It takes a long time for Nijimura to fully recognise how strange his teammates are, but it starts with Kise. Puppy dog Kise, who only works to please his captain and manager. Kise, who has a modeling job on the side and big, wide golden eyes that sparkle madly when you praise him.
"I wanna be the first one to mark your senpai~" he whines one day when they're walking home from school. Basketball practice ended late and there's no way in hell Nijimura will let an innocent model walk home alone in the dark.
"What the hell does that even mean, Kise?" He asks.
"Just say yes so I can! Pleeeaaaaasseeeeeee, Nijimuracchi! Pleeeeee-"
"God! Fine! Just stop whining!" Nijimura resists the magnetic force surging between his fist and the back of Kise's head. Blue sneakers slide against the ground as Kise stops and whips to the left so he's facing Nijimura. "What are y-OW!"
Kise backs Nijimura up against the wire fence and keeps his arms against Nijimura's wrists to make sure the captain can't escape. Once that is in effect he leans up on his tip toes, sharp yellow eyes watching Nijimura like a predator, and bites the junction of his neck and shoulder. Hard.
Nijimura can feel the skin puncture under the pressure of Kise's teeth and moves his feet to try and change their positions, but Kise just copies his movements before pressing him further into the fence. He could probably overthrow the blonde maniac, but there was a practice match tomorrow that couldn't afford one of their players to be out of commission. When the biting is done Kise sucks on the mark, bruising the area around it a dark storm cloud color. Then he licks the small trail of blood, nuzzles Nijimura's neck, and pulls back like nothing happened.
Nijimura's afraid to ask, so he doesn't.
Midorima is next. He sees the swelling purple mark on Nijimura's neck when he passes his captain in the hallway and is instantly tense.
Nijimura can sense him a mile away and turns to ask what the hell his problem is when suddenly the shooting guard is upon him.
"Let me mark you, senpai." He says, but there is a hint of steely determination in his voice.
"No." Nijimura doesn't bat an eyelash. He has a feeling it will be the same experience as last night and that wasn't something he wanted to repeat. Especially not in the middle of the school.
Midorima has other ideas. He walks calmly forward until Nijimura's back hits a classroom door and asks again.
"Please, senpai. Let me mark you. It is important to do so because-"
"Urgh! Fine! Just get it over with, then." Nijimura grumbles, knowing that this will make him less late for class than Midorima's explanation will.
"Thank you," Midorima answers politely, before the calm look in his eyes fades completely. He suddenly has the same ferocity as he does on the court, pinning Nijimura a little harsher than Kise, biting more than sucking. Nijimura knows for a fact that the poor classroom behind this door can hear everything that's happening.
Just as soon as he approached Midorima backs away. He looks extremely guilty, but there is a prideful self-satisfaction in his eyes when he glances at the mark just under Nijimura's collarbone.
"Hmmpf." He nods like all is as it should be and walks away.
Nijimura decides some things are better left unknown.
Aomine is next. In terms of Miracles this is unlucky, because Nijimura could reason with anyone else. He could bribe Murasakibara with sweets, logic-lock Akashi, or simply run away from Kuroko. But Aomine cannot be reasoned with. When he has a goal he will do whatever he can to achieve it.
"Come on, senpai." Aomine grits from his position outside the gym doors. Neither of them have changed yet, so at least the school uniform won't give Aomine too much agility.
"Fuck no." Three time's a pattern, and there's no way in hell Nijimura is going to try and explain yet another mark to his family.
They're in basketball positions, almost, as if Nijimura literally has the ball in his court and Aomine is guarding him.
"Just say yes!"
"No! Fuck you!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"No!"
"Ye-shit!" Nijimura catches himself at the last second but it's already too late. Aomine tackles his captain to the ground with animalistic glee and plants his mouth just under Nijimura's jaw. Strong hands hold Nijimura's wrists to the ground, though Nijimura has finally decided to stop fighting whatever this was.
"See?" Aomine grins when he's done, wiping his thumb over the mark. He was a lot kinder than Kise or Midorima, only biting once and never puncturing the skin, but the mark is dark enough to last for a very long time.
"Oh, get off already." Nijimura grumbles. Aomine just laughs, helps him get up, and jogs over to the locker rooms to get changed.
It's with Murasakibara that he will draw the line, Nijimura decides. He's seen that hulk of a guy consume way too many candies not to know that the mark will be long and painful.
"But Nijichin, you have to say yes. Akachin said so." Murasakibara whines, entirely blocking the way out of the locker room, but enough is enough and Nijimura isn't certain that he can handle three marks in one day.
"No. Now c'mon," he patted Murasakibara's shoulder, "let's go stop by the Pâtisserie."
He tries to pass the other and, to his surprise, Murasakibara lumbers into his way again. The giant looms over his captain with a strange look in his eyes.
"Captain." He says, and for some reason it translates into something much more complicated and long than Nijimura is ready to read into. Deciding that he might as well get the most painful 'mark' over with, he sighs.
"You know what? Sure. Come at me."
He regrets it almost immediately. Murasakibara is more gentle than Aomine and doesn't grab him tightly like Kise or Midorima. No, Murasakibara slowly traces his fingertips over Nijimura's neck and jaw as if trying to find the best place.
He finds it after a minute or so of awkward interaction. It's a big spot just below Aomine's, which traverses the back of his neck and shoulder. Slowly he leans in and Nijimura's breath hitches in painful anticipation.
No biting, surprisingly, but it's a blessing and a curse. Murasakibara is literally sucking him like a gobstopper and it almost hurts, but in a tickling sort of way. When Murasakibara pulls away he unashamedly licks his lips and says, "You taste like Kisechin."
"Uh." Nijimura doesn't even want to know how he knows that. "Thanks."
"Mm." Murasakibara just shrugs and empties the locker room of his hulking figure, leaving Nijimura to breathe a sigh of relief.
Just two more to go, he thinks.
He's wrong in a different way than imagined.
To get things straight, there's Nijimura and Kiseki, and then there's the first string. And that very first string was the problem.
It's a possession war, he discovers quickly. The first string, mostly comprised of Nijimura's long-time friends and classmates, versus Kiseki. And they're trying to prove who possesses Nijimura.
He knew, thinking back on it, that they'd been acting strangely. Kaoru had taken to clinging to him a lot, rubbing their cheeks together and the like before Nijimura pushed him away. And Ishida kept pulling him away to talk tactics when he would spend time on the side with a miracle.
But it was when Aki saw the marks and promptly tackled him trying to make one of his own that Nijimura got clued in.
And this was how Kiseki decided to prove that Nijimura was theirs?
"I am not your fucking playtoy, Akashi." He snarls.
Akashi stands in his bedroom doorway (of all the places) on an early Saturday morning. It will be his fifth mark in three days-five too many if you asked him. Which apparently, they all had to.
"Please, senpai. It is important to us." Akashi tries to reason, but Shuuzo's not having it.
"No. It hurts and they won't fucking go away."
"That's kind of the point, senpai."
"Agh!" Shuuzo rolls his eyes. "Why do you all have to do this?" He gestures to the tiny blue and purple constellation on his upper body. "It's not like I'm choosing any sides."
"Oh, it has nothing to do with the first string." Akashi shrugs. "We've been planning this for a while. They just gave us an opportunity to execute it."
"...how the fuck is that any better."
"It's not, but it is the truth." Akashi is, once again, brutally honest. Nijimura sighs. "It's more about showing that you're ours, and seeing it in a physical manifestation."
"...fine."
"What?" Akashi looks surprised but doesn't make Nijimura repeat himself. "I promise I'll be gentle," he swears as he climbs into his captain's bed. And then he attaches his lips firmly to Nijimura's collarbone and nips. He does this several times before sucking harshly, and once he's done the mark is there, prominent against Nijimura's taut white skin.
"Thank you," he says, admiring his and his teammates' hard work before leaving promptly.
Nijimura wonders if Aki will notice the new addition.
"Just get on with it." Nijimura says during practice. He can't see Kuroko but he knows the first-year is definitely there. Rolling his eyes, he waits.
It's a matter of seconds before Kuroko appears in front of him. Midorima glances over his shoulder at them approvingly before going back to his shots while Kise and Aomine do one-on-ones. Akashi and Murasakibara are standing on the opposite side of the gym, looking over stat charts.
What Nijimura fails to see coming is that Kuroko plans on kissing him. Well, not really though, because it's barely one. Kuroko grabs him by the neck and tugs him down and bits his bottom lip so hard it nearly splits. Nijimura makes a surprised sound and tries to back up only to trip over the bench, sending him crashing into a pile of clean towels and arm bands.
"Waaaaah~" Kise whines, "no fair Kurokocchi, I wanna kiss him too!"
"Hey! If there's anyone he's gonna kiss it's me!" Aomine yells, hitting Kise over the head.
"No! Fuck you!" Nijimura scrambles to his feet and hightails it out of there.
Omake:
*ring ring*
*clack*
"Hey, is this Miyaji?"
"Who the hell is this? Why is your number weird?"
"Look, I'm in America right now, but I used to Captain the Generation of Miracles."
"Okay? And why the hell are you calling -me-?"
"Huh. You're pretty hotheaded, aren't you? I can see why Midorima likes you."
"Huh?!"
"Anyway. I'm here to warn you. I already called Takao."
"What?"
"Midorima hurts the most. He's gonna try and corner you before he does it so you can't escape, so I suggest not going anywhere secluded with him if you don't want it to happen."
"What the fuck? What're you talking about?"
"The mark. He's going to bite you-just get it over with in my opinion, but whatever. Just letting you know; god knows I wish someone warned me."
"Uh."
"Anyway, bye."
"Bye? Wait, -who- did you say you-"
*beeeep*
"DONT HANG UP ON ME YOU SHITBAG!"