Chapter Text
after rakuzan loses against seirin, akashi seijuro had smiled at kuroko even with tears streaming down his cheeks – congratulated them for their win, and promised that they will win next time.
it's a foreign feeling for him, akashi thinks, the heaviness in his chest that comes with defeat. all his life, he had been taught that an akashi must always win – so he had no choice but to do so. seijuro thinks that there were times that he did experience loss – his mother, their team in teiko, and him – but he had to quickly push them away, not linger on them and bounce back.
how awful, he thinks, looking back at it now. he was so young when his mother died, but his father had immediately pushed him onto his studies so he would not mourn and feel loss.
and perhaps, that was when he started breaking.
dissociating,
creating a protector for himself who could prevent him from ever feeling defeat.
and then, his other self took over in their third year in teiko – where victory was constantly being pushed to them, giving them exceptions to rules just so they would bring victory to the school.
in their three years there, they brought home the title of champion – akashi being a key player in two of those.
they won but… at what cost?
teiko scarred the six in the generation of miracles. and now, he's grateful that kuroko was different from them – had the strength to bring them back.
being thankful for kuroko does not make the pain of defeat any less though, so when they get back to their locker room, seijuro stays behind and tells mibuchi and the others to go ahead to where they will stay for the night.
they look at him with concern in their eyes, but ultimately, reo leads them out.
when he's alone in the room, akashi sinks down to the ground – back against the cool metal of the lockers, curling more into himself and trying to make himself smaller.
in the backseat of his mind but not in the sense of not knowing what his other self was doing, seijuro realizes that he has numerous regrets.
he could have stood his ground against the new policies of the teiko coach.
he could have done something to keep the team together.
he could have stayed strong and found a way for aomine to come back to practices.
he could have not lost his hold on himself when he was losing against murasakibara.
he could have berated the others for coming up with games amongst themselves just so their matches would remain interesting.
he could have held onto the trips to the convenience store right after practice ended to buy ice cream and just be together as a team.
he could have held onto memories of shogi matches and playing the violin alongside the piano and the constant presence of one midorima shintaro beside him every day,
but he didn't.
he raises his right hand in the emptiness of the room, and stares at it until a tear runs down his cheek.
his most recent regret is not taking midorima's hand, and instead declaring themselves enemies.
when he cries, he does so silently because of years of practice – his father may have tried to distract him from the pain of losing his mother, but when he was alone in his room every night, he had to learn how to cry silently so he would not be caught.
he hugs his knees and rests his forehead on them – crying only through sniffles and the warm tracks that his tears leave behind.
akashi doesn't know how long he stays like that until he hears the door creak open, head snapping to its direction.
he blinks numerous times, thinking it's all in his imagination that midorima shintaro – green hair and orange shutoku uniform and taped fingers and the same rectangular glasses he had in middle school – is standing there.
magenta eyes follow midorima until he's standing beside seijuro, then leans back on the lockers and settles beside him.
for a few moments, he looks at midorima – thinks he still looks so beautiful and handsome all at once like he did back in teiko – and he smiles with just the slightest quirk of his lips.
midorima looks at him back – takes in the freshly-cut pink-red bangs and flushed cheeks and pale skin, akashi's glassy eyes that are of the same color now.
"you have been crying, akashi."
seijuro chuckles wetly,
"yes, i have. it is only now that i realize that loss is both magnificent and painful."
shintaro looks at him softly,
"i have missed you, seijuro."
midorima raises his hand and tucks his deep pink strands behind his ear, and seijuro melts.
it's only now that he realizes his tears have stopped for a short time, because they now fall freely again from the corner of his eyes as he leans into shintaro's touch – his smaller hands coming up to hold onto midorima's.
he's so selfish.
"i hurt you, midorima. starting second year when things started to get bad, the whole of third year when everything became worse, and then i hurt you again just earlier – after our match."
it's almost a whisper when he says,
"i don't want to be your enemy. i-i want…"
i want all those times back.
existing with you, smiling at you, being beside you.
loving you.
i want you back.
but he says none of those, and instead, shintaro moves closer – pulls him closer until seijuro is almost on his lap.
"... you should be mad at me."
"i'm not."
"you shouldn't be here."
"i am."
"you shouldn't have forgiven me for everything i have done – to everyone, to you."
"but i have."
"you should… be with s-someone else-e,"
midorima had pulled him close so his forehead had rested on shintaro's collarbones, so he lifts his head now – looks up at shintaro but doesn't move away.
forest green eyes look back at him.
he opens his mouth, chin trembling,
"you're happy with him, right? shutoku's point guard. he's good for you… you trust him with all your heart too."
shintaro says nothing.
then, a large hand cups his cheek – thumb stroking to wipe away his tears.
"but i chose you, seijuro. is that not enough? and i will choose you, again and again, because i love you."
he gasps, eyes widening.
midorima laughs softly at him,
"did you not know? i have been in love with you for years now, even when your other self had taken over."
"... really?"
"yes. even kise knew."
he sniffles, laughs.
"kise?"
"yes. as if he has space to worry about us when he had his own endeavors of pursuing kuroko."
"ah, yes. that i know of."
shintaro smiles at him, gently and so lovingly.
"i believe they are together now."
"that's good for them. they have been pining for so long."
"kise has made me promise to not give up on my own endeavors, so i did not."
seijuro looks up at him, an almost confused look on his face.
"will you be mine then, seijuro? in a way that is more than what we had in middle school."
ah,
he's happy.
his heart is pounding so hard against his chest.
but,
"... i am broken."
"you are not. but if you see yourself as such, i will never tire of putting the pieces of you back together."
he's wavering,
"i… live in kyoto, midorima."
"just another challenge we must overcome. and it's shintaro for you, seijuro."
he smiles widely, and tests it out slowly,
"shin-ta-ro."
"yes. so what do you say, seijuro?"
shintaro is holding on tight to both of his hands, gaze unwavering and filled with so much determination as they look at him.
"yes. it's always been 'yes'."
a blush dusts shintaro's cheeks pink just before he pulls seijuro close to press his lips against his exposed forehead.
<------------------------------>
they head out side-by-side, hands clasped together.
when they exit the stadium, they see the rest of the generation of miracles standing just outside.
kuroko is pressed against kise, as if huddling for warmth amidst the cold air of the night – ryota's hand resting on the smaller boy's waist.
murasakibara looks at them with boredom, yawns and doesn't say anything.
kagami and aomine are loud, yelling at the sheepish-looking kise and blank-faced kuroko as momoi stands not far from them.
"since when?!"
"oi, kuroko! how come i didn't know about this?"
"kagami-kun is a hopeless case when it comes to romance. why should i tell him?"
"you-"
"kise, you bastard. did you bribe tetsu or something to get together with you?"
"d-dai-chan! you're being too mean!"
"it's okay, momoicchi! let aominecchi be the idiot he is-"
"i don't want to be called an idiot by you-"
"-tetsuyacchi actually confessed to me!"
"t-tetsu-kun?!"
"yes, i did. we would not get anywhere if i waited for ryota-kun to make the first move."
"ryota-kun?!"
"again, since when?!"
"tetsu, why-"
"eh~ mine-chin and kaga-chin are being too loud."
"hey! who told you i could be called kaga-chin-"
"oh! akashicchi and midorimacchi!"
seijuro smiles, holds on tighter to shintaro's hand when all of them turn their attention to him and midorima.
"hello, everyone."
kuroko, for all his observation skills, zeroes in on their hands.
"oh. akashi-kun and midorima-kun…"
kise hums cluelessly at first – but being with kuroko must sync their minds at this point because he redirects his gaze to what kuroko is looking at.
"ah! midorimacchi finally confessed?!"
a resounding EH?! fills the quiet night.
shintaro freezes for a second beside him, akashi looks up just in time to see him blush.
"kise?"
"hmm? yes, midorimacchi?"
"die."
"wah! midorimacchi's always mean-"
seijuro laughs.
yes, he's missed this.
<------------------------------>
that night, midorima had accompanied him until they reached the lodging that rakuzan had reserved for them.
before they say good night, seijuro lifts himself up to the tips of his toes and presses a chaste kiss on shintaro's lips.
the former vice captain had frozen in his place, but then quickly moved to bend down and kiss him again.
"good night, seijuro."
"good night, shintaro."
"shall i see you off tomorrow before your flight back to kyoto?"
"if you wish to do so."
"then, i will."
a kiss is pressed so sweetly on his forehead.
"until tomorrow, then."
he hums, lets go of shintaro's hand to head inside and close the door. he stays for a moment there, composing himself from all the events of the night – when he turns around, he sees each member of the rakuzan team peeking at him with their head out of their respective doors.
they jolt when he sees them.
kotaro tried to quickly flee and closes his door with a loud bang.
he laughs,
"i've seen you guys already. it's alright."
hayama opens his door again and looks at him almost nervously.
nebuya is the first one who breaks the silence,
"who were you with just now?"
"my old teammate from teiko, midorima shintaro."
kotaro speaks up,
"but you're blushing and smiling right now, though?"
"yes, i have loved him since middle school."
"ah, is that what it was? i felt the tension between you two during our game."
"r-reo-nii?!"
"indeed. we have talked it out already."
there's silence from how the rest are looking at him – looking so soft and happy.
mayuzumi asks,
"and?"
"and… we are dating."
a pause.
"congratulations."
"how lovely!"
"good going, akashi!"
"let's get it, captain!"
seijuro blushes, smiles sheepishly before telling them to get some rest. he heads to his own room and collapses on the bed, fishes out his phone from his pocket when he feels it vibrate.
good night, seijuro,
it reads.
he clutches on tight to his phone, presses it close against his heart.
ah, you will be the death of me, shintaro.
<------------------------------>
the next day, his eyes widen when he sees most of the shutoku team waiting for them at the airport.
midorima stands out with his bright-colored green hair.
"what's this?"
the point guard, takao kazunari if he remembers correctly, pipes up,
"shin-chan said he would see you off today! we counted it as one of his 'three selfish requests' of the day and went with him."
he laughs at that,
"'three selfish requests'?"
"ah, yes. we made it for him because this bastard is selfish as hell whenever the mood strikes."
"takao!"
"how amusing. you didn't tell me this, shintaro."
all eyes look at midorima.
"it is embarrassing. why would i tell you?"
"i think it's cute."
"w-well then, expect that from this point on, my 'three selfish requests' will be for matters related to you."
the rakuzan and shutoku teams hoot and squeal at them.
<------------------------------>
just before he lines up for the check-in and shutoku has to leave for their classes, midorima grasps onto his wrist but says nothing at first.
"shintaro? is something the matter?"
the other hand not holding onto seijuro goes to his pant pocket, brings out a toy frog after a few seconds.
he hands it to akashi.
"i-i will not be there with you in kyoto to bring you your lucky items for every day, so i give kerosuke to you."
seijuro cups it in his palms, brings it up to eye-level to admire it.
he remembers it from back in teiko.
"kerosuke?"
"yes. when i cannot find my lucky item of the day, i settle for kerosuke. so far, he has protected me from all kinds of misfortune on those days. bring him with you to kyoto to keep you company."
he brings it close enough to his face to boop it with the tip of his nose.
"thank you, shintaro. i will take great care of him until i see you again."
midorima puts an arm around his waist to pull him close, kisses his forehead softly.
"until then, seijuro."
he closes his eyes and revels in the warmth.
it will be some time before he feels it again.
"... shintaro?"
a hum.
"i… love you."
he chuckles when the taller boy remains unmoving, speechless from his confession. akashi extracts himself from their hug and starts moving away, waves his hand before turning and running along to catch up with the rest of his teammates.
from far away, he turns back to look at shintaro – still in his place until takao almost knocks him over when he barrels into him.
seijuro smiles, presses his forehead to kerosuke and goes along.
he looks forward to seeing shintaro again.
<------------------------------>
january 30, momoi calls him for a game just among the generation of miracles for kuroko's birthday.
when he agrees quickly, she asks for his help in convincing murasakibara because he said it was a hassle to head to tokyo just for a casual match.
akashi tells momoi to leave it all to him before he schedules a practice game against yosen in tokyo with just a call to their coach and tells her he will arrange the flight details. he calls the airport to book a flight from kyoto to tokyo and akita to tokyo tomorrow morning, and ends the call once it's settled.
momoi had called during their practice's five minute break so the rest of the team, along with their coach, are there with him. he looks up from his phone and tells them his plans – they all look at him with shock before giving in.
kerosuke sits on the first step of the bleachers of their gym, having been brought along every day to practice.
kotaro stares at kerosuke almost as if the frog had offended him before he speaks up,
"coach, maybe we should give akashi his 'three selfish requests' every day too."
"'three selfish requests'?"
mayuzumi, from his place of watching them on the bleachers beside kerosuke, goes next,
"shutoku has it for midorima shintaro. and since they're dating now, i see no reason why we cannot do it for akashi too."
their coach hums in thought.
seijuro raises an eyebrow, directs his gaze at the vice captain,
"mibuchi, will you go along with them?"
"hmm. it was very romantic when midorima-kun said he will use up all his 'selfish requests' for things related to you."
"ah, is this what you have come to? ganging up on your captain?"
the coach talks,
"well…"
seijuro blinks.
"if we are going to implement the idea for me, then i believe i have just used up one of my 'selfish requests' in scheduling a match against yosen. shall i use up another one and schedule a game versus shutoku as well just so i can see shintaro?"
nebuya and kotaro dive at him when he lifts up his phone, ready to call midorima and ask for their coach's number.
he dodges them with a quick side-step.
mibuchi pales when shintaro's voice could be heard from the phone speakers.
<------------------------------>
takao calls him that morning, just before they board the plane to tokyo.
"sei-chan! you're boarding the plane soon, right?"
"yes, and i have kerosuke with me. did he ask you to help with finding his lucky item for today?"
"yeah! i don't think he'll go to the game with tetsu-chan if he won't get it."
"today is dried mushrooms for cancer, yes? i can go by a supermarket once we land. please just get him to the venue that momoi and kise have planned."
"sure thing! safe flight, sei-chan!"
"thank you, takao."
"i told you, you can call me kazunari! i'll be the best man at your wedding with shin-chan, anyways."
he's blushing, stuttering at that.
"a-ah… yes. thank you, goodbye."
the last thing he hears is kazunari's cackling before he drops the call.
his cheeks are totally red from takao's words, and he turns just to see that mibuchi had been looking at him the whole time as he was flustered.
"i apologize, sei-chan, but my senses were telling me something absolutely romantic was happening. if i may, who was that?"
"ah, yes. that was takao kazunari, shutoku's point guard."
"the one who your shin-chan trusts to pass the ball to his mid-air shot?"
"yes, that's him."
reo hums,
"it's nice to see you being friendly to more people, sei-chan."
akashi smiles.
"although, i wonder what shutoku's point guard said to make sei-chan blush such a pretty red alike to your hair."
he side-eyes mibuchi, somewhat nervous.
"i overheard him mentioning a wedding between you and your lover. is that why we have settled for tokyo as our practice game venue instead of akita directly?"
"... mibuchi…"
"i do love romance and am very much interested in our beloved captain's love life – but i must say, even if you have loved your shin-chan since middle school and the same goes for him, i believe it is quite fast for you to be already tying the knot."
"reo-"
"but alas, we only wish for your happiness. will you take his last name? midorima seijuro? or will he take yours? or perhaps, you both will keep your surname like the americans do? midorima-akashi or akashi-midorima-"
"reo. it's not nice to listen into someone else's conversation – and no, shintaro and i are not getting married."
"yet?"
he pointedly glares at the ravenette this time,
"shintaro did say that kazunari is quite the jokester, so it's best not to quickly believe everything he says. and if you must know, my old teammates from teiko had arranged a casual match just among us as celebration for kuroko's birthday today. kazunari was asked by momoi to bring shintaro to the venue."
"if you say so, sei-chan."
akashi sees that nebuya and kotaro are now looking at them curiously.
"our practice match with yosen is still tomorrow. mibuchi, you will be in charge of the team while i am with the others – go wherever you want, but please do keep everyone in check."
the whole of the team know how chaotic nebuya and hayama can be when they're let loose, so it's no surprise when reo yelps in protest at seijuro's command.
ah, well,
he had it coming.
<------------------------------>
once they set foot in the airport's lobby, seijuro immediately bows to their coach and heads out on his own – ignoring mibuchi's pleas to not be in charge of kotaro and eikichi.
he stops by the supermarket as he said he would, looks for a pack of dried mushrooms to buy before going to the venue that kise had texted him.
the gathering is in a basketball court beside a park – when he arrives, kise is hugging kuroko from behind with his chin resting on top of the smaller man's hair, kuroko is cradling a yellow chick keychain in his hands, aomine and momoi are looking at them softly, takao is getting on the bike of the rickshaw, and midorima is looking at him.
"seijuro…"
he smiles softly as everyone turns to look at him – kise not letting go of kuroko so they have to shuffle around, tetsuya with a small smile like his even before they greet each other.
"sei-chan!"
"hey, everyone! sorry to keep you waiting."
"akashicchi! you came all the way from kyoto?"
"yes. happy birthday, kuroko. i apologize for not having a gift for you."
"thank you, and it's alright. getting to play basketball with everyone again is more than enough – and besides, ryota-kun has given me a lot of gifts already."
when kise coddles and coos at kuroko, seijuro turns to takao.
"thank you for bringing him here, takao."
"no problem, sei-chan! and like i said, you can call me kazunari!"
he bows slightly to thank takao again – and to hide the coloring of his cheeks when he remembers their earlier conversation.
"alright… kazunari."
"that's it! well, i did my part here in bringing shin-chan. i'll get going now!"
he starts pedaling away with a wave of his hand.
"oi, takao! you haven't given me my lucky item yet!"
"i delivered you to your lucky item, shin-chan! bye-bye!"
he starts walking over to shintaro at that, takes kerosuke out of his jacket's pocket and the pack of dried mushrooms out of his bag.
"... delivered…"
he taps the taller man's shoulder with the tip of his finger,
"shintaro."
when his boyfriend turns to look at him with those emerald eyes, he lifts up the food item.
"here. and i brought kerosuke too."
shintaro stays unmoving for a moment, then lifts up a hand to pet his head – gently takes his lucky item from seijuro, but leaves kerosuke.
"thank you, but kerosuke will stay with you."
he laughs,
"shall i return him next time?"
midorima nods, leans forward to press a kiss near his hairline.
akashi feels the slight exhale from shintaro, so he looks up.
"what is it?"
midorima's free hand reaches up to cradle his head – ruffles his bangs slightly.
"your bangs. they're growing out already."
he reaches up to hold onto the short strands consciously,
"do you… like them longer? or shall i have it cut again?"
shintaro tucks his red-pink hair behind his ear.
"either way is good, seijuro – do with it what you like. but please refrain from cutting them yourself with a rather sharpened pair of scissors."
"ah, that was-"
"what a pain to see you guys being all sweet. i get that we all wanted midorima and akashi to get together back in middle school, but you're just flaunting it in our faces now."
"dai-chan, shut up! they were even being so cute."
"aomine-kun is just jealous. maybe you should say something to kagami-kun so you won't complain about us."
"tetsu, that bastard kise is already turning you bad!"
"eh?! how did i get into this?"
"ah. good morning, everyone~"
all of them turn to look at murasakibara as he enters from a tree-filled area of the park.
"mu-kkun!"
"... i thought murasakibaracchi didn't want to come."
ryota has let go of kuroko for now, but tetsuya stays close and holds onto the edge of kise's shirt.
"i came over after i arrived in tokyo, it was along the way after all."
"eh? along the way?"
he holds onto the strap of his gym bag with one hand, interlaces the other with shintaro's taped fingers.
"rakuzan and yosen are going to have a practice match. because of the great distance, we decided to hold it in tokyo."
momoi brightens at him,
"wah! thank you, akashi-kun! now everyone's gathered here!"
he squeezes shintaro's hand for a moment, holds on tighter before letting go when he feels a gentle squeeze back.
"then, shall we begin?"
<------------------------------>
"in the end, only akashi seemed to have never lost a match."
"oh, is that the case?"
"you're always the champion."
"ryota-kun is being a sore loser."
"ah, tetsuyacchi!"
"even if it's just a game, i am still pretty frustrated about it."
"one day you will live up to your promise of defeating me, shintaro."
"it's getting pretty dark now, the sun's starting to set."
"then, how about we finish the gathering right now?"
"i agree."
"ah, wait! before we go, could we take a picture?"
<------------------------------>
as momoi was setting up the camera, akashi feels a hand bump into his from behind – the warmth staying there.
he lets go of the basketball he was holding, locks their fingers together and finds that shintaro had already taped his fingers again.
he smiles when their palms press together – not even needing to look up to know that midorima remains poker-faced beside him, but he can feel from the green-haired boy's pulse that his heart is racing.
"hurry up, satsuki."
"just wait a minute, dai-chan! and~ ok!"
the camera starts beeping just as murasakibara yawns loudly.
"stop yawning, murasakibara."
"i did come here early morning, i can't help it."
"then~ everyone, smile!"
"kurokocchi, come close!"
"ah, yes."
from the corner of his eye, he sees kise pull tetsuya closer with an arm wrapped around him – smile bright on his face.
tetsuya looks at ryota with a slight quirk of his lips.
aomine and midorima are simply looking at the camera, murasakibara behind them all with his cap hiding his tired eyes.
momoi stands in front of daiki, brightness rivaling kise's.
seijuro smiles, then leans his head on shintaro's shoulder as he looks at the lens.
thank you, kuroko.
for bringing this back to them.
<------------------------------>
"momoi-san, did you get it?"
"yes! it came out perfectly, look!"
he looks at kuroko and momoi standing off to the side as everyone else is getting ready to go.
he approaches the two, takes a peek at the photo from behind them.
"can you give me that photo later?"
"sure! i'll print it out after i get home!"
"momoi, can you send it to me as well?"
satsuki turns to look at him, nods enthusiastically.
"of course, akashi-kun!"
kise bounces over to them, beams at kuroko.
"then, shall we get going, tetsucchi?"
tetsuya stays silent for a moment,
"... actually, kagami-kun and the others asked me to head to his place to celebrate today. since everyone is here, would you all want to go?"
when no one complains or starts going on their own, seijuro chuckles – looks at kuroko.
"my, everyone suddenly became shy. thank you, and i believe you can lead the way for all of us."
<------------------------------>
he finds himself in the front and center of the group even if kuroko is the birthday celebrant, so he laughs to himself.
shintaro is beside him, shoulder pressed to his.
kuroko, again, for some reason, stays behind him.
he's about to move aside to make way when the door opens,
"you must be tired~ ughk-aghk!"
"oh, hello. you must be furihata-kun."
"a-a-akas-shi-i-i!"
tetsuya pops up from behind him,
"since everyone was here, i brought them over as well."
"AHHHH!"
a resounding huh? fills the air as the brunette suddenly faints, soul seemingly leaving his body.
"... oh dear, i believe that was my fault. he was shaking quite a lot when he saw me – and i think i was also quite intimidating to him during the winter cup match."
shintaro pats his head, doesn't remove his hand and just lets it linger there to comfort him.
he reaches up and holds onto the larger hand to bring it down.
"please don't mind furihata-kun. you can go ahead, akashi-kun."
he blinks at the fainted furihata-kun, bows 45 degrees,
"i apologize,"
then steps around the body – dragging shintaro with him because of their interlocked fingers.
he stops and waits for kuroko to enter and exit the genkan before they do – kise standing furihata up and asking help from murasakibara to carry him.
aomine though, does no such thing and barrels ahead.
"you're late, senpai-"
"oh, you live in a pretty good place."
"aomine?! what are you-"
kuroko enters the room, ryota following closely behind.
"huh?"
seijuro peeks into the room, glances at tetsuya for his approval then pulls his taller boyfriend along.
"huh?!"
murasakibara and momoi are the last ones to go in – bringing along furihata with them.
"HUH?!"
"yo, hi, everyone!"
ryota's presence is ignored with how often kuroko and him are basically tied at the hip. the part of the seirin basketball team currently present though, flit their eyes from one member to another of the rest of the generation of miracles.
"captain, izuki-senpai. you really surprised me, you came too."
seijuro shifts from looking around the apartment to seirin's captain – feeling his eyes on him. he smiles when their eyes meet.
"we were surprised too! you even brought the generation of miracles!"
he side-steps tetsuya to have more space – bows with the smile still on his lips,
"i apologize for the intrusion. i am akashi from rakuzan."
"eh- we know that already!"
once he stands up, shintaro's eyes are fixated on him – hand coming up to pinch seijuro's cheek softly for a quick second.
he bats it away.
midorima huffs a laugh at him.
"oh? shin-chan is here too."
"takao! what are you doing here?"
"sei-chan, hello to you too!"
"hello, kazunari."
"how was the grand reunion with shin-chan? did you go on a date?"
"date?!"
the seirin team, aside from kagami, looks at them with wide eyes.
"ah, yes, we are together. although, we just finished with our gathering so we hadn't had the time yet to go on our way."
"midorima and akashi are dating?!"
"there are two couples within the generation of miracles?"
"since the winter cup, captain. you're outdated."
"kuroko, you little bastard-"
he looks off to the side and sees murasakibara still supporting furihata – the brunette still knocked out.
"oh, atsushi!"
"eh, muro-chin is here too?"
aomine, from behind atsushi, moves around them and starts exploring the apartment – going from one end to another, crouching down to peek or shuffling through things as if he's looking for something.
"this is boring. you don't even have a single porn magazine?"
"don't lump me in with you!"
"dai-chan!"
"aomine-kun, maybe you should take your chance now instead of going back to your old ways."
it's the first time he sees daiki turn red – cheeks and ears tinted with the color.
"tetsu-"
"k-kuroko, what do you mean-"
"bakagami. he doesn't mean anything."
"don't call me an idiot, ahomine."
"ryota-kun, aomine-kun and kagami-kun are much too oblivious, don't you think?"
tetsuya hides behind ryota when aomine and kagami try to dive at him.
suddenly his attention is caught from all the chaos happening around him when he feels the back of shintaro's hand bump into his forearm.
he looks up at the forest color-haired boy, looks down at the touch when he sees him gazing at their hands too.
shintaro shifts his hand so his palm is warm against the inner part of seijuro's arm and lifting akashi's arm slightly so he can proceed – they watch as he slides it down to his wrist, then further past it.
paying close attention to every detail now, he gulps when he realizes how much bigger shintaro's hand is – almost dwarfing his.
it's not as if he never noticed it before, but it's not like he had the chance to compare them directly when they weren't together yet.
his palm is bigger, fingers slender but still longer and thicker than seijuro's dainty yet slightly calloused ones – it was only expected from their years of playing basketball, after all. his hand is warm, but a bit colder than akashi's.
he loves it,
can't help the quirking of his lips.
when they finally slot their fingers together, he hears – and feels – a huff of breath from shintaro.
almost as if he was greatly anticipating the action.
then, he pulls seijuro along with him as he makes his way across the chaos that is seirin and the other members of the generation of miracles.
"takao, please move."
"hmm, oh- shin-chan's being nice and polite? wait, no-"
shintaro settles on the floor beside kazunari, rests his back on the couch behind him. he sits with his legs apart – just enough space for akashi to settle in, so he pulls the strawberry pink colored-hair boy down. seijuro isn't used to so much skinship – sat in between shintaro's legs, arms wrapped around his waist to have his back flush against the other boy's chest, chin resting on his shoulder. he blinks for a second, trying to take it all in, before he melts and relaxes.
"really? flaunting your 'taken status' right in front of me, shin-chan?!"
"akashi and midorima are so touchy with each other…"
"it's hard to believe how intimidating those two are usually… they scared the shit out of me in the court."
"tetsucchi, let's do that too!"
"maybe later when there's no one around, ryota-kun."
"alright!"
seijuro will find it in himself to apologize to kuroko for being absent-minded with a celebration on-going around him,
but right now,
he focuses only on everything that is midorima shintaro.
ah, he thinks,
i would gladly lose every basketball game and even everything i could if it means having you beside me.
<------------------------------>
a day after rakuzan’s match with yosen finds akashi and his teammates back at the airport – in a scene not unlike the day they were set to fly back to kyoto after the winter cup, complete with the whole shutoku team there to send them off.
not one of their teammates is even giving them attention anymore, having accepted that from here on, this will be a normal occurrence whenever rakuzan is in tokyo.
everyone is minding their own business but shintaro, akashi notices, is nervous – the hand in his pocket fidgeting with something.
he spends a few moments waiting for the taller boy to speak up at his own time, and it's only when the speaker goes off to announce that the boarding for their flight will start soon that shintaro opens his mouth to finally say something to him,
“a-akashi– ah, no, s-seijuro…”
seijuro blinks once, decides to try and calm shintaro by reaching for his hand that keeps on fidgeting and moving into his space.
he hums in acknowledgement.
at his touch, midorima visibly relaxes – tension leaving his body as he breathes out with his eyes closed before opening them once again, viridian eyes now strongly focused on akashi.
“seijuro.”
this close, he has to tilt his head at a higher angle just to meet shintaro’s gaze,
“have you finally calmed down?”
a throat clearing,
“w-what do you mean, i wasn't nervous, seijuro.”
he laughs softly,
“mhmm. then what was it that had you not give me a proper goodbye kiss earlier then?”
shintaro breathes in deep, unoccupied hand moving up slightly to hold onto seijuro’s arm – and seijuro finds himself biting back his smile when he notices how easily midorima’s hand circles his forearm with the size difference.
his arm is gently guided until his palm faces up, open – a cool object placed on his warm skin right after.
shintaro’s hands move to close his, and he furrows his eyebrows when he can't quite figure out what was placed on his hand based from touch alone.
he moves his head to look down as he opens his palm,
gasps softly when he sees what shintaro gave him.
it's a gold ring.
head tilting, he raises his hands to take a closer look at the circlet – admiring the way the lights reflect off it, along with its slight weight.
emerald stones line one half of the ring, the other half a sleek surface.
akashi feels warm lips press to his forehead, then a hand cups his cheek,
“it's… my lucky item for the day. i thought it looked beautiful so i got another one for you to match.”
shintaro's hands move to retrieve something from under the collar of his uniform – lifts it up to get it out before having it rest on his chest again.
sure enough, it's a thin necklace with a gold ring that matches the one on seijuro’s hand – ruby stones glinting instead of emerald for shintaro’s.
he feels his heart beating strongly, cheeks slowly reddening from the warmth that rushes up to them.
“... rings. matching… rings…”
“yes. for luck.”
a grin starts to tug at the corners of his lips, and he can only tilt his head down to try and hide it – along with the no-doubt evident blush on the tips of his cheeks.
“for… luck. yes…”
ah, how cute.
he knows for sure that shintaro’s lucky item of the day is–
“d-do you, uh… do you… like it?”
a necklace.
just the necklace.
hearing the uncertainty in shintaro's voice, he tilts his head up to meet his gaze once again – reassures him with a quick movement to raise himself on the tips of his toes to place a small kiss on the taller’s lips before settling back down.
“yes! oh, shintaro, i love it – it's beautiful.”
a soft smile graces midorima’s lips,
“as you deserve.”
the PA system takes its chance to announce that boarding is soon to end, and he hears their coach call out to him to get going.
heart beating like a hummingbird's, cheeks burning, and warm in shintaro’s presence – seijuro doesn't want to leave this feeling, doesn't want to wait another month at the very least to see shintaro again.
but alas–
“oi~ captain! we just might leave without you on the plane!”
it's a tempting thought, really, to stay behind and just have one of his father's privileges act up to send him home later than the others.
shintaro must realize this when he feels arms wrapping around his waist – seemingly not wanting to let go anytime soon.
he chuckles, hand moving to rest on the back of seijuro’s head and stroking his vibrant pink strands,
“go, seijuro. i’ll still be here whenever you come back.”
akashi squeezes his eyes shut, hugs onto midorima tighter for a second, before finally leaning back and smiling up at him – brightly, so brightly, that shintaro wants to etch the rare sight at the back of his eyelids.
“i love you.”
“i know.”
seijuro walks backward for a moment before turning around and starting to walk towards the gate.
a grip on his wrist has him stopping and turning back.
“seijuro, wait.”
head tilting unconsciously in confusion, he watches on as shintaro guides open the hand he still has closed to hold onto the ring – picks up the golden circlet with such gentleness before holding onto his ring finger, then slides the band on.
shintaro’s eyes linger on the ring, then on him,
“now go.”
seijuro races back to plant the swiftest kiss on his lips, finally walking towards his teammates who are in line to board the plane.
holding out his hand with the ring, he admires it once again – smile on his face, distracted to the point of not hearing whatever his team is talking about and mibuchi has to guide him to his seat in the plane.
he spends a few more moments just feeling the slightly cool metal surface slowly warm from the contact with his skin, turns the ring with his thumb to look at the stones that are as viridian as shintaro’s eyes and back to the gold surface again and again.
he doesn't notice reo and mayuzumi looking at him all the while from beside him, the rest of his teammates and even their coach standing up or kneeling on their seats to watch him – so he doesn't know the damage he deals when after the longest time, he speaks up,
“do you think father will accept it if i choose to go by midorima seijuro once we get married?”