The following list can be read as:

Original Character – Inhabited Body

Kuroko – Kise

Kise - Aomine

Midorima – Akashi

Aomine – Kuroko

Murasakibara – Murasakibara

Akashi – Midorima

...

Chapter Twenty-One

Once the group had settled down and were munching on grilled chicken burgers, Momoi raised the question that was weighing down on them the most.

"The first thing we need to find out is what made you guys switch. Clearly, the omamori were the tools. In this case, what could be the trigger?"

Aomine set down his already empty burger wrapper and shrugged."No idea. All I did was wear it."

"Me too," said Kise as he reached for some fries. "I never took it off."

Momoi leaned forward, frowning. "Wait. You never took it off?"

"Nope. Except when I was showering."

Momoi looked horrified. "Wait a minute… you all wore the omamori to bed?"

"Isn't it how they work?" asked Kuroko.

Momoi looked ready to combust.

"You're supposed to wear it when you're awake! There was no need to sleep with it!"

Kuroko gaped at her. Kise fries dangled limply from his fingers. Akashi raised his eyebrows. Midorima and Aomine just looked blank.

Momoi buried her face in her hands. "No wonder you guys switched… the Interhigh is never going to happen now."

"Don't say that," reproached Aomine. "I've got more important things to do than run around in other people's bodies."

"Like sneaking in some late-night gravure reading?" asked Kise dryly.

Aomine was horrified. "Kise! You went through my stuff?"

"It's not exactly a secret nanodayo," stated Midorima.

"That's right! You were the one who fell asleep with a gravure on your face, Aomine-cchi," accused Kise. "Besides, your room was in such a mess it wouldn't have made a difference."

"Dai-chan, you haven't changed at all," scolded Momoi.

"Aomine-kun, you should try to tidy your room more often," Kuroko told him.

Aomine groaned. "Not you too, Tetsu."

"Coming back to the topic," said Midorima. "If I recall, the last time we switched was because of Momoi's wish nanodayo."

"That's right," said Akashi. "It wasn't merely because we slept together. The omamori were acting on her wish as well."

Momoi straightened up.

"I'm calling Mukkun," she announced suddenly.

Hoping that Murasakibara wasn't still sleeping the day away, Momoi dialled his number and put the call on loudspeaker.

The phone rang five times before Murasakibara picked up.

"Hello?" he said lazily.

"Mukkun! Did you wear your omamori to bed?"

"Huh? What's with the sudden question?"

"Just tell me! Please."

There was a pause. Murasakibara's reply sounded a little miffed.

"Well, yeah. If you were worried about that, there's nothing I can do, you know?"

"A-All right. Sorry for bothering you, Mukkun."

"Bye bye, Sa-chin."

"Hold it nanodayo!" shouted Midorima suddenly, as soon as the call ended. "Are you telling me that Murasakibara is still in his own body?"

"Oh, that's right! We still haven't told you and Tetsu-kun, have we?" said Momoi in surprise. "Sorry, Midorin."

"Actually, I sort of guessed it when I saw you utside the school gates," admitted Kuroko.

"Yeah, now that I think about, it was rather obvious," nodded Kise.

"Are you implying something?" said Midorima irritably.

"To be honest, I thought Aomine-kun must be in Mukkun's body at first," laughed Momoi. "They're the only ones who like to sleep in."

Aomine sighed. "Thanks for the compliment, Satsuki."

"But if Murasakibara-cchi wore the omamori to bed too," said Kise slowly, "why isn't he part of the swap then?"

"Maybe he got lucky?" guessed Aomine.

Midorima was doubtful. "I doubt it nanodayo."

"Midorima is right," agreed Akashi. "Was there something else we did in common on that day?"

"Well… we were interacting through the video conference," said Momoi.

Aomine snapped his fingers. "That could be it!"

Kuroko thought back to that day. What did I do before slipping on the omamori…?

His eyes widened.

"Um," he said to the group at large. "I think I might have done something."

Everyone stared at him.

"Done something?" repeated Momoi.

Kuroko nodded. "Because Momoi-san, you said that wearing the omamori might give us the abilities we've always wanted. At that time I was thinking, Maybe I can finally be as good as Kise-kun, and then I put it on right away."

Horror was dawning on Kise. "So did I!" he cried. "I doubted the omamori would help me to beat Aomine-cchi, but I put it on anyway just as I was thinking about it!"

Abruptly, Aomine's forehead bumped the table. "And I was thinking about beating Tetsu and that idiot with my own strength … "

"I wondering if the omamori would serve as a charm to defeat Akashi nanodayo…" groaned Midorima.

Now they all looked at Akashi. The Rakuzan Captain merely shook his head.

"I had no such thoughts at that point in time."

Momoi whipped out her cell again. "I'm calling Mukkun!"

This time, it took only one ring for Murasakibara to answer.

"Sa-chin? What is it this time?" he grumbled.

"Mukkun, were you thinking of anything before putting on your omamori?"

"Eh? Anything...? Well, I was thinking how tiresome it would be if we were to switch again. Dieting's a big no-no."

"Was there anything else?"

"No. Why are you asking all these weird questions, Sa-chin? Sa-chin?..."

Murasakibara looked at his phone screen. Momoi had hung up.

How rude. What's wrong with her? Oh well. Back to my snacks… Murasakibara tore open a new bag of chips and crunched on them idly.

…

Midorima folded his arms.

"Well," he said, gazing at the group flatly, "at least we now know the reason behind the switch nanodayo."

"In a nutshell, everyone except Akashi-cchi and Murasakibara-cchi turned into the person they were thinking of when they slipped on their omamori," sighed Kise.

"Actually, there's still something I'm not quite sure of," said Kuroko thoughtfully. "If neither Murasakibara-kun and Akashi-kun were thinking of anyone, then why did Akashi-kun become Midorima-kun?"

"'Cos his body was already taken, wasn't it?" said Aomine dully. "And since Murasakibara wasn't supposed to be affected, Akashi had to settle for Midorima's body."

"Midorima-cchi is a body-snatcher," remarked Kise.

"Kise, don't make me punch Kuroko nanodayo."

"Kise-kun, please don't make Midorima-kun punch me."

"EH? How did it come to that?!"

"So what do we do now?" asked Momoi worriedly. "Will everything will go back to the way it was if you fulfil your desires?"

Midorima nodded stiffly. "I think the answer to that would be 'yes' nanodayo. I cannot see how else it would happen."

"But Kuroko-cchi's wish is the odd one out," pointed out Kise. "Didn't he say he wanted to play like me?"

Aomine assumed a corpselike expression. "No matter how you look at it, it's completely impossible."

"Isn't it? There's no way Kuroko-cchi can master Perfect Copy by the Interhigh!"

"I don't think he can even learn to shoot normally by then, nanodayo."

Kuroko dropped his head in dejection. "I apologise for being useless… "

"How can you say that?" cried Kise. He rounded on Midorima. "Midorima-cchi, don't be so critical! Kuroko-cchi is amazing in his own way too."

"I do not think it works in that Kuroko has to play like Kise," said Akashi quietly. "I think he simply has to reach Kise's level."

It was the straw that broke it. Aomine slid down his seat, drained of all hope.

"Well, time to bid the Interhigh Championship farewell… "

"Pull yourself together, you guys~" admonished Momoi. "We haven't used up all of our options yet."

"That's right! Akashi-cchi must have thought of something by now. Haven't you, Akashi-cchi?"

They all turned to look at the Rakuzan Captain, who was deep in thought.

Finally, Akashi raised his eyes.

"I have an idea," he said. "But first, I must ask – what is your reason for holding these desires?"

"Are you asking us why we want to beat our opponents?" asked Aomine in disbelief. "Because it pretty much speaks for itself."

"If that's the case, why did you end up in the bodies of the people you want to defeat?"

No one said anything. They looked stumped by the question.

Momoi put in her own two cents. "Maybe a part of them wants to be them."

"I see. You're saying they do not believe in their own strengths," said Akashi.

"I believe that as long as we don't quit, there is always a chance to win," said Kuroko sincerely.

The others were still floored.

"But I don't look up to Aomine-cchi anymore," protested Kise. "I took care of that sentiment a long time ago."

"Looking up to and wanting to be are not the same thing, Ki-chan," Momoi told him.

"Are you saying I want to be like Tetsu?" demanded Aomine. "Because I've been pretty focussed on beating him and that idiot, not becoming like them. Besides, I've never thought that I was weak."

"I believe the omamori did their best to adhere to our desires," surmised Akashi. "Which would mean we were assigned to these bodies due to a cross between their capabilities and what you wanted."

"This is definitely the work of black magic," muttered Aomine crustily.

"Kise-kun, I hope this doesn't make things awkward between us," said Kuroko, staring up at Kise frankly.

"Awkward?" Kise gave Kuroko an extra-passionate hug. "I couldn't be happier that you want to be like me, Kuroko-cchi!"

"Don't do that when you're in my body!" snapped Aomine.

"Listen up," said Akashi sharply. "We will be holding practice matches in the next few days. Whatever time we have left today will be spent convincing the coaches to allow all the teams to play together."

"What?" said Kise, freezing with his arms around Kuroko. "Why?"

"We will need to prove to them not only that we have swapped bodies, but also that these matches will be crucial to reverting us."

"But why?" asked Momoi. "How will these matches be of any help?"

"Everyone will attempt to defeat their respective rivals. If they pull this off, we might be able to swap back."

"But what if we don't?" asked Kise.

"I'm not gonna lose on purpose," said Aomine tersely.

"We will cross that bridge later. For now, the fact is – "

Momoi's cell erupted, drowning out the rest of Akashi's words.

"Sorry," she said apologetically. She looked at the caller ID, and her eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"Is it Murasakibara-cchi?" asked Kise, tilting his head in question.

As an answer, Momoi put the call on loudspeaker.

"Hey there!" greeted a chirpy voice. "Just checking in on my old pal Shin-chan! Tell him 'hi' from me, Momoi-san!"

Midorima's face darkened.

"Takao…" he scowled.

''Takao?'' said Aomine, frowning.

"Why is he calling Momo-cchi?" asked Kise in surprise.

"Anyway," Takao was going on cheerfully, "I know my dear partner hasn't said it yet, so I wanted to thank you in his stead for the omamori, nanodayo! You should have bought one for me too, Momoi-san!"

"Cut him off, Momoi," ordered Midorima curtly.

Momoi exchanged a few friendly words with Takao before getting off the call.

"Oh, don't look like that, Midorin!" she said with a laugh, as a brooding aura oozed out of Midorima. "Takao-san was just worried about you."

"There was no need for him to go so far as to phone you nanodayo," said Midorima. "And like I said the last time, since when did you exchange numbers?"

Momoi covered her lips in wonderment. "Midorin… are you jealous?"

"As if nanodayo!"

"If he was so worried, why didn't he call Midorima-kun?" asked Kuroko.

"He probably knew Midorima wouldn't pick up," said Aomine, failing to stifle a yawn. "What were you saying before, Akashi?"

Akashi set his phone down on the centre of the table. "I have put together an arrangement of the teams that will be facing off against each other," he said, tapping on the screen indicatively. "For mitigation purposes, the games will be three-on-three."

"Wait a minute," spluttered Aomine, staring at the list in bewilderment. "I get why you pitted Kise against me, but how are we supposed to play when we're in this state?"

"There is a possibility that we will switch again tonight," explained Akashi. "I am hoping we will somehow go back to the way we were, but chances of that are slim. In any case, whomever you switch with, you will be playing for that person's team."

"You mean I'll have to play with that idiot?!" exclaimed Aomine.

"What?! I'll be playing with Aomine-cchi's team?" cried Kise at the same time.

Kuroko was depressed. Midorima wasn't too happy either. His impression of the renowned Uncrowned Kings had fallen somewhere to 'moderately annoying'.

Aomine ran his fingers through his hair with a groan. And I just took that idiot up on that challenge, too…

He straightened up suddenly.

"Hold on – there's something I haven't told you guys!"

"Something you haven't told us?" asked Kise apprehensively. He hoped it wasn't more bad news.

"Well… "Aomine scratched his cheek, looking a little uncomfortable. "I kind of told Kagami that we've switched…"

"HUH? Why would you do that?!"

"He saw through me! I didn't exactly have a choice,'' said Aomine defensively.

"But what gave you away?" demanded Momoi in horror.

"I can only imagine nanodayo," sighed Midorima.

At that moment, a little boy could be seen pointing at Midorima's rubber duck.

"Mummy! Why is that big brother with red hair playing with kiddy toys?" he piped up, words carrying clearly across the restaurant.

His mother took his hand. "Hush now. It's rude to point. Come along!"

When they left, all the other diners were staring at Midorima.

Kuroko looked at Midorima with sympathy. Kise and Aomine were having a hard time muffling their laughter.

"You should have picked the snow globe," snorted Aomine, at which Kise plastered his face onto his arms.

Midorima's glare could have chilled the bone marrow. "Kise, Aomine… DROP DEAD."

"Akashi-kun, are you sure you want to let Midorin carry that thing around?" asked Momoi embarrassedly. "He's in your body, you know."

"As long as it serves the purpose," said Akashi. Given a choice though, he would rather not be anywhere near it.

"Speak no more of this nanodayo. I'll stash it away," said Midorima, stuffing the duck into his bag bad-temperedly.

"So Kagami-kun knows about the switch," said Kuroko thoughtfully. "Actually, I think it's a good thing. He might have worn the omamori to bed too."

"I agree. With Kagami in the know, we now have a place to spend the night," said Akashi with a small smile.

"What?" said Midorima and Aomine.

Kuroko seemed to share the idea. "Good thinking, Akashi-kun."

"Thank goodness," sighed Kise. He would rather spend the night at Kagami's than a room full of gravure magazines.

"Midorima, take a loan from Akashi and book a motel room for us," Aomine told Midorima sharply.

"I was just thinking of doing that nanodayo," said Midorima aloofly. "But what makes you think I'll lend you a penny?"

"You damn megane…"

Momoi pushed Aomine away from Midorima. "Dai-chan, Midorin, stop being silly. You make it sound like Kagami's place is a warzone."

"Which is what it will be if we're all there nanodayo," said Midorima truthfully.

"I wouldn't mind another pillow fight," said Kise enthusiastically.

At this point, Aomine turned to Akashi. "Akashi, it's time to bring out the Emperor."

"Since everyone is in agreement, I'll give Kagami-kun a call," said Kuroko, already dialing the number on his cell.

Midorima folded his arms. Resigned, Aomine kicked back on the booth seat.

"It'd be better if his place had a few porn magazines though."

"Dai-chan!"

They waited for Kagami to pick up. As the seconds stretched on, Kuroko began to think he might have to call at another time.

But Kagami finally answered.

"Kuroko?" he asked suspiciously. "Is it… you?"

"It's me, Kise," said Kuroko calmly. The others stared at him, eyebrows elevated.

"Kise?" demanded Kagami in confusion. "What are you doing with Kuroko's phone?"

"That was a lie. I'm really Kuroko."

Spluttering sounds from the other end; it sounded like Kagami had choked on something.

"K-Kuroko? So it's true, then? You guys really did switch bodies?"

Kise was cracking up.

"Kuroko-cchi, you're killing us," he chortled.

"Yes," Kuroko was answering Kagami solemnly. "I'm in Kise-kun's body now.''

''Damn it, Kuroko! What were you trying to pull?''

Kuroko blinked once. ''I was trying to lighten the mood.''

''What? Damn it! This is not how you do things!''

''More importantly, Kagami-kun, I have a favour to ask of you… "

"So how did it go?" asked Momoi a few minutes later, when Kuroko finally put down his phone.

"Kagami-kun has agreed to accommodate us," announced the Phantom Miracle.

"Good," said Akashi with an approving smile. "Now we can put our plan into effect."

With that out of the way, the group headed out to where Akashi's chauffeur was parked.

Kise whistled when he saw the car. "You have good taste, Akashi-cchi."

"Friends of yours, Akashi-sama?" asked the chauffeur, holding the door open for the group.

"Just some acquaintances nanodayo," said Midorima.

Momoi puffed out her cheeks, clearly not appreciating his attitude. "Midorin! Your words are sharper than your shots."

"On the contrary, Momoi, nothing is sharper than my shots."

"Midorima-cchi sounds like a big shot," teased Kise.

"Careful, Kise. He might shoot you with one of his megane glares," said Aomine languidly.

"Kise, Aomine... DIE."

They piled into the car. Being 'Akashi-sama', Midorima got the front seat. The rest had to squeeze into the back.

Not that they minded; the blast of cold air from the conditioning was heaven-sent.

"Ah! This feels great," sighed Momoi happily. She had slipped in between Kuroko and Aomine. Kise had ducked in right after to steal the spot next to Kuroko, which left Akashi with one of the window seats.

"Our first stop will be Touou," said Akashi."Are you ready, Aomine?"

"Yeah," said Aomine, who had an elbow on the window sill and was staring outside almost indifferently.

"Driver, take us to Touou High nanodayo," instructed Midorima, placing his rubber duck on the dashboard.