The following list can be read as:

Original Character – Inhabited Body

Kagami - Aomine

Kuroko – Midorima

Kise – Kagami

Takao - Kuroko

Midorima – Takao

Aomine – Akashi

Murasakibara – Kise

Akashi – Murasakibara

…

Chapter Twenty-Six

"By the way Takao, what's that in your hand?" asked Miyaji, staring at the the rolling pin Midorima was carrying.

"It's Midorima's lucky item nanodayo," answered Midorima curtly. "I'm hanging on to it for him."

"Isn't he a great guy?" grinned Takao, leaning his arm on Midorima's shoulder.

Miyaji, the Kaijos and the Touous, who were seated nearby, stared at them funny.

"Takao, why are you talking like Midorima?" demanded Miyaji. "And Kuroko, what are you hanging around here for? Shouldn't you have been cheering for your team?"

"I'm with you guys today," pointed out Takao. "Shin-chan – I mean, Takao-kun is the one who's supposed to be sitting with Yosen. Right?"

"I'll be with them whenever nanodayo," replied Midorima curtly.

"Come on! You can't fool me, Takao-kun," chortled Takao. "if you wanna be with us you can just say so."

"Don't be ridiculous nanodayo."

"By the way," Takao suddenly lowered his voice, looking serious, "who was in your body yesterday, Shin-chan?"

"It was Akashi nanodayo."

"Seriously? I wouldn't have guessed it!"

"Why? What did he do?" questioned Midorima with a frown.

"He totally acted like you! He put on this tsundere behaviour and told me stuff like, 'Be quiet, Takao! Stop spreading lies, Takao.' He even said his lucky item was a T-shirt."

Akashi… you are a man to be feared nanodayo, reflected Midorima. Out loud, he scowled at Takao. "And what do you mean by 'tsundere'?"

Takao nudged Midorima in the ribs. "Stop worrying, Shin-chan. Akashi-kun did a good job mimicking you. It even had me fooled."

"Kuroko, since when were you and Takao so chummy?" asked Miyaji with suspicion.

As Midorima's expression darkened, six paces away Kagami was engulfed in dread.

Wakamatsu and Sakurai kept throwing Kagami looks. They had never seen 'Aomine' this depressed before.

Kagami didn't heed his confused 'teammates'; he was too busy imagining what would happen if they didn't get back to their bodies by the time the preliminary games arrived.

"Look alive, Aomine," Akashi, who was standing near the corner with Murasakibara and Himuro, told him. "You and Kaijo are up next."

Kagami was thrown off for a moment "Huh?"

"Oh, so Kagami's the one I'm going up against," noted Murasakibara, eyes narrowing. Suddenly, he didn't look so sleepy anymore. Akashi glanced at the Miracle. As he had guessed, pitting Kagami against Murasakibara had gotten the Yosen ace fired up.

"Kagami? I thought he just said Aomine," frowned Wakamatsu, looking from Kagami to Murasakibara in confusion.

Murasakibara didn't seem to hear him.

"I'm definitely going to beat you this time," he told Kagami in babyish-hostile tones. He was clearly still nursing a grudge from their last match.

Murasakibara's antagonism distracted Kagami from darker thoughts. He returned Murasakibara's gaze levelly.

"Yeah. Same to you."

"Arf, arf!"

Kagami almost tumbled off the bench. Nigou, Seirin's canine mascot, had scampered up to him, wagging his tail happily.

Kagami gripped the bench tightly, watching the dog with fearful eyes.

"S-Stop! Get away from me!"

Nigou answered with a few cheerful barks.

"Aomine-kun…?" asked Sakurai puzzledly, but Kagami had leapt to his feet and run to the back of the gym, followed closely by the excited dog.

Miyaji and the Touous had their mouths open. It took everyone else in the gym a moment to realise what was happening. Aomine stopped in the middle of hydrating to goggle at the chase.

Uh oh… thought Kuroko. It wouldn't be good if everybody bore witness to a panicked Aomine being chased by a cute puppy.

"Aomine-cchi is afraid of dogs?" asked Kise, who had also paused in his surprise.

"Why are you of all people misunderstanding this?" demanded Aomine.

Nigou had Kagami backed up against a corner. Despite Kagami's futile attempts to shoo him away, the dog was getting closer and closer.

As Kagami prepared for the worse, Kuroko stepped in and picked up the dog.

"You shouldn't be wandering around, Nigou," he told the puppy off gently.

Nigou licked his face, prompting a smile from the Phantom Miracle.

When Kuroko looked up, Takao was pointing his phone at him.

"Say 'cheese nanodayo', Shin-chan!"

"TAKAO!" yelled Midorima from across the court. The Shutoku ace marched toward Takao angrily, drawing all eyes to him.

"Why did Takao just yell out his own name?" Mibuchi asked Nebuya puzzledly. "And since when was Touou's ace afraid of puppies?"

"Well… " muttered Aomine, "things can't get any worse than this… "

As Aida hurriedly went to retrieve Nigou from Kuroko, Midorima advanced on Takao.

"TAKAO…"

"Oh hey, Takao-kun!" beamed Takao, beckoning him over. "The shot turned out great! Wanna have a look?"

"I made a mistake nanodayo," growled Midorima, stopping right in front of Takao and glaring at him. "I should have stayed on the other side of the court and shot my rolling pin at you."

Takao seemed tickled by the notion. "HAHAHAHA! No way! You're not gonna make it in that body!"

Midorima shifted his glare to Kagami. "And you, Kagamidiot… don't run from a harmless puppy when you are in this condition nanodayo."

Kagami's expression changed at once. "Kagamidiot –? Damn you, have you forgotten who you borrowed that thing from?"

"An airwalking airhead nanodayo."

"HUH?"

"Cool your jets, guys," said Takao breezily. "What my partner meant is that Kagami should be careful not to tarnish Aomine's image. Right, Takao-kun?"

"You're one to talk nanodayo! This all happened because you wore your omamori to bed!"

"You're so cold, Takao-kun! How can you pin all the blame on me?" chuckled Takao.

"What's going on with those three?" uttered Sakurai, but Wakamatsu was speechless.

"Ah… they're not making things easy, are they Aka-chin?" mused Murasakibara, biting off the end his maiubo as he watched the three body-swappers go at it.

Even Akashi was exasperated. At this rate, even the coaches won't be able to contain this. Everyone in the gym already seemed to be under the impression that the Miracles were in need of a psychiatric assessment.

Fed up with Takao, Midorima stomped off to join Akashi.

"I apologise on their behalf nanodayo, Akashi," he told the Rakuzan captain. "I never imagined that Takao would be so unmanageable."

"You were giving yourself away too, Mido-chin," pointed out Murasakibara, before pouring the leftover maiubo crumbs into his mouth.

"Speak for yourself nanodayo," retorted Midorima, gesturing to the maiubo. "You should stop eating, Murasakibara. Akashi said your game is next, and on top of that you will make Kise lose his job."

"Actually, I'm reviewing my arrangement," said Akashi. "We are giving ourselves away faster than I thought."

"It wasn't your fault nanodayo, Akashi. Nothing on earth can predict the ridiculous antics those idiots get up to."

"In any case, I will have to ask the coaches to combine our forces for the next match," decided Akashi.

The Rakuzan captain left to enforce his decision, leaving Midorima alone with Murasakibara, who was attempting to rip open a fresh maiubo.

"Murasakibara-cchi!" cried Kise, running to the Yosen ace as a scowling Midorima grabbed the maiubo off his hands. "I thought I told you to watch your diet! I didn't buy you ten maiubo sticks so you could devour them all at once!"

"Exactly nanodayo. A model's career is not to be taken lightly," added Midorima shortly.

Aomine, Kuroko and Kagami had tagged along with Kise.

"Midorima-kun, you seem to care for Kise-kun's wellbeing," observed Kuroko.

Midorima pushed up his imaginary glasses. "Care for Kise? Nonsense. I simply wish to face him at his full strength."

"You know, I think the reason everyone looks at us is because Midorima keeps doing that," theorised Aomine.

Midorima turned to him immediately. "What did you say?"

"Perhaps you should get a pair of fake glasses, Midorima-kun," suggested Kuroko.

"Tetsu-kun!" Out of nowhere, an ecstatic Momoi rammed into the Phantom Miracle. "I've finally found you! Did you say something about glasses?"

Kuroko didn't reply; he was struggling to free himself from the manager's grip.

"Oi, Satsuki. Give him some space already," said Aomine with exasperation.

"Aomine-kun, you meanie! You tricked me into hugging Midorin just now!" pouted Momoi unhappily, but to Kuroko's relief she released him at once. "Anyway, Tetsu-kun's words made me remember – here you go, Midorin!"

She lifted his right hand and placed something green on it.

Midorima stared. It was the fake spectacles he had worn when the Miracles switched for the first time.

"You've been plotting this all along?!" exclaimed Midorima in shock.

Momoi gave a little laugh. "Don't be silly! I was keeping it as a souvenir."

"Momo-cchi, I think you're the one who needs a psychiatric assessment," remarked Kise.

"Are we gonna start soon?" asked Kagami.

"If it were up to me, you would have been sent home in a trash bag," scowled Aomine. "Thanks to you my pride's been torn to shreds."

"Sorry about that," muttered Kagami. "I can't put up with dogs."

Aomine didn't seem to expect a straight-up apology from Kagami.

"Er, right," he said, seeming unable to react.

"Aka-chin is making some new arrangements with the coaches," explained Murasakibara lazily. "Something about combining forces… I think. What are you doing, Kuro-chin?"

Kuroko had been sniffing Murasakibara mildly.

"Murasakibara-kun used to smell like a candy store, but now it's Kise-kun's body that smells like one."

"Eh?" Murasakibara pulled on his own shirt and sniffed. "Maybe it's Kise-chin's deodorant."

Now the others were also sniffing Murasakibara.

"You're right," said Kagami, wrinkling his nose. "He smells like a candy factory."

Over at the Seirins' bench, Koganei was tugging on Hyuuga's sleeve.

"Hyuuga! Hyuuga! Do you see that? Kagami and the Miracles are all smelling Kise!"

Hyuuga was staring as well. "What are they doing?"

Aida scowled at the Miracles. The moment Akashi takes off, everything falls apart. I hope this swap will see a conclusion soon.

...

"Kise's deodorant doesn't smell like that," Aomine was saying. "It's too sweet."

Kise turned to him suspiciously. "How do you know what my deodorant smells like?"

"Cos I used to borrowed it when we were in Teiko."

"Borrow it? More like 'pilfered'!"

"It's true nanodayo," said Midorima suspiciously. "Murasakibara, how much did you eat?"

"I'm gonna ask Seirin's coach to lend me a weighing scale," announced Kise immediately.

Murasakibara was wrestled onto the weighing scale by Kise.

"Up by four pounds!" exclaimed Kise in shock. He had just weighed himself last week."How could you, Murasakibara-cchi!?"

"Kise, you forgot to turn out his pockets nanodayo," pointed out Midorima.

After emptying Murasakibara of his snacks (he had snuck some from the vending machine in addition to the ones Kise had bought for him) they took his weight again.

It was now normal. Kise was extremely relieved.

"Well, that explains the smell," remarked Aomine, staring at the pile of maiubo and other assortment of candy bars on the floor.

"It would be unrealistic to gain four pounds in less than a day," added Kuroko.

Aomine made a face. "What's unrealistic is how he managed to cram all of that into his pockets."

When Akashi returned, his former Teiko teammates started sniffing him.

"Is something wrong?" asked the nonplussed Rakuzan captain, stopping in his tracks.

"We just wondered if you would smell like Murasakibara-kun does when he's in his own body," explained Kuroko.

"But Akashi-cchi smells fine," said Kise. "The scent is unique to Murasakibara-cchi."

"You could open your own perfume store, Murasakibara-kun," Kuroko suggested to him.

"Sounds like a pain," yawned Murasakibara.

"What's going on, Akashi? Are we starting the next match now?" asked Midorima.

"Heyyy! What's up, guys?" said Takao cheerfully, bouncing in all of a sudden with Himuro behind him.

"Ah, you're here. I was just about to call you," said Akashi with a nod at Takao. "I've decided to set up next match as the stage for two standoffs."

"In other words…?" probed Aomine.

"Why are you here anyway? Your match is over nanodayo," said Midorima.

"'Cos Akashi's teammates keep hanging around my ass," said Aomine, grimacing.

"We will have Murasakibara and Kagami on opposing teams," continued Akashi. "Same goes for Midorima and I. And the teams will be fully fledged this time. Kagami, Himuro-san, Takao, Wakamatsu-san and I will form the white team; Midorima, Murasakibara, Kasamatsu-san, Kuroko and Miyaji-san will be the black."

"So it's a mix-and-match game," affirmed Himuro.

"Why do I have to be on the same team as Murasakibara?" asked Midorima, sounding annoyed.

"As long as Kagami is my opponent, I don't care even if it's five against one," said Murasakibara.

"Let's give it our best, Midorima-kun, Murasakibara-kun," Kuroko told them.

"I'm on the same team as Akashi, Kagami and Himuro-senpai? That is off the hook!" exclaimed Takao, looking pumped. "Don't hold out on me, Shin-chan!"

"Hmph. I will not lose when it comes to a battle of threes nanodayo," scoffed Midorima.

"Aw… Are you still pouting about what happened at Kuroko-kun's birthday party?" teased Takao, nudging his partner playfully. Apparently, the Shutoku ace was still irked with Himuro for attempting to use his lucky item as a culinary ingredient.

Himuro laughed a little. "Oh, sorry about that. I thought you brought it for the party feast."

"Don't worry about it, senpai," winked Takao. "Shin-chan told me he respects your skills as a fellow shooting guard."

Midorima scowled. "Why would I say such a senseless thing nanodayo?"

"Hahahahahaha!"

Himuro smiled. "I'm flattered to hear that, Midorima."

"What's there to be flattered about nanodayo!" Midorima stormed off, his face flushed. Takao trailed after him, still laughing.

"Are you OK, Kagami-kun?" asked Kuroko, noticing that Kagami still looked a little ill.

"Do I look OK to you?" demanded Kagami. "I've been body-swapped! And I still lose a heartbeat whenever I see my hands. How did Aomine manage to get so dark anyway?"

"Perhaps on a certain day at the beach, he mistook suntan oil for sunscreen…"

"Like hell that happened!" said Aomine irritably, walking off the court with Kise.

The players got started on some warm ups.

Wakamatsu, Kasamatsu and Miyaji seemed confused when they were told by the coaches about the last minute arrangements. But then they remembered their instructions to turn a blind eye to all questionable on-goings and took it in their stride.

"But what about me?" asked Sakurai, as Wakamatsu got up to join the other players.

"The Coach said you'll be our reserve," reminded Wakamatsu.

"In case Wakamatsu chokes on his own lungs," said Aomine carelessly, now reclined against the wall with Kise.

"AH?" Wakamatsu rounded on him. "Don't think you can run your mouth loose just 'cos you hammered us! You lost to Seirin as much as we did!"

"Put a sock in it."

As Wakamatsu was about to blow a fuse, Aomine added without lifting his head, "Don't worry, Cap. I'll make sure Touou takes down Seirin at the Interhigh."

Wakamatsu stared at him for a minute. Then, deciding that losing the practice match must have turned 'Akashi' into a nutjob, he strode off to the court.

"Don't worry, Hayakawa. You'll get some game time when the Interhigh comes," Kasamatsu assured the dismal Hayakawa, who'd also been benched, as he made his way up to Murasakibara.

"Hey," said Kaijo's ex-captain to the Miracle. "I heard from Hayakawa that you've been working on spinning out your Perfect Copy."

'Kise' blinked uncomprehendingly. "Eh? If it's Perfect Copy you're talking about, you should have seen it in the previous game, senpai."

"It's your Perfect Copy, 'Kise'," Midorima told Murasakibara as he shoved the ball into his hands, reminding the Miracle of who he was. "Remember that nanodayo."

Kasamatsu frowned at Midorima. "Takao, why are you imitating Midorima?"

"Right back at you, Mido-chin," said Murasakibara, tucking the ball under his arm and walking away; he had never been one for warm ups.

"I want to see a barrage of threes today, Midorima," said Miyaji, who was shooting hoops.

Kuroko blinked in surprise. "Me?"

"Who else would I be talking to?"

Uh oh, thought Kuroko for the second time that day. Kise's reputation had almost combusted because of him, and now it seemed like Midorima was in for the same out-turn.