#did i really quote sh*ngela in a fic that isn't even half humorous?

[dondake]

[akamido] of you and me

rating: t summary: Everything I’ve had I’ve worked for, and I’ve gotten myself. I’ve built myself from the ground up.

The Midorima family business had a quiet fall from grace until Kise Ryouta decided to mention it in his naturally carrying voice in a little gastropub in Tokyo. “Midorima, that reminds me,” he said, drawing all eyes on him as he was addressing a member of the group he rarely personally interacted with. “How are you doing? I saw what happened on the web; hope your family’s doing okay?”

Midorima turned back to the menu in his hands. Aomine, between him and Kise, turned to his right. “What are you talking about, Kise?”

“It’s nothing,” Midorima said.

“Oh, you haven’t heard? It sounded like Midorima’s parents’ company went bankrupt or something! I mean, I don’t keep up with that kind of stuff, but I read that they’d been losing money and had to keep cutting staff and last week, they just went and closed and everything! I don’t really understand it myself, so I wanted to check in today. Midorima-cchi, are you doing okay? You don’t need to drop out of university, do you? My manager could probably get you something, you’re tall and you’ve got a good figure. What of your sister? Isn’t she finishing high school? Does she need to go straight to being an office lady or--”

“Kise,” said Midorima. “Drop it.” Kise opened his mouth to protest and Aomine nudged him, hard, in the side. While this might have elicited a squeal of protest from anyone else, Kise was soft for Aomine and closed his mouth immediately. Still, with everyone’s eyes on him, Midorima had no choice but to sigh and explain himself. “Yes, it’s true that my family’s company has declared bankruptcy. The Board had made several bad investments in the past few years and it was too much to recover. It isn’t like the company has evaporated overnight; they’re still working on sorting out all the debts and manage our remaining employees. But my family is doing fine, thanks for asking.” He waved down a waiter to take their order, effectively ending the conversation.

As they were collecting their jackets at the door, Murasakibara and Momoi helping Aomine carefully handle a tipsy Kise flirting with everyone at the bar while Kuroko watched passively, Akashi cocked his head. “You didn’t tell me your family had been in trouble,” he said.

Midorima did not meet his eyes as he hitched Momoi, Kise, and Aomine’s jackets in his arm. “Would I have talked about my family’s shame even to my closest friend? Especially someone who is heir to an equally weighted familial responsibility?” When he finally looked up, the emotion in his eyes had been controlled to an impasse. “My personal problems are not any of your concerns, no offense.”

“Of course not,” Akashi said, taken aback. “But...well, as you’ve said, I’ve also got the weight of my father’s company on my shoulders so I know what that’s like. I suppose it isn’t proper asking how your family is faring financially but - you’re finishing a business degree, aren’t you? I know that isn’t what you’ve wanted to do, so are you able to start a medical--”

“Akashi,” Midorima interrupted, his voice steely. “I don’t start something I won’t finish.” He turned and handed Kise his jacket in one smooth motion, as if he had rehearsed the gesture. He helped Momoi into her peacoat, as she chatted to keep Kise upright and distracted as Aomine quickly slipped into his coat and slipped his arm back around Kise’s waist to stabilize him. Murasakibara and Kuroko returned from paying the tab.

“Yeah,” Aomine said, once they reached the sidewalk. “How much do we owe you? Just send me the request on Paymo.”

“Sure,” Kuroko said.

“I got you,” Kise slurred, looking over at Midorima. “Send me Midorima-cchi’s share too, don’t worry about it!”

Midorima’s lips drew into a thin, tight line. “I don’t need handouts. I can pay my own way, thanks.” Aomine hurried Kise along, although his glance back at Kuroko was clear enough that Midorima’s portion was to be split between the rest of them. Midorima fell back in the group, tense and unwilling to engage in any more unnecessary discussion.

Akashi fell in step with him. “I’m sorry. For what I said earlier. It was out of line, too early…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Midorima said, although his tone was clipped, almost mechanical. “How long do you think we’ve known each other? I know what you mean.”

At the train station, Kise had thrown both arms fully around Aomine’s neck, comfortably settled into his needy mode for the night. “Aww,” he whined, resting his temple on Aomine’s neck. “I wish I lived on your guys’ side of the city. I hate being so far away. I’m so jealous that Aomine and Kuroko and Midorima go to university together and Akashi’s like...a bus ride away and Murasakibara and Momoi live together and it’s just not fair that I’m on the other side of Tokyo! Won’t one of you come and live near me already!”

“You’re disrupting the other riders,” Aomine chastised. “I told you I’ll see you home so you won’t pass out in a ditch somewhere, so be quiet already.”

“How completely transparent,” Murasakibara grumbled as Aomine and Kise boarded the train going west. “He could have just said he was going over to hook up.”

Momoi tugged on her boyfriend’s ponytail. “Shh. We’re not supposed to know, remember?”

“I suppose it’s just you and me on the walk back to campus,” Kuroko said.

“I suppose so,” Midorima agreed.

“Akashi, you don’t want us to walk to you to your apartment?” Momoi offered. “It’s just a few stops from ours, so it’s not a problem. It’s a warm night, so Atsushi and I won’t mind.”

“It’s fine,” Akashi said, smiling. “Don’t worry about it.” He watched her lean her head against Murasakibara’s shoulder through the train window. Kuroko had already pulled out a book and was discussing it with Midorima, across from them. Akashi found himself on the train platform, feeling suddenly very alone.

[=]

After his only son left for high school in Kyoto and returned to Tokyo for university, Akashi Masaomi decided to sell his big house for a smaller, still elegant abode in a quiet Tokyo suburb. Akashi commuted to school from an apartment closer to campus and spent his weekends at home, where his father was already helping indoctrinate him into the family company on a part-time basis. As he left his own study late one night, Akashi found Midorima putting on his shoes in the foyer. “Midorima,” he said, the surprise apparent in his voice. Since graduating high school, he had learned the proper time to suppress his emotions, which was not all the time. “I didn’t know you were here.”

Midorima’s head was half turned, ready to leave. “I was only here to...discuss something with your father. I figured you were busy, so I did not think it was right to interrupt you.”

“Nonsense; you’re never a bother to me. Are you leaving already? I can put tea on; I’d love to hear about how your thesis is going so far…”

“No, I must be going. Going to campus from my house is an extra half hour, so I don’t want to go to sleep too late. I’m feeling exhausted as it is.” Of course, Akashi thought. With his father’s company disbanded, Midorima was probably staying at his family home more often to help sort out their affairs.

“Right. Well...if you ever need anything, you have my number.”

“Yes. Good night, Akashi.”

Akashi found his father sitting in the living room with the big window open. He was smoking a cigarette, a rare sight in the house. Masaomi only smoked when something very satisfying happened to him. It made Akashi very curious about what he and Midorima had talked about, but one of Masaomi’s number one rules of effective business involved never stating one’s purpose outright. Akashi brought his reports to the couch and peered over them at his father. Masaomi’s hair was ruffled, relaxed, and the top button of his shirt undone; in this state, his father must be ready to sleep for the night and content for the day.

“I saw Midorima at the door. I didn’t know he had come for a visit.”

Masaomi tapped some ash into his marble ashtray. “That boy is talented, he is,” he said, not quite answering Akashi’s implicit question. “That’s the true value of good schools; it’s not so much about what you learn, it’s the people you meet.”

“Quite. It’s a little late for a business call, though, isn’t it, father?”

Masaomi shrugged, unbothered. “Most of his business school classes are in the evening, so it was the only time in his schedule.”

The mystery would only gnaw at his mind and distract him from a good night’s sleep. “What did you and Midorima talk about?”

Masaomi put out his cigarette and folded up the newspaper he had been reading into neat rectangles to place onto the coffee table. “For now, that’s a private matter. You should go to sleep soon, Seijuro. You might not have an early morning class, but having enough rest is important for sound judgements.” Without hired help to help select his outfits for the office, Masaomi had taken great joy in picking out his crisp shirts and ties before he went to bed. Somehow, it had never dawned on him just how many cufflinks and patterns he owned and it chuffed him to no end the combinations he could make. He left his son to ponder things alone.

[=]

“I’m so happy we can hang out like this,” Kise gushed. He drank loudly from his pitch black Americano, the metal bangles around his wrist clattering. “I love it when I have shoots on the East Side. I really ought to move to a place over here, but you know...my parents want me around. They’re super paranoid. You know about the celebrities that get stabbed or whatever because they’ve got obsessive fans. They say that now that I’m moving away from tween and teenage fashion magazines to more high-end brands, there’ll be some crazy girls who get it in their heads that they’ve got to get at me now before I’m unaccessible. Really! Don’t they know how easy it is to follow someone on Instagram? Anyway, it just makes these meet-ups even better! I love seeing you outside of our monthly gatherings.”

Akashi smiled wanly. “The feeling is mutual, Kise. I’m only sorry that Aomine had an emergency shift and couldn’t come with us.”

“I texted you today, not him!” Kise slurped another loud gulp from his coffee. He might think him clairvoyant, but the reality was Akashi had seen the text on Kise’s phone when the boy went to fetch their coffees at the counter and Kise was so unguarded that he had not limited message previews. It was any miracle that the two of them thought their trysts were a secret. “Anyway, I got chewed out by him, speaking of which...I apologized to Midorima for airing out his family drama in public, but I think he’s still mad at me...it’s not my fault my brain makes me talk before I think! I know it’s been like...a week...but I just want to make sure he’s not holding a grudge against me. Do you know if he’s still mad?”

“How would I know? I don’t see him every day.”

“Aww, I thought you guys were super close! I mean, you guys were attached at the hip in middle school that we thought you two were definitely--uh, well, I guess if Kuroko said he’s not mad, then he’s not mad.” Kise began texting, distracted.

“I didn’t know he and Kuroko were close.”

“Oh, yeah, right? Like, you’d think that Midorima was the type that if he was in the same group as you, he’d pretend he didn’t know you or something. Kuroko and Aomine, that’s a friendship that makes sense. If anything, they shit-talk Kagami since he’s not in Japan to defend himself! But yeah, apparently he and Kuroko are in some kind of reading club...book club...something like that together. I thought Kuroko didn’t really like him, but they talk about literature or whatever.”

“So what did you all say about me and Midorima in middle school?”

Kise’s fingers stopped moving across his phone’s screen. He looked up, shamed at being caught after lowering his guard and thinking that his slip had gone unnoticed. “Uh...okay, it was years ago. You can’t blame us! And....uh, I don’t remember who started it but...we thought you two were an item or something! You guys were so close and always talking and going off together...I think even a rock or something dumb would have thought something about it.”

Akashi drank from his coffee too fast, the sound too loud against his ears and he cleared his throat to rid the burning sensation. That would smart for a few hours. Kise was staring at him now. “An item...the team thought we were dating?”

“At least! I said at least one of you would think just fooling around was improper or...something like that. I think Aomine said that? I just agreed with him-yeah, I think that’s what he said.”

“We were not dating.”

“I mean, duh! Of course not. That’s hilarious. That would be as wild as saying me and Aomine were dating just because we get along and hang out on the weekends. I mean, could you believe?” Kise laughed. “Anyway, more importantly...he’s doing okay, right? He brushed it off but...I mean, you guys go to private schools. That can’t be cheap.”

“I believe he’s got some kind of funding from the school; a scholarship, I think it was.”

“Oh yeah. Like Murasakibara, huh? Culinary school’s got to be super expensive too since it’s so specialized, but I bet Momoi is eating like a goddess! But I guess Midorima could get a job too, if he doesn’t already have one already. But...he was supposed to work at his parents’ company after he graduated, right? Now what? It’s a little late in the job hunting season, isn’t it? Aomine was saying he was looking since last year. So that’s why I was worried for Midorima! I mean, I couldn’t see him working in retail or at a fast food joint or...well...you know. The oldest profession…”

“Farming?” Akashi asked.

“No!” Kise looked around before lowering his voice. “Prostitution!”

Akashi was completely still before bursting out in laughter. “Please don’t say things like that, Kise. You know I’m terrible with jokes. Prostitution is illegal in Japan. I don’t think Midorima would do anything like breaking the law, even to make a living. He’s too ethical for that.”

“Okay, sure, maybe he isn’t selling his body on the corner. But there are other forms of sex work too. He could probably get a sugar daddy. His weird quirks might be endearing to some old dude. He might not be religiously devoted to astrology anymore, but I feel like people of a certain age in Japan like youths who are orderly and remind them of the Heian period or something. Right?”

“A sugar daddy...Kise, how many older men with money to spend on twenty-somethings exist in Japan? Do you think it’s so easy to just find someone who wants to sponsor someone without even a college degree?”

“You’re not taking me seriously.” Kise puffed out his cheeks, but he deflated and shrugged. “You’re right, though. I can’t imagine Midorima charming up a rich old guy anyway. He’d much sooner get a job checking each grain of rice for quality assurance at a grocery store before he’d say any flirty words to anyone.”

On the way home, Akashi thought back to Kise’s sugar daddy conspiracy. He was tired if he was entertaining such frivolous things like that...but paid dating was not something totally unusual in this day and age. There was a girl in his seminar who was known to be an escort to fancy events. He’d known about these sort of businesses; after his mother had died, his father had dreaded the sympathetic gazes of his peers and had hired a few women to hang off his arm to give an air of normalcy. His father had never touched these women beyond what was necessary, and one of them had even given Akashi chocolate. Midorima as a host was also an amazing thought; tugging on an itchy collar of a gaudy suit, speaking flowery language - the thought made Akashi laugh.

As he was taking his shoes off, Akashi noticed another pair of shoes at the step. On his way to his room, he ran into his father and Midorima coming from the direction of his father’s personal office.

“Seijuro,” Masaomi said, beaming. “I was just about to offer some peaches to Midorima; you know, the ones your grandmother sent. Go and cut some up now; I want to take a step out and take a call quickly.” He had a lighter in one hand and his cell phone in the other. Midorima nodded as Akashi.

“Of course, father.” Midorima followed him to the kitchen and sat at the table as Akashi washed two peaches and brought a knife over from the drawer. “Again, you’re here completely unannounced. You’ve got tell me when you’re paying us a visit.”

“Not completely unannounced. I had an appointment with your father.” Akashi started to peel a peach and Midorima stopped him. “There’s no need to do that. I don’t mind peach skin.” He took the fruit from Akashi’s hand, rubbed a spot, and bit in, his teeth breaking the delicate papery peel. The juice made his mouth wet, his lips the same shade as the hue of pink against his chin.

How many men in Japan existed rich enough to be a young, twenty-something’s patron? Akashi Masaomi was one of the country’s top businessmen, and he was a single, eligible bachelor.

“Midorima,” Akashi blurted. “Are you...free? On Fridays? It’s been forever and a day that we’ve played a game of shogi. We used to do that so often during...during middle school.”

Midorima licked his lips and reached for a napkin from the holder at the end of the table. “I have seminar until seven. But I am free most Fridays, if that’s what you’re asking. Are you suggesting we meet up to play shogi?”

Somehow he felt like he had lost control of the conversation. A whole childhood of learning composure and steering negotiations, and his father would be so disappointed. “Things are changing so much nowadays; we’ll be graduating soon and all. Isn’t it-isn’t it comforting to do things that are familiar, that remind you of a simpler time?” He was turning red, he could feel the heat in his face. He hoped his father’s phone call was taking its sweet time.

Midorima finished sucking the juice from the peach pit and put it on his damp napkin. “It has been a while since I’ve played,” he said finally. “And I’m sure university has taken up much of your time as well...perhaps I’ll find a victory in my lap. Okay, let’s do it.”

[=]

Two sessions of shogi later, and Akashi thought he had perfected his poker face. It had made his stomach turn, knots and somersaults at first at the idea that Midorima was in a sugar baby situation with his father. They were discreet; he no longer stumbled upon Midorima at his house, but after a second time of being caught, he was certain his father decided to change locations. All for the better - out of sight, out of mind. Akashi nodded to himself, flipping through a human resources reference book to pass the time and occupy his hands. This was a convenient bookstore near the little coffee nook Midorima had proposed for their shogi get-togethers. Anyway, whatever Midorima did in his own time was his own business; hadn’t he said before that his personal problems were not of his concern? They might have been friends once, close friends in middle school, but that was only the reality of adulthood. At a certain point, one became autonomous, living independently of one’s peers. After all, it wasn’t like Midorima was on a fast track to becoming his other dad or something ludicrous like that. Surely, if Midorima was interested in romance or something like that, he could easily pursue it.

Confident in his conclusions, Akashi placed the book back on the shelf. It was almost time for Midorima to arrive, and he wanted to take some moments to plan out his strategy. Midorima played a little differently than he did in middle school, still cautious, but more daring and willing to make sacrifices. Akashi did not play as often, that was true, but he still perused how the professionals played in public games. As he made his way to the door, passing the cashier counter, he spotted Midorima with Kuroko, standing shoulder to shoulder in front of a pile of books.

“There is no way I’m going to be able to carry all these,” Kuroko was saying, frowning slightly. “Of all days for one of the straps of my bag to break...I hate carrying books on the train...but I’m afraid that if I don’t buy them now, I’ll have to wait a few weeks for new copies to come in…”

“Don’t be so obtuse. You know you’ll see me later tonight; let me take some of your books. You just need to ask.”

“So...shall I wrap all these up?” the cashier asked slowly.

“You are a godsend, Midorima,” Kuroko said.

“As usual, I’m picking up after you.” Midorima began taking the books out of Kuroko’s hand, his hands closing over the shorter boy’s knuckles.

“Midorima,” Akashi called, walking over. “So you were here already. What a coincidence.”

Kuroko turned and looked at him. “Oh. You were meeting Akashi today?”

“Yes, but don’t worry. I won’t be late.”

“That’s a lot of books,” Akashi commented. He was speaking unfiltered, everything that came into his mind. What a mundane observation to make! Kuroko watched as Midorima placed the majority of books in his bag. “Are you sure you’ll be alright? Carrying all of those around, with me and after we’re done.”

“It’s honestly not a problem,” Midorima said. “I’ll see you tonight then, Kuroko.”

“Sure. Good to see you, Akashi.” Without another word or glance behind, Kuroko left the bookstore.

Midorima grunted, sliding his bag into the booth in the back of the coffee shop. They had more or less established the back area as their Friday haunt, quiet enough to hear themselves think. There were less of the cutesy little planters and light fixtures, so the younger crowd preferred to remain in the front. “I’m sorry, Akashi. I might need to leave early to drop off my things and take these books to Kuroko. I really can’t be late; I’ve been late for our meetings the past two times and it’s not looking good on my image.”

“Not a problem,” Akashi echoed. He laid out the shogi pieces on the board, the snap of the wood on wood making his hair stand on end. “Twenty-thousand.”

Midorima blinked at him. “Twenty-thousand...what?”

“Yen. I’ll give you twenty-thousand yen for this meeting. And...oh, it’s been two times since we’ve met before too, right? I’ll pay retroactively too.”

Midorima began shaking his head slowly. “Akashi...what’s this about? What are you talking about? Why are you bringing this up?” When Akashi didn’t respond, he blew out a breath. “Look...I know all of you are walking on eggshells about my family’s company...but honestly, I think it was the right time. My father’s told me much of the company’s strategy and our outlook for the next few years, and in my opinion, it was time for us to move on. We were outgrowing the market and it was time for an upgrade. I hardly think my father will retire now and live out the rest of his days in our living room. He’s already looking at our next venture...and I thank you all for your concerns, but I’m doing fine myself. I should have told you before, but I’ve secured a position and I’ll be set by graduation…”

“How can you call it that? This is what I mean. I can give you what my father’s been giving you, so you don’t need to do that. You don’t need to have that keep you from spending time with Kuroko, if he’s who you want. If it’s money, I’ve got more than enough of it.”

“Akashi, I don’t need or want your money.”

“Then how can I keep you spending time with me? What do I have to do to have you look at me?” This was embarrassing, and it was his saving grace that the coffee shop played a variety of music, loudly, that had irritated him the first time they had come. He couldn’t bear to look Midorima in the eyes. He was burning the lines of the shogi board into his eyes.

Midorima was silent across the table. “You don’t need to give me money for me to want to spend time with you, Akashi.” He reached over, coming short of touching Akashi on the arm, setting his hand across the table. “You’re seriously confusing me. What on earth are you talking about? What’s this about your father? I told him not to tell you about me taking a job with your company. I wanted to show him that I’m capable and I’ve earned this degree without you putting in a good word for me, like I know you’d feel compelled to do. I thought he was pleased by my performance on his practice cases. Did you say something to him?”

Akashi heard all this, understood it, and processed it, but he opened his mouth and said, “But you’re my father’s sugar baby.”

There was another long silence. “Sugar baby?” Midorima withdrew his hand and brought it to his face. “Who gave you that idea? You really thought all this time I’ve been...sleeping with your father?”

“Then...you’re not sleeping with Kuroko either?”

In spite of himself, Midorima laughed. “Kuroko? No, I’m not. We’re in a Reading Group together. We usually meet Saturdays and the girl in charge wants to do an early morning session to match an early morning meditation scene in the book we’ve read. We’re meeting in a park closest to Kuroko’s place, so I was planning on sleeping over so we could head over tomorrow morning. And I was planning on just sleeping on his couch, nothing else.” Another short laugh left his lips. “I’m sorry, but the reality isn’t as exciting as in your simulations. I suppose you’re right that things really are changing as we’re getting older that you didn’t immediately come to me with your thoughts and speak your mind the moment you suspected something.”

Akashi began sweeping the shogi pieces back in the travel container. “I just remembered - something’s come up, I’m afraid I must be going.”

But Midorima reached out again and grasped his wrist, gently without pressure. “Wait.” His hand was hot, heat that his father did not know and that Kuroko did not know either. “As fantastical as half of that was...was that a confession? Do you want me to spend more time with you, even without the excuse of shogi? We’ve both been busy for graduation - but things will be different once we’re working.”

Agreeing would be too much of a direct concession. “The others have been thinking there was something going on between us since middle school.”

Midorima’s hand squeezed. “Then we can put some truth to those speculations.”

#akamido #akashi seijuro #midorima shintarou #kuroko no basket #kuroko no basuke #canadino fic #did i really quote sh*ngela in a fic that isn't even half humorous? #yes because that is who i am as a person