Chapter Text
Taiga was feeling a little disappointed, really.
Kuroko and the rest of his team only just left his apartment not ten minutes ago, and Taiga was supposed to feel elated because this year he got to spend his birthday with friends, opposed to hanging out alone like he had last year. He’d even gotten a few gifts, and Mitobe had been kind enough to bake him a cake.
But, looking at his phone and seeing he had no missed calls or messages, the redhead couldn’t help but feel slightly melancholy. Because he had hoped he’d at least get a text message saying ‘happy b-day!’ from a certain someone. This “certain someone” being Aomine Daiki.
Taiga felt like smacking himself now, after just checking his phone for the umpteenth time.
He was acting like a love-struck schoolgirl who was waiting for her first boyfriend to text her back, and he was getting increasingly irritated with himself. Even Kuroko had felt the need to ask him if there was a specific reason he kept checking his phone, and he’d had to lie something about expecting a call from his dad even though the man had already called in the morning.
There wasn’t even a tangible reason as to why Daiki should remember it was Taiga’s birthday. It wasn’t like they were exactly friends, more like random basketball buddies. They would sometimes call each other up for a game of one-on-one, but that was pretty much all interaction they had with each other.
That and the few times Daiki had been to Taiga’s house with the rest of the Miracles.
And Taiga honestly couldn’t remember when simple admiration for the tan male had turned into a very persistent crush that just didn’t seem to go away no matter how hard Taiga tried to ignore his feelings. He threw his phone on the couch with a frustrated groan and slumped down next to it, resigned to watching TV for the rest of the evening, alone.
But just as he was about to reach for the TV remote, his doorbell rang.
Eyebrows raising higher towards his hairline, Taiga stood up and made his way to the door. Maybe one of his teammates had forgotten something when they left?
What he wasn’t prepared to see, however, was one Aomine Daiki standing behind the door, a basketball tucked under one arm and the other hand holding a paper bag with ‘Maji Burger’ written on it.
“Hey?”, Taiga said, surprised.
“Yo”, the tan male answered and pushed past Taiga into the apartment before the redhead even had time to invite him in.
Daiki paused to take off his shoes and strutted into the kitchen like he owned the place, leaving Taiga standing alone by the door, confused and irked at his behavior. What he’d never admit even to himself was the way his heartrate picked up just slightly and that a warm, happy feeling spread through his chest at the thought of Daiki having remembered his birthday after all.
“Kagami!”, Daiki’s voice bellowed from the kitchen a moment later, snapping Taiga out of his stupor. He closed the door and also went into the kitchen.
“What?”, he asked belatedly.
“I bought us food”, Daiki said, pointing at the paper bag containing the treats from Maji, “Let’s eat before it gets cold”
Taiga sat down, Daiki following suit a moment later.
“What would you have done if I had already eaten, dumbass?”, the redhead asked, amused with the fact that Daiki had thought it best to just bring him food as a gift.
Daiki snorted, glancing up at Taiga with an unimpressed expression.
“Oh please, like that would’ve stopped you from wolfing down at least a few burgers”, the tan teenager said. And, yeah, Taiga had to admit he did have a point there.
After that brief exchange an oddly peaceful silence befell them, both contently munching on their hamburgers. Daiki was watching the redhead from the corner of his eye, not as discreetly as he probably thought he was. Taiga felt a blush starting to creep up on his cheeks, wondering why the other teen felt so inclined to stare at him.
“Let’s go out for a one-on-one”, Daiki suddenly said, “After we finish eating”
The sudden words that broke the previously comfortable silence startled Taiga, his eyes snapping up to meet Daiki’s dark blue ones.
“Oh, yeah”, Taiga then grinned, the words finally registering to him.
He always loved playing against Daiki, each time was different but always just as exhilarating.
The redhead reckoned he had fallen for Daiki’s style of playing, at first. He knew just how much of an amazing and at the same time terrifying player Daiki was. Since the first time he had played against the ace of Generation of Miracles, Taiga had admired Daiki’s style.
Of course it had its own flaws, but the sheer power and talent made up for those things. Taiga sometimes worried that he wouldn’t be enough to keep Daiki interested, in the long run. He hadn’t yet beaten Daiki in a one-on-one, and he was afraid the tan male would get bored of playing with him soon.
But for now he was just glad, content with the fact that Daiki had shown up on his doorstep and asked him to play.
“You don’t need to look so happy about getting to play with me”, Daiki chuckled, already finished with his burgers and now openly looking at Taiga, “You must really enjoy my company”
To his horrification the redhead realized he had been grinning to himself like a lunatic, and glared at the younger male.
“Shut up”, he said, “It’s just been too long since I’ve played against anyone but Kuroko”
Daiki made a clicking sound with his tongue, smirking at Taiga, “Sure, keep telling yourself that”
Taiga spluttered a little, chomping down on his last burger instead of answering the blue haired moron.
He suddenly wondered how he ever let himself fall for a guy with an ego big enough to fill the outer space. That’s a question he would never find an answer for.
As he finished his burger, Daiki surprised him by standing up and cleaning up after them instead of letting Taiga do it. The redhead stared at his rival’s back, jaw slackening just a little.
Daiki didn’t strike him as a person to be considerate of things like this.
“Before we go, I’ve got something else for you”, the tan teen said, turning to look at Taiga again.
“What?”, Taiga asked, “You didn’t need to-“
“Shut up”, Daiki cut him off with a scowl forming on his face, “And stand up”
Taiga complied, puzzled by Daiki’s behavior. The guy almost looked like he was nervous, clenching his hands in loose fists and licking his lips while staring at the redhead in front of him.
Before Taiga could say anything about it, a tan hand suddenly grabbed him by the hips and pulled him closer. Red eyes widened as he realized Daiki was almost uncomfortably close to him.
He brought his hands up to Daiki’s shoulders to push him away, but something soft against his lips halted the movement.
His body froze, his mind short-circuited for a moment before going into overdrive. Daiki was kissing him. As in, Aomine Daiki’s lips were touching his lips and moving against him and- holy shit was that a tongue? Indeed, Daiki had tried to coax Taiga into kissing him back by flicking his tongue against the redhead’s lips, but Taiga stubbornly stayed frozen.
The tan male was starting to think he had looked too much into this, and that Satsuki and Tetsu had been wrong about Taiga liking him. That was, until Taiga finally got over his initial shock and practically melted in Daiki’s arms, his arms looping around the slightly taller one’s neck and lips finally starting to move against the ones pressed on them.
Daiki smiled into the kiss and pulled back, stepping away from Taiga just slightly without letting go of him.
“How did you-?”, Taiga mumbled, not daring to either finish that sentence or look at Daiki.
“You weren’t exactly being subtle, Bakagami”, Daiki laughed, “And Tetsu might’ve told me. After he figured I like you too”
And the only thing Taiga picked up from that was ‘I like you too’, which made him snap his gaze up to stare at the boy in front of him.
“Really?”
He looked so hopeful Daiki couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
“You think I would’ve kissed you otherwise?”, he cocked an eyebrow and leaned in for another kiss.
“Happy birthday, idiot”, was mumbled right before their lips connected again.