A/N: Happy Aokaga Month! I'm back, so this is the new fic I've been working on to celebrate this glorious month. My niece drew some fanart of this. Check it out on my tumblr post
post/125579779208/happy-aokaga-month-my-niece-thought-it-would-be
Chapter 1: Don't Jump to Conclusions If They are Off the Wall
Kagami is no damsel in distress, but here he is, blindfolded and tied up to a chair with his wrists bound behind the backrest of a chair. He can't say for certain, but most likely it is from IKEA.
His last memory before he woke up with a throbbing headache and a sore back was being knocked out by falling debris from a crumbling building. Unfortunately, that is all he can recall, so for a period of time, he struggles with all of his might to break the bonds. Sadly, this task is going to be harder than it looks because the material of the rope was too strong and bit into his unblemished skin.
Kagami purses his lips, irked by the strength of industrial rope. Since his initial idea failed fantastically, he moves on to the next plan because that is what heroes do, to never give up, and in this case, never giving up is in the form of thrashing about like a mad man and violently swinging from one side to the other.
At first, it worked until the chair decided to enact revenge by tipping over.
Kagami smacks his face to the floor.
"Fuck!" he curses.
"Wow," he hears from above, "I never thought it would be this easy to kidnap a hero."
Even though Kagami would love to continue planting his face on the ground, he chooses to shift his head to the direction of the stranger who just spoke. The man's sultry voice seems familiar, but no matter how much he racks his brain, he can't recognize the owner and makes a show of it by furrowing his eyebrows even deeper.
"Who the fuck are you?" he belligerently asks.
He does not know the identity of the perpetrator, but he will not back down from the unknown. His voice doesn't waver, no trace of apprehension or hesitance in his question.
His kidnapper doesn't reveal his identity.
Instead, he is amused, and Kagami swears he can hear his smile when he teasingly answers with a shit-eating grin, "Nobody important."
Extra creases are added to Kagami's frown. He really wants to punch the lights out of the guy.
Though that option is the most desirable, apparently it appears that Mr. Nobody is gracious enough to not leave his red-haired prisoner helpless and vulnerable on the ground. He steps on one leg of the chair and tips it back upright, thus bringing Kagami back into the correct position, too. However, the hero is still back to where he started in the first place- captured and hungry.
He cuts to the chase.
"What am I doing here?" he presses. "What is your purpose?"
Once again, the stranger does not comply with his needs. He glides across the room to grab a plastic water bottle bottom from the kitchen counter and gulps down copious amounts. The sound of water going down his throat is pleasing to the ear, and Kagami unconsciously smacks his lips, realizing that he, too, is thirsty.
"This room is a bit dark," the stranger comments wistfully.
He takes his sweet time walking to the window, relishing the snarl plastered on his guest's face. His prisoner has finally taken the hint that he is being ignored. The stranger immediately separates the maroon curtains apart once he reaches the windows, revealing spotless glass, and beneath it, civilization. The highest view is always best; too bad his captive can't see this breathtaking sight.
Deeming that he delayed his answer long enough, he then says, "If you're asking about my diabolical plan to take over the world," and briefly looks over his shoulder, "There is no such plan."
The stranger smirks, practically sensing his enemy's brewing anger.
He adds, "I just wanted to gloat to all of my friends about how I kidnapped the almighty Jump Squared. It is part of my bucket list after all."
"That's it?!" Kagami growls in disbelief. His rage bursts out in waves. "I'm only here as entertainment?!"
"You're giving yourself too much credit. If I wanted real entertainment, I would have hired some strippers by now."
Realistically, he couldn't because he would get in trouble if his busty assistant saw them.
This man is too irksome, Kagami thinks. Compared to the typical madman trying to rule the universe with an iron fist, this villain is too chatty beyond words, and though he doesn't want to admit it, it's beginning to become bothersome.
"On the other hand, I did laugh after that stunt you did earlier. Totally made my day," he hears.
Kagami flinches as he feels a wet finger trace around his vulnerable left cheek. It is the same, exact one he bruised after his hapless attempt to escape. He gasps as a burning sensation suddenly envelops his entire face, the undetected flames spreading through his skin like wildfire. It's as if his skin is peeling, but at the same time, it's not. It's healing. It's regenerating.
Those cold, icy fingers continue working their magic, and it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together to figure out this man's power.
"You're a water user," he grunts accusingly.
The stranger smiles as a response, and for some strange reason, Kagami just knows. A couple moments later he hears running water, most likely from a faucet nearby, and the stranger collects all of it suspended in the air until it begins to glow. He swipes the air and the body of water instantly falls. Water seeps through Kagami's clothes, but he can feel every ailment in his body healing, rejuvenating. He shudders, confused about this man's intentions.
Then, all of a sudden, he no longer feels wet. The process is finished.
Kagami clicks his tongue disdainfully as if the thought of being nursed back to maximum health sickens him. He does feel somewhat violated, but really, he's just upset over nothing.
The stranger softly laughs and asks in jest, "I don't get a word of thanks?"
"Water," he huffs, "So… cliché."
The unnecessary emphasis of the word strangely rubs the stranger's heart the wrong way. When insults are spat toward him from left and right, he would coolly swat them away like mediocre flies, but "cliché" sounds worse. "Cliché" sounds mildly more offensive than the usual plate of demeaning words he would receive.
"You have a prejudice against water users?" he counters assertively.
Nothing leaves Jump's mouth. Not one word.
Instead, he lightly rocks the chair back and forth, back and forth, as if his earlier disaster minutes ago did not faze him. He has no fear of failure.
The other man does not condone violence, especially the cruel and unusual ones, but he makes one small exception and jabs his index finger straight into Kagami's newly healed cheek. This miniscule action causes the hero's shoulders to visibly tense, and in a fit of indignity, he tries to chomp his finger off.
That mission failed on the first trial.
"At least I don't have a dumb power like yours," the blue-haired stranger rebuts. "Managing to jump extremely high after one normal jump is ridiculous and stupid."
He hopes this insult is enough to ruffle Kagami's feathers.
"Hmph," his hostage harrumphs. "Very soon you're going to eat those words."
Not believing his lofty words, the other man scoffs in return. "You're bluffing."
After all, how can this loser escape when he's practically glued to the chair?
The hero Jump Squared tips his chair back again. And again. And again. His captor is not entirely sure if repeating the same movement is all part of a grand scheme to escape, but he is high on alert. Even though he would like to fancy that this infuriating guy is a total idiot, there must have been a good explanation about why this weirdo is a member of the renowned superhero team, the Generation of Miracles.
"Don't underestimate me," Kagami warns.
With the image of him being constrained, it's hard not to, but the blue-haired man can agree, can imagine those blazing, flaming eyes staring up at him in full defiance. He'll humor him, he guesses.
This hero is a rookie, a greenhorn who has yet encountered the true evils of this world. Envy is a feeling he is quite familiar with, and he wishes for the simpler days, the days when justice is simply black and white. He mentally bats away the wave of nostalgia and ignores the ache in his stained heart. Sometimes it difficult, repressing those old memories where he used to fight tooth and nail against any evildoer. People change; he's different now.
How the tables have turned, he thinks bitterly, and opens his eyes to zero in on Kagami. Then he crosses his arms, unimpressed.
"And why is that?" he taunts derisively.
"Because…" Kagami smiles wickedly, "Of this."
He kicks his chair back with less force than usual. Next, his feet are planted back to the floor as they land. The chair tips back for a second time, and this is when the stranger realizes his fatal mistake.
"Shit," he curses and scrambles over to reach for the chair, to stop its momentum, to halt its motion, but it's too late because this man is Jump Squared, the man who can jump extremely high after one initial jump.
The redhead's feet touch the floor, and before his kidnapper can blink, Kagami blasts off into the air, going up, up, up… and bangs his head against the ceiling.
The stranger can't help but wince after hearing the sound his head made when it made contact with the ceiling. It sounded like a gunshot, but it's reasonable since the jump is probably faster than the real thing. Kagami's unconscious body smacks against the ground once more, except this time, it's from higher elevation. Pieces of plaster, both big and small, followed suit.
There are seven wonders in this vast, marvelous world, and Kagami Taiga is the eighth.
Aomine is utterly dumbfounded, wondering how he allowed himself to witness such stupidity in his vicinity.
He has his fair share of crafty heroes, reckless heroes, and even those with questionable motives, but this one right here, the same one who is excessively bleeding from a deep gash on his forehead, is a crude combination of them all. He sighs and massages his temples.
Geez, he just healed this idiot.
He strides over to the sink, slightly concerned about the pool of blood gushing from the injured, and doesn't notice the doors sliding open until he hears the shrill screech of his childhood friend.
"OH MY GOD, DAI-CHAN, WHAT DID YOU DO?!"