A/N Now that we're in the 20s, the titles are getting all weird...
Short chapter, I know! I hope that soon I'll be able to pick up some steam and get back to 10k+ chapters I had been churning out earlier, but, well...we'll see about that. Hope for the best!
A Reply To A Review:
Light Lamperouge: Excited to introduce this new chapter, hopefully it's not as shitty as it sounds in my head (it's probably even worse)! At any rate, I'm glad that you liked this fic-honestly, I think that there's a shortage in sports crossover fics, like seriously, is it really all that hard to believe that they'll all eventually bump into each other? It's awesome that you liked the idea of Fuji and Yukimura at odds because let's be honest-we all want to see what'll happen when they play against each other, whether on court or off. ;) And I'll definitely be trying for some more character development for everyone later on, as well as fully revealing the backstories of Kuroko and Echizen (I'm sure that some points are fairly obvious, but it'd be nice to have the fully story, right?). As for you writing a crossover fic, I'd love to see that! I would totally read it if you ever get around to posting it, and you don't even have to be good at describing matches (i mean, let's be honest, I'm not all that good at it either XD).
Timeline: One year after the end of Prince of Tennis (that includes all the U-17 shenanigans that will be completely glossed over except for the occasional mention of some high schoolers and some tennis moves that the characters learned during that time) when all the third-years are in their first year of high school, after Inter High but before Winter Cup, at the start of season 2 (this story will be going through Winter Cup)
Warnings: Fem!Ryoma, Fem!Kuroko, Nice!Akashi, Akashi and Kuroko as cousins, somewhat altered timeline (due to gender switches and all), dark themes (like with all my stories), BS tennis and basketball moves, potential (extreme) OOCness, cussing, SomewhatOverprotective!GOM, eventual and inevitable GOM/multiple other characters bashing, obvious partiality to multiple other characters
THIS STORY TAKES SOME INSPIRATION FROM PRINCESS OF MIRACLES AND THE ICE PRINCESS OF RIKKAIDAI by Starian NightZz (you guys should read those stories if you haven't yet). If you see some similarities, please note that this is why, and that I will try my best to come up with original ideas.
And sorry that this is a bit late, but this story only follows the anime. I have not read the manga, and will not search through it for everything I need to make this story as canon as possible, so just a (belated) little warning.
And another really late note: sorry for not mentioning this way earlier, but I have found that I am also drawing inspiration from the crossover fic A Friendship Of Sorts by herondalefan. Maybe some of you have noticed, maybe you haven't. Sorry for not mentioning this earlier! (But seriously, if you guys are still reading this fic, you'd love this crossover fic. It's ridiculously well-written!)
Disclaimer: You guys would be ashamed of the final products if I owned either animes.
Twenty First: Defectors
If there's one thing that Aomine can count on, it's Tetsu's predictable unpredictability.
Confused?
Tetsu's polite and empathetic nature would never let her call out a member of the opposing team she (her and her team) had just beaten. Of course, for all that Aomine understands that about her, there's no way he could understand what's going on inside of that complicated little brain of her's as she stares up at him with blank blue eyes in front of the sushi place she had called him to.
She's unpredictably predictable, and Aomine finds that far more amusing than he probably should.
"Hello," she states blandly, and Aomine scowls, eyebrows slanting downwards.
"Don't give me that," he grouses, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Why'd you suddenly call me out here, Tetsu?"
There's a ripe pause during which Aomine almost convinces himself that she won't give him an answer when-
"Let me be direct," she finally acquiesces, voice steady, eyes unwavering. "Aomine-kun, teach me how to shoot."
It takes a moment for her request to register in his mind (Tetsu and shooting? There's no such correlation), and when it finally does, Aomine raises an unbelieving eyebrow and turns sharply towards her. "What?"
"It's not really that much of a surprise, is it?" she asks calmly, as if she hadn't just asked an opponent for help on one of the most basic ways to lose. "You aren't an idiot, at least not in basketball-"
"Hey! Is that how you're supposed to be talking to someone you want to help you?"
"-so you must know that if I continue to play in the way that I have been for the past few matches, Seirin will for sure lose. As long as opponents don't bother to block me when I break past them with a Vanishing Drive, or as long as they make sure that there are no openings for me to pass, I would be shut down."
"Oh?" Aomine muses, dropping an arm atop of Tetsu's head, "Since when did you get all high and mighty, thinking that Seirin won't win without you on court?"
Tetsu stares up at him, not bothering to remove his arm, which goes to show just how serious she is about this. "Aomine-kun, it isn't arrogance. Against the Generation of Miracles, Seirin has no choice but to put me on court. I know them-I know you-the best. I am, quite effectively, their trump card."
"Not arrogance, hmm?" Aomine snorts, sliding his arm off her head. The incredulous tone is all for mockery's purpose-of all people, Aomine knows that Tetsu is someone a basketball player would rather have as an ally than as an opponent, especially for a team oriented group like Seirin. It's not as if Tetsu's blowing things out of proportion when she implies that Seirin will be crushed without her because, to be honest, it's the truth. "Why should I help you, huh? We're opponents. If I teach you how to shoot, that just means that I'm giving you another weapon to use against me."
She blinks slowly before replying, "But we're partners."
"Ex-partners!"
Aomine groans, rubbing the bridge of his nose. There's another thing that Aomien can count on-Tetsu's infuriatingly twisted logic. For someone so calm and analytical, it sure seems like she's basing her actions more on pure emotion than any sort of sense. The worst part is that there's usually no way to fight her, because she always finds some way to twist his words and his actions until he's convinced that he wanted to help her in the first place.
Damn it, Tetsu.
"Fine," he grumbles, and all of the pain he had just been forced to undergo is almost worth it when her lips twitch and a grin (or rather what counts as a grin for Tetsu) splits her face in half.
Almost.
It definitely is not worth it.
Aomine comes to this conclusion (not for the first time) when Tetsu's basketball bounces against the rim of the basket again and falls down. She catches it as it rolls to a stop in front of her feet. "How was that one?"
"You can't be serious!" Aomine groans for the umpteenth time that night, regretting the fact that he had given up a night masturbating to Mai-chan for this. "What am I supposed to feel after you drag me out here to show off your shitty shooting, huh? I'm starting to regret agreeing to teach you how to shoot!"
"Why?" Tetsu asks, and there's a pout and a pair of puppy dog eyes in there somewhere that Aomine refuses to acknowledge because he's a man, damn it, and Tetsu is so fucking irresistible when she's begging.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe there's something wrong with someone who beats a guy and then makes him teach her how to shoot the next day!" Aomine shouts, still resolutely ignoring her shining blue eyes.
Tetsu lightly rolls the ball in her hand, and Aomine's eyes are drawn to her left wrist. Every few seconds, it twitches, as if she'd been contemplating pulling it away from the ball. He lets out a long sigh, dropping onto the ground and leaning back against the pole holding up the backboard. "I haven't been able to sleep."
"What?"
Aomine leans his head back, staring up at the metal rods attaching the backboard to the pole. He can't help feeling like there's something intrinsically embarrassing about what he's going to say, but Tetsu would understand. "I went home, ate, took a bath, and then I went to lie down. But I couldn't sleep. My body was exhausted, but whenever I closed my eyes, i saw scenes from the game. You know, I had forgotten how that felt." Aomine raises his hand above his face, staring through the gaps of his spread fingers, past the infrastructure and up at the sky. "My chest felt tight, I felt nauseous like I was going to puke, my head was pounding. Since I forgot about that, I kind of missed it, but now that I've experienced it again, I don't miss it at all. It still sucks as bad as it used to. It was an awful night, Tetsu."
He lowers his hand, rolling his eyes down to find Tetsu. He keeps his eyes on her face, even as the strain burns rather uncomfortably. Her hands have tightened on the ball, and her eyes are locked on the ground. She opens her mouth so speak, but he cuts her off before she can even begin to say what he already knows.
"But that's why I want to play basketball again so soon."
Her eyes widen slightly, and a ghost of a smile appears across her face. "Aomine-kun..."
The embarrassment rushes back full force, and Aomine, like the ass he is, lets out a loud, obnoxious yawn, effectively destroying the mood. "Well, whatever. It's not like that's going to change anything. Next year, Touou's going to win, and then I won't be feeling like that for a while."
That kicks Tetsu into gear, and she raises her head, lightly spinning the ball in between her hands before tossing it to him. He catches it, raising a questioning eyebrow at her. "Well, old timer, if you don't start playing, your skills are going to get rusty, and then what'll happen next year?"
Aomine's jaw drops as her entire body seems to radiate smugness. "You-that cheeky little brat is rubbing off on you!"
She doesn't laugh, but he hears her loud and clear, and it's enough to make him break into a genuine smile as he pushes up off the ground and lightly dribbles the ball while he takes off his jacket. "If you're so confident, then let's try some one-on-one, shall we?"
"I'm not getting any younger over here!"
"Remind me to murder Echizen Ryoma when I see her next."
Things will never be the same between the Generation of Miracles of Kuroko Tetsuya, but Aomine's starting to think that that's not as bad an idea as he had originally thought.
The fact that Touou was beaten doesn't fully sink into Aomine's brain until he finds himself making his way towards the gym the tournament is being held in without the intention of stepping onto court. He's pretty sure that he's the only one bothering to step foot in this building so soon.
(Maybe he's more of a masochist than originally presumed.)
Aomine ends up slipping into the back of the stands once Seirin's second game has been well under way, and he clicks his tongue when he notes that all of the players on court are upperclassmen with a seven-point difference in favor of the opposing team. None of them are at the top of their game today, and that means a boring and cringeworthy game for Aomine.
(He's not disappointed for long.)
Seirin calls for a time-out, and Aomine tunes out the speech that he's currently laying onto his teammates, only jerking back to attention when five resounding slaps reach his ears-
And then he's laughing, practically choking on his tongue at the sight of Seirin's five players bearing a bright red handprint on their cheeks. Seirin's games are never boring!
A sixth slap sounds loudly, and Aomine really isn't all that surprised to find that it's Kagami Taiga who bears the glowing red mark.
Questionable methods or not, they work. With the pulsing handprints on their cheeks, Seirin goes on to crush the opposing team 83-77. Aomine isn't sure why even bothered to come.
Of course they would win.
Not because they had beat Touou, not even Aomine's enough of an idiot to say that.
Seirin would win because Tetsu is fighting for them-with all her heart and soul.
Aomine doesn't show up for Seirin's third game, but hears about it from Tetsu, who texts him the news later in the afternoon. Apparently, she had been hyped over the fact that her coach finally let her play after being benched the last game. Aomine smiles but doesn't bother to reply.
Seirin doesn't have time to be celebrating. They'll be playing against Yosen next, and Murasakibara is no joke. Out of all of the miracles, Murasakibara was the most frustrating to play against in middle school-his stature and his defensive ability leads to shutting out Aomine's shots, Formless or not. Speed means nothing against a giant who never moves away from underneath the basket. Pretty much the only way to get past Murasakibara's defense is through brute force, which is something that Seirin desperately lacks.
Aomine finds himself wandering around the local sports park that afternoon, not necessarily looking for anything in particular. He would play street ball but there's honestly no point since most players would take one look at him before fleeing the court. There's nothing interesting to do, and the wildly running and screaming kids being chased by harried mothers do nothing to alleviate the plague of boredom that has befallen Aomine.
(He had never realized just how much he relied on basketball to be a source of temporary entertainment-and now that it's gone, he's completely lost.)
If by pure chance or by fate, Aomine happens to wander past the basketball courts and takes a right when he would normally take a left to circle the perimeter of the courts. When he turns right, he ends up following a well beaten path that leads out into an open area-
Of tennis courts.
(Why is he surprised?)
And-surprise, surprise-who else would be at the tennis courts other than Echizen Ryoma and a pair of boys?
Aomine makes his way towards the court the group are playing on, having not particularly thought this through. By the time he's fully aware of the direction that he's heading in, both of the boys playing on court have noticed him, and the silver-haired one catches the flying neon ball, a distrustful sneer pulling at the sharp features of his face. "What the fuck do you want?"
Echizen twits in her spot on the bench, golden eyes darkening when the land on him. "You know, I'm starting to think that you're stalking me."
"Ryo-chan?" the second boy questions, lowering his racket and turning to fully stare at Aomine-with closed eyes. What? There are more people like this?"What do you mean, this guy is stalking you?"
"She's starting to think, you idiot," snaps the silver-haired one, whose distaste has only seemed to amplify since finding out that Echizen knows Aomine and isn't on very good terms with him. "Doesn't anyone fucking listen anymore?"
"I could say the same to you, Jin," Echizen remarks dryly, glancing over her shoulder. "And don't even think about bullshitting your way out of that one-it's true and we all know it."
Jin grumbles but finally quiets down. Neither of the guys seem inclined to continue their match, focusing their attention solely on Aomine, who sends them a crass smirk. "I'm flattered you two think so highly of me."
The one with closed eyes seems to catch onto his vague provocation quickly, and his smile grows tighter. "Make another joke like that and you won't be leaving this park without a missing organ."
Echizen immediately shoots to her feet, raising her hands and holding them out, as if that'll physically stop the psycho from attacking him. "Woah, woah, woah. Woah. There will be no castrating, flaying, or ripping out of hearts today."
The boy turns towards her, something resembling a...pout...maybe...pulling at his lips. "Well, you're no fun today."
"When is she ever?" snorts the silver-haired guy, and Echizen scowls, dropping her hands.
"Remind me why I even bother to hang out with you two?" she grumbles, impatiently flicking away a lock of hair that had been falling over her eyes.
"Because you looove us!" the closed-eyed one croons in a sickly sweet tone, the atmosphere changing from deadly to barf inducing, and Echizen seems to agree if the way her face turns slightly green is anything to go by.
"Yeah, no," she flat out rejects, and Aomine snorts at the deadpanned tone so reminiscent of Tetsu. The sound seems to remind the three the entire reason for the ridiculous conversation, and three pairs of eyes swing towards him. "This is literally the third time I've seen you within the past week or so."
"You've been seeing Tetsu every single day," Aomine points out, and Echizen flicks her hands dismissively.
"That's mutual-this is like you're purposefully tracking me."
"You act like I want to see you."
"It's the best explanation as to why you keep showing up without any sort of antagonization on my part."
(Admittedly, Echizen is hitting pretty close to the truth, but it's not like Aomine's willfully seeking out her presence because who the hell in their right mind would want to spend time with her? On purpose?)
"This is pure coincidence."
"Why don't I believe you?"
The silver-haired boy makes a disgusted sounding retch noise in the back of his throat, interrupting a childish banter that probably would've lasted for a few more hours. "Don't fucking flirt in front of me, brat. It makes me want to throw up."
"At least that would be better than the shit that usually comes out of your mouth," Echizen fires back instantaneously, and Aomine has to swallow back his laugh. "And if this is what you call flirting, I can't wait to see what your idea of sex is. Two randoms beating each into bloody pulps on the bed? Oh, yeah, you'd totally masturbate to that."
The amount of poison in her voice is enough to make the boy blink slowly, slight surprise flashing over his face before a sneer takes its place, harsher than before. "Doesn't that say more shit about you than it does about me? If you're not even going to fucking watch us play, then I'm leaving. The only reason why I even bothered to keep playing tennis was because you kept bugging me about this, brat, so at least have the damn decency to be grateful about it."
Guilt flashes across Echizen's face but she doesn't say anything as he drops the racket onto the bench and tosses the ball into the bag at her feet. The second boy follows, lightly patting the top of her head as if telling her something that Aomine doesn't understand before leaving. His eyes slide open for just a moment, revealing a sliver of piercing blue, and Aomine is reminded of Imayoshit all over again. "If you hurt her the way you hurt Kuroko Tetsuya, I'll have your head on a stick and your dick on a bunsen burner."
Aomine decides to take his words very seriously.
When the two are finally alone, Aomine drops onto the bench next to Echizen, feeling as if there's no point in engaging in formalities considering what he had just witnessed. With Echizen Ryoma, there are many things that Aomine still doesn't understand, but the one thing he does is that she's an interesting person.
To be honest, Aomine kind of needs interesting people in his life right now.
"Don't say a word," Echizen grumbles, picking up the rackets and carefully setting them inside the bag at her feet. (Now that Aomine thinks about it, he doesn't remember having ever heard that Echizen played a sport, but then again, that does explain the muscle that cords along her body.)
"I wasn't planing on it."
The silence stretches long and thin in between them as she finished packing up, painstakingly making sure that everything's in order when it's clear that everything is, in fact, in order. She's stalling for some reason, and today, Aomine's in a good enough mood to wait her out.
It certainly helps that she's not that patient of a person either.
"I don't like you," she states, and Aomine snorts, rolling his eyes.
"Why don't you state the obvious?"
"And when I say that, I mean I really don't like you." She pauses, looking up at him to shoot a burning glare. "You hurt Tetsu. You hurt her a lot, and you don't even know what you did to her."
Aomine frowns. "I ignored her, yeah, and I wasn't the best partner, but Tetsu's stronger than that-"
"You don't understand." Echizen drops her bag, reaching up to touch her forehead before dropping her hand. "Of course you don't, why would you? You're about as aware as a red brick wall."
"Hey-"
"You didn't just ignore her, you imbecile," Echizen growls, shifting in place to level a piercing glower onto his face, "You weren't just a 'not quite ideal partner.' You ridiculed Tetsu's basketball-and that's basically the same thing as telling her that her life is about as valuable as the piece of gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe."
Aomine raises an eyebrow, even as the beginnings of anger make their appearance. "Excuse me? You haven't even known Tetsu for a month-"
"But I know her better than you," Echizen cuts him off, golden eyes glowing brightly with volatile emotion, hands clenched into fists, "so what does that say about your relationship with her?"
"You're not even entitled to understanding what's going on-"
"And you are?" Echizen snaps, uncurling one of her fists to jab her index finger against his chest. "You don't even know the first thing about Tetsu!"
"Of course I know Tetsu! She's my partner-"
"Ex-partner."
It pisses Aomine off that someone who wasn't even present for that conversation to parrot his words back at him. "She was my partner all the same, and I know her like the back of my hand!"
"Oh? So you know all of her secrets?"
"I know that her cousin is Akashi Seijūrō, that her favorite flavor is vanilla, that she excels in all things Japanese but can't do crap in chemistry or physics. I know that she's scared of being left behind, that she loves it when someone compliments her passing technique, that she can't read classical fiction for life but can spend hours upon hours buried in shoujo manga. I know that she wears contacts, that she can't use her left wrist without thinking that it's being put through a wringer, that she's so hurt and wounded but she can stand fucking strong, which is more than you can say or ever deserve!"
By the end of his spiel, Aomine is breathing heavily, glowering down at Echizen who's staring defiantly up at him, mouth set into a grim line. The momentary silence is palpable, and then she finally breaks it. "You should talk to her more."
It's a curve ball, and Aomine blinks, jerking back. He hadn't been expecting that, and ends up blurting out the first thing that pops into his mind, "What the hell? What do you think I've been doing, spending these past few days trying to teach her to shoot?"
Echizen's eyes are no longer angry, even as she stands and slings her tennis bag over her shoulder. "Maybe it's not just you. Maybe it's both of you."
"Would you stop speaking in fucking riddle?"
"Tetsu has suffered far more, Ahomine. Maybe instead of waiting, you should just ask her."
"Don't just call me that name!"
Echizen ignores him, and Aomine can only stare in bewilderment as she leaves.
What. The. Fuck?
I apologize for the absolute randomness and most likely cringeworthy dialogue. Rushed chapters ftw.
But seriously, I just wanted to throw in some Echizen-Aomine interaction in there because they're so fun to write whenever they're talking to each other! Even though it ended up in some sort of weird territorial fight over Kuroko, who is still blissfully oblivious.
Moving on, next chapter is the start of the Yosen-Seirin match! I honestly have no idea how long this one will last, so...we'll see. But a bunch of new perspectives will be coming up soon, including Murasakibara and Himuro, so look forward to that!
Yeah. Peace, see ya next time, hope you liked it!
Never (LivingDaLife)