Chapter Text
It was now official: Kazunari could not play basketball anymore. At least not until his eyes fully recovered, unless he wanted to get them permanently damaged. He could not get near any of the Miracles at the court, not even for a friendly match for at least a year and a half. Sadly, that included Midorima.
His ophthalmologist still didn’t know what had caused the injury, besides the excruciating strain he’d put on his eyes, but he almost had retinal detachment that would have required emergency surgery, but thankfully, it didn’t go that far. For now, he got away with prescription glasses and constant eye therapy for him to recover, which implied never using his abilities again, not until he healed. Even then, the doctor didn’t know if he could get injured again, so he advised against it.
At the end of the match, Takao had almost fainted. It was Akashi who’d caught him when he noticed winning the match was a lost cause, as the buzzer beater rang and Shintaro scored the finishing point. As the team clamored their victory, Midorima rushed towards his friends and noticed Takao was smiling faintly, but his eyes were severely irritated and a red streak began to run from one of them.
He knew how to identify a medical emergency when he saw one, so he split from the group and with Akashi’s help, they rushed him to the infirmary. Takao didn’t remember any of that, but he was bitter for days for not being able to celebrate and rub their victory on Akashi’s face. On the other hand, Seijuro didn’t seem to care much, he was just glad it had been nothing serious after all.
After they had taken the trophy and went back to school next week, Takao was in a terrible mood until the graduation ceremony, usually complaining that he was unable to participate in the remaining training sessions they had before the school year was over. However, he still attended and, during the final day, he passed on the mantle to Inazuma, who’d be their next captain until he graduated.
His bad temper didn’t matter much, at least he was happy with the results his team had shown. The school comitée had guaranteed the basketball team would have enough fundings for years to come after such a splendid victory last month. At least, the goals he had set for himself had been reached and that was more than enough. He just wished he didn’t feel so miserable, watching everyone around him having fun while Kazu had to remain seated. He hated the pitiful looks everyone aimed at him, but he tried to ignore them. Most of the time he failed, anger bursting out quickly.
Shintaro noticed, and though he knew best, he couldn’t do much to stop his own teammates from looking at their former captain that way. After the graduation ceremony happened and classes were finished, Takao refused most invitations to hang out, be it from his teammates or his friends from other schools. He felt terrible for acting like such an asshole, but his friends usually asked him out for… a match. A match of a game he couldn’t play anymore.
Takao hated the bitter taste of victory. It was supposed to be sweet, to be inebriating, not… this. Spring was beginning to blossom, but Takao refused to go out, staying inside his room more and more, Midorima being the only one who crossed the threshold every now and then. Even he had decided it was best to let distance heal his wounds. Kazu spent a lot of time sleeping, refusing to wear the glasses for more than a few hours because they reminded him that he was not enough. If he was enough, he would not have gotten injured. If he was enough, he could still play.
Whenever Shintaro walked in, they barely talked. Midorima would climb into his bed and embrace him until Takao lulled. The shorter boy would never admit it, but he felt bitter even towards him. After the match was over, he received several invitations from other schools to join their teams. Kyoto University, the one they had aimed for together, offered to cover more than half of his student loan if he joined. But no one reached for Kazunari. Probably, several others would have done it on the upcoming days, if news about his injury hadn’t spread like wildfire. Almost three months later, no school had reached out for him. Who would ever think, on their right mind, to recruit an injured player? Who would want someone useless?
“You should probably talk to someone, Kazu.” Midorima said as he brushed some locks away from his boyfriend’s eyes. “Locking yourself up is not going to help you get over things.”
“It’s easy for you to say it, Shin-chan,” Takao retorted angrily as he buried his face against his pillow. “You’ve got your seat saved and everything’s going oh-so-nicely for you. But what can you expect of someone like me?”
“I would hope you’d have the strength to move on. You will get better, but you need time to heal. And you’re coming with me, no objections.” He said lovingly. Midorima was really trying his best not to get exasperated as he always did.
“What for? To clean your house? To make you dinner? I'm not your mother.”
“Your results will come anytime now…”
“They should have arrived a week ago!” Takao complained, sitting up on the bed and staring furiously at Midorima. “You’re leaving in two weeks and I’m not even sure if I passed the entrance exam!”
Shintaro was about to argue back, finally losing his cool, but a frantic bang at the door stopped him. Suzume didn’t even wait for them to let her in. She’d learned to knock the hard way, but it seemed this could not wait. She entered Takao’s room with ragged breath, giving no damns about his brother being in bed with his boyfriend at all.
“This just came in the mail, brother!” She said, handing him a white envelope with a pink postage stamp on the front. A pink postage stamp from Kyoto.
Takao jumped out of bed as quick as lightning strike and snatched the letter from his sister’s hands. Midorima stood up as well, but stood in silence besides Suzume as her brother read the letter carefully. His expression was indescribable, he could not tell if he was either happy or disappointed.
“Shin-chan…” he cried, and Midorima immediately ran to hug him, believing he had failed the exam, but when he stretched his arms to hold him, Takao began to laugh frantically.
“Which one is it? Did you pass?” Suzume asked as Takao bended from laughter and both Midorima and her stared at him with concern.
“We’re moving to Kyoto, Shin-chan!”
* * *
Classes began in a few weeks. The moving truck had already taken most of the furniture they had bought for their new apartment after Midorima made a quick trip to their new home after Akashi had moved out. Takao was ready, his mood suddenly improved after receiving his letter. He only needed to take his personal belongings and endure a six-hour trip by car. His parents and Suzume insisted on making the trip together, one last family vacation together. They’d stay at a small hotel a few blocks from the university, but Takao couldn’t refuse them. He was going to miss them all like crazy.
Shin-chan had left by train the same day the moving truck came, given the fact that he had to hand-pick which personal items (say, which lucky items) he’d take and which ones he'd leave behind at his parent’s house.
A few days ago, Takao accompanied the Midorimas to the train station, where his parents and little sister said goodbye to their eldest son. Shin-chan’s mother and Megumin cried like they were on a funeral, but Dr. Midorima barely patted his son’s back a couple of times and sent him off when he rode the train. Takao stood by him until the last minute, feeling a little sappy to think he’d miss him. Kazu fixed his lover's scarf around his neck and handed him his bag as Midorima placed their cat’s traveling cage on his seat.
“I’m gonna miss you.”
“Don’t be stupid.” Midorima said coyly, but he smiled.
“Stupid is my middle name, Shin-chan.” Takao answered and, as time was almost over, he rose on his toes and pecked his lips.
“I’ll miss you too.” Midorima embraced him before parting. “See you there.”
Takao smiled as the memory faded and he returned back to his own time. He stared at his room one last time, his safe haven for the past 19 years. He smiled and felt a surge of nostalgia crawl upon him: his wardrobe now empty, his bed without sheets, the walls without a single decoration. His desk had no pencils, no notebooks or trash around it like it always had. Only a small lamp that had stopped working long ago laid atop of it. He brushed the feeling away and closed the door one last time, as his father called for him to hurry.
It was going to be a long, interesting trip.
* * *
Takao’s father parked the car a few blocks away from his new apartment after their long trip and helped him unload his few belongings, packed on cardboard boxes, from the car’s truck into the street. They had to leave soon to check in at their hotel, so they left Takao to carry his stuff on his own. He’d have to do a few trips to get it all up there, but he could manage, he thought.
“Need some help?” Asked a friendly voice, and Takao felt quite happy to see he had some very kind neighbors willing to help him. When he turned around to answer, he found a pleasant surprise.
His former teammates, from his first year to his last, were helping him pick his boxes and carrying them over the front door.
“Hey, guys! What are you doing here?!” Takao said, passing the box he had cradled in his arms to Kimura.
The older Miyaji hit him, and then the youngest brother did the same.
“You left without saying goodbye, you idiot!”
“You guys have jobs! I didn’t want to be a bother...”
“We know! That’s why Midorima decided to do it for you!”
“Why did you leave after the ceremony, senpai?” Inazuma said, patting him on the back. “We hoped you’d have wanted to go out for dinner to celebrate, but you disappeared!”
“So you all came all the way over here to send me off? And it was Shin-chan’s idea?”
“Yeah!” Tae-chan said, popping out from behind her brother, who grabbed Takao’s bags from his back. “We’re going to help you unpack and then we’re all going out for lunch. Tomorrow we’re having a picnic by the river!”
“Tomorrow? You’re also staying in the city?” Takao was really confused. He didn’t know Midorima had been planning all this, probably along his parents.
“Yeah, we’re heading back in a few days, so you better refrain from clustering in your room all day!”
“Coach Nakajima and Marbo are coming later today, but they’re only staying here for a couple of days.” said Arashii, smiling kindly.
“Guys, it’s not fair…” Takao said, lowering his eyes from the sight of them. He felt so… wrong. “You should all hate me for leaving like this.”
“Dumbass…” Miyaji muttered, but Ootsubo interrupted and patted Takao’s back.
“We understand, Takao. You are going through a tough time, but you have all your friends here to help you.”
Takao felt he was about to burst into tears when his senpai and his underclassmen and his manager all joined into a team hug like they did after a victory on the court, like he was made of glass and could not handle so much pressure.
“Now, now, dummy.” Tae said and handed him a copper key. “Let us handle the boxes and the bags. Go to the rooftop, Midorima-kun is waiting.”
* * *
Takao looked at the door before him and the rusty key on his hand. His fingers trembled slightly as he placed the key at the doorknob, unsure of why he was so nervous.
It’s Shin-chan, for heaven’s sake, why am I shaking like this?
He opened the door and found a sight before him, a beautiful view full of flowers and music and wonder and him. A smile met his lips as his lover turned around, standing from the piano stool. Shin-chan smiled back and stretched an arm for Takao to join him.
“You planned all this… for me?”
Midorima walked closer as Takao took his hand and he kissed him slightly, but didn't let go of each side of his face.
“You did so much for me these past years I felt I needed to give something back. It’s not much, but I hope it makes you feel better.”
“Shin-chan, I’m home. That’s all I could ask for.”
“Home… that sounds nice.”
* * *
FOUR MONTHS LATER
Summer break was upon them and they had taken their chances to finally meet for the first time since they started college. The Miracles and their friends had agreed to meet at that old street court they always gathered around when they were younger, but it was already past 12 and half of them were not there yet.
Satsuki kept checking her phone, waiting for someone to text or all, while Aomine rested lazily on her lap. Akashi was standing, checking his wrist watch every now and then. Kuroko had texted them he was a bit late but it shouldn’t take him long to arrive. Kise and Murasakibara were terribly late, as ever, nobody was impressed about it. However, they were both slightly worried they had no news from Midorima, who out of all in their merry group, was the most punctual. Something must have happened, because he wasn’t even answering his phone. When Satsuki called Takao, his number was unavailable as well.
Justas he had said, Kuroko arrived accompanied by Kagami, some minutes later after their accorded hour. This time, Satsuki didn’t rush to meet him, there was no Aomine hitting the floor from her standing up abruptly. It hadn’t been more than a few minutes and Aomine and Kagami were already engaged in a 1 vs 1, the others observing with interest. Kuroko and Akashi joined them a few minutes later, whilst Momoi watched from afar.
Murasakibara arrived 45 minutes late, angry and munching onto a large piece of sandwich. Apparently, he got stuck on traffic and decided to go straight into a drive-thru before getting there. When Kagami asked him about Tatsuya, Murasakibara almost growled back at him, but he said Himuro would arrive after four, when his shift was over.
Akashi changed places with his gigantic friend and tried once again to call Midorima and Kise. The latter didn’t answer because he was just a few minutes from getting there, but there were still no signs of the former. Kise redo off of Kasamatsu’s car and, though Momoi and Kuroko insisted he stayed, their senior said he had some other pending matters to attend to. Kise remained for a few minutes perched on his window, talking to his ex captain and now boyfriend and kissed him goodbye, thanking him for picking him up after 9. Kise laughed when Ksamatsu’s car disappeared from sight and insisted he’d drag him for dinner with all of them.
“Where 's Midorimacchi?” Asked Kise, who was now preparing himself to play, but noticed their green haired friend was absent.
“We don’t know, he’s not answering.”
“Do you think something happened to him, Akashi-kun?”
“Nah,” Aomine interrupted and he sat abruptly on the bench besides Momoi, taking a break from his heated match against Kuroko, Murasakibara and Kagami. Apparently, Murasakibara hadn’t joined his team to play against the ex-Seirin pair and instead went against both. “I think he got caught up with something… you know something around 5’7, dark hair, weird eyes…”
“Dai-chan!”
“There’s a chance he’s right,” Said Akashi with a smile on his lips. “It’s the only reason I can think of why Shintaro wouldn’t answer his phone and he’d arrive late.”
“Ah, the mental image won’t ever vanish…” said Kise, laughing.
By the time Akashi had decided he’d call the police if Shintaro didn’t answer during the next 20 minutes, a black motorcycle parked around the corner, two figures clad in dark clothes riding on it.
The red haired boy looked with amusement at the two newcomers as they had a heated discussion with both helmets still on, one man shorter than the other. The shorter one was the first one to complain he was getting breathless and removed the damn thing from his head, revealing Takao behind it. Midorima imitated him and fixed his emerald hair with his fingers. It was slightly strange to watch them both wearing glasses now, and Akashi noticed they were wearing matching pairs.
“Good evening, everyone!” Takao greeted them loudly, carrying both their bags. “As an offering and an apology for being so goddamn late, we offer you a very nice new ball as a gift!” He said with dramatic poise and smiled, throwing the bright orange ball at Aomine. Kagami jumped on him and resumed play, not caring much about the newcomers.
“Takaocchi!” exclaimed Kise, joining them at the entrance. He whistled as he laid eyes on both of them, Takao wearing glasses and Midorima wearing a leather jacket.
“So nice to see you two!”
“We thought something had happened!”
“Ah, right, I have a lot of missed calls from everyone.” Midorima said and Takao nodded, checking his phone as well.
“Let’s say we took a detour before coming here.” Takao said, shrugging.
“See? I told you Midorima got distracted with his midget, Satsuki!” said Aomine as he readied himself to go back into the game.
“Dai-chan!”
“What does that even mean, Aomine?!” Midorima said, angry, but Takao rolled his eyes and took out a pinecone from his bag. A very, very large pinecone.
“What the hell is that?” Atsuhi asked -more like, he screamed- from afar, intrigued.
“Cancer was first today. Pinecones are the lucky item and we drove by a forest on our way here. You can guess the rest.”
“Really, all of this for a fucking pinecone?!”
“It took us hours to find one of his liking and the deeper we went, the least signal we've got on our phones.” Takao explained, feeling more ashamed that he'd ever been.
“You never change, don’t you?!”
“All just to beat your asses again.” Midorima hissed and readied himself in just a few seconds, jumping into the court with eagerness. He laughed and smiled as he met both Murasakibara and Kagami on the concrete court. Takao placed the stupid pinecone back into his bag and sighed heavily.
“At least he’s happy, that’s what matters.” Takao said, letting himself fall into the bench besides Satsuki. The others watched Midorima play, laughing and smiling, which was strange. Takao just shrugged and insisted he had already grown used to his partner being a lot more upbeat now, ever since they had started living together.
“Ah, they finally divided into teams.” Satsuki said as she watched them organize. Akashi set them all in order now that he didn’t have any more worries in mind. “You’re sure you cannot play, Taka-shan?”
“Not unless I want to go blind before I hit twenty, and I really don’t want that.” He mocked and accepted a can of iced coffee she was offering.
“Will you be able to go back?”
“The doctor said that I could try once my eyes have recovered and once my body has reached maturity. Until then, I cannot even play casually. Playing along these monsters would blind me in less than five minutes.”
“Driving doesn’t hurt your eyes?” She asked, fixing her hair on a ponytail.
“No, it actually helps. Whatever stimulates my eyes and doesn’t put me under too much stress helps me recover, as long as I keep the glasses on. Driving short distances, taking pictures, reading, finding small details on pictures or paintings, it helps a lot.”
“Short distances? Didn’t you two drive from home on the bike?”
“Ah, Shin-chan drove most of the road. He 's good at it.”
“You’ve got him to learn how to drive a motorbike? I thought he was afraid of them.”
“He was, but once he got on it and we learned that we could move waaaaay faster from home to school and to our jobs and back, there was no coming back, you know?”
“Unbelievable…” she muttered under her breath and stared at them, playing wildly against each other.
From time to time, she stole a glance from Takao, who smiled as he watched as well. She never believed that thin and wimpy boy back in middle school, who got humiliated after a match most of her teammates didn’t even remember would have changed one of them so drastically. Shehad clearly underestimated him, expecting nothing from a perfect nobody, but as time passed, he became the perfect example that even in the ordinary something extraordinary can happen.
* * *
The boys played a couple of rounds in which the team that had Akashi within them always won. It was a strange tradition, but they played anyway. Kuroko started to feel tired after a particularly harsh play against Murasakibara and decided it was better to sit down for a while.
“Here, Tetsu-kun, have a drink!” Momoi said, handing him a cup of cold juice. Kuroko smiled as he sat back down between Satsuki and Kazunari and they kept watching the match.
“Thanks, Momoi-san. How’s college going, Takao-kun?” He asked, taking his chances to talk with the other boy since he hadn't seen him since the end of the Winter Cup.
“It’s going just fine. Shin-chan and I are in the same school so we see each other all the time, our campus is really big but we have classes on the same building. So far I think we’re doing great. Living on our own has been harsh at times, but it has some advantages… cleaning dishes and filling the fridge is not one of them.” Takao laughed, but he waved it off with ease.
“So Midorima-kun ended up picking music school, right? I always thought he’d end up studying medicine.”
“We all did, his father always talked of how proud he’d be if he followed his family’s tradition.” Momoi agreed, but Takao shook his head.
“Shin-chan is very good at playing and understanding music. I mean, he probably would have been a terrific doctor, but his heart was not on it.”
“Some may say,” Momoi chided with a kind smile, “that a certain hawk-eyed boy may have something to do with him taking that decision.”
Takao evaded the girl’s eyes and noticed Kuroko was also staring at him with some sort of gentle curiosity. He felt uncomfortable, but he said nothing of it. Instead, he removed his glasses and cleaned them though they weren't really dirty. After a while, he shook his head and smiled bashfully.
“I’ve got nothing to do with it.” Takao said, but he knew it wasn’t completely true. If it hadn’t been for his dumb challenges and his constant pestering, he knew Shin-chan would not be where he was today. He’d have obeyed his father’s words. He would have stayed in Tokyo and he’d not be Takao’s boyfriend.
As they spoke, he watched Shin-chan stealing the ball from Atsushi and tossing it to Akashi, who was in his team at the moment. He longed so much to be on the court it almost hurt, but he knew better and got a hold of himself. For the past months, he’d sort of joined KyoUni’s basketball team as their manager just to be near Shin-chan while he trained. The coach hadn’t refused, given their history, but Takao missed the game so much it felt like a thorn on his side.
“I think you’ve got everything to do with it, Takao-kun. You’ve sacrificed so much for him it shows. You did for him what none of us ever thought about… myself included.” Kuroko admitted, but Takao didn’t follow. The blue haired boy seemed to notice, so he smiled and continued, “you became his friend.”
“You can’t say you weren't his friends. I mean, perhaps you weren’t the best friends, but you were… there.”
“Come on, Taka-chan. Do you think we can really call ourselves his friends when he’s been so lonely until he met you?” Momoi admitted, letting the guilt wash over her as well.
“I think being there isn’t even enough when we pushed him aside just for being different.” Kuroko said.
“But you… you accepted him with all his quirks and perks, no matter what. You never abandoned him.”
Takao remained silent and avoided their gazes. The pair understood he was done talking and decided to engage into a different kind of topic, something about Nigou, but Takao wasn't paying them much attention. He barely noticed Kasamatsu popped up on the court and Kise seemed to be very surprised to see him come earlier than expected. Their match resumed and, after almost half an hour later, Tatsuya appeared as well. Their numbers were uneven again, and they seemed to be discussing how to split themselves, but Midorima waved them off and walked away. Takao returned back to reality when he saw his boyfriend walking towards him, dripping sweat but smiling.
“Nicely done, Shin-chan!” Takao said cheerfully as Midorima ruffled his hair affectionately.
“Aren’t you getting bored?”
“More like… itching to go there and give you a hand. But we know I can’t.” He smiled and nudged his side. “Besides, I’m too much for you guys.”
Midorima rolled his eyes but smiled anyway.
Out of the blue, Takao seemed to remember he was supposed to be doing something. He dug through his backpack until he found his camera. He opened the lenses and fixed it’s settings to adjust to the evening light and began focusing on the boys at the concrete court. Shin-chan rarely admitted it, but he enjoyed watching Takao practice with his camera. In a very short time, he had proven to have a really good eye for taking pictures.
“Homework?” Midorima asked.
“Sort of. We have to do a final project about optical composition. Most of my classmates picked traditional media, but I asked the professor if it was right to use photographs and she said it was ok as long as I got the assignment right.”
“I will pretend I perfectly understood everything you just told me.”
“Then just shut up and smile!” Takao said, turning the camera towards them. Midorima hated taking selfies, but when Takao insisted, he could not help but indulge him. Takao made sure they were both within the lens range and pressed the button several times.
“I doubt selfies are allowed into your project. What’s the occasion?”
“Hmm no occasion. I can actually use portraits for some tasks of the assignment, so you’re going to be modeling when we get back home.”
“What kind of portraits are you even thinking about?”
“Oh, you better cover your ears~” Takao said with a sultry tone and Midorima hit him lightly on the back of the head.
“Idiot.”
“Jeesh, there’s no pleasing you. But...you know I like taking pictures to have nice memories. I think this is some sort of closure to our high school years and I want to remember them like this. When we left for Kyoto, we didn’t have much chance to say goodbye.”
“Then ask them to come for a photo.”
“Ah, later, when they’ve cleaned themselves up and we’re out for dinner. But for now I want more pictures of us…” Takao said, checking back on the few pictures he had taken and smiled when he found one in which Shin-chan smiled back at him from the camera’s display.
“Kazu… I’ve told you before, but this is not goodbye. You are going to heal and you’re going to play again. You will.”
Takao smiled but the gesture did not meet his eyes. Noticing his sudden drop of mood, Midorima embraced him and kissed his temple as they watched the other boys play. Just four months after his injury, he couldn’t be sure. But those bright, determined emerald eyes made him believe it could be true. Who knew? Maybe in a couple of years he could try again, go back step by step until he was ready, with Shin-chan by his side. Only time would tell.