Chapter Text
Takao forced himself to stand still through yet another round of Midorima making microscopic adjustments to his tuxedo. With the way his boyfriend fussed, one would think he had done more than sit in a car for the ten-minute drive from their hotel to Akashi's house. Akashi had offered to let them stay in one of his many guest rooms, but Midorima had wanted somewhere more private he could retreat to after the party, and Takao was all too happy to oblige. While his relationship with Akashi was no longer as tense as it had been, he still had no real desire to spend the night in Akashi's house. He didn't care what Midorima said; Rakuzan's former ace still unsettled him.
Takao knew it was a reassuring ritual for husband, but if he were being perfectly honest, he would admit that the incessant fussing had the opposite effect on him. After the umpteenth round of Midorima nervously picking invisible lint off of his shoulders and making microscopic adjustments to his tie, Takao couldn't help but start feeling nervous and a bit out of his depth. Growing up, his family's New Year's celebration was always an informal event with everyone gathering at his aunt and uncle's to play games, make mochi, and generally celebrate. The idea of a celebration that required a tuxedo to attend had been completely foreign to him before he started dating Midorima, as had the tuxedo itself to be honest; the first time he tried to get into one, thinking it couldn't be that much more difficult than the suits he wore occasionally, a rather amused and exasperated Midorima had had to come untangle him and get all of the pieces sorted out properly.
Once Midorima was satisfied that neither of them was going to commit an unintended fashion faux pas by having a cufflink out of place, he offered his arm to Takao, and they walked together to the front door of Akashi's spacious house. Before they could ring the doorbell, the door was opened for them, and one of the staff Akashi always hired for the party was offering to take their coats.
Takao took advantage of the brief pause as he tried to get out of his coat without disturbing any of the rest of his attire to survey the rest of the party. Akashi's New Year's parties had started back in their first year of college as a way for the Generation of Miracles and their respective high school teams to meet socially once they were no longer meeting regularly on the court. The first year, it had been a fairly small gathering, and Akashi, with Midorima's encouragement, had decided to go with a more traditional theme, including group poetry composition and recitation. That particular activity hadn't been met with much enthusiasm, and between Aomine's propensity for lewd verse, Kagami's utter lack of any sense of meter, and Izuki's tendency to turn anything into a pun, it had been something a disaster. Luckily, it had not made an appearance since.
Once Akashi began working at his father's company, he started inviting his coworkers and subordinates as well. They had grown in number every year until they made up the majority of the crowd, but Takao still saw some familiar faces. Murasakibara was easy to pick out, towering over the crowd, and since he was carrying little Takeshi, Takao assumed Himuro wasn't far away. Aomine's distinctive drawl was easy to pick out from the rest of the polite chatter, and from there it didn't take him long to locate Aomine in the crowd, currently engrossed in what looked to be a heated discussion with Kagami. Mibuchi looked stunning as usual in a long evening dress, proudly introducing his girlfriend to Nebuya and Hayama. Kise was easy pick out as well, looking far more attractive than should be permitted at the center of a smitten group of office ladies, and the occasional man. Takao didn't see Kuroko, but that didn't mean much; Seirin's smallest member had always been easy to miss, even with his Hawk Eye.
"Midorima, Kazunari, I'm glad you could make it," Akashi said, coming over to greet them. "Please, make yourselves at home, and do try the mochi if you have a chance." Before they had a chance to respond, Akashi had already moved on, greeting another of the new arrivals.
Takao felt Midorima stiffen beside him as Akashi left. "Shin-chan?" he asked, resting a hand on Midorima's arm.
"He's nervous," Midorima said looking at where Akashi had disappeared back into the crowd.
Takao hadn't noticed, and had in fact been about to marvel at Akashi's ability to circulate so easily through the dozens of conversations taking place around them, but Midorima knew Akashi better than he did, and he trusted Midorima's judgement.
"It's understandable," he said. Midorima had told him that Akashi would be resigning from his job early in the new year, and while he didn't know all of the details, he knew it was going to have significant repercussions. He also knew that Akashi was insisting on holding his annual New Year's party as usual, and most of his coworkers didn't yet know of his resignation - a fact Midorima had made sure to emphasize repeatedly over the past several days.
Before Midorima could respond, Riko interrupted them with some new study she wanted Midorima's opinion on. Takao, who knew they could go on for hours once they got started, left them and their medical jargon in search of food. Akashi may have had many flaws in Takao's eyes, but his taste in catering was not one of them.
After fighting his way through Kise's gaggle of admirers, Takao finally made his way to the long tables of food set up at the back of the ballroom. He was just finishing loading his plate when he heard a familiar bark and looked over to see Kuroko picking out choice treats for Nigou. Nigou had traded his familiar jersey for a formal waistcoat for the occasion.
Kuroko smiled at Takao. "It was a gift from Akashi," he said. "He has quite the weak spot for Nigou and spoils him rotten. Not that I'm complaining, mind you."
Takao reached down to scratch Nigou between the ears. The dog had grown until he was far too big to carry around anymore, but he was just as gentle as he had been as a puppy. Nigou gave a couple of satisfied barks before returning to Kuroko for more treats, and Takao found himself pulled into another conversation with an old acquaintance.
At some point, Takao lost track of who he had and had not seen that night as he passed from group to group. Eventually, he found himself in a conversation with Mibuchi's girlfriend. He hadn't met her before, but he liked her immediately, and he liked her even more when he learned that she had been the one responsible for most of the alterations to Mibuchi's dress. "I've always loved sewing," she said, "and it's much easier than trying to find a tailor who won't look at Reo strangely. We may be living in the twenty-first century, but we still have a long way to go in some areas." Takao nodded in agreement, having had similar thoughts about his relationship with Midorima on multiple occasions.
"But that's enough about us," she continued, "what about you? How do you know Akashi?"
"My basketball team played against his in high school multiple times. I'm mainly here with my boyfriend though; he was Akashi's vice-captain back in middle school. Here, I'll introduce you," Takao said, scanning the crowd for Midorima.
He was so used to being able to find his boyfriend without thinking about it that it caught him off guard when he couldn't immediately locate Midorima. Thinking it had to be due to the sheer number of people in the space, Takao scanned the room again, this time consciously using his Hawk Eye. When he still couldn't find Midorima, he started to worry. While it was possible that Midorima had simply stepped out for a moment to use the bathroom, his gut told him otherwise, and he hurriedly excused himself.
He may not have been able to find his boyfriend, but he did find Izuki, and he managed to pull Izuki away from his puns long enough to get the Eagle Eye to confirm that Midorima was not in the room. That did nothing to reassure Takao, especially since Midorima should have returned by then if he had in fact simply stepped out for a moment. After one last scan of the ballroom, Takao started trying to think of places where his boyfriend could be.