A/N: Hey guys! I'm not dead! Just an overworked brand new teacher who has no life outside of marking. (I do love my job but oh my god the marking). This is a suuuuuuuuuuuper fluffy chapter. It wasn't where it was originally intended to go but it just felt right. ENJOY MY FAITHFUL READERS.
You were conceived next to a Tortoise Enclosure
Growing Pains
It was Summer break and all anyone could talk about was group karaoke, relatives in the south, visits to the beach, and sitting in your friend's bedroom in your underwear festering away under a dirty quilt trying to avoid vengeful brothers and clingy babies while watching with religious obsession an entire collection of Takeshi Kaneshiro DVDs.
"You are a walking bio-hazard," said Sakata, reaching for the spray bottle.
"Wait! I showered this morning!" Tsukino said, raising one of Kuroko's thick books in front of her face.
Eyes narrowed, Sakata stretched her arm out, holding the spray bottle at the point in the book where Tsukino's face would have been.
"Note," ordered Sakata.
Without moving the book, Tsukino reached behind her and groped around before slapping a folded piece of paper down on the desk. Sakata inspected it carefully.
"Hmm, I'll have to confirm with Kuroko's mother, but the signature does appear to be genuine… this time," said Sakata, putting away the spray bottle.
Tsukino dropped the textbook on the desk with a sigh. "Between you and Nijimura I'm never going to have any peace."
"There was mould in your shoes. It is a miracle that you have not succumbed to e-coli. Then again at this point germs are probably more afraid of you than you are of them. In fact, I would not be surprised if you yourself were an evolved strain of the superbug."
"Hey, I showered didn't I," grumbled Tsukino, adding in a quieter voice, "did my laundry that one time too."
"Falling into a swimming pool fully clothed does not count as laundry," said Sakata, producing a thick binder from her bag. "I have comprised a timetable."
"No doubt you have my future offspring's' birthdates in there," Tsukino said, slumping in her seat.
"I'm glad you remain optimistic about your reproductive prospects but no," said Sakata. She opened the binder and turned it to face Tsukino. 'WEEK ONE' read the first page.
"Week one of what?" Tsukino asked nervously, scanning the chart. Every minute of every day had been accounted for, including, in large bold letters near the top, her daily fifteen-minute shower.
"Of the beginning of Tsukino Kame's rehabilitation," said Sakata. "It begins in the Autumn."
"I thought you loved me just the way I am."
"I do," said Sakata, "but I may only continue to love you if you remain a member of our school and at the abysmal rate you're going your father will make good on his threat to send you to a convent. Considering you are the anti-Christ this would not bode well for anyone."
Tsukino winced at the Thursday evening block, which consisted of two hours of English tuition with Midorima Shintarou. She imagined that it had taken less than twenty seconds for Sakata to reverse psychology the Tsundere into that one. Probably mentioned in passing how it was so difficult to find anyone with the mental strength enough to tutor the renowned delinquent.
"Actually, I told Midorima-san that it would make you utterly miserable and he agreed instantly," said Sakata. "I sent copies of your timetable to Nijimura-senpai and your parents last night and have received unanimous approval."
"I'm going to fake my death and pin the murder on you," said Tsukino, scowling at the hour of swim practice slotted in afterschool on Wednesday and Friday, the only two days the basketball team didn't meet up to practise.
"Don't despair," commanded Sakata. "Look at Friday six o'clock, right after swim practice."
Tsukino read what it said aloud. "Dastardly Plotting. Vetted by Sakata Riyeko; plots to be carried out Monday morning before the commencement of school with assistance of aforementioned accomplice."
"Naturally, I have omitted this section from the other binders. To your parents and Nijimura, time is to be spent in quiet reflection. As we've already discovered from the school festival, with my assistance you are much less likely to get caught."
"You really don't want to change me," said Tsukino, her eyes glittering in admiration.
"Before you are overcome with sentiment, you may wish to turn to look at the Summer weeks."
Tsukino turned the page back, blood turning cold. Stamped diagonally across four weeks of summer in big, bold caps were four terrible words.
TEIKO'S SUMMER SWIM CAMP
[14.02] Honey Bunny: OMG, bby, were gonna be apart for like 4 weeks T_T
[14.21] You: how the hell did u change your name in my phone?
[14.21] Honey Bunny: most couples have each other saved with a cute nickname on their phones
[14.22] Honey Bunny: also maybe don't make your password for everything Momoi's bday
[14.22] Honey Bunny: you wanna know what your saved in my phone as?
[14.25] You: No.
[14.25] Tsukino: ill give you a hint…
[14.25] You: what did u mean anyway?
[14.25] Tsukino: it has honey in it
[14.25] You: ur coming to the basketball training camp.
[14.26] Tsukino: its Honey BEE! im Honey BUNNY and your Honey BEE!
[14.26] Tsukino: GET IT! HONEY BEE! COS YOU HATE BEES. BUT YOUR MY HONEY!
[14.26] You: lose my number
[14.26] Tsukino: Sakata signed me up to SWIM CAMP. T_T
[14.26] You: thats just a waste of taxpayer's money when u cant even swim
[14.27] Tsukino: OMG thats what I said.
[14.27] You: were not soulmates.
[14.27] Tsukino: were soulmates!
[14.28] Tsukino: soulmates torn asundae by sports camps.
[14.28] Tsukino: its like if K-Drama and Sports Manga had a baby.
[14.29] You: mutant baby.
[14.29] You: whats asundae?
[14.34] Tsukino: a fancy word for apart.
[14.34] You: doesnt sound right.
[14.45] Tsukino: you gonna miss me?
[15.43] You: nope
[18.56] You: when do you leave?
[19.00] You: Oi, Tsukino
[19.40] You: you wanna get chips at the regular?
Tsukino is typing…
The dappled reflection of the water crept slowly across her face as she sat on the edge of the fountain. By now the chip stand had gone and the square was empty save the two of them. They had been talking for a while now. Well she was doing most of the talking. Momoi was right about her having a way of getting people to listen to her; that easy charm was like comfortable quicksand. Even if the topics were, to Aomine, untenable.
"No."
"But it's a good name. Like Brangelina."
"Branja-what?"
"Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's couple name, Brangelina."
Aomine gave her a withering look.
"Just picture it, Tsukimine," said Tsukino, raising her hand in the air as if she was framing a sign, "Teiko's Golden Couple."
"Why is your name first?"
"How do we put your name first?" asked Tsukino. "Aoskino hurts my mouth to say."
Aomine thought for a moment, a wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows. "Daime," he said finally, smirking triumphantly.
Her face fell. Even she knew it was undeniably better, snappier, gentler on the tongue. And there was something endearing about it being their first names joined together. But damned if she was going to admit it.
"I prefer Tsukimine."
"Tsukimine sounds like a new breed of shark," he said. "That's not Hollywood."
"You didn't know what Hollywood was until I told you ten minutes ago!" said Tsukino. "You thought it was a wood full of holly trees."
"Daime is better," said Aomine, yawning.
He had wanted to ask her about the cuts he'd seen on her hands, but he figured she would just lie. Plus she couldn't get up to much mischief sequestered to the Kuroko household while he brothers stalked the outskirts like hungry tigers. The only reason she'd been able to come out and see him was because they were currently on an away game for the Interhigh quarter-finals. Instead, he listened as she veered off into talking about Teiko's former golden couple; her parents.
High school sweethearts in the 80s, it all started when an unnaturally tall redhaired boy spotted a Goddess floating through the air in his first year of high school. At least that's how Papa Tsukino described it. It was more like a praying mantis flailing down a flight of stairs after tripping up on her ball of yarn. Papa Tsukino said it was love at first sight, although Grandma Tsukino laughed about how he couldn't muster up the courage to speak to her for the first few months, resigning himself instead to doodling pictures of her at the back of his notebook like a budding serial killer.
"I was intimidated by my feelings for Beniko," Papa had insisted.
"You were intimidated by her tits," said Grandma Tsukino, guffawing heartily as she elbowed her blushing son in the ribs. "You think Buro-chan's afraid of those things, you shoulda seen your dad! Every time your ma turned around, he would duck!"
"Please stop," muttered Saburo, unable to leave the dinner table because he'd been tied to his chair by his older siblings.
Tsukino looked down at her own chest and then at her mother's, a scowl etched on her face. "Just admit it. I'm adopted."
"From the dog's trust," said Ichiro, without missing a beat.
"Oh, ignore your brother, my love. You're a late bloomer just like me," said Mama Tsukino, making silly faces as she fed Number Five. "I didn't have a growth spurt until I was fifteen. And after that I had to give up volleyball because they kept smacking me in the face. Back then the sports bras were terrible. Oh yes they were, oh yes they were, weren't they my little angel?" Number Five giggled and spat a glob of mashed sweet potatoes in his mother's eyes.
"A bra, short for brassiere is something that is used to support breasts," Zinan explained condescendingly to his sister. "Breasts, more colloquially known as boobies, are-"
In any case, the conversation had ended with Tsukino having to be hauled off by both her father and her grandmother before she was able to etch the word boobies in Zinan's forehead with a steak knife. But Tsukino had heard the story a thousand times before. It was the typical tale of gangly, six-foot boy with an unhealthy interest in bad shoujou manga meeting tall amazon goddess who thought that the cutting edge of fashion was pink wellington boots.
It took Papa Tsukino three years to muster up the courage to finally confess at the high school closing ceremony and because their parents were about as mature and as sensible as a game of Donkey Kong, nine months later an abnormally long, ugly baby slithered out of Mama Tsukino's womb. And the ex-volleyball player and her bumbling barely-fiancé decided they weren't going to stop there! No, they were going to rear an army of unplanned mutant lobsters in their small two bedroom flat. Tsukino was beginning to suspect that her parents didn't actually know what a condom was and were just pretending out of fear of being ostracised.
As time went on and the story of the Tsukino's and their hapless adventures with birth control continued, her older brothers grew up, precious Ichiro and Zinan excelling in all sports and gaining all sorts of love and praise from her parents and everyone else that came within a five-minute radius. Meanwhile toddler Kame was climbing up the fireplace to steal their many trophies so she could bury them in the back garden while Kuroko stood lookout.
Shaking his head as he listened, Aomine flicked Tsukino's nose, more out of habit than disgust, then caught her in a reverse headlock when she went for him. Pulling her over to the fountain's lip, he held her still. A curly strand of hair tumbled down and skimmed the still canvas of water and she gulped.
"Don't you dare," said Tsukino, clawing at his t-shirt as she tried to yank her head out. "At least let me finish my story!"
"You can finish like this," said Aomine, grinning.
"Aomine, I swear-"
"How come you fight with your brothers so much?"
When Tsukino didn't respond, he pushed her face a little closer until the tip of her nose was touching the water.
"I hate you," said Tsukino, taking a deep breath. "You know how I used to play basketball, right?"
"Badly."
"Well once upon a time, I played basketball with Oshiro Noriko."
"Captain of the girls' basketball team."
"We were the bestest of best friends. We braided each other's hair, had pillow fights, discussed rising gas prices, you know, kid stuff."
"Right."
"Anyway," said Tsukino, sighing exaggeratedly. "The summer before we entered Teiko… it was such a beautiful summer, the sun was shining, the laughter of children filled the streets-"
"Tsukino."
"Okay, okay. So me and my brothers would go down to the park every day with Kuroko and Oshiro and play basketball. Well one day I left my bag behind, and when I went back to get it… I saw-" here, Tsukino made a strangled noise in the back of her throat as if she were trying to hold back her sobs "-I saw Oshiro kissing Zinan and held between their entwined writhing bodies was my beloved basketball. From that day on I swore never to play basketball again!"
In the distance, a cricket chirped.
"Every word of that was bullshit, wasn't it?"
"Yes."
"You know what's going to happen now?"
"Yes."
"Any regrets?"
"Never."
Tsukino grumbled to herself as she rinsed her hair into one of the grates when a a warm weight that smelled like fresh pine fell gently on her shoulders. Straightening up she found herself face to face with Aomine as he gently buttoned the top of his coat around her neck.
"Hey, Aomine," she said as he pulled her hair out of the collar and put the hood up.
"Hm…" he said, putting his hands into his pockets.
"Ah… nothing."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"Come on," he said, stuffing her wet jumper in his rucksack. "I'll walk you back to Tetsu's."
"Gimme a piggy back."
"Only if you oink."
Konishi Mino glanced at her phone and let out a frustrated sigh. The coach behind her was ready to take them to the resort where their summer camp would take place, only it couldn't leave because they were still waiting on two of their members.
"Captain," said one of her team members. "The driver wants to know how long we're going to be."
Konishi grit her teeth. "Hold on," she said, dialling Sakata's number on her phone. After a few rings she finally picked up. "Where are you, vice-captain, the coach is about to-"
"Start the coach!" shouted Sakata, out of breath.
"Wh-"
Then Konishi saw it.
Swinging round, she shouted up to the driver, "Get ready to leave on my mark!"
The coach roared to life. Konishi grabbed hold of the handle and leaned out.
"As soon as I say," Konishi said over her shoulder, "punch it."
The rest of the swim-club leaned out of their seats to look out of the window. A flurry of gasps went through the coach. Opening the windows, they stuck their heads out and began cheering.
"Okay, ready," said Konishi, raising her arm to the driver. "Five… four… three… two…"
Sakata threw the bike to the side and leapt into the coach, followed closely by Tsukino who had been hanging on at the back.
"NOW!" shouted Konishi, smacking the big red button.
The doors slammed shut and the coach shot forwards just as two redhaired giants crashed against it. For a second it looked like they were going to chase it out onto the main road, but then they disappeared into specks in the rear-view window.
Lying in the aisle of the coach, Sakata and Tsukino panted heavily.
"What the hell was that?" demanded Konishi, pulling Sakata to her feet.
"Teiko's Tsukino brothers," said Sakata, shoving their bags into the overhead compartment. "They wish to take revenge on their younger sister."
"As in Ichiro and Zinan-senpai," said Konishi, her mouth falling open in shock as she turned to Tsukino. "You're their little sister."
Tsukino scowled and said nothing as she crawled into her seat beside Sakata and immediately curled into a sleeping position. Konishi scowled in return.
When Sakata had told her about her plan to turn Tsukino Kame into the greatest swimmer Teiko had ever seen, Konishi had been sceptical, but the last few weeks of swim practices had confirmed her suspicions. While the delinquent splashed about in her frilly purple one-piece and inflatable arm bands, Konishi took her time to observe. No longer was she sceptical of Sakata's decision to bring Tsukino Kame into the swim team, no, she was downright convinced. She was convinced that her vice-captain was insane. There wasn't an ounce of talent in the curly haired spit of fire. In fact, she had made less progress with the rigorous one-to-one training she received with Sakata than toddlers did just floating about in the pool. Just what Sakata was thinking Konishi could not understand. But the younger girl had been her rock since elementary school, her courage when she was seriously lacking at their last inter-high competition, her right-hand when the third years left, leaving a gaping hole in the swim teams ranks. Her vice-captain had never knowingly steered her wrong. And if nothing else, Konishi had never seen her smile as much as she had since becoming friends with Tsukino.
"Tsukino-senpai, you need to put your seatbelt on. It's dangerous."
"How about I wrap it around your throat?"
"Uh-uh-uhhhhhh."
"Tsukino-san, Ai-chan is just concerned for your safety. Please put your seatbelt on."
"Ai-chan? How come you never use such an affectionate honorific with me? Hey? I thought I was your best friend?"
"Would you like me to refer to you as Tsukino-chan?"
"… no that sounds gross."
And who knows, maybe Tsukino really was a secret prodigy and as just biding her time before releasing her full potential like the hero always did in the last act of the anime.
"You should call me Tsukino-sama."
"That sounds like something used in a Dom-sub relationship. I told you I'm not interested in you sexually."
"As you wish, Sakata-sama."
Konishi sighed. It was going to be a long four weeks.
Four Weeks Later…
Sweat slid down Aomine's wrist and along his forearm as he curled his biceps, one of the heftier dumbbells in his hand. Normally, he would stay away from the heavier weights but over the last few weeks, something had changed. Kuroko had been the first one to point it out to him.
"Aomine-kun, you've grown. And not just in height," he had said, eyeing him curiously as they bumped fists after their first qualifying match for the nationals. "You're really shaping up to be the best player on the team."
He couldn't pinpoint it exactly but sometime during the summer training camp and all the qualifying games, Aomine's strength, stamina, resilience, agility… all of it had flared like an incandescent light in the sky, a shooting star driving him leaps and bounds beyond his limits. And he could feel it. This pulsing inside of him, like the way he imagined a rabbit's heart to pound, feverishly and furiously. Like he was unstoppable. Frighteningly unstoppable.
Completing his set, Aomine dropped to the floor and began his sits up, trying to taper the anticipation singing hotly in his veins at the thought of the upcoming Winter Nationals (1) and facing off against old rivals, like Inoue. That is of course if they made it that far. And something, something coloured with a grim sense of disquiet, those prized instincts perhaps, told him that they would. With ease.
"Honey," called Aomine's mother, standing in the doorway of their in-house gym, purse hanging from the crook of her elbow as she scrolled through her phone.
Aomine paused in the middle of his one hundred and fifty-sixth sit-up and flashed a grimace at his mother. "Mm?"
"Satsuki is here," said his mother, not looking up from her phone. "I'm on my way into the office if you two want a lift in to school."
Getting to his feet, Aomine picked up his flannel and rubbed his face down with it, running a hand through his hair and tousling out the beads of sweat sitting on the tips of his bangs like dew drops. His broad chest rose and fell heavily as he yanked off his tank top and put on his shirt followed by the freshly-pressed Teiko school tie, which had been hung on the barbell stand by his father the night before.
"What do you say then, Daiki?"
"You sure?" he asked offhandedly as he checked his phone.
[8.05] Tsukino: did you miss me lover?
[8.05] Tsukino: a whole four weeks without seeing my beautiful face. you must have gone crazy.
[8.05] Tsukino: AND! ive got something cool to show you!
"Hm, yes but- hold on…" she raised a finger as she finished shooting off a text. "Barely saw you all summer what with that basketball hobby of yours."
"Training camp," corrected Aomine, shrugging on his blazer. "The Nationals are starting soon."
"Right, that's right. Anyway, thought it would be nice to spend some time together," she said, flashing him a brief smile. "Hurry up now. I've got a meeting with Japan in thirty. Have you eaten?"
"Not y-"
"I'm sure Satsuki's brought… something. Come on now, chop, chop."
"Yeah just be a sec," said Aomine, scratching the back of his neck as his mother wandered off.
[8.09] You: better not be another crayfish tempura hot pack.
Hooking his bag over his shoulder he went over to the front door where Momoi was waiting for him, the reliable pink bento full of poison held delicately in her hands. Mother was already in the car, one hand stuck out the window as she waved them over.
"Good morning, Aomine-kun," Momoi chirped brightly, following him into the car and buckling herself in. "Are you ready to start the new term?"
"You're too loud in the morning, Satsuki," said Aomine, unwinding the window and letting out a yawn.
He caught sight of his mother's phone lying flat on the passenger seat next to her. Twenty minutes. It was more than what some kids got, he thought. Twenty minutes of uninterrupted time with his mother while the phone was set to silent. He thought of Tsukino again, her face blinking into existence, telling him about how annoying it was when her mother demanded to know about her day. Then muttering, when she thought he wasn't listening as they lay on their backs along the fountain's edge, about how she never had anything interesting to tell her anyway. Not as interesting as her brothers at least.
Twenty minutes of uninterrupted time with his mother. And he spent it in silence.
The second they pulled up at the school entrance, the door swung open and Aomine was out like a shot, walking through the gates before Momoi had a chance to say thanks for the lift. If his mother was offended by his lack of manners, she didn't seem to show it, driving off without a moment's hesitation.
"God, I'm so glad to be back," said Momoi, with the forced level of cheer they had become accustomed to following any interaction with his mother. "I can't wait to see everyone again."
Aomine rubbed his ear with his pinkie finger. "We just saw them two days ago."
"That was just the basketball team," said Momoi, putting her finger out in front of her officiously. "But you know I was the only manager at the mountain resort with you guys since Acchan and Micchan had dance camp and Kame-chan was off swimming. You boys got to hang out and have fun in your dorms and I was all by myself!"
"Believe me," said Aomine, shuddering at the memory of sharing a room with Haizaki and Kise. At one point a microwave had been thrown, "you dodged a bullet."
"What about that time you, Ki-chan and Tetsu-kun snuck out to go to the arcade."
Aomine grinned to himself as he slid open the door to their classroom. "Ah yeah, that was pretty cool. I got a tonne of tickets from the hoop machine. Guess what I traded them in for?"
"Another crayfish plushie?"
"Limited edition."
"There is no such thing as limited edition arcade merchandise, Aomine-kun. It's all just cheap rubbish."
"But then why'd it say limited edition on the plastic wrap?"
"Ugh, anyway why didn't you invite me?" demanded Momoi, squeezing her bento tightly against her chest, cheeks blown out as she stood indignantly beside Aomine's desk.
"Hey, I tried calling you but the second I mentioned Tetsu's name you started screaming and hung up."
"Y-yeah, well," said Momoi, her mouth opening and closing uncertainly. "That's not the point!"
Rolling his eyes, Aomine was about to lay his head on the table and pretend like he had fallen asleep until Satsuki saw fit to go to her own class when the door to the classroom slid open with a sharp clack. Everyone in the room turned to face it, including a disgruntled Midorima who had been discussing the importance of implementing a new cleaning duty rota with utmost seriousness.
Sakata Riyeko entered and with an officious bow stood in front of the teacher's lectern. In her hands was a gold embossed scroll, which she unfurled with a flourish.
"Hear ye, hear ye," she announced in her usual monotone. "Welcome, everyone to what is sure to be a grand new autumn term. I'm sure you're all wondering what this is all about."
"A hundred-yen Tsukino's going to ride in with a motorcycle," Aomine muttered to Momoi, his eyes still trained on the doorway.
"I bet she's about to propose to you," said Momoi, giggling softly at the look of horror on Aomine's face.
"Before we begin, I would like to express my deep and abiding admiration for the great, although occasionally dim-witted-"
"-NO ADLIBS!" shouted a voice from the hallway.
"-beacon of hope for the downtrodden in Teiko Middle School, without whom we would all lead tedious and unfulfilling lives. It is an honour to know her. Now, introducing my best friend and the woman I most admire-"
"-Psst you missed out the paragraph about my brilliant sense of humour-"
"Tsukino Kame!" said Sakata, throwing a pocketful of confetti unceremoniously into the air.
"Did you throw the confetti?"
"Yes," said Sakata, rolling up the scroll.
Then Aomine, whose head had been resting comfortably in his hand as he grinned at the doorway in anticipation, felt his eyes widen and his elbow slipping from underneath him as the guest of honour leapt inside.
"Oh wow," exclaimed Momoi, clapping excitedly. "You got a new uniform."
From where she stood with her hands on her hips at the front of the classroom, Tsukino deflated in defeat.
"No- I mean yeah, it is a new uniform, but look," she said, pointing down at her thighs and smiling encouragingly. "Notice anything different."
"You shaved your legs?" called another student.
"I'll shave off your eyebrows, Mimosa!"
"Mimasaka! We've known each other since elementary school, Tsukino! Come on! Our parents are friends!"
"Your socks don't have holes in them for once?" asked another classmate, snickering. Tsukino threw a book at his face and he stopped.
"This is ridiculous," called Midorima. "Hasegawa-sensei will be here any moment. Clean up that confetti at once. These ridiculous antics have no place in a school setting, Tsukino… Also it's obvious that your shoes have been polished."
"Oh, come on," groaned Tsukino, running a hand through her curls, which hung much longer around her face now. "You guys can't be serious."
"I told you they wouldn't notice," said Sakata, shaking her head and patting her best friend on the head like a dog. "There, there."
"You're taller," said Aomine, having regrouped himself.
Tsukino blinked over at the blue haired teen who was rubbing his sore chin.
"Like an inch," he added.
"YES!" bellowed Tsukino, fist bumping the air. "I TOLD YOU SAKATA. DIDN'T I TELL YOU! I HAVE GROWN."
"An inch. Your hair has grown longer than that."
"According to Hachi Aunty an inch can make all the difference."
"In regard to what?" asked Sakata.
All the boys in the class sucked in a collective breath, excluding Midorima who was a fount of innocence and merely frustrated that no one was sweeping up the confetti or acknowledging his brilliant guess about the polished shoes.
"Some old Chinese proverb; an inch of time being more precious than an inch of gold," said Tsukino, going over to her desk and flopping down while Sakata took her place behind her. The boys released their breaths, all sharing relieved glances. "Or maybe it was about how some people like big penises."
While a mixture of scandalised gasps, groans and giggles swept through the classroom, Tsukino caught Aomine's eye and shot him a bright grin. It wasn't just the height, Aomine realised, the grin he shot back feeling somewhat forced. She'd grown into her smile as well.
Some things did not change thankfully, he thought, as the lunch bell rang and Tsukino came over to his desk with a large stack of bentos in her hands. Before she sat down however, she began a series of leg stretches in the middle of the aisle, a charming smirk on her face she looked around at the other occupants of the classroom.
"Ah, Tsukino, the hell are you doing?" asked Aomine, eyebrow raised as she stepped into a deep lunge.
"Just demonstrating my new height to my adoring fans," said Tsukino. She finally sat down after the fifth lunge with an expression of smug superiority. "Gotta give the people what they want."
"Tch, it's an inch not a foot," muttered Aomine, shaking his head. "But it does explain some things."
"Explain what?" asked Tsukino, unpacking her own six tiers of bentos, and passing him his three. Aomine stared pointedly at the array of food as she began to eat. "Huh? This? You know I've been really hungry lately- OH! You mean that's why I've been eating so much."
Ignoring her as she launched into a tirade about all the little hints that had been leading up to her growth spurt, like how she slept at least fourteen hours a day now instead of her usual twelve, Aomine dug into his homemade takoyaki -Buro's specialty- his mouth filling with water with the first bite. Honestly, how were he and Tsukino related? The one time he had been partnered with her during Food Technology in first year she had set the teacher's eyebrows on fire trying to fry an egg.
"Hey, hey, hey," said Tsukino, leaning forwards conspiratorially, forcing him to lean away on account of the fact that she had never really learned the whole 'don't talk with your mouth full' thing. "Do you think that means I'll grow another inch soon? Since I'm still hungry all the time and I'm sleeping like ninety percent of the day."
"Who knows," said Aomine. "Either way you're still too short to ride the Monster Rail."
"Is that supposed to be like a nickname for your-"
"No, pervert," said Aomine, stabbing her forehead with his chopsticks. "It's the new ride that's opened up next to the Arcade over the summer."
"Oh good, cos I've already come up with a way better nickname for it," said Tsukino, grinning. "Wanna hear it-"
"No."
"But it's really, really good-"
"No."
"It has a basketball reference in it."
"…"
"Small Forward. I nicknamed your dick Small Forward, Aomine."
"SPECIAL NOOGIE ATTACK."
"GAK!"
Some things did not change, thought Aomine as he choked out Tsukino.
After she had finished checking her scalp in the girls' bathroom for bald spots, she and Aomine ventured off to find Kise and Murasakibara because, as Tsukino reasoned, the news about her growth spurt would have gotten around to them by now and they would obviously want to see it in person. Aomine did not argue with this logic because there was a look of manic obsession in her eyes that told him that this was not a rabbit hole he wanted to risk falling down for fear of waking up on a cold metal slab with his intestines spelling 'Welcome to your Honeymoon' on the wall.
As they walked through the hallways they talked about their respective summers. Tsukino ended up doubling up with laughter when Aomine told her about the evening after they'd arrived at the Summer Camp and Haizaki's mother appeared with a suitcase full of new underwear, since Haizaki's, she announced to the entire dinner hall, were full of holes and unusual stains.
"Satsuki had to stop Midorima before he went up there and tried to pull her face off. He was convinced it was you in a mask."
"Oh man, I wish it had been me in a mask," said Tsukino, sighing. "I can't believe I missed that."
"Yeah," said Aomine, scratching the back of his neck as he recalled just how much Tsukino had missed and how much he'd found himself wanting to tell her over the past few weeks. They'd texted every now and again, yes, but their training regimes meant that they seemed to keep missing each other. The most they had gotten in terms of conversation had been a ten-minute chat in which Aomine half-heartedly talked her down from drowning one of the upperclassmen since Kuroko was too busy throwing up to do damage control. In the end she had agreed to a simple paint-ballooning in the middle of breakfast. It was a step down from murder at least.
"Yo, Kame-chan!"
Other than Momoi, Aomine had never heard Tsukino addressed with such enthusiasm and was somewhat disturbed when he turned to see a third-year jogging over from his spot on the football pitch where a group of his friends had been sitting and eating lunch in a circle looking like a picture out of a university brochure. Aomine watched as the dark-haired boy strode up to Tsukino practically beaming at her. Very few people beamed at Tsukino. Scratch that, one person beamed at Tsukino and he wasn't even potty trained yet. What was this guy's deal? Aomine thought to himself, feeling an uncomfortable twist in his gut.
"God, I was calling you for ages. Got water in your ears or something?" said the upperclassman, chuckling to himself. "But seriously. Swimmer's ear is no joke. Takahashi was out for a week last time. Look after yourself, Kame-chan."
From the corner of his eye, Aomine could see Kise surrounded by a group of giggling girls and a little further off Nakadan and Kira playing hoops with some of the other first years and wondered if he could make a run for it. There was a rare sense of awkwardness that was beginning to creep up on his being a third party to this exchange, but before he could run Tsukino said something that made his chest unclench.
"Oh it's you. What's your name again? Oka-something. Okashi? No wait I'm thinking of Akashi-san."
Aomine smirked in spite himself.
"You know my name, Kame-chan."
"Avocado?"
"Kame-chan, do I have to remind you of the time I saved you when you got a leg cramp in the water. Or the time I convinced Konishi not to murder you after you explode paintballs all over the canteen."
Tsukino narrowed her eyes and then let out an exaggerated sigh. "Hi, Okada. You know I was aiming for you."
"Oh, I'm good, Kame-chan! Thanks for asking. And how are you?" Okada asked too brightly, pretending she hadn't just revealed her murderous intent to him.
"I'm one inch taller," Tsukino said smugly, like she was casually informing her obnoxious mother-in-law that she had just given birth to not one but three healthy sons.
Okada laughed disbelievingly, then coughed when he realised Tsukino was being deadly serious. "O-oh, congratulations on your… growth."
"I accept cash gifts," said Tsukino. "Give me your money."
"How about a free swim lesson instead," said Okada, winking at her.
"That's worthless to me."
"Aw, that's so nice of you to say Kame-chan. You really know how to make a guy feel valued. I guess that time I graciously offered to teach you how to do the backstroke when I found you flopping about in the pool by yourself in the middle of the night was pretty worthless, huh?"
"I'm glad you're aware of your shortcomings," said Tsukino, channelling her inner Sakata. "Should I text you my bank account details later so that you can transfer my gift or…?"
Catching sight of Momoi walking towards them, Aomine saw his chance to escape. Unfortunately, Okada stepped in front of him. The hair on the back of his neck rose.
"Oh hey, sorry man, that was so rude of me," said Okada, extending his hand to him. "I'm Okada Hisashi, vice-captain of the boys' swim team."
"Aomine Daiki," said Aomine, shaking his hand.
"Oh, you're Kame-chan's boyfriend, right?" said Okada, glancing from Tsukino to Aomine with a knowing wink, then whispered, "My condolences."
Usually instinct would kick in and Aomine would have been denying the accusation yesterday, ripping out the Horikita Mai magazine he usually kept in his back pocket and pointing aggressively at her boobs screaming 'F-Cups only!'. But this time it didn't happen. Instead he let out a grunt and strode past the upperclassman. Without meaning to, he found himself swinging his arm easily around Tsukino's shoulders and drawing her along with him until they were far out into the field and far away from Okada.
Aomine was confused, unsure about what he'd just done or why he'd done it. All he knew was that he didn't want to talk about it and knowing Tsukino she wasn't going to let it go. Probably go on about how he was jealous or something and nag at him until-
"Freaking hell, that guy's so annoying," said Tsukino, rolling her eyes and lying flat in the grass. "He kept following me around all summer, trying to teach me how to swim like-like he was- who's that guy with the big fork thingy? Pos- Possum-"
"Poseidon."
"Poseidon, yeah!"
"That was the guy you wanted to drown?" asked Aomine, feeling a tinge of regret for not encouraging her to go ahead with her original plan. He shrugged it off as soon as it appeared.
"Yeah! Honestly, if it wasn't for Sakata and you, I would have set that condescending donkey fart on fire like weeks ago. Had it all planned out."
"Oh yeah?" said Aomine, laying down beside her, feeling his muscles relax.
"Gasoline in the swimming pool."
"You'd kill the other swimmers too."
"It was a sacrifice I was willing to make."
There was a brief, comfortable silence.
"Oi… Tsukino."
"Yeah?" she said, stretching her arms and legs out until she was almost brushing him with her fingers.
Aomine hesitated. "Ah, never mind, it's nothing."
"What? Is it about Okada, because I'm open to any murderous ideas?"
"Nah, just… ah, come play basketball," he said hopping to his feet and yanking her up by the arm. "It feels like it's been forever."
Nijimura eyed the furry blue carcass stretched clinically along one of the benches, one end of a tape measurer pinched begrudgingly in his fingers as he knelt beside its head, while the other end was being unrolled with painstaking care along the length of its body by a small, although according to recent events, not-so-small-anymore figure.
"You see," said Tsukino, squatting by the other end of the bench like some sort of foul gremlin, a mad glint in her eyes. "It's too short."
"No… it's not," said Nijimura, dragging a hand over his face, a clipped edge to his voice.
"One more time-"
Nijimura released the tape measurer, allowing it to spring sharply back to Tsukino, who almost tumbled back in shock. "We've measured it three times now. And like I said the first time, we are not ordering a new suit."
"But I've grown," insisted Tsukino, leaping up to the full glory of her hei- to the full wonder of her… to the full extent of her…- leaping up. "A whole-"
"Inch," said Nijimura. "And the suit still fits you."
"But you see, with the trajectory of my growth spurt-"
Nijimura's eyes widened and he snapped his head round to glare at Midorima who adjusted his glasses and turned away abashedly. Looked like he was tutoring her in more than just English.
"-I'm liable to grow many more inches in the future and consequently-"
"Consequently," echoed Nijimura, glaring a hole into the green-haired conspirator's back. "Liable."
"-Outgrow the suit in its current incarnation. Buying a new suit now with room to grow would not only be beneficial to me, but to the future demons to whom I would pass on the torch."
Upon finishing her well-prepared speech Tsukino beamed up at her captain. Curse Midorima, thought Nijimura, struggling to meet her hopeful eyes, so proud was she for remembering phrases like to whom.
"Look, Tsukino," he said, in as placating a voice as he could muster, which was just his normal commanding tone but slower. "Do you know how much that demon suit cost?"
"Yes," said Tsukino, still beaming, her eyes almost watering from the strain of keeping them bright. "My dignity."
There was a muffled chuckle from behind them as Kise shoved his face into his locker.
"Let me," began Nijimura, wincing, "check if there's any money in the treasury-"
"Yes!" exclaimed Tsukino, smacking her hand against Midorima's naked back. "This is all thanks to you, Shintarou, and your beautiful Tsundere brain-"
"Don't!" Nijimura said, raising his voice, "Get your hopes up. I can't make any promises. Now get out of the changing rooms before you cause another accident."
He was of course referring to the once again passed out Nakadan, who had at least managed to get his trousers on before Tsukino barged in this time.
Bowing her gratitude, Tsukino turned to leave, smacking Midorima on the back one last time. For luck she explained with a wink, to which he could only stare open mouthed before turning and asking Kise if that was indeed 'a thing' and whether he needed to have his back slapped more often.
On her way out, Tsukino spied a large lonely figure perched on a bench by the showers, a towel slung over his head. Throughout practice, she had found herself shirking her managerial duties to catch glimpses of Aomine playing. While basketball no longer stoked the same passion in her that it once did, watching Aomine play was a whole different ballgame, literally. It was like he reinvented basketball each time he played it. It had become something so absorbing that she had often found herself trapped in her own gaze. But not today. And yet today watching Aomine had made something uncomfortable stir in her chest, like the kind of pain you would feel if someone had scraped the inside of your lung.
"Aomine," said Tsukino, tugging the towel off his head. She opened her mouth to chastise him for hoarding the towels when they were meant to go into the wash basket for laundering, but she couldn't find the right words.
"Yeah," said Aomine, glancing tiredly up at her. And not in that fatigued, muscle soreness way. "Oh, sorry. I'll put the towel away. Here." He reached out his hand to take the towel from her, but she pulled it away.
"You're staying late to practice, right?" asked Tsukino.
"Nah, I was thinking of calling it a day," he said, sighing.
"But you always stay late," said Tsukino. It was a fact of life. Like the way the sun rose every morning, Aomine stayed behind to practice.
"I'm just not feeling up to it today," he said, standing, his tall form almost eclipsing her.
"Ah," said Tsukino scratching the back of her neck as he walked away. "I thought we could walk home together. I had that thing to… I wanted to show you something."
"Yeah, yeah, you've grown an inch."
"No… it was… something else," said Tsukino, feeling her voice drift into a mutter as his back disappeared around the corner.
With a strange sinking feeling, she tossed the towel expertly in the wash basket and went out onto the court to take stock of the equipment, the last of her managerial duties for the afternoon. There she was met with another sinking feeling. Not only had all the equipment been unpacked, but there, having just released a basketball expertly into the hoop in a magnificent three-pointer, stood the captain of the girls' basketball team, Oshiro Noriko. Surrounded by the rest of her teammates, or rather subordinates if the rumours of her leadership were anything to go by, she appeared like an obelisk erected in the earth, hard, unmoving and permanent, a testament to Tsukino's past. And she was staring right at her.
When Tsukino failed to speak, the gracious captain took it upon herself to bridge the gap.
"We're using the equipment," said Oshiro, catching a stray ball and shooting another three-pointer. "I'll have our managers pack it up. You're done for the day. You can go home."
Heat flared from the tips of Tsukino's toes, all the way to the point of her nose but she still couldn't bring herself to speak.
"Ah, Kame-chan," called the sweet, unassuming voice of her pink haired friend, coming up beside her. "There you are. I've been meaning to tell you that the girls' basketball team will be sharing the practice space with us for a couple of weeks because they're doing renovations in their gym. On Tuesday's and Fridays, we don't need to do the equipment because they'll be using it for extended practice."
Oshiro fixed Momoi with a hollow stare before returning to her training. It seemed that was the last interaction she would deign to give them. The heat in Tsukino's nose was starting to spread across her forehead, make her feel hazy, her vision sparkle, her fist… clench. Whatever it was went as fast as it came. Tucking her hands into the pockets of her hoodie, she grabbed her rucksack and walked out without another word, leaving Momoi gaping in her wake.
Back in the changing rooms, Aomine was tugging on his cardigan, the last article of his school uniform, no longer a basketball player.
"You're not staying behind to train?" asked the phantom-sixth-man, traces of a frown appearing on his mouth.
"Not really in the mood," said Aomine, responding as if on autopilot. It wasn't a lie, but he supposed he knew it wasn't the whole truth, and if he was being honest with himself, he wasn't feeling up for another conversation with Kuroko about his growth. Conversations with Kuroko always led to him doing some deep thinking and that made his head hurt. Plus, today's practice was probably just a fluke. Tomorrow would be better, he decided. "Just feeling extra tired."
"Ah, I thought you would have wanted to try out your new trainers," Kuroko said, meaningfully.
Aomine shut his locker and turned to the much shorter boy. "What new trainers?"
THWACK.
In her defence, it had just been lying there.
THWACK.
Waiting to be beaten.
THWACK.
The branch came down and splintered in two as it hit the tyre, the broken half flying off in the opposite direction. Tsukino stepped back, panting heavily, and dropped the unbroken end by her feet.
"Stupid stick," she muttered, kicking the tyre that she had found just lying by the side of the road beneath a clump of bushes. "Stupid tyre."
It wasn't even on her way home, she realised, glancing round, hoping to meet the eyes of some unsuspecting killer clown on which she could vent her fury. But no such luck. The road was empty she realised sullenly, abandoning her tyre victim to trudge towards the main street in hope of some annoying environmental activist handing out flyers. She still had a couple of prime pebbles that she had found by the beach in the summer in her bag and her trusty slingshot was itching for some airtime.
Eventually her aimless feet brought her into the wide square in front of the arena where most of the big sports tournaments were held in the summer and winter time. No environmental activists in sight, itching to be stoned. No skateboarders just rolling into her oncoming foot. Just the ever-faithful chip stand sitting innocuously by the fountain, the one she and Aomine would frequent after school before she had been released from her slave duties. Other than the owner, only one, tall blue-haired customer stood at its helm paying the Ojii-san for-
"Aomine?" Tsukino exclaimed in shock, staring at the wide expanse of back facing her.
The back turned, and it was indeed her favourite blue haired giraffe, a clump of chips sticking out of his mouth as he glared at her. In one bite he'd swallowed them whole and was walking over to her, thrusting the other bouquet of chips in her hand.
"Were you waiting for me?" Tsukino asked as he led her towards the fountain to their usual spot.
"Satsuki said you ran off all pissed," said Aomine, watching her from the corner of his eye. "She was worried something had upset you and since I'm-"
"The only one who can keep up with me," said Tsukino, nodding her head sagely.
"The only one who can outrun you," corrected Aomine, "she sent me after you."
"Oh," said Tsukino, scoffing down another mouthful. "That makesh shenshe."
"Couldn't find you though," said Aomine, still watching her for a reaction. But her eyes were on the chips in her lap and she didn't look up. "Figured you'd come here if you were pissed."
He waited for the joke, about how much he must have loved her and paid attention to her to know about her usual haunts, even if it was a shared usual haunt, and about how it was the kind of thing only good boyfriends noticed.
"Plus," he muttered, tossing what was left of his chips into a distant trash can, "Tetsu said something about a birthday present."
Her eyes lit up immediately and she brought her bag round to her front, pulling out a long rectangular box which had been gift-wrapped, quite skilfully Aomine noticed in lovely golden birthday paper and tied with a red, sparkly bow.
"Yeah, this is the thing I wanted to show you," said Tsukino, passing it to him, her eyes bright with pride. "I know your birthday was last week and I was supposed to give it to you at basketball camp but then I ended up at swimming camp and… well, open it! It's not every day you get a gift from the great Tsukino Kame. Cherish it."
"Did your brother wrap this?" asked Aomine, inspecting the box carefully.
"I did," said Tsukino, her grin widening. "I'm pretty good at that kind of thing you know."
Aomine was caught once again thinking about how she really was growing and changing, and he felt a familiar unsettling pang. And he thought about how he too had grown and changed and how at practice today barely anyone had tried to tackle him. And he wondered if change was such a good thing anyway.
"You can rip the paper," said Tsukino, practically bouncing on her seat. "I don't mind."
Aomine tore open the wrapping and lifted off the lid. Inside the box sat a pair of solid black Air Jordans in his size.
"Do you like it?" asked Tsukino. "I know you like black, and these looked kind of badass. They're not limited edition or anything… are you gonna try them on?"
Kicking off his school shoes and placing them into the shoebox, Aomine slipped into the trainers. They fit perfectly, he thought as he walked around a little to test them out.
"Do you like them?" asked Tsukino, beaming up at him, her smile faltering when he didn't respond automatically.
"Yo, Tsukino," said Aomine, looking at his feet carefully. "C'mere."
"You gonna hit me?" asked Tsukino, flinching back.
"Nah," muttered Aomine, gesturing for her to come over with a little wave. "Come."
Tentatively she went over to him, staring up at him suspiciously. It was easy enough with his long reach, to gently tug her forwards.
Author's Note:
OMG CLIFFHANGER slaps hands across face WHAT JUST HAPPENED
Hey guys. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was a bit rushed because I had originally planned four completely different chapters but when it came to writing it, it seemed contrived and forced so I reworked it over the last week and this is the result. I wanted to challenge myself to write more form Aomine's perspective. I imagine him to lack introspection (similar to Tsukino) so we get more feelings that thoughts. As they get older I think they'll become more thoughtful and I'll be able to explore the language they choose to give their feelings. Right now it's just a cluster-fudge of emotions.
I've changed the Nationals to the Winter Nationals(1) so that it can align more nicely to the timeline of this story but you probably guessed it, we about to get some angsty Aomine up in here. I think that's why there was a more sombre tone in this chapter, which will continue as an undercurrent. But don't worry there will be humour filled chapters. To those who are asking for another chapter explaining Tayama Hitoshi, have no fear, I've already written that chapter and will be coming soon. Have to admit the humour in this chapter felt a bit stilted, but I dunno if I did it badly or if the sombre tone just offset it.
A reviewer cough you know who you are deserves full credit for Tsukimine.
I'm tired and I'm avoiding marking GCSE papers. I'll see you again when I crawl out from under the pile.