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It was the worst day of his entire life.
Going back from his additional school team practice, Kagami almost dragged his school bag on the ground. He was angry, tired, and sad. Strong emotions were taking control of his body, making his heart ache, his throat squeeze, and his eyes water. He kicked some innocent pebbles that managed to appear on the wrong place at the wrong time on Taiga’s path on the sidewalk, and then sighed heavily, wiping his eyes and whole face with the collar of his t-shirt.
Today was August the 2nd. Kagami’s birthday which everyone forgot.
From the start of the day to this moment, no one paid attention to this date or Kagami. Of course, it’s not like Taiga wanted exaggerated attention just because today was the day he was born, but last year the whole Seirin basketball team celebrated with him and they promised to celebrate this year too, saying such an important date as birthday was worth every bit of honoring.
Looks like it isn’t important at all if they forgot about it, dark thoughts clouded Kagami’s mind as he made his way to his apartment, steps heavy on the staircase. Even his father with whom Taiga always had very good contact, even if sporadic, didn’t call him this day, didn’t even send any message. Kagami didn’t blame the older man though, because a few days earlier, his dad informed him that he’d be on a trip around this time.
The red-eyed teenager stopped in front of his door but before he was able to find keys and open them, his phone buzzed softly in his pocket, informing him of a new message. So he fished his phone out and opened it, notification of a new message instantly popping out on the main screen.
From Best Boyfriend Ever: 1on1? our court if u wanna play
It was from Aomine, of course. Kagami smiled at the sight of the name Aomine one day set when he wasn’t looking and then his smile grew even bigger after reading the message. Touou’s Ace always wrote short texts, often avoiding proper grammar but after more than a year of friendship and then almost 3 months of being his boyfriend, Taiga learned how to decipher taller teenager.
Getting his hopes back that someone, after all, remembers about him and his birthday, Kagami replied Daiki with simple ‘sure’ and rushed back outside, targeting their court - and by that Aomine meant the one they always play one-on-one on and also the place they confessed to each other their feelings.
The fast-paced walk to the court took him less than five minutes. Behind the wire fence separating the court from the busy main street, stood Aomine. They were both on their second year in high school and damn Kagami loved the way Aomine’s muscles got even bigger now that he’s back to regular playing. The tanned teenager remained slimmer than Kagami but 2cm of height difference also stayed the same, even if both of them were still growing.
“Aomine!” The ace of the Seirin team greeted the blue-haired boy happily from the other side of the court, quickly approaching closer. A huge grin was glued to Kagami’s face. Aomine was wearing sports shorts and a simple t-shirt, on his feet were his favorite playing shoes, basketball propped on his right hip and held by his right arm, on which Aomine was wearing an arm supporter for his elbow and forearm. On the bench near Aomine laid his sports bag with another ball hidden inside. Kagami shot the spare ball a glance, but the bag was quickly covered by Aomine’s body and zipped close before Taiga could focus on it. The redhead’s gaze went back to Aomine’s blue eyes. “It isn’t often that I get an invitation to play from you, Aomine. Is there any occasion?” Kagami half-jokingly asked, internally hoping his Daiki will in a moment wish him best for his birthday and then kiss him breathless where he stood. Kagami still was too new to the whole ‘boyfriends’ thing to display on public any physical affection like Aomine wanted. Hell, Taiga had even problems with simply calling Aomine by his first name in public. Daiki, on the other hand, started to call his boyfriend ‘Taiga’ first thing after they officially became lovers.
“Yo.” The short greeting was everything Kagami heard from his boyfriend before the silence stretched between them. The red-haired was waiting for Aomine to say anything, maybe to hint that he indeed remembers about his lover’s birthday but the awkward silence and Kagami’s stiffness only seemed to make Daiki irritated. “You gonna change yourself or what?” the blue-haired finally asked, something harsh in the tone of his voice, his thin brows furrowed to his signature grimace. That startled Kagami, who after a few seconds just sighed heavily for the nth time and put his bag next to Aomine’s. Within a moment, Seirin’s ace changed his casual shoes to a pair of his playing shoes and hurriedly warmed up on his way to the center of the court where Aomine was already waiting.
“Oh shit, wait a minute,” said Kagami before they could even start playing and jogged back to the bench to fish his leg supporters out of his bag. After his last injury and almost breaking his knee during a friendly match with Kaijo and Kise, Seirin’s coach ordered Kagami to wear leg supporters each time he would play. So he quickly slipped them on through his shoes to not waste time with getting them off and then back on. He then trotted back to the court, receiving a low whistle from his boyfriend. Aomine looked like he wanted to say something, but then only smirked with one corner of his mouth and started lazily dribbling the ball with his left hand, going easy on his right arm for a moment.
Kagami bent down, getting low on his knees, hunching his back and outstretching his arms. He instantly focused on Aomine and the ball he was dribbling now with his right hand. There was nothing more. Only the two of them, the ball and two baskets on each side of the court. Nothing else mattered for Kagami at that moment.
Aomine slowly made his way towards Kagami, knees bending just enough to lunge with one foot and then instantly go back, Taiga following one step after. Their play always looked like that - like a fight between two wild and dangerous cats. Kagami was like a tiger, dominating the field by his size and mass, attacking with long and high leaps. Aomine, on the other hand, was like a panther - silent and deadly. He’d hide behind his own, faking moves when possible and using that to sneak past his prey, to attack from the back, to strike in the most unpredictable way.
However, most of the time Kagami knew how to read Aomine. So when the tanned teenager made another fake to his left and leaped to the right, Kagami followed, blocking his way to the score. Daiki clicked his tongue loudly, visibly irritated that his moves were useless against Seirin’s ace but on his lips still danced that small, almost too shy to show itself smirk. It showed that Aomine still had so much fun playing and deep inside, he was proud of his boyfriend constantly getting better and better.
It was time to change his approach.
“Wanted to tell you earlier but damn your legs look so hot in those.” Low, raspy voice of his boyfriend and his signature smirk capable of charming almost every living human being on earth were enough to stop Kagami for one blink of an eye. Dumbstruck by so bold of a compliment, Taiga let Aomine take one step back, the blue-haired male passed the ball from his right to the left hand in between his legs and immediately jumped for a three-pointer. The ball left his hands with a low swish, trajectory oh so perfect to land the shot without even touching a rim of the ring. Despite that, Kagami jumped and managed hit the ball with his index finger, striking it off of its original path. The ball then hit the ring, circled around the loop, and finally went inside the basket.
“That all you’ve got, Taiga?”
“Oh, it’s on, you cocky bastard!” Kagami yelled, quickly snatching the ball from under the basket. He didn’t waste any time, speeding to the other side of the court, to the other basket, already guarded by Aomine. Kagami released a loud roar containing all of the bad emotions he collected throughout the day and jumped from the three-point line to dunk, Aomine jumping right after to stop him. His jump was however too small and he could only watch in slow motion as his rival, best friend, and boyfriend scored with a huge grin on his face. That made Aomine smile too, as he managed to cross his gaze with the other. And then…
“Happy birthday, Taiga.”
...the metal chains of the basket clattered, the ball hit the ground, paper confetti shot loudly and time began to flow again.
Kagami landed on the ground, startled by the way so many people suddenly appeared around them. He saw the whole Seirin team with the coach and her father, he saw the GoM with other friends, there were Kise with Kasamatsu, Wakamatsu, and Sakurai hiding shyly behind him, he saw Murasakibara with Tatsuya, Midorima and Takao, and Akashi, Kuroko with Nigou in his arms and Momoi by his side. There were each of his friends and people who had an important place in his heart, and everyone was screaming him best wishes on his birthday.
And Kagami stood there among them, smiling and blushing and shivering, feeling so touched and loved and remembered it made his eyes water. Soon first tears spilled on his burning cheeks as he thanked everyone for such a surprise.
“But why? How-” he asked, not sure about what exactly. Luckily, his friends were eager to answer.
“It’s all thanks to Aominecchi!” said Kise, and Momoi quickly followed with a nod of her pink head.
“It was his idea to prepare a little surprise for you, Kagamin. Dai-chan gathered everyone and told us about his plan. We were supposed to act as we forgot about your birthday but it was so hard! I’m so glad it’s over now!”
“Aomine-kun was very upset he missed your birthday last year, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko threw in, making Taiga’s whole face as red as his hair.
“Oi!”
“Anyway, Daiki, it’s time for the gift.”
“Yeah, bring the ball, Mine-chin~...” Akashi and Murasakibara were fast to rush Aomine, but the tanned boy was faster as he was already back with basketball in his hands. It wasn’t an average ball, as Kagami quickly realized with his eyes wide from shock as he carefully took the gift to his own hands.
“Are those-”
“Signatures of all players from Chicago Bulls, yes.”
“Aominecchi found it on the online auction and decided to fight for it. We all gathered the money needed but it was Aominecchi who won the auction!“ Kise instantly explained and everyone agreed to that.
“But that isn’t the end of the surprise, Taiga.” Himuro’s English broke through everything and everyone went silent like it was some kind of order or signal. Then, the group of people split up in the middle, revealing one more person hiding behind them all.
“Oh my fucking God, dad!” Seirin’s ace gasped, immediately crossing the distance separating him from his father, and the older of the Kagamis was fast to tightly embrace his son in a warm hug. “But how? You were supposed to be on a trip!” Taiga said back in Japanese so everyone could understand them.
“And my trip brought me right here,” said Kagami senior, placing a warm hand on his son’s shoulder. Reading a silent question in Taiga’s eyes, he pointed at Aomine with his chin. “This young man messaged me, with Tatsuya’s help, explaining himself and asking for my presence today. He did so much just for you I couldn’t deny his request.”
Kagami looked up, right to his boyfriend, who was smiling to him fondly, tips of his ears tinted red from slight embarrassment but his eyes sure and unwavering, hands outstretched to him in silent invitation. Taiga didn’t hesitate even for a second before he leaped right into his boyfriend’s arms. Loud whistles and cheering made his whole face burn red. But he paid them minimal attention as he kissed Aomine breathless. In the end, Kagami was wrong. It wasn’t the worst day of his entire life.
It was the best.