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It all started when Tetsuya's cell phone battery died. Not, like, drained and in need to be charged, but actually busted, smoke and funny smell, the whole nine yards.
Which is why his parents finally gave him some money and the advice to “go choose a new one with Kagami-kun.” Kagami, of course, made him buy one of the newest smart phones, not a flip phone, and explained everything the thing could to in comparison to his beloved blue phone that he had since his first year of high school.
And so, Tetsuya had Whatsapp installed on his phone sooner than he expected.
Then Aomine caught up on it the following week during a pick-up game of basketball after school. “New phone? That thing finally able to work apps?”
“Yes, it is,” Tetsuya answered.
“Sweet, let's make a group chat so we can make streetball meetings easier,” Aomine said immediately, dribbled the ball back to the bench where Tetsuya was waiting for him and Kagami to finish their ever-lasting one-on-one.
“How does that work?” Tetsuya asked.
“No idea, but you're smart, Tetsu, figure it out,” Aomine grinned at him, then tossed the ball over his shoulder, sinking it dead-on into the hoop. “And I win.” That was towards Kagami.
“Bastard!” Kagami shouted from the back, then went to collect the ball.
So Tetsuya worked out the specifics and by the time Kagami was fuming from having lost his best out of eleven, they had a group chat.
Which Kise caught on the next time they met him.
“So mean! Why don't you invite me, I'd love to play with you, too,” he pouted. “If Aominecchi gets to...”
“Yeah, sure, I will add you,” Tetsuya agreed and set up another group chat.
And by the time they met the other Generation of Miracles members some time after their last Winter Cup of high school, practically each of them had made it into that group chat.
Also speaking of that last-Winter-Cup-finals party – it was the beginning of the end.
Someone – and Tetsuya's bet was on Imayoshi, here – had managed to smuggle beer into the party again. A lot of beer. And since the party is held at Kagami's place, there are no parents around.
Which ends, to no one's surprise, in a bender.
Kise practically lays across Kasamatsu's lap, giggling at god knows what, Midorima does his best not to appear as drunk as he is and seeming twice as stiff and awkward as usual, with Takao draped across his back doing nothing to polish the picture.
Tetsuya sits at the foot of the sofa, down on the floor, and watches as Himuro tries to make an unfazed Murasakibara sit down so he won't hurt himself or anyone around by falling over. He long since overlooks Kagami and Aomine, who have a really hard time choosing between undressing each other with their eyes or fuck it out right then and there on the couch.
Oh, yes, Tetsuya knows, knew from the moment he saw Kagami's face that morning after Aomine's birthday party.
“Tetsu-kun,” Momoi slides into place beside him, her pink hair tied into a neat bun. “What's that new charm on your phone? Lemme see.”
Tetsuya makes the mistake of handing his phone to her. “Kagami-kun gave it to me,” he explains while she inspects the tiny basketball.
She chuckles and unlocks the screen. “Oh, hey, Akashi-kun isn't coming,” she reads out the message that Akashi sent three hours ago.
“I was aware,” Tetsuya smiles at her, amused at her tapping the screen, apparently looking for something. “What are you doing?”
“Changing the name of the group chat,” she deadpans, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “If I knew where that option was.”
“Why?” Tetsuya asks, and that's when Takao joins them on the floor.
“Oi, what are you doing?” he looks over Momoi's shoulder and inspects the screen. “Ah, I see. Don't you think 'kiseki no sedai' is a bit too boring? We should come up with something funny.”
“What do you suggest?” Tetsuya asks him, and finally he understands Midorima's shocked stare whenever Takao gets this excited about something. He is up to something, clearly, and Tetsuya doesn't know if he likes it yet.
“How about 'the rainbow crew'?” Takao snickers. “Or something like that.”
Momoi giggles and hands the phone over to Takao. “Here, you change it, I have no idea how this works.”
Takao immediately gets to work, but nobody seems to notice the vibrating phones all around. To be fair, most of them are on their way to get thoroughly wasted, Aomine and Kagami are miraculously gone from the couch, and Midorima has the shocked Takao-is-up-to-no-good stare etched firmly into his face.
The only one to notice is Kise, who fumbles his phone out of his pocket and laughs out loud after unlocking the screen. “Seriously, Kurokocchi?” he grins at Tetsuya from across the table.
“Huh?” Kasamatsu takes Kise's hand that holds the phone, his eyes skimming over what Takao obviously has done to their group chat. Then he chuckles, too.
“I didn't do anything,” Tetsuya clarifies with a pointed nod at Takao.
Speaking of, Takao starts to laugh. “Oh, wait, I thought of a better one.”
Kise watches his phone, then starts laughing abruptly again. “Oh my god,” he wheezes.
This happens three more times, until Momoi interrupts the spiel. “Hey, I wanna see,” she complains, then tries to take the phone from Takao, who sprints off with it towards the bathroom, which is, unfortunately for him, locked.
“Takao, what do you think you're doing?” Midorima scolds him, getting to his feet to follow Takao on unsteady feet.
“Nothing, Shin-chan!” Takao chirps, grinning at him.
Midorima raises an eyebrow and Tetsuya watches the scene in wonder. It's a strange kind of atmosphere between them, Takao teasing and a bit ruffled, amused as he smirks at Midorima, who's as stoic as ever. There's an undertone to it, though, not just exasperation, but also familiarity, intimacy even, and the notion that not only has this happened before, but Midorima had won, back then.
“Takao,” he growls, low in his throat. “Stop being childish.”
“Shin-chan,” Takao replies, in what has to be his captain voice, stern despite the affectionate nickname that has long since stopped being used to spite Midorima, and instead started to become an actual term of endearment. They all watched the transformation happen, which was probably more obvious from an outside viewpoint than to the two parties involved.
The stare-off is interrupted when Midorima steps forward and leans dangerously close to Takao to whisper something into his ear that has Takao turn pink from his neck to the tips of his ears.
“Huh, makes me wonder,” Momoi comments from beside Tetsuya, quiet so only he can hear it.
“Wonder what?” he asks her.
“Oh, nothing,” she smiles innocently when Midorima walks towards them and returns Tetsuya's cell phone.
“Thank you,” he bows to Midorima, who has Takao trailing sheepishly behind.
“I meant to return it,” Takao explains. “I just had to--”
“It's alright,” Tetsuya smiles, just enough to let Takao know he's forgiven.
It doesn't prepare him for what he finds when he opens their Whatsapp group, though.
~Kuroko T. changed the chat name to 'The Rainbow crew'.
~Kuroko T. changed the chat name to 'Box of Skittles'.
~Kuroko T. changed the chat name to 'Box of Skittles & Kagami'.
Kise R.: You're forgetting Kurokocchi.
~Kuroko T. changed the chat name to 'Skittles & Kagami & Kuroko'.
Kuroko T.: No, that doesn't work.
Kuroko T.: ...
~Kuroko T. changed the chat name to 'hella gay squad'.
~Kuroko T. changed the name to 'Gay Pride Parade'.
Akashi S.: I assume Tetsuya's phone has been manipulated?
Akashi S.: Whoever this is, stop.
Kise R.: OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE IT
Akashi S.: What seems to be the trouble, Ryouta?
Kise R.: Oh nothing just SHIN-CHAN AND KAZUNARI SITTING IN A TREE
Akashi S.: Why would they sit in a tree? And why are you texting in English?
Kise R.: K-I-S-S-I-N-G.
Akashi S.: I see. So it was a rhyme.
Kise R.: Took some time to type that.
Akashi S.: So you're suggesting that Shintarou and his captain are in fact fornicating?
Kise R.: Well, not like, right now, but generally it looks like that to me~
Kise R.: Ah, young love, so beautiful! <3
Akashi S.: In this case, Shintarou, my congratulations to you and Kazunari.
Right then, Kasamatsu splutters where he has rested his chin on Kise's shoulder. “He took that pretty well.”
Tetsuya notices Midorima typing something into his phone with his head as red as a tomato.
Midorima S.: Takao and I are not a couple. Kise is mistaken.
Takao K.: Aw, Shin-chan, you wound me.
Midorima S.: The only ones fornicating are in fact Aomine and Kagami, in case nobody has recognized the sounds coming from the bathroom.
Midorima shoots Takao a dirty look and asks, “You're in that group, too?”
“Yeah, I added my number,” Takao grins, then sits down beside him, his knee nudging Midorima's.
Midorima doesn't even respond to that, he just says, “Also, I demand the group name be changed again. This is ridiculous, obviously.”
“No, actually it's the truth,” Takao winks at him, smirking, then gestures at the room at large. “Have you looked at your friends recently?”
The available spot on the sofa has been taken up by Murasakibara and Himuro, curled into each other in their sleep. Kasamatsu is wrapped around Kise's back, his hands resting on Kise's stomach. Tetsuya feels like he and Momoi are the odd ones out, but he doesn't get to dwell on that thought.
Not when Aomine's deep voice shouts from the bathroom. “For fuck's sake, cut that fucking texting out, that's really annoying when you're trying to get your co--” The following, muffled sounds suggest that someone has slapped a hand over his mouth, before they dissolve into a groan, and okay, Tetsuya did not need to hear this, did not need to imagine Kagami shutting Aomine up in whatever which way.
“Tetsu-kun,” Momoi says quietly, nudging his side. She's matured a lot, Tetsuya realizes in that moment. Two years ago, she would've used the opportunity to hit on him or comfort him. Not so today. “It's hard, isn't it?”
Tetsuya nods, but doesn't answer. He's glad he came out to her a year ago, and even though it hadn't been easy for her to accept that her crush was unrequited, she got over it.
“I'm just wondering,” Momoi starts, and Tetsuya dreads the ending of that sentence. “Who of the two is it?”
“Honestly, I don't know,” Tetsuya sighs and avoids her look.
Momoi watches him with a careful expression, her lips pinched, but she doesn't bring the topic up again.
***
Murasakibara A.: This is Himuro. What the HELL happened last night?
Takao K.: We got outed by Kise.
Kise R.: You were being obvious.
Midorima S.: We were not.
Takao K.: Shut up, Shin-chan, or I'll shut you up like Kagami did Aomine yesterday.
Kagami T.: JFC
Aomine D.: Oi, watch it.
Takao K.: Besides, you promised.
Tetsuya is about to type a reply, but stops at that. The reply takes a minute to arrive, but Tetsuya can't help but smile when he reads it.
Midorima S.: Fine.
Midorima S.: I'd like to announce that Kazunari and I are a couple. We'd like you to keep this information to yourself, since only our closest friends should know for now.
Takao K.: :-*
Kise R.: I KNEW IT o/
Akashi S.: Then, again, my congratulations to you two. What did your parents say, Shintarou?
Midorima S.: They don't know, yet. Which is exactly my point.
Tetsuya realizes a lot of things at once. Midorima's strict, conservative parents would not take kindly to their only son being with a man, so that does explain why he was so sensitive towards the issue.
Kagami T.: You know, if you ever need help, you know where to find us.
Midorima S.: I do.
It's a testament to all of them having become friends and friendly rivals over the course of the past years. It's also very much Kagami , so Tetsuya can't help but smile at his phone, then at Kagami himself, who just put his phone away to resume cooking breakfast for them.
Aomine stares into his own phone, occasionally taking a sip from his mug of coffee, and Tetsuya can't help but appreciate what has become of the boy he used to date in middle school. He's grown tall and handsome, confident and self-assured, in all the best ways. The bitter, young high school student that Kagami and he had to wake up from his apathy and drag back into their life had long since become their best friend.
Even though he still acts like an asshole sometimes, they seem to be a good influence on him. If Tetsuya's heart ached with unrequited, confusing feelings, then that was his problem alone.
“Oi, Kagami!” Aomine shouts towards the kitchen. “I'm starving, hurry the fuck up.”
“It's not like you'll starve within the next five minutes, Aomine. So stop being a drama queen and gimme some time, will you?” Kagami yells back, disgruntled.
That, on the other hand, makes Tetsuya perk up in surprise.
“Tetsu, what's up?” Aomine squints at him.
“Nothing,” Tetsuya waves him off.
The fact that they still are on a last name basis despite having sex with each other shouldn't spark a flame of hope in Tetsuya. But it does.