm just getting burned out. Can we continue this another day?" Aomine asked.
"Um, sure. I understand, I could go on for hours about this type of thing. But we can continue this whenever you want." Kagami said, standing up and packing his papers back into his bag.
"Sure, we can do this again tomorrow if you're free. Thanks a lot, though. I really appreciate it. I know you're probably busy with doing your own work, but you found time in your day to help me with mine." Aomine admitted honestly, prompting Kagami turn around and look at him.
Kagami's eyes widened at Aomine's words, "Did I really help you out that much, Aomine?" The navy-haired boy nodded, prompting a smile from Kagami, "Thank you, that makes me so happy to know that."
Aomine fidgeted in his pockets and finally pulled out his phone, handing it to Kagami.
"What's this for?" Kagami blinked.
"Your number! If you're my tutor, I should be able to call you if I have questions, right?" Aomine gave him a bright smile in return, causing a light blush to form on Kagami's cheeks.
"Uh...yeah...sure." Kagami stuttered out from his increasingly blushing face. "For academic purposes only, right?"
Aomine smirked, "Yeah, for academics only."
Chapter 2: lesson two: real life application
Summary: kagami takes aomine to the gym to put math equations into real life applications
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text"Okay everyone, pass your homework forward. We are going to see how well you guys understood the homework by doing some drills this morning." The teacher said, nonchalantly drawing a sample problem on the board.
"Here you go, teacher." A student at the front of the classroom called, extending his arms with the papers in hand. She walked over and took the papers from him, flipping through the names on the papers to see who actually did the assignment, but paused when she reached Aomine's paper.
"Aomine...is this your homework?" The teacher asked the half-dazed boy in the back of the classroom.
"Yeah, it has my name on it right?" Aomine answered half-conscious from his daily nap in math class.
"You haven't done a single assignment all quarter and suddenly you do one and it's complete? I don't believe it, come to the front and finish the problem on the board." The teacher demanded.
Although he was slightly offended, Aomine dragged his dead body from his desk to the front of the classroom, ignoring the whispers from his classmates along the way. When he walked up to the whiteboard, he stared at the problem for a few second before picking up a dry-erase marker from the nearby ledge. Aomine glanced at the teacher's astounded face once more before he wrote a series of equations in a matter of minutes, before boxing his final answer on the board, "X is equal to 15 feet."
The teacher's eyes went wide, staring at the navy-haired boy in amazement, "That's actually...correct! Aomine, why don't you do your homework everyday if you can do this? Where did you learn this?"
Aomine lazily shrugged and didn't answer her slightly condescending question, "Can I sit down now?"
/
"Is that seriously the first homework assignment you've done all year, Aomine?" Kagami looked at his student incredulously.
Aomine sighed and frowned, "Hey, I don't need any more judgement from you, Kagami. She already put me down in the front of the whole class! Besides, don't pick out parts from my story!"
"Yeah, she is kind of a bitch." Kagami chuckled to himself, causing Aomine's mouth to drop.
"Did you really just curse in front of me? And about a teacher?" He asked, amazed.
Kagami raised an eyebrow, "What? Just because I do well in her class that I can't have an opinion on her?"
It was Aomine's turn to laugh, "Two weeks of tutoring and you're already that comfortable around me, eh?"
"Has it really been two weeks already?"
Aomine smirked at Kagami, "What? Tired of me already?"
Kagami laughed lightly, "Nah, not yet. I'll give you a couple more days before I get tired of you."
Aomine couldn't help but smile at the redheaded boy, "You're crushing my heart here, Kagami!"
"What's going to crush your heart is yourself when you have to repeat the grade for not passing this class! Now finish the problem I wrote down…" Kagami said, trying to get back on task.
Aomine whined loudly, "But Kagamiiiiii~ I just don't get it! I'm not good with variables and formulas and shit like that."
"But you've been doing "shit like this" so far! It's the same concept, just with a different formula. It's angles, sines, and cosines."
Aomine frowned, slamming his pencil back onto the table, "You say "cosines" as if it's a real word!"
"It is a real word! Just because you don't know it doesn't mean it doesn't exist."
"That's exactly what it means! I just wish like...you know...you could apply it in real life? You get what I'm saying?" Aomine crossed his arms, leaning back from the table.
Kagami paused for a moment, tapping on the table deep in thought, "Aomine, did you bring your basketball with you?"
Aomine almost scoffs at the question, "Is that a real question? I don't leave home without it!"
"Come with me!" Kagami said suddenly, standing up from the table and tearing off pieces of paper from his notebook. He quickly stuffed the paper into his pockets and headed out the library in a hurry, leaving a confused Aomine following behind him.
After walking down a few hallways, Kagami peered into the windows of the gym, checking to see if anybody was there before stepping inside. Luckily, practice was over for the day, so he stepped in and clicked the lights to the empty gymnasium, illuminating the newly-polished hardwood floors and the basketball hoops that hung from the ceiling.
"What are we doing here?" Aomine asked curiously.
"Here's your real-world application, Aomine. It's basketball! Any ball really..." Kagami gave him a light smile, throwing the basketball in his direction.
As if it was second nature, Aomine caught the ball without looking and began mindlessly dribbling it on the court, "I don't get it."
Kagami took Aomine's wrist and pulled him towards the half-court line, "Stand here." He instructed and Aomine followed. "How far are you away from the hoop at half court?"
"47 feet." Aomine responds with almost no hesitation.
"How tall is the basketball hoop and what is your height?"
Aomine's puzzled look remained on his face, "10 feet and I'm 6'2."
Kagami paused for a moment before continuing, "Okay, so if you are 6'2", that's about 6.17 feet right?" Aomine nodded, making Kagami dig a piece of paper out of his pocket, drawing the situation for visual reference.
"If the hoop is 10 feet tall and you are 6.17 feet tall, the difference between the two is about 6.8 feet. You are standing 47 feet back from the hoop, therefore, you are able to calculation the angle at which to shoot the ball." Kagami explained, drawing diagrams on the paper.
"We are about the same height, so here, watch." Kagami grabbed the ball from Aomine's hands, dribbling it for a moment before positioning his arms into a shooting position. "My arms are at the angle I wrote on the paper, so watch." Kagami pushed the ball forward, shooting it from the half-court line and watched it sink into the opposing basket, causing Aomine's mouth to drop.
"See, every sport has a math or science-related concept behind it. Although I'm sure you're not thinking of theories when you play, maybe it would help when you study if you imagine something you're interested in." Kagami smiled at him, but Aomine didn't know why it made his heart skip a beat.
"I get what you're saying, but I don't need formulas and theories...I have a formless shot." Aomine beamed proudly.
"What the hell is a "formless shot"?" Kagami questioned.
"Watch me." Aomine said, contorting his body in some strange way, but still shooting and making the basket, leaving Kagami's mouth agape.
"Impressive right?" Aomine gave his signature smirk, causing Kagami to roll his eyes.
"Just a little bit." Kagami admitted.
"Only a little? Guess I have to try harder to impress you, then." Aomine stepped towards Kagami.
"If I'm not mistaken, I'd think that you were flirting with me, Aomine Daiki."
"Just a little bit." Aomine gave Kagami a quick wink before turning around and shooting another basket. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Kagami was glad Aomine turned around so he didn't have to see the blush that formed on his cheeks.
/
After about an hour of shooting baskets in the name of mathematics, Kagami and Aomine began packing up their belongings to head home.
"You know, for a math nerd, you shoot pretty well." Aomine said, attempting to compliment the redhead.
Kagami scoffs at him, "Is that your version of a compliment? If so, it needs some work."
Aomine laughs softly, "I'm just joking around. Besides, you've really been helping me a lot. It's crazy to think that nobody could think I could do it...but I really do think my grades have improved and I'm understanding it better."
"Well, that's what I'm here for...but I'm glad I could be of some help." Kagami started, shooting an honest mile in his direction. "Alright Aomine, today was a nice change of pace. I hope you learned a lot, so I'll see you on Wednesday." Kagami said, packing the last of his things and slinging his bag on his shoulder.
"You know…" Aomine trailed off, causing Kagami to look up at him in confusion.
"What?"
"We don't technically have to see each other three times a week, only. It's not like we don't go to the same school, so you could meet up with me anytime." Aomine admitted somewhat shyly, avoiding eye contact with Kagami, but could still feel Kagami's gaze at his words.
"...I know you get paid to see me three times a week, but we're friends, right? Drop by after classes end...eat lunch together...meet up in the mornings before class starts...That's what friends do..." Aomine continued.
"Sure...I guess I can do that." Kagami stuttered out, still somewhat flustered by Aomine's questions.
"You don't have to make it sound like you're forcing yourself." Aomine frowned, "It's okay if you don't want to, I was just suggesting -"
"I want to." Kagami interrupted him, "You just took me by surprise, that's all. You're full of surprises."
"How so?"
Kagami paused, "Well for one, when Hyuuga approached me asking me to tutor the star of the basketball team, I honestly laughed in his face."
Offended, Aomine frowned, "Hey, that's -!"
"-To be honest, I didn't want to do it because I thought you wouldn't take it seriously. I thought you would show up for the first few days, then decide you didn't care anymore. But you've proved me wrong and I want to apologize for judging you based on typical athlete stereotypes." Kagami admitted honestly, looking down at the floor before looking back up when he heard laughter.
"Kagami, for a smart person, you sure are an idiot!" Aomine continued laughing, causing Kagami to become flustered.
"What are you calling me names for!?" Kagami questioned angrily.
"What kind of person apologizes for their own thoughts? I didn't even know you thought that about me!" Aomine continued to laugh.
"It's not funny….and I feel bad for doing it." Kagami furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm truly happy that you're putting effort into learning this and improving your grades."
"I can only do that because I just have the most amaaaaaazing tutor." Aomine teased, causing Kagami's eyebrows to scrunch together even further. "Besides, I hope that one day, you'll be able to look at me and say that you're proud of me and what I've accomplished. That's all I want."
Kagami's eyes widened once more, "Why me specifically?"
"It's simple, Kagami." Aomine stated before heading towards the gymnasium door. He paused in his footsteps, taking a moment to look back at Kagami and smiled.
"It's because I admire you. See you tomorrow, as you promised." Aomine turned on his heels and walked out of the door, leaving a blushing Kagami alone in the room.
"Idiot, it's me who should be admiring you…." Kagami muttered under his breath before shortly following Aomine out the door, already waiting for the next moment to see him tomorrow.
Notes: can you BELIEVE i had to look up these heights and distances...making me look like I actually watch sports lmaooo
im bad at updating this and my other stories so...sorry T^T; the chapter titles don't actually following the number of lessons Aomine has taken...it's just like...lessons instead of chapters? does that make sense? if it doesn't just ignore it lmao
Chapter 3: lesson 3: lets eat lunch together
Summary: Kuroko gets a little invasive with his questioning~
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextWhen Aomine received a message from Kagami early the next morning, he nearly jumped out of his skin with excitement. Although it was just a simple, 'Lunch 12 in the cafeteria? I sit in the back near the vending machines, by the way.', he couldn't help but feel a bit giddy that Kagami actually came through on his promises to him yesterday.
While he was in class, Aomine anxiously tapped his nails against the desk in anticipation for noon to strike the clock. 'Only five more minutes….', he thought in his head. Instead of relaxing, he only continued to plan out potential greetings and conversations he would have when he would see Kagami in the cafeteria. Maybe, he thought, it would just just flow naturally and he would go with that.
When the bell rung for the lunch break, Aomine immediately jumped out his seat and headed towards the cafeteria, eagerly awaiting his lunch date with Kagami. Was it even a date? Oh well, that's what he called it in his head to make himself feel better, while at the same time, boosting his ego.
He quickly barged into the cafeteria, grabbing a random tray from the counter and scouted the vending machines in the back of the cafeteria. Aomine quickly sidestepped around the other chatting students until he found his way to the back table. However, when his eyes landed on another student sitting at the table, his eyebrows instantly furrowed and a scowl formed on his face.
Aomine walked over and slammed his tray down on the table, prompting the other boy to look up from his book with a confused look on his face. "Hey you! Piss off, would ya?" He growled.
The light-haired boy's expression remained blank, "What do you mean?"
"I'm using this table to meet a friend of mine, so you need to scoot on over to a different place, okay?" Aomine frowned.
"But, I was here first. Besides, this is where I meet my friend too." His expression remained stoic, pissing Aomine off even more.
"Well meet your friend over there!" Aomine argued, but to no avail, the boy remained in his seat holding his hand in the book to save his place.
"I think I'll pass."
"Huh!?" Aomine gasped, getting angrier by the minute this boy was disobeying him.
"I said I'm not moving. Besides, here he comes now." He pointed, causing Aomine to turn around and immediately became shocked when he came face-to-face with Kagami.
"Hey Aomine, sorry I'm late, I got held up by a teacher. I see you met my friend Kuroko?" Kagami smiled at the two, setting his bag down on the nearby chair.
Face still unchanged, Kuroko sipped his drink, "Yeah, we just became acquainted."
"Oh really, what were you guys talking about?" Kagami said.
"Oh, Aomine-kun over here was just saying something about ordering me to move. Something like, "Piss off"? Something of that sort?" Kuroko side-eyed Aomine, who also received some angry glances from Kagami.
Almost immediately, Aomine could feel an intense cold sweat take over his body. Was it shame? Was it regret? How could you even tell the difference? "Listen Kuroko, ol' buddy ol' pal, I was just kidding, haha!" Aomine tried to play it off, but the two remained unconvinced.
Aomine frowned, "Alright, alright. No need for the scowls, I'm sorry we began on the wrong foot. Kuroko, was it?"
The light-haired boy nodded silently, eyes following Aomine as he sat down across from Kuroko and Kagami.
"I'm Aomine Daiki, in case you don't know that yet. I think we're all in the same grade here, so we should all get along. I also play basketball for Seirin!" Aomine smiled lightly at the two sitting across from him.
"It's nice to finally formally meet you. Kagami has told me all about you." Kuroko said, prompting a light blush to form on Kagami's cheeks.
"H-hey, don't word it like that. You make it sound weird." Kagami muttered.
A smirk formed on Aomine's lips, "Oh, he did? I hope it was good things at least. I'm probably not as bad as he made me seem," he teased.
"Well, I've never heard anything negative from him about you." Kuroko stated, causing Kagami turn and look at the smaller boy beside him.
"Geez, Kuroko! Can't you keep anything private? Stop saying embarrassing things." Kagami complained, eyeing Kuroko desperately.
"I'm just stating facts, Kagami." Kuroko responded before turning back to face Aomine, "So, Aomine. Do you have a girlfriend?"
Aomine watched as Kagami nearly spit and choked on his drink at Kuroko question, causing him to chuckle a bit at the scene. "Nah, I don't."
This seemed to perk Kuroko's interest, "So, do you like anyone?"
Kagami turned around completely red, "Kuroko, what kind of questions are these? This isn't something you just ask somebody you just met!"
"Yes it is. You know, when you meet somebody, you usually say your name, your occupation, and if you are married or have kids. Since I assume that Aomine-kun is not married or has kids, I asked the next related thing." Kuroko pointed out.
"That's not even the same type of situation!" Kagami complained further, causing Aomine to laugh at the two friends' back-and-forth banter.
"It's alright, Kagami. In fact, I would say that I do like somebody….A crush, at the very least." Aomine stated, causing the two to look back up at him.
"What is she like?" Kuroko asked, causing Kagami to stay quiet and listen to what Aomine was about to say.
"Well...for starters, they're in our grade. They're smart and kind….but most importantly, they're passionate and dedicated to what they do. It's really inspiring, actually. I hope that one day, if they choose to be by my side, that some of their passion and work ethic will rub off on me so that I too can be the same." Aomine smiled down at the table, refusing to make eye contact with the two staring at him from across the table.
"Wow, that was surprisingly eloquent of you, Aomine." Kuroko joked, smiling at Aomine.
"Surprising? What can I say? I'm crushing hard." Aomine said nonchalantly, stirring his drink with his straw with his finger. "Ah, I forgot ketchup. I'll be right back."
After Kagami watched Aomine walk away from the table, just about the right distance so that he couldn't hear their conversation, he turned to Kuroko with his face steaming. "Kuroko…"
"Kagami-kun, you should drink some water. You look like you're about to pass out." Kuroko said, handing him a spare water bottle.
"I feel like I'm about to pass out with your questions!" Kagami complained once more.
"What are you complaining about? Aomine practically confessed to you in front of your face, but yet you're still frowning…" Kuroko's raised an eyebrow.
"What makes you think he was talking about me!?" Kagami gasped.
"When I asked him what "she" was like, he responded with "they", which means it is highly likely it is a male he has a crush on due to his lack of pronoun, but yet, didn't want to confess to a stranger that he likes guys. Knowing how confident and cocky Aomine is with anything and everything in his life, he would have just told us the girl's name if it was so. Plus, he described you perfectly. It's very simple." Kuroko pointed out, causing Kagami's blush to deepen.
"Kuroko, you're assuming a lot!" Kagami leaned forward on the table, covering his face with his palms.
"I'm not assuming, I'm just saying what I see from an outside perspective. You should be happy since you like him too." Kuroko responded plainly. Before Kagami had a chance to denounce Kuroko's previous statement, Kuroko interrupted him once more, "-and don't even think about denying it. Your face is almost as red as your hair."
Kagami sighed deeply, hiding his face further in his hands. "I'm not denying it...it's just...I'm not good at this type of thing. You know...feelings and stuff…"
Kuroko side-eyed him, "Well don't look over here for advice."
"Thanks, Kuroko…" Kagami's words dripped sarcasm, but deep down, Kuroko wanted to believe that he really meant it.
Kuroko and Kagami looked up at the same time when a tall, familiar figure returned to their table and gave them a gleaming smile, "So, did I miss anything you guys?"
"Nothing at all, Aomine-kun."
/
"So, what I think is going on is….to get the angle, I have to divide the opposite length by the hypotenuse?" Aomine questioned, tapping his pencil against the paper.
After a few seconds, Kagami finally responded, "Hm….oh yeah, that's correct."
Aomine looked up from his paper, "Huh, Kagami? You seem a bit out of it today. Something wrong?"
"Me? Out of it? No way. I guess I'm just tired that's all." Kagami said, shutting his eyes.
"You sure? You can tell me anything that's on your mind." Aomine asked, not exactly believing what he was saying.
"It's just...Kuroko said some weird stuff at lunch and it's been on my mind all day."
"Weird stuff like what?" Aomine prodded him further, implying he wanted more details.
"Damn it, Aomine! Let me be vague if I want to!" Kagami frowned at the navy-haired boy next to him.
"Leave vague to magazines and tell me!" Aomine raised his voice despite being in the quiet library.
"It's Vogue and no way!" Kagami corrected him, raising his voice to match Aomine's level.
Aomine paused for a moment before continuing, "Is it about what I said about me having a crush on somebody in school?"
Kagami hesitated to answer, but eventually nodded and looked away from Aomine, '...He seems to think that the person you were describing was….me…."
"...And would that bother you if I said that what Kuroko thought was true?"
Kagami's eyes widened at his words, "Aomine…"
Aomine chuckled lightly, "Maybe I said too much."
"Aomine, I -" Kagami was soon interrupted by the school librarian's head poking around the corner, "Hey, you two. I don't mean to interrupt but the library is closing a little early today, so if you could clean up soon, that'd be great. Thanks!"
"Ah damn, I still had some more questions." Aomine mumbled to himself, throwing his notebooks into his bag and standing up from his chair.
"I'm sure you'll be fine for your test tomorrow, Aomine. You seem to understand it pretty well." Kagami said, also packing his stuff into his bookbag.
"I suppose." Aomine said, glancing over in Kagami's direction, watching his action silently.
Feeling eyes watching his every move, Kagami looked up from what he was doing, "Can I help you?"
"Nah, I was just thinking about something. See you tomorrow, I gotta catch my train." Aomine turned and walked out the door, leaving a slightly flustered Kagami behind to clean up what was left of their session.
"Damn it….what was I just about to say to him…" Kagami scolded himself out loud before following behind Aomine shortly afterwards.
/
Later that night, Aomine slammed his textbooks on the table and tore open his new pack of pencils. "Yes, I'm ready to ace this test now! I'm gonna study so hard I'll even surprise myself!" Aomine yelled to himself in his room. Somehow, yelling and expressing his emotions served as motivation for his own personal reasons.
After what seemed like days, but was really only two hours, Aomine found himself nodding off into his textbook. "So boring…." Aomine says to himself, flipping over the umpteenth page for more space to do sample problems. Aomine suddenly jolted awake from his daze when he heard his ringtone playing from his phone.
He walked over to his bed and turned his phone over to see the screen, eyes widening at the caller ID information displaying on the front. "Kagami!?" Aomine said, swiping the accept button and raising the phone to his ear.
"Uh, yeah. Hey, Aomine. How are you?" Kagami sounded nervous over the phone.
"Well, I was studying for this dumb test, but then you called me. Speaking of, I'm really, really surprised you actually called me. As in, you called me and not the other way around." Aomine laughed.
"Well yeah, before you left you said you still had some questions so I wanted to be sure that you were okay." Kagami answered honestly, causing Aomine to smile into the receiver.
"Aww, Kagami. Were you worried about me?"
Kagami could practically hear his smirk through the phone and it pissed him off, "Nevermind, I take it back! I knew I shouldn't have called!"
Aomine laughed a bit harder, "I'm just kidding, calm down! But yeah, I do have a few more questions."
"Alright, cool. I'll walk you through the steps over the phone so you'll just have to describe your thoughts to me and I'll tell you if you're right." Kagami reassured him.
After about two hours on the phone with Kagami, Aomine finally slammed his textbook shut. "Ahhh, I feel so good about this test now. Thanks so much, Kagami. You really didn't have to…"
Kagami relaxed onto his bed, laying his phone against his ear, "It's no problem, I don't mind really. I want you to do well on your exam tomorrow."
"You're telling me! This is the last exam before the final and it would push my grade up from a C to a B in that class!" Aomine exclaimed excitedly over the phone.
Kagami gasped, "Whoa, you pulled your grade up from an F to a C already, Aomine?"
Aomine laughed, "Of course! I have the best teacher after all! Putting in extra hours and everything…"
"It's not really extra, I just had extra time before I went to bed and I finished my homework earlier in school."
"You're such a nerd, Kagami! I swear!" Aomine joked, laughing loudly into the receiver even harder when he heard the redhead gasp on the other end.
"Whatever! If you don't have any more questions, I'm going to head to bed." Kagami rolled over onto his side, pinning the phone between his ear and shoulder.
"Wait, I do have a question!" Aomine said quickly.
"What is it?"
"You said you were in bed right?" Aomine asked once more.
"Yeah…..?" Kagami was starting to feel a bit skeptical at Aomine's questions.
"What are you wearing?" Aomine asked, smirking into the receiver even more when he heard Kagami's words scramble together over the phone.
"I'm hanging up!" Kagami yelled into the receiver before pressing the end button with rapid speed, ignoring the cackling on the other side of the phone.
He rolled onto his stomach, squishing his face into his pillow, "Stupid Aomine…." But if that was the way he truly he felt, then why was his heart beating so fast?
Notes: HI! Welcome to my third chapter...I really like this fic. Can I say that about my own fic that I wrote?
Oh well! I felt this in my soul so this chapter is a lil longer compared to the others but WORTHHH.
Chapter 4: lesson 4: interlaced
Summary: Aomine takes his final exams!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text"Okay everyone, please grab your tests on the way out. The scores were half-half, some were better than others." The teacher said, passing out the tests to students heading out the door. However, when Aomine stood in front of her, she looked up at him with a huge smile on her face. "I think you'll be especially pleased with this, Aomine. Your hard work with your tutor is paying off."
Aomine took a peek at his test, eyes immediately stretching open at the paper in his hands. "You're sure this is mine? For real?"
"Yes, you should be proud! It's your first A on an exam this whole year!" The teacher smiled at him.
"I can't believe it! This is incredible!" Aomine's cheeks started to turn pink from his excitement. Of course, Aomine's next thought was that he had to go tell Kagami.
"Yes, you finally pulled your grade up from an F to a B. I'm honestly surprised at how hard you've been working, Aomine. That tutor of yours must be one hell of a teacher. Not only do you get higher grades, but you come to class everyday anddo your homework? Since this is the final test for the year and all that's left is the final exam tomorrow, you should be set as long as you score at least a B on it."
"Yeah, I guess you could say Kagami has had a good influence on me." Aomine smiled at her.
"He has! In fact, I hope that you continue this behavior even though he has been reassigned to another student."
Aomine's heart nearly stopped, "Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Oh, you didn't know? The conditions of tutoring you were under were that you were to continue to go to tutoring until I felt confident enough in your ability to continue to do well by yourself. With the way you have been progressing, I reassigned Kagami to another student that was deeply in need. Is that problematic?" The teacher questioned, looking to the student in front of her for an answer.
"...Thanks for looking after me." Aomine bowed politely, but his voice remained empty. He turned on his heels and left the classroom, his heart feeling heavier and heavier by the minute. 'I have to go find him….'
Aomine sprinted through the hallways, bumping into many students that stood by their lockers, leaving them angry and frustrated with his lack of apology. Sure, he was kind of sorry, but he had more pressing matters to address. He ran full speed to the one place he knew Kagami would be at any time of the day, the library.
He bust through the doors with full strength, running past the shocked librarian and to the table where he and Kagami usually sat. And there, unsurprisingly, was the redhead sitting by himself at the table.
"Kagami…" Aomine huffed, out of breath.
Kagami turned around at his name, "Aomine? What are you doing here? Your teacher didn't tell you? I'm not your -"
"I don't care what she says, Kagami." Aomine said between breaths, still gasping for air after running so long in his desperate search for him. "I don't care about the tutoring."
Kagami raised an eyebrow, "And so….you are here because….?"
"Because I wanted to see you…" Aomine was surprisingly honest, and it brought a quick blush to Kagami's face.
"Aomine…"
"I know this may seem sudden, but...I like you, Kagami. I've liked you since I first met you. I know it may seem like I'm talking all types of nonsense, but...I don't want this to end here. I can't let it end here. If I don't say it now, then I don't know if you'll ever know how I'll feel." Aomine's confession released a giant pressure off his chest that he had been keeping locked up for months now.
Aomine gazed at Kagami, who was getting redder and redder by the minute. "Damn it, Kagami! Say something! Say anything!"
Completely flustered, Kagami opened his mouth to speak, "Aomine, I li-"
"Hey! I don't mean to interrupt, but...are any of you Kagami Taiga? My name Kiyoshi Teppei and I'm his new student." A brown-haired, tall man stepped into their area and pausing their conversation.
"Kagami, I'll see you later." Aomine said, turning around to leave in a hurry.
"Yeah, I am…Nice to meet you." Kagami smiled at the man, giving Aomine a quick fleeting glance before turning his back around to face Kiyoshi once more.
"Was that your boyfriend?" Kiyoshi asked innocently.
Kagami nearly fell out of his chair, "W-what makes you say that!?"
"Nothing, I just...heard the last part of his confession as I was walking here." Kiyoshi responded plainly, judgement not existing in his tone.
"Yeah, er...well… about that…" Kagami honestly didn't know how to respond to his questions.
"You should tell him how you feel. Don't leave him hanging. What are you afraid of?" Kiyoshi advised.
Kagami felt hesitant about letting a stranger know his business, but there was something brotherly and comforting about Kiyoshi that made him unable to lie to his face. "It's just...we're too different. He's into sports, I'm into academics. I don't know if it'll work out."
"Huh? Sounds to me like it's just different hobbies and no couple has the exact same hobbies. The point of the relationship is to grow together and explore one another's interests, regardless of how different they may be. Who knows, maybe it'll rub off on you!" Kiyoshi smiled and lightly rubbed Kagami on his head.
"Yeah, I should…" Kagami trailed off for a minute deep in thought. "Anyway, let's get this lesson started.
/
"Okay, everyone have your calculators and pencils? This is the final exam, so you can leave whenever you finish. If you have to leave to go to the bathroom, please leave your bags at your desk. Now, begin." The teacher instructed for the final time of the year.
Aomine lazily wrote his name on the top line of the paper before flipping his test open, eyes scanning over the questions. But, who could think of math at a time like this when Kagami didn't contact him at all since his confession yesterday? He couldn't help but think he fucked up so badly, that he should have just kept quiet and kept his feelings to himself.
"Damn it…" Aomine mumbled under his breath.
With the stone-cold silence filling the room, Aomine's thoughts only seemed louder than usual. What if he messed up so badly Kagami would never want to see him again? What if he doesn't know the questions on his exam and fails at the last minute? What if his grades are so bad that he can't be on the basketball team? What if? What if? What if?
Aomine suddenly felt as if all the oxygen in the room had been taken away, leaving him gasping for breath and his desk. He felt as if his chest was closing in on itself, and began panicking at his desk, causing numerous students to send worried glances his way.
Aomine immediately stood up and rushed out of the classroom door, ignoring the worried calls of his name as he fled down the hallway. He threw his back against a nearby locker, sliding down and loosening the tie around his neck, struggling for breath.
"Aomine?" A voice called his name, but Aomine's ignored it, burying his hands in his hair and his head in his lap.
"Aomine? Is that you?" The voice that called him before is now coming closer.
The person who owned the voice was finally in front of him, quickly sitting down and grasped his shoulders. "Aomine, answer me already, geez!"
With the sudden physical contact, Aomine finally looked up and was met with a familiar, yet fiery red gaze.
"Kagami?" Aomine's eyes widened at the boy sitting in front of him.
"What are you doing out here? Don't you have a final exam right now?" Kagami asked, worry filling his voice.
Completely ignoring his question, Aomine laughed lightly at the scene in front of him. Here he was, looking completely wrecked on the floor of the school, and here comes his knight in shining armor to come save him. In theory, of course.
"I thought...I thought you would never speak to me again." Aomine said, eyes shifting to the side.
"Why would you think that?"
"Because! You didn't have give me an answer after I confessed yesterday and you didn't text or call me all night, so I just figured I freaked you out or something."
"Aomine…"
"Like maybe you weren't ready or felt uncomfortable for my feelings for you or maybe you felt like I was rushing into things…."
"Aomine!"
"I thought our meeting in the library was the last time I'd ever see you, especially since summer vacation is coming up and -"
"Oh my god, Aomine! Shut the hell up already!" Kagami raised his voice a little bit, causing Aomine to finally be quiet.
Kagami burst into laughter, causing a deep furrow and frown to form on Aomine's face. 'What's funny about what I said?"
Kagami wiped little tears from his eyes, "You're an idiot, I swear."
Immediately offended, Aomine perked up, "How am I an idiot!?"
"Because!"
"Because why?"
"Because… you left before I could tell you how I felt. You left before I told you that I like you too." Kagami felt a little embarassed, but he made a pledge to himself that he wouldn't run away this time from what he felt. The months and months of his encounters with Aomine has led up to this moment right here and he would be damned if he let it slip away.
"Y-you like me too?" Aomine didn't mean to stutter, but he was so taken aback he forgot how to speak for just a moment.
"Yeah, you're not so bad." Kagami said jokingly, causing them both to laugh.
"I like you, Kagami. So..please. Please, stay with me. Even after all this ends, stay with me." Aomine says softly.
Kagami said nothing, but he could feel Aomine's gaze on him as he awaited a response. For once in his life, he thought, he should just go on instinct and not think so much about "what ifs" or "but thens". Kagami cupped Aomine's face lightly in his hands, and slowly lowered his lips onto his. His kiss, although hesitant and shaky, communicated how he felt more than his words could possibly express. Kagami pulled back after a few seconds, looking to see Aomine's expression, only to see a full blush fill his features and eyes wide as the moon.
When Kagami opened his mouth to speak, Aomine grabbed his tie and pulled his body forward, making Kagami's lips crash onto his once more. When they both parted, Kagami leaned his forehead on Aomine's, smiling to himself.
"As much as I don't want you to leave, you have to go back to your exam. You've wasted a lot of time out here." Kagami says softly.
"I don't know if I can go back in there...what if I fail it?" Aomine says hesitantly.
"You won't, I believe in you. You can do anything when you put your mind to it." Kagami says reassuringly.
"Thank you for believing in me, Kagami. It means a lot." Aomine smiled at him, making Kagami smile at him right back.
"Of course, I am your tutor afterall."
And when Kagami placed his hand in his and interlaced his fingers in between his, he truly felt like he could do anything.