Book One: Bones
Really, Momoi would have said that the day everything changed was when Dai-chan came into the house carrying an unconscious firebender over his shoulder.
"Here," he said, and dumped the stranger on the ground in front of their house. Momoi was practising with her fans while Kuroko sat on the bench and read, watching the graceful and deadly motion of her arms and, as was the perpetual state of their life, waiting for Aomine to get into trouble.
Tetsu-kun looked at the body, looked at Aomine, and cast her a speaking look.
Momoi sighed. "Dai-chan," she said. "If you've killed someone, you shouldn't bring them back here. We can't deal with corpses."
"He's not dead," said Aomine, irritably. "I'm not stupid. I just- beat him up."
"Who is he?" said Kuroko, poking at him with a stick. He was breathing, which was reassuring.
"A firebender," said Aomine, whipping up a drink through the window from inside the house, soaking his head.
"Anything else?" said Kuroko.
"My arm hurts," said Aomine. "He got me." In illustration, he lifted his arm. A long heavy burn was already healing, and there was the general smell of soot and smoke. Kuroko frowned. Aomine did not do his own laundry.
"Anything relevant," said Kuroko, patiently. The firebender looked to be in only slightly worse shape than Aomine, unconsciousness aside, and looking at his face, Kuroko concluded he was about their age.
"Eh," said Aomine, and threw water onto the stranger's head. "I didn't ask."
"You just started fighting?" Momoi said, eyebrow raised. "Just like that?"
"He started it," said Aomine.
Kuroko and Momoi both stared at him. "No, really!" Aomine protested. "He challenged me when I told him I was a waterbender. Then I kicked his ass."
"Challenged," said Kuroko, skeptically.
"He said 'Fight me'," said Aomine, feeling unfairly maligned. "I don't know how it could have gotten any more clear than that."
"Maybe you've been out in the sun too long," Momoi said. "Firebenders don't wander onto the island and challenge other people for no reason."
"He's not bad," said Aomine. "Maybe he's one of those weird people who travel around challenging other fighters until they get stronger, like, to train or something. Maybe he's having a strength journey."
"That doesn't happen in real life," said Momoi, patiently. "But he does look like he's been on the road a while."
Kuroko splashed some more water onto the firebender's face by the simple expedient of turning his face to the side, and then smacking his hand into the pool of water that had formed. "He's coming around."
.0.
The firebender introduced himself to them as Kagami. And as for Aomine's story...
"Pretty true," said Kagami, wincing as Kuroko moved over his limbs, checking to make sure nothing was broken. "You're better than I expected. Er. Thanks for letting me in here."
"Leaving you out there to die would have somehow become my fault," said Aomine.
"Don't be silly," said Momoi, ignoring this. "We don't mind at all."
"You're really travelling the world and fighting benders?" said Kuroko.
"A little bit of both," said Kagami, and winced as he tried to run a hand through his hair. "Came down through the Fire Nation and was just...going south."
"Looking for benders?" said Momoi. "Dai-chan is our only one in this house, though."
"Good benders," he said, and transferred his gaze to Aomine, fidgeting in the corner. "You're pretty good."
"Aomine-kun is the best waterbender in the village," Kuroko said. This was true, in a village of mostly earth and water, with their lone firebender being the proprietor of the lone fire nation cuisine restaurant on the island, a nice older man who mostly used his bending to light the pipes of his customers. Better benders went away to study, usually to the south pole, or they did not train much beyond that.
Aomine said, "I'm the best waterbender in the world."
Kagami lifted an eyebrow. "So you said. I'd rank you up there, but I can't see how you can possibly know or be sure of that. You're too full of yourself."
"The Avatar told me," said Aomine, smugly. "He's been all over the world, he should know."
And then Kagami's eyes lit up and he said, "The Avatar?"
.0.
Aomine's version of how-we-met-the-Avatar went: Kise? Yeah, he passed through here a while back and he was doing that bender thing too and so he came and found me- and then I kicked his ass. He's been following us around like a puppy ever since. He keeps trying to copy my style of bending. It's not happening. I guess he's all right. Tetsu and Satsuki like him, spirits know why.
Kuroko's more measured version: Kise-kun occasionally visits with us when he passes through this area. We're on the way from the mainland to the Southern Air Temple, so he often overnights here and then flies on in the morning. His training to become the Avatar has only recently been completed. Aomine-kun gets very excited when Kise-kun visits us. His visits are very lively.
Momoi said: Dai-chan you're always so unclear! He came to the Island during his training when he was on the way to the Southern Air Temple, but that was because we're on Kiyoshi Island and he used to be her, so obviously he was interested in our history and all that! And then while we - the girls- were talking to him because I'm a Kiyoshi warrior, Dai-chan came up and wanted to know why I was taking too long and then because Dai-chan is really weird it turned into a bending battle and then I stopped them and I said I didn't care which of them won but the food was getting cold, and we'd only just exchanged for the fresh buns from auntie, so we went back to eat. And now he's our friend! He's very nice and brings us presents when he comes by.
Momoi paused, and looked at Kagami expectantly. "Er," he said. Well. He guessed that was an explanation. Even he could see that Aomine was something out of the ordinary among benders, among all the waterbenders he'd ever met. The Avatar cared about...bending, he supposed.
"Kise-kun will probably be passing through again soon," said Kuroko.
"Would he give me a fight?" said Kagami, arrowing in on the important part. "Not- just, you know. I'd like to."
"You want to fight the Avatar?" said Aomine.
Kagami bit back a sharp retort. Aomine had beaten him, after all. "The Avatar has to be good at bending," he pointed out. "It's the job description."
All three of them looked at each other. Their gazes seemed to communicate to each other that a plot to assassinate the Avatar would be more subtle and between the three of them and also Kise, they could probably handle it.
"Maybe?" said Momoi.
"Probably," said Kuroko.
"Just beat up on him until he does," said Aomine. "That usually works."
.0.
"Sure!" said Kise brightly. "I'm always up for a little sparring."
After a few minutes of flaring, brilliant fire, Aomine snorted and yelled, "KICK HIM IN THE FACE."
"AOMINECHI NO INTERFERING," Kise called back.
"SHUT UP," yelled Kagami.
"Kagami-kun... is quite good," said Kuroko, squinting. "I don't know much about firebending, though."
"Kise's not really trying," said Aomine.
"You know firebending?" said Momoi, looking at him sideways. Sometimes- all the time- it was good to take Dai-chan down a couple of pegs.
Aomine watched Kise flip himself over Kagami's head, easy, too easy, too smooth. Kise all damn over. "I know Kise." He moved his arm, restlessly. The wound was already gone, but the echo of it lingered in the stretch of his skin. Billows of dry air fluttered out at them and Aomine remembered the terrible scorching heat on his face, the whip of light. Kise had never been really trying against him, either, if that was what real firebending was like. And Kagami had come at him seriously, once Aomine had shown him he could, eyes set and focused, bending sharp and deadly. Kise was already working harder at his firebending than Aomine had ever seen him, and hadn't yet reached for one of the other elements. But he would, he'd have to, Kagami was pushing him now, and had his timing now, and every flip or dodge was followed by a strike, Kise didn't have time to avoid, he was going to have to-
With a stomp, Kise earthbent right below Kagami's feet, throwing him off his stance and sending the firebender teetering. Kise jumped back, just in time to deflect with air Kagami's kick, sent trailing fire over his head mid-fall as he flipped himself back upright with his arms.
Kagami was used to this, to different styles of bending. Kise said as much as he...turned and ran, snatching up his staff from where he'd laid it against a tree to spar with his hands free.
"Ki-chan," said Momoi, disapprovingly.
"Oi," snarled Kagami. "Are you running-"
Kise laughed, ran up the trunk, and then came down on Kagami, staff-first. Kagami thrust up an arm wreathed in flame to block, but Kise's air-reinforced blow forced him down, then back, and blew him half across the clearing.
"Just getting serious, Kagamichi," said Kise, but his eyes were sparkling.
"What- Kagamichi? Wait, no- be serious all the time, dammit," said Kagami, covered in dust, picking himself up.
"He likes you now," called Kuroko.
"Isn't that nice?" said Momoi, her sharp eyes tracking every motion of their fight, the openings, the guards, their attacks.
Kise spun the staff and settled into a loose, easy stance. "But I am serious," he said. "Kurokochi, where did you find him?"
If Kise had time to talk, he wasn't being anywhere near serious, thought Aomine, but it did seem to him serious enough, looking at Kise fighting from the outside for once. Kise was no slouch. They'd never fought properly after that first time, that first incredible struggle, but maybe that was only to be expected.
Kagami threw a few punches and with them fireballs, trying to gauge when best to dash into the Avatar's now-extended range. Kise batted them all aside, and then had to spin to avoid one coming in at exactly eye height, Kagami's knee coming in from his temporarily blind side. Kise dropped and continued on with his motion, dragging the butt of the staff along with him in an arc; the earth moved. Kagami staggered backwards. Kise moved quickly- one blow of air, an uppercut of fire with his free hand, his leg coming up smooth and whip-fast to strike Kagami under the chin.
Kagami hit the ground hard enough to bounce. Kise put his foot on Kagami's arm, pinning it, and pointed his staff at Kagami's throat, nudging the skin. "Serious enough for you?" he said.
Kagami laughed, a little rusty around the strikes to his head. "You got me," he admitted, and took Kise's hand when Kise reached to help him up.
Aomine's heart was racing, and his eyes gleamed with all his fervent interest. Satsuki shook herself out of the fight and glanced sideways at him, wary. "Kise," he said. "Kise, Kise you bastard. You never fight me like that."
"No," said Kise, and looked at Aomine with his battle-eyes, the sharpness he usually hid away in frivolity. "With you, I'd be perfectly happy never having it be serious. They've only just got me trained up, you know."
Aomine stomped his foot and crossed his arms. "That's not fair," he said.
"Is he really that good?" said Kagami, a matter of professional opinion, and to set against the ease with which Aomine had overwhelmed him. "Aomine, I mean. I fought him when I first came."
"I beat him," said Aomine, unnecessarily.
"Shut up," said Kagami, cracking his jaw out.
"Aominechi is the strongest waterbender in the world," said Kise. "Momochi's pretty ferocious. And Kurokochi here is one of the most effective fighters I've ever met! You're in good company if you wanted to fight, Kagamichi."
"Don't call me that," said Kagami, automatically. "Wait- Kuroko? But I thought he couldn't bend."
"Well it's all sort of a matter of perspective, really," said Kise airily, over the sound of Kuroko saying, "Kise-kun, please don't talk nonsense and give Kagami-kun ideas."
