As far as Kagami's concerned, it's ridiculous to say that he and Aomine are friends. Even though they kind of are. Basically he doesn't want to say it out loud cause it might become binding (i.e. having an unfortunate degree of permanence). Momoi has his eternal respect for lasting this long. Aomine's incredibly high maintenance, mostly because though he'd be sort fine without them but it will almost certainly be at the expense of someone else. Better it be someone who will put up with him but not his bullshit.
It occurs to him that that's the line he and Momoi probably feed themselves so they can sleep at night.
(Cause at the end of the day, the amount of Aomine's assholery really makes it hard to put up with him without simultaneously also sort of putting up with his being a dick.)
He tries not to think too hard about it though, since in any case Aomine's not that bad most days though he can be annoying as hell. (He also tries hard not to think about how compliments from Aomine now had the uncanny side-effect of inducing uncontrollable smiling from him.) Instead, he gives his focus to training and the daily bento.
He's got a memo stuck on his refrigerator with a list of Aomine's favourite food… or at least those he'd figured out. It's got only three items on it (teriyaki burger, gyoza, mac n' cheese burger) but it's a start. Hopefully it'll help in planning what to cook faster so he has more time for his morning roadwork.
Ever since he'd discovered just why Coach had gotten him to doing it, he feels much more motivated to run. He thinks he might even increase the distance he runs soon. The Meisei game's soon, and he wants to be in good shape for it.
To show that the Shutoku match wasn't a fluke
Not that any of his teammates doubted him, in fact a lot of them seem to have magically found respect for him, but he still wants to prove to himself that that wasn't just a one-time-big-time type of event. He should also probably get to training his left hand again since he's been slacking off about it compared to his legs. The better he gets, the less likely Aomine is to call his plays "jumping around" (or at least he hopes that'll be the case, you never know with Aomine).
"Your roadwork seems to be very effective" Momoi notes, impressed look on her face "I see a bright future for you"
He's never heard her vocally assessing someone's improvement, usually she'd just notes it down and then hands the notes on her observations along with the data on the other teams.
"… is that your divination then?"
"More like woman's intuition"
Kagami raises an eyebrow at that, but lets it go seeing as she seems so sure of it.
"Well let's hope you're right "he says "Feel like I'm still missing something"
Momoi looks puzzled "Really? You seem to be on the right track though… Maybe you just need another win to make it feel real!"
"Maybe…" Kagami grunts "But I dunno, it's kinda like… I just feel like there's something I should be doing that I'm… well, not doing"
"Hmm—" Momoi taps her chin thoughtfully "Well so far I think you'll be doing great if you continue with your current training regime… but if you think there's something missing… Oh!" she beams "You should ask Dai-chan, you're pretty similar players, he could figure it out maybe"
Kagami frowns "I'm not too sure he'd be willing to make the effort… "
"Didn't he already agree to a one-on-one?"
"But that was with the promise of food"
"Well then bribe him with food again!" Momoi huffs "You know I only wish I had that sort of power over him, but for some reason he hates my cooking!"
"Uh…" how was he supposed to comment of that? "…right…"
"Anyway" she waves a hand "I'm sure he'll be happy to help you if you feed him"
"More like he'll be willing to exert minimal effort if I do..." Kagami thinks, but says "I'll take that advice" instead. Momoi had a point anyway. Whatever half-assed assessment Aomine had was probably better than nothing.
Kagami clears his throat "Anyway, I should probably finish my morning drills…"
"Oh! Right. Keep me updated on what happens alright?"
"Ah… Sure"
-o-o-o-o-o-
"Gyoza again, nice" Aomine says, mildly excited. He makes an incredibly blissed out face when he puts one in his mouth and adds "What do you put in this stuff" he chomps on another one "ugh, so good"
"Just… normal stuff. By the way, never make that face again it's creepy" Kagami grimaces
"What face?" Aomine looks genuinely oblivious, Kagami decides not to press it.
"Mggh, nevermind" he slumps in his chair "Hey… can I ask you something?"
Aomine raises an eyebrow "This isn't a favor is it?"
"Sort of… not really. It's nothing much actually but uh…" Kagami scratches the back of his neck "See I kind of… " he grunts in frustration. He was perfectly alright with asking Aomine when Momoi suggested it but trying to say it to the man himself… It was hard to admit inadequacy to the guy you want to overcome.
"The thing is—" he says firmly "—I feel like there's something… missing"
There's a pause, before Aomine says "…missing"
"Uh yeah"
"From what exactly?"
"I—from my training"
"Ok" Aomine says slowly "What do you want me to do about it?"
"I need you to give me an idea about what I'm missing" Kagami scratches the back of his neck "Momoi suggested it actually, says we're similar"
"Pfff" Aomine snorts "what about us is similar?"
"No idea" Kagami shrugs "So will you... uh, help me?"
Aomine looks thoughtful for a moment, chewing on his food "What's in it for me?"
"That thing in your mouth" Kagami replies with a scowl "That's what's in it for you"
"Are you really going to stop making me lunch if I don't say yes?" Aomine says laughingly, looking like he doesn't believe for a second that the answer to that will be "yes".
Kagami just glares at him, doesn't budge even when a silent, strained, moment passes..
Aomine looks at him incredulously "…. you're kidding"
"Try me"
Gritting his teeth, Aomine lets out a strangled whine as he tries to weigh his options. Kagami briefly entertains throwing in a giant burger promise again to sweeten the deal, just in case, but he reels himself in. He seemed to be leaning towards yes anyway.
"Fine" Aomine grunts "I'll do it, but your bento better be damn amazing everyday"
Kagami snorts "When was it not?"
-o-o-o-o-o-
There's a disturbingly bright twinkle in Aomine's eye when he arrives at the outdoor basketball court that Saturday (predictably thirty minutes late). Kagami recognizes the look. It's the same one he had on when he was trying to sneak macaroni and cheddar into their shopping cart. He's wide-eyed and grinning, and so obviously planning something that Kagami will not like.
"Yo Taiga!" he calls cheerfully, and when Aomine does anything cheerfully Kagami knows it can only be bad for him. "I saw this thing on tv last night and—"
"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT" Kagami says firmly, and then turns away so he doesn't have to see Aomine's infuriating disappointed pout.
"Why not? I'm here aren't I?" he grunts "You owe me!"
"And I brought you lunch" Kagami frowns at his shoes as he dribbles "I'm not going to take another crazy ass request you hear me!"
He hears a soft thump and a rustling of clothes, probably Aomine putting down his bag and taking off his jacket.
"The giant burger thing wasn't crazy" Aomine scoffs, as he walks to stand right in front of Kagami "It was amazing if anything, you have to admit."
Aomine's hands are on his hips and his fucking chin is actually held high, and Kagami just wants to give him a good uppercut because he has never seen anyone look so high and mighty in his whole damn life, and he's met a lot of assholes.
"Can't you take no for an answer?" Kagami growls
"Heh" Aomine's posture slackens, and he moves to start guarding Kagami "Tell you what if you win at least once today, I'm just gonna forget it. If you don't… well"
Kagami doesn't answer; instead he takes him by surprise by immediately trying to rush past him. He manages to do just that, and sees from the corner of his eye, Aomine looking mildly surprised, but in the split second he moves to lift the ball and shoot, it's suddenly out of his hands and tumbling to the ground. He moves to take it back, but Aomine's faster.
He scoops the ball from the ground and shoots, almost as if it was all in one fluid movement, lighting quick.
"1-0" Aomine says teasingly, sneering at him.
Kagami growls "Just you wait you bastard…. One more time!"
-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Unfortunately by the time the sky starts turning orange Kagami hasn't won once. He has four almost-wins though (Aomine laughed at him when he said it but he can shove it because they were so almost-wins).
"What about that Taiga?" Aomine chuckles "Looks like you'll have to hear me out"
Kagami grunts, wipes off his sweat with the front of his shirt "Day's not over"
"Sun says otherwise, unless you plan to skip dinner and keep me up all night, we have the time and energy for only one more go"
"Really?" Kagami takes a deep breath "I could keep going for three. You lack stamina Aomine."
"Says the guy who's desperately trying to not look like he's panting" Aomine snorts "One more, if I win, you hear me out"
Kagami's crinkles his nose and furrows his eyebrows; mouth pursed, evident disdain on his face. He figures Aomine won't play past this next one-on-one even if he doesn't agree, so any objection would be for naught.
"Fine" he says, making it sound as grudging as possible.
"Alright—" Aomine throws the ball to his chest, and Kagami catches it with both hands "—come at me!"
Kagami dribbles the ball, slowly steps a little to the right, weighing his options.
"Haven't got all day Taiga" Aomine chides impatiently
"Shut up" Kagami growls "Gimme a minute"
"What would Aomine do?" he thinks, then mentally shakes his head "Ah no, that's wrong, what would I do? I should do the opposite of that"
He throws the words "go right" and "go left" around his mind in various combinations, trying to figure out what'd best surprise the basketball monster in front of him. Frustratingly, he comes up with nothing concrete. And he almost just improvises, the words "to hell with it" nearly on his lips, when it hits him—"Well there's that" he thinks.
"Why the hell not"
He steps forward quickly, feigning a move to the right, knowing Aomine will be one step ahead of him, reading his body language and getting into position to block him, but then just as quickly, he steps back and gets into position to shoot.
He gets as far as actually shooting the ball before Aomine pops out of fucking nowhere to swat it away.
Kagami stares at him in awe, amazed that he could pull that off without having predicted what Kagami would do. Then his expression quickly turns to that of mild horror as he remembers just what's happened.
"You surprised me" Aomine says, sounding mildly impressed "And I'm not sure what you were talking about when you said something's missing with you, but I guess it's that"
"That?" Kagami asks carefully
"Yeah, uh, what's it called?" he scratches the side of his temple "Ah! Right, animal instinct; takes you too fucking long to figure out what to do, you're intimidating to other losers only cause you're rough, and you think too much"
Kagami takes a moment to digest that, then mutters "…..that's the first time anyone's ever told me I think too much"
Aomine snorts "I'm not surprised"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It is what it is…" Aomine shrugs, then grins "And you are going to have to hear me out now"
Kagami's stomach churns in dread, he walks towards the bench where he'd dumped his things and takes a big gulp of water from his jug. He exhales loudly, then swallows before slowly saying "Ok… uh, go ahead then"
"Ok so—" Aomine sounds so eager it's weird "—I was watching this show, it was like, a special on cheese—"
"Do you watch nothing all day but the food channel or—"
"Shut up I watch basketball games too….. and porn"
"I didn't need to know that"
Aomine waves a hand "Anyway, so I was watching a cheese special, and the host dude goes to this place right? And they STEAM THEIR CHEESE THERE, it gets all goey-like and amazing. They also steam their burger patties and it just looks so fucking good I—" Aomine breathes "—yeah, ok anyway, so I want you to make that for me"
"Ah, you're talking about Ted's! Love that place, been there only once though, trip with my parents" Kagami's eyes shift away, looking a bit nostalgic, a small sad smile on his face "Good times…" he says softly.
"Great! So you know how to make it?"
Kagami shrugs "Guess I could come up with something similar…"
Aomine grins at him, and Kagami studiously ignores the weird twinge in his chest.
-o-o-o-o-
It took a bit of thought to figure out how he was going to steam the cheese, but Kagami was happy with the end result. He's pretty sure it isn't going to taste anything like Ted's but Aomine isn't going to know that anyway.
He slowly puts the gooey cheese onto the burger patty with Aomine staring, practically drooling really, and he has to admit he for once understands the overenthusiasm.
"God that's sexy" Aomine says gruffly "Can't wait to get it in me"
"Ugh, don't talk like that" Kagami grimaces "I don't want to hear that kind of thing from you"
He carefully puts lettuce, tomatoes, and a bun on top of the cheese then shoves the plate towards Aomine.
"Here, give it a taste"
Aomine eagerly takes the burger with both hands and takes one big bite. There's a string of cheese connecting his mouth to the burger as he chews and says "Yessss" in a muffled voice.
"Don't talk with your mouth full" Kagami says, sounding irked, though he's a little bit glad it turned out well
"It tastes great" Aomine says after he swallows, cheese and ketchup on the edge of his lips and on his chin.
Kagami scrunches his nose "You have a little something here" he says, pointing towards the general vicinity of his own mouth.
Aomine wipes the right side of his mouth with his thumb.
"Still some there"
Making a frustrated sound, Aomine wipes the left side.
"Uh, there's still—"
"Argh, why don't you wipe it off" Aomine leans his head forward towards Kagami, looking impatient.
Kagami hesitates, inches back a little but, then takes the front of his apron and wipes the cheese off Aomine's chin. The proximity makes him uncomfortable for some reason, but he tries not to show it.
"It's gone" he says as he pulls back "Bring your plate over to the table while I make mine"
Aomine takes his plate and strolls over to the table by way of reply. He then proceeds to continue to make indecent sounds as he eats his burger, causing Kagami to almost mess up making his own.
After finishing his burger Kagami sets his plate on the table, before taking off his apron and hanging it over the counter. He fetches two glasses of water loudly placing one in front of Aomine, who mutters a "thank you" while his mouth is full.
Kagami sighs but doesn't bother to criticize him again, because it'd be useless and also because it isn't as if he doesn't do that as well sometimes (not that he'd give Aomine the satisfaction by openly admitting it).
He takes a bite of his burger and revels in the texture of the cheese, nothing like Ted's (as expected), but pretty damn good, even if he is saying so himself. He looks towards Aomine who's happily chewing and thinks "Well, he seems to think so too at least".
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Aomine asks laughingly, startling Kagami enough that he fumbles with the burger in his hands.
"Ah I—"he clears his throat "—I'm not"
"Right" Aomine snorts "You're so weird"
Kagami glares at him "I don't want to hear that from you" he snaps, thereafter taking a huge bite of his burger, chewing as he glares at somewhere vaguely to his right.
Aomine just snorts again before going back to his food. They eat in relative silence for a few minutes, until Aomine speaks again.
"Tomorrow I want a steamed cheese sandwich for lunch"
"Not possible" Kagami says firmly
Aomine grunts "Why not?"
"It's not going to be anything like this because it'd have cooled down for a few hours by them" he replies "We're better off with the usual kinda stuff"
Aomine frowns "What about grilled cheese sandwiches?"
"So persistent" Kagami thinks, then sighs
"Yeah I guess that's fine…" he concedes "… do you want me to make cheese fries? Ah, wait no those'll taste gross by lunch time"
"Just make the cheese sauce" Aomine says excitedly "Lots of it, I'll bring potato chips"
"Are you even responsible enough to be trusted with doing that?"
"Of course I am" Aomine finishes up his burger and licks his fingers "It's food, I'll bring it"
Kagami sighs, and finishes up his burger as well. "Gimme your plate, I'm gonna wash it"
He silently gets up and heads for the sink. There he squeezes a drop of dishwasher onto a sponge and then turns on the faucet. He feels Aomine's eyes on him and so he turns his head to look back.
"What?" he asks, discomfort in his voice, back stiffening.
Aomine hums thoughtfully "You're kind of like a housewife huh?"
Kagami nearly drops the plate in his hands when he chokes on his spit "WHAT THE FUCK"
"I mean, your house is really clean, you can cook well, and you seem to be able to do all your chores" he smirks "I bet you even wash your own underwear"
"You don't wash your own underwear?" Kagami blanches "Then who does?"
"My mom does" Aomine says unashamed
And Kagami can't help it, he just starts laughing. He's laughing so hard his stomach hurts and he has to hunch over the sink.
"Oh my god you're a five year old kid" he manages in between guffaws "I mean you don't even need to hand wash the damn things, you have a washing machine at home don't you?"
Aomine glares at him "I don't know how to use washing machines" he grunts "I'm not a girl" (1)
"I know a lot of 'girls' that'll punch you in the face for that comment. Momoi's one of them"
"Yeah, well shut up"
Kagami chuckles again "Five year old"
"Well if I'm a five year old, then you're my mom"
"That's insulting to both of us"
Aomine shrugs and Kagami just rolls his eyes, going back to washing their plates. "If you want to use my shower go ahead, I'll just lend you clothes again"
"Nah, brought my own stuff today" Kagami can hear the clatter of a chair as Aomine stands up "Anyway, I'm using your shower"
"Yeah, yeah" Kagami waves him off then shouts "Don't use up all the hot water!"
"Yes mom" Aomine shouts back, before the door of the bathroom clicks shut.
Kagami fights a smile, and mutters to himself "That bastard...".
-o-o-o-
(1) lol, on the fence about how in character this is, but i thought that he's being defensive here so what the hey, and also i just thought, that hey if Aomine's the type of guy who'd say boobs are filled with dreams, then he's the type of guy who'll make a comment like this when Momoi's not there to hear it
END NOTES: Kagami's starting to feel weird things, hmmm. No idea when the next update will be. I'm just REALLY busy with school, I update on tumblr quicker (I post one chapter here in three parts there, they're posted as I finish them). Just one month left in my semester though, and then I'll have about a month of break so expect more updates then… err… hopefully
