Notes: Spoilers up to chapter 177 of the manga, and get your tissues ready people! this one tears at your heartstrings, it{s a bit long on the page count but the progression is worth it!!
(these two audio tracks come from episode 14 and Kiseki no Shiai, respectively)
There are two things common in these tracks. First is how Takao ‘provokes’ Midorima (he does something that annoys the other), and the second is how Midorima reacts to it. And that’s probably the most important thing—Midorima reacting to Takao the way he does.
Midorima is usually very reserved. But here, Takao changes that. Here Midorima reveals another side of himself to Takao, the complete opposite. If you pay close attention (track one), you hear Midorima pulling Takao out of the okonomiyaki house, and then he headlocks* him and smacks him. And (track two), he actually runs after Takao after Takao tries to get away from him (what he does to make Takao scream like that, I don’t know).
Not very reserved, is it?
He could have responded with a simple ‘hmph’, or could have merely ignored Takao, but he doesn’t. He acts on it. The best thing I like about this (and my point) is Midorima being comfortable enough to act that way around Takao. Like Takao is someone he can act naturally around with. And this shows how Takao was able to get through to Midorima.
(*Album art above. Also, in Teikou, there were instances where Atsushi had, more or less, gotten on Midorima’s nerves. But you don’t see Midorima headlocking him and pulling him out of the gym. He tells him off with that little tic mark on the side of his temple.That’s it.)
[Midorima Voice] Takao Kazunari??? what a fuckin’ nerd what a— [trips] [hundreds of thousands of photos of Takao spill out of jacket] w-what an asshole i these aren’t mine im just [gathering them up frantically sweating] listen i just listen fuck [thousands of pictures of Takao scatter across the floor] shit fuck im holding them for a friend just listen
(Part 2) feeling he gets around Midorima, something he’s never felt before, so he tries his best to ignore it for the time being. Meanwhile, with Takao being the only person to have bothered to get close and stay close to the eccentric green-haired giant, Midorima realizes his feelings first and pulls Takao aside one day after practice, when Cancer and Scorpio are at the top of the daily horoscope, and Midorima admits “I like you.” Takao doesn’t know what to say for a while, (…)
(Part 3) but it’s like the gears in his head click internally when he hears that, and he knows that, yeah, he likes this big green weirdo too. All he can manage as a response is a small nod of agreement though, and Midorima, relieved that his feelings are returned but also seeing that Takao is still processing things, pulls Takao into a soft hug and kisses the top of his head, before telling him to get the rickshaw ready so they can go home.
(Last part) They might end up holding hands a bit when they walk together after that day, but the rest of their team swears they’re just seeing things.
Midorima: I would never say this to Takao’s face, but he is a wonderful and very talented person.
Kuroko:
Kuroko: Why
Kuroko: Why wouldn’t you say that to his face
just moving along like everyone else 