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Kagami eyed the shoe-box suspiciously, knowing there was an expensive pair of basketball shoes insides; Nikes, probably Jordans, and probably expensive. No, definitely expensive. He looked up at Aomine, giving him the same look he’d given the shoe-box. “What?”
“It’s upfront payment,” Aomine said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
“For what?”
“For the massive favour I’m about to ask you. I mean, this is just upfront for if you agree. If you agree I can get you more. Or something else. Or… I don’t know. I’ll be nice to you. Or something. Just-”
“What is it you need, Aomine?” Taiga asked, carefully putting the shoe-box beside him.
“Right, so, hear me out, yeah? Please don’t punch me… Uh… I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend.”
Kagami stared blankly at Aomine for a few moments, trying to comprehend what he’d just been asked before he grabbed the shoes and stood up. “Nope. And I’m taking these as compensation for even being asked.”
“Asshole, wait!” Aomine grabbed Kagami’s arm, forcing him to sit back down. “Just hear me out! I need this favour, dude! My parents are trying to set me up with some girl because they want grandbabies because they’re old and want them before they die! And I really need to not have an arranged marriage at 17.”
Kagami scoffed, shaking Aomine’s hand off him. “Your parents are pressuring you to have kids, and the way to get them off your back is to pretend to be gay?”
“Uh, yeah?”
“Dude, you have porn everywhere! Straight porn!”
“It’s not porn, it’s art,” Aomine grumbled.
“It’s boobs. Your parents are not going to believe you went from loving boobs to loving a six-foot male basketball player.”
Aomine shrugged, shoving his hands in his coat pockets. “I can make it believable.”
“Not with me. Kuroko, sure. Kise, definitely. Why me?!”
“Kuroko would cripple me with his ignite pass, and I’d rather just get married than have Kise pretend to be my boyfriend.”
Kagami nodded, a smirk on his face. “Awesome. I look forward to the wedding then.”
“Kagami, please, stop being a dick. I seriously, really need this favour. I’m a lone wolf, I’m fucking seventeen! I cannot be getting married and having kids.”
“Why can’t you get Momoi to be your girlfriend instead?”
“Ew, don’t be disgusting. She’s like my sister. And my parents would still insist we get married next week. I need aboyfriend. Someone I can’t squeeze an army of brats out with… Please, Kagami. I’ll do anything.”
Kagami sighed, running and hand over his face, peeking a look at Aomine’s pathetic, pleading face. He looked to pitiful Kagami genuinely felt something tug at his heartstrings. He groaned, dropping his head and scrunched his fists in his hair. “Fine. Fine, whatever. But you’d better fucking make it worth my while, asshole.”
—
Kagami gripped his boyfriend’s hand tightly, enough to make Aomine hiss in pain. He leant his head closer to Aomine’s ear, giving his hand another firm squeeze. “I did not fucking agree to a weekend getaway with your parents,” he hissed, shooting a quick, reassuring smile over at Aomine’s parents. Aomine forced his own grin, wriggling his fingers in an attempt to ease up Kagami’s grip.
“I’m sorry, okay? I couldn’t say no. Plus my boyfriend would have no problem coming away with me for a week.”
“I’m going to make you pay so much for this. You have no idea.”
“Fine, fine, just please be good. I’ll make it up to you, I promise… now quick, kiss me or they’ll think we’re fighting.”
Kagami sighed, turned towards Aomine and cupped his cheek with his free hand. They both leaned forward, noses brushing together before their lips met, Aomine instantly sucking Kagami’s bottom lip between his. Kagami held his whine in the back of his throat, curling his fingers round the back of Aomine’s head, threading them into his hair and held his face closer. If there was one thing the pair had managed to agree on, it was that kissing was great, and when their game of pretend was over they needed to do it more often — though not with each other, obviously.
They pulled apart at the sound of Aomine’s father clearing his throat. “Alright, boys, enough of that. Daiki, why don’t you go and help Taiga-kun pack, and we’ll ring you when we’re setting off, okay?”
Aomine grinned over at his family, pulling his hand from Kagami’s and tossed his arm around his shoulders, pulling him against his side. “Sure.”
“Don’t be too long,” his mother added. “Don’t get distracted.”
—
Kagami was a city-boy. The only time he’d been in the countryside was when he was travelling from one city to another. So to be stuck in the middle of nowhere for three days was Hell on Earth. It certainly didn’t help he had cosy up to Aomine of all people and pretend to be lovey-dovey in front of his parents. Aomine and his family, it turned out, were outdoors people. They loved camping and nature immersing themselves in it. Although to be honest, seeing his pretend-boyfriend get excited about cray-fishing was actually quite cute. He’d only ever seen Aomine so pumped up about basketball, so to see his grin and his wild gesticulations and how genuinely he wanted Kagami to like it too, it was borderline adorable.
Aomine’s parents insisted Aomine show Kagami around the area whilst they set up the cabin. Aomine grinned his assent, grabbed Kagami’s hand and tugged him behind him as he stalked off into the trees, recalling happy memories of his childhood coming to this cabin. Kagami chuckled to himself, listening to Aomine’s stories, enjoying how open and happy he looked.
They were on their way back to the cabin when Aomine insisted they cut through the river instead of trekking all the way around to the bridge. He went first to reassure Kagami, hopping from one rock to another, letting Kagami see which ones to follow on.
When it happened, it happened in slow motion. Kagami’s foot slipped on the moss covering one rock, and jumped as quick as he could to the next one to save himself, only instead of following Aomine’s lead, he landed on an unstable rock. Aomine reached out to catch him before he fell, but the rock tipped over quicker than he could react and Kagami’s foot went with it, sending him falling backwards into the river, his fingertips just barely brushing Aomine’s.
When Kagami resurfaced, gasping loudly and wiping the water from his eyes, Aomine could barely contain himself, his laughter echoing through the trees. Kagami glared, pulling himself to his feet. Luckily the water barely reached his knees, but he was soaked nonetheless.
“Asshole!”
Aomine clutched his stomach, trying to keep his balance as he laughed. “What did I do?!” he managed, wiping the tears from his eyes.
“Stop laughing!”
“How can I not?! Look at you!”
Kagami grumbled to himself, taking advantage of Aomine’s distracted state and gave him a hard shove. Aomine went stumbling backwards, landing on his backside. He sat in the river for a moment, overcoming the sudden shock before he launched himself up and at Kagami, grabbing his shoulders. Kagami had expected the attack, however, and the two began wrestling, trying to overpower the other.
After a while of grappling and slipping over the wet riverbed, the goal went from trying to drown each other to simply trying to make the other fall again. Their aggressive growling and insults became laughter and playful banter.
Kagami managed to pull himself from Aomine’s grip and attempted to run away upstream, wading as quick as he could, Aomine close behind. They vaguely heard rustling coming from their right as Aomine’s parents came to see if the pair were alright.
“I’m going to drown you and sail down the river on your corpse!” Aomine shouted, laughing as he tried to catch up Kagami.
“Not if I drown you first!”
“Boys, don’t play in the river too long or you’ll catch a cold!” Aomine’s mother called, sighing when she realised they weren’t listening.
Kagami stopped wading upstream and turned to face Aomine, diving at him when he was close enough, sending the two of them down into the water. They quickly resurfaced, laughing as they began wrestling again. Aomine managed to get the upper hand, pinning Kagami to the bank, the two of them panting heavily.
“Do you give?”
Kagami snorted, wrangling one his arms away and splashed Aomine in the face. “Hell no.”
Aomine grabbed the arm again, pressing in closer, straddling Kagami’s legs underwater to pin his lower body too. “You sure about that?”
Kagami didn’t miss how close Aomine’s face was, or how hot his body was where they were pressed together. He kept his head held high, fighting a blush when he felt the tips of their noses brush together. He’d barely blinked when Aomine’s lips claimed his, wasting no time in slipping his tongue into his mouth. Kagami groaned, kissing back just as passionately, snatching his hands back to grab at Aomine’s shoulders and hair.
Aomine’s father sighed, patting his wife’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s not intrude.”
—
As a thank you to Aomine’s parents, Kagami insisted on helping cook, joining Aomine’s mother in the kitchen as they prepared the meal; Aomine and his father outside chopping firewood.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Taiga-kun. Daiki talks about you all the time.”
Kagami nodded, keeping his eyes trained on his carrots. “Oh?”
“We thought you were just his friend at first. He used to talk about his friend Tetsu before. Then suddenly all we heard about was you. You’re very good at basketball, good enough for Daiki to think you’re worth something. We had no idea he’d actually fallen in love with you, though. But it all makes sense, I suppose.”
“What?”
“He’s never talked about anyone as much as he talks about you, or in the same way he talks about you. And as much as he says he’s into girls and buys those… magazines, he’s never once talked about a girl other than Satsuki. Daiki talks about you… the same way I talked about his father to my friends back in school. And he gave you his shoes! They’re so important to him, Taiga-kun. I’m not allowed to even touch them! his own mother!”
Kagami forced a smile as he took in everything he was being told. “Yeah, well, Daiki’s great. He uh… well… he makes me happy?”
Aomine’s mother stopped chopping vegetables and turned to Kagami, putting her hands on his shoulders. “I know my son, and I know he won’t have told you, but you mean so much to Daiki. I’ve never seen him smile as much as he does with you. And as much as I’d love some grandchildren before I leave, Daiki’s happiness means more to me. So you cherish my son, Kagami Taiga. You look after him and love him, and he’ll love you back just as fiercely.”
—
“So apparently you’re in love with me,” Kagami declared as he crawled into bed, watching Aomine hang up his clothes for the next day.
“According to who?”
“Your mother. Apparently you talk about me. A lot. With this smile on your face?”
Aomine scoffed, suddenly taking a lot longer buttoning up his shirt. “Bullshit.”
“I mean, even she’s not allowed to touch your shoes, and I guess Momoi’s not either, she just stole them that one time. And you’ve given me two pairs… Also you talk about me the way she talked about your dad back in school. And she told me she was so far gone for your father, it was like he hung the moon.”
“Don’t listen to her, she’s going crazy in her old age.”
Kagami smiled to himself, enjoying watching the way Aomine squirmed uncomfortably. “You know, before, you said you could make it believable that we’re together to your parents. And I realised how fucking weird it was your parents were so accepting, y’know? They’re harping on about grandkids and their only son comes out with a boyfriend? And they’re totally fine with that. Weird… And then your mother told me she suspected-”
Aomine spun round, his cheeks glowing with embarrassment. “Oh my God, Kagami, shut up! Alright?! So what?!”
“So you are?”
“Are what?”
“In love with me.”
“I don’t know! Maybe?”
Kagami rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. “Why didn’t you just ask me out, then? Instead of this pretending shit?”
“Because I didn’t know, asshole! I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I don’t have many friends, and the best friend I’ve ever had is more like a sister, and Tetsu’s kind of like a brother, but I don’t see you like that! So I didn’t know if it was because we weren’t friends properly, or we just didn’t gel together, or… And then this pretend relationship thing, it’s been kinda… fun. And you’re really good at kissing and I’ve been thinking maybe I do like you, but what does it matter, because you won’t date me anyway.”
Kagami sighed, an amused smile on his face. He pulled down the covers of the bed, patting the space next to him. “You’re an idiot. Come to bed.”
“You’re the idiot,” Aomine muttered, finally hanging his shirt up before slipping under the covers beside Kagami. He froze when Kagami curled an arm around his waist, pulling him back against his chest.
“I might say no. I might say yes. You won’t know until you ask me,” Kagami whispered, pressing a kiss just behind Aomine’s ear, sending a shiver down Aomine’s spine.