Pairings: Aomine/Tamaki

Warnings: AU Universe. OOC. Gender swap. Nice Akashi. Overprotective Generation of Miracles

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke and any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

Chapter Thirty Four: Your Next Opponent Is…

"Not one of us had ever thought that winning will be easy." - Hyuuga Junpei

XXXXXX

Two days after the match with Kirisaki Dai Ichi can find all of Seirin relaxing in the hot springs of a small hotel. Riko had all but dragged her entire team there, seeing as how all of them needed it after the numerous injuries that they've sustained during the match against Kirisaki Dai Ichi.

"Kagami, you shouldn't let your towel touch the water." Izuki reprimanded, seeing Kagami's towel float to the top of the water thanks to the water pressure.

"What? Really?"

Across them, Koganei who was relaxing in the warm waters near Mitobe who had his eyes closed in contentment sighed, setting a folded towel atop his head. "Ah, viva-non," he almost purred.

"What's viva-non?" Kiyoshi wondered, looking over at Koganei.

"Who cares?" Hyuuga scoffed from beside Izuki, leaning back against one of the rocks. "Idiots."

"Your remarks are lacking bite, Hyuuga." Izuki teased.

"Of course they are." Hyuuga sighed, stretching his arms to get the kinks and knots out of his body, sighing in relief at feeling the stress and tension seep out. "After all, we're at the hot springs."

"Riko can be smart sometimes." Kiyoshi mumbled, rubbing the warm moisture on his hands over his eyes.

"Yeah." Tsuchida nodded. "Taking us to the hot springs to refresh ourselves."

"Tomorrow we're going right back to practice though." Hyuuga pointed out, reminding his team that they've still got upcoming matches for the Winter Cup to worry about. "Don't lose focus."

"I know."

Meanwhile, Koganei seems to be a little too excited for having the hot springs all to themselves, and started swimming rapidly through the spring, throwing up waves behind him as he did so.

"Look! Look! I'm doing the butterfly!" Koganei shouted as he swam.

Izuki sighed at the most eccentric member of their little family. There are times when he had thought that he might just be the sanest member of their team. "I knew you'd do it, but don't do the wildest stroke," he reprimanded.

The freshmen trio on the other hand decided that they have enough of the heat and have decided to get out, tying towels around their waists as they did so. "Let's go over there." Furihata suggested, gesturing towards the Jacuzzi.

"Hey you!" Hyuuga snapped as he got up from the water, with the entire team seeing more of their hot-headed captain than they ever wanted to see. "Don't tastelessly wear your towels around your waists! Look at Kagami." He pointed a finger at the tall redhead, only to twitch as he realised that the redhead is wearing a pair of dark blue swim trunks.

"Huh?" Kagami was confused as he stared at a twitching Hyuuga, wondering what he'd done now. He then stared back at the swimming trunks that he had on. "Oh. I've never been to hot springs before." He admitted. And of course, for having spent most of his life in America, he shouldn't have the chance to visit a hot springs before.

"Kids from aboard…" Hyuuga moaned. "Fine then." He then moved over to the washing station and sat down on the wooden stool. "Underclassmen wash their seniors' backs." He ordered.

"Huh?" Kagami deadpanned.

"You just want to make him do it." Izuki deadpanned whilst leaning back against the rocks, not willing to move from his warm and comfortable spot.

"Uh…?" Kagami still seemed rather confused, but he grabbed the first brush that he could lay his hands on that was lying innocently by the edge of the springs. "Like this?" He then scrubbed down Hyuuga's back with more strength than intended, causing blood to squirt out, and Hyuuga fell over.

"Hyuuga!" Izuki cried.

"Huh? How'd that happen?" Kagami wondered, looking down at the brush in his hand.

"What's wrong with you?" Izuki snapped. "That brush is for cleaning! Haven't you ever seen one before?"

Hyuuga slowly sat back up, his face still twitching with pain. "I thought he was going to kill me."

On the other side of the wooden partition that separates the men and women's sections, the boys could hear the familiar happy barking of a certain black and white puppy, and the faint giggles of their female teammate as Aoi is obviously doing something to amuse her.

"Is it really all right to have Aoi here?" Tsuchida wondered, knowing that most rest establishments are very touchy about having animals in their hot springs. After all, the fur from animals like dogs and cats are difficult to get out of the springs.

"It should be fine." Kiyoshi said with a grin. "The owners said that we could wash Aoi."

"In the bath?" Tsuchida muttered, pretty sure that when the owners said that they could wash the puppy, they don't mean in the hot springs area.

Hyuuga spluttered just then as Kagami brought down a hard brush down on the captain's back, causing him to fall over again.

"Hyuuga! Why?" Izuki cried out, turning towards Kagami who honestly seemed clueless, staring at a different cleaning brush in his hand.

"I thought I'd try again." Kagami mumbled.

Izuki twitched. Is there no limit to how dense he could be? Honestly, he is a monster at basketball, and is easily the best player on their team, but he is honestly like a kid when it comes to simple everyday things.

"With a scrubbing brush?" Izuki cried out in disbelief.

Aoi's barks got louder over the partition, and Tamaki's bell-like giggles could be heard. "Aoi, don't splash around!"

Izuki smiled as he heard Tamaki's voice. She definitely seems lighter. Probably, informing the team of her burden had helped somewhat. And then when Tamaki had gone against Hanamiya, that had probably helped her with her fear. Izuki really can't imagine having an injury that would restrict him from playing basketball.

"Tamaki seems to be all right now," he said, getting back into the springs, and soaking himself up to his shoulders. "She sounds happier. And on that note, will she be all right, being the only one over there?" He wondered.

Koganei froze with Izuki's words. He then turned towards Kagami who was over at the washing station, washing himself. "Kagami, come here," he called, with the redhead looking at him curiously, but complied. And before anyone even knew what is going on, Koganei had perched on Kagami's shoulders. "Forward march!" He happily ordered, pointing towards the partition that separates the male and females' springs area.

"Hey, where are you going?" Izuki almost screeched in shock and horror at what Koganei had in mind.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Don't say that with a straight face!" Izuki screeched, not noticing that Hyuuga had also gotten onto Mitobe's shoulders. "Hyuuga, why are you going with them?" He demanded.

"You're lucky you have your Eagle Eye!" Hyuuga argued.

Izuki twitched. "It doesn't work like that, dammit!" he almost howled, even as Hyuuga and Koganei bumped fists with each other.

Kiyoshi gulped nervously even as he glanced at the partition, half expecting for Riko to come out from out of nowhere. He swears that the brunette coach seems to have some sort of sixth sense whenever her team gets up to mischief. "Riko would kill you if she were here." Kiyoshi pointed out.

"Kiyoshi, shut—" Izuki blinked as he comprehend Kiyoshi's words, and he paled. "Y-You're right!"

His teammates however ignored him, even with Koganei grunting as he reached up as far as he could go, but still fall short. "I can't reach!" he wailed.

"Guys…" Izuki groaned, wondering why he even bothers at this point of time. "The Generation of Miracles will kill you if they found out, you know?" He tried again, but once more, his teammates ignored him. And what is worse is that they've somehow gotten the freshmen to join in their 'escapade'.

"Ah!" Fukuda spotted something just then, bending down to the bottom of the partition. "A hole! I found a hole!"

"What? Good work!"

Izuki honestly has no idea what to say as he watched the antics of his team. He is honestly starting to believe that he might just be the sanest person on the entire team. 'This team is hopeless.' Izuki groaned.

Koganei grinned as he wrapped an arm around Izuki's neck, and grabbed hold of Kagami's arm before he could escape. "Now. Now. You don't dislike this, do you?" Koganei grinned like an imp. "Aren't you both guys? Come on, Tsucchi. You too."

"Huh?" Tsuchida was nervous, wondering what his girlfriend will do to him should she find out about this. "But…"

Meanwhile, with the other members of the team, they were all fighting over the chance to get to see through the hole in the fence first. "The hedge is in the way." Hyuuga grumbled, moving this way and that in order to see properly.

Unfortunately for poor Seirin, they didn't realise the danger that they're in even as the door to the males' side of the springs slid opened silently, and a dark aura of anger surrounded a certain brunette as she immediately caught sight of what they're trying to do.

"You seem to be having fun. Let me join you," said Riko in a particularly sweet and sugary tone. All the boys immediately stopped moving, and Hyuuga's glasses actually cracked as they realised the amount of danger that they're in. "What are you boys doing?

"C-C-Coach…"

The scary smile had never slipped off Riko's face even once. "I thought that you were making a lot of noise." Riko said, lifting a hand and curling it into a fist, cracking her knuckles. "All of you, clench your teeth."

'We're going to die!' Seirin wailed as one as they clutched at each other, awaiting their impending doom.

Riko can't help twitching in annoyance even as she headed over to the females' side of the springs after having changed out of her clothes where Tamaki is seated by the edge of the springs, leaning back against the rocks, her eyes closed. Aoi was swimming near his owner happily, giving out light happy barks.

Riko smiled at this sight even as she slipped into the warm water, sighing in contentment as she soaked herself up to her shoulders.

"It sounds pretty lively next door. What are they up to?" Tamaki asked without opening her eyes.

"Don't mind them. They're just being a bunch of perverts." Riko grunted, rubbing at her sore shoulders.

Tamaki giggled slightly before falling silent once more, and Riko then took the chance to study her carefully. She can now see quite a difference in her stats as compared to when Tamaki had first walked through the doors of Seirin. Riko knew that they'd lucked out in getting Tamaki. While it is true that everyone in the team had played their part in getting Seirin this far, there is no denying the fact that Tamaki had always been there to support them during hard times.

You wouldn't know it just by looking at her, but the small girl is strong.

Riko's eyes widened just then as Tamaki sank into the water, with only the top of her head showing, her teal blue hair floating atop the water. The brunette coach got up immediately. "Tamaki-chan?" Riko panicked, grasping the smaller girl by the arm immediately only to realise that she'd gone limp. Next to her, Aoi was barking and whining. "Hey, what's wrong? Someone!" Riko screamed. "Is there anyone out there?"

"Riko, what's wrong?" Kiyoshi called out from the other side of the partition, sounding concerned.

"Tamaki-chan fainted!" Riko panicked. "Help—"

The sliding door to the females' side of the spring slid opened just then, cutting off whatever that Riko is going to say, and a certain tanned teen stepped in, cool as a cucumber, still dressed in his team's jacket and black pants even as he stepped into the springs, ignoring the fact that the bottom of his pants were drenched, and lifted a limp Tamaki into his arms easily, but not before covering her body with a towel.

"I'll handle this," said Aomine Daiki curtly as he tied the towel securely around Tamaki's body, careful to keep his eyes on her face and not on her body. Girlfriend or not, this is taking it too far, and not to mention that Akashi will murder him.

He still remembered what happened to a group of unfortunate second stringers who had came late for practice one time during their second year of Teiko, and had accidentally seen Tamaki in just her undergarments as she was then in the midst of changing into her training clothes.

Tamaki had always been the last one to change, as she's the only girl in the team, and thus, had always waited for the rest of the team to finish changing before she does so. Thus, needless to say, there was a lot of shrieking involved on both sides, and that group of second stringers were forced to undergo Akashi's Regime of Hell for a month after that.

"Y-You…" Riko's face was nearly as red as a lobster by now even as she ducked back into the spring, with the water covering her up to her shoulders. "This is the girls' side!" She shouted at the tanned teen, trying to cover her chest with her hands.

Aomine stared at Riko, eyeing her up and down before a small smirk curled at the sides of his lips. "Not like you had anything much to look at anyway," was all that he said before the door slammed shut behind him.

"W-What?" Riko spluttered in anger.

On another note though, what the hell is Aomine Daiki doing here?

Riko is so lost in her thoughts that she barely noticed the light sounds of footsteps pattering across the stone floors, and a soft voice then spoke up. "Mind if I sit next to you?"

"Go ahead." Riko sighed, trying to block all thoughts of Aomine Daiki out of her head, determined to enjoy the hot spring.

"Thanks," said a remarkably familiar voice as someone entered the waters next to her. A flash of pink hair entered Riko's field of sight, and the brunette coach's eyes widened a slight fraction as she realised who it had been…

"We shouldn't have peeped." Hyuuga grumbled, blowing angry bubbles in the waters, having submerged himself up to his mouth.

Izuki only glared at Hyuuga, holding onto his smarting cheek, having gotten himself slapped by Riko despite the fact that he had never seen anything or even tried to peep. "Of course not," he grumbled.

There was a low chuckle just then from the other side of the spring. "You're as lively as ever," said a familiar voice with a Kansai accent.

The Seirin team stared as the steam slowly started to die down, and their eyes widened a slight fraction as they recognised the new group that had just entered the spring.

"You…" Hyuuga blinked owlishly behind his glasses, as if hoping that he's seeing wrong. "Touou Academy?"

There was a tense silence for several moments as both teams stared across each other.

"Why?" Hyuuga spluttered.

"Why not?" Imayoshi Shoichi said without a care in the world. "We just happened to be practicing in the area. We happened to decide to relax in the hot springs. And you just happened to be here." Imayoshi smirked at them. "Don't be so tense. We're both representing Tokyo. Let's at least get along while we bathe."

Hyuuga decided that he really didn't like the tone of the Touou captain.

"This feels so good." Satsuki sighed happily, stretching out her arms to ease out the kinks in her body. "My shoulders have been so stiff lately." She smiled sweetly at Riko. "You don't seem like you'd have that problem. I'm jealous." She teased.

"Shut up!" Riko hissed at Satsuki. 'What is she doing here? Actually…' Her eyes drifted down Satsuki's body, and her eye twitched dangerously as she submerged half her face into the water. 'She's so huge!'

And here she thought that Tamaki is pretty well developed for her age. Are these two girls really a year her junior?

"Oh right." Satsuki perked up as if just remembering something. "There's something I wanted to tell you."

XXXXXX

Inside the hotel where the Seirin team would be spending the night, Kagami got out of the room that he will be sharing with Kawahara, yawning widely, feeling refreshed after his shower.

'Captain and the upperclassmen are sure competitive.' Kagami deadpanned to himself even as he wandered the lobby, wondering what he should do now. The teams of Touou and Seirin are currently having a competition on who could actually last longer in the sauna, having bet a round of drinks on it. 'But if Touou is here… Then does that mean that he is here too?' Kagami wondered, turning a corner, and he then froze at the sight that greeted his eyes.

XXXXXX

"Hot! I can't take it anymore!" Wakamatsu howled as he ran out of the sauna, despite Sakurai's cries, jumping into the cold water of the bath just outside it, sighing in relief.

"What? But it hasn't even been five minutes." Imayoshi sighed. "Come on. We bet drinks on this."

For several moments, both teams said nothing, but stared determinedly at the other, determined to outlast their rivals. Koganei's eye twitched as a bead of sweat dripped down the side of his face, and the petite Shooting Guard of Touou Academy looks ready to pass out from the heat.

"Are you okay?" Kiyoshi asked Sakurai with concern, having been sitting near him.

"Yes, I'm fine!" Sakurai nodded frantically that Kiyoshi is almost concerned for a moment that he would crick his neck. "Sorry!"

"You don't need to apologise."

The door to the sauna slammed opened just then, revealing Wakamatsu. "I'm back!" he roared.

"You're already out." Imayoshi pointed out, much to Wakamatsu's dismay. "By the way, we saw your game the other day." He told Seirin. "Congratulations on making it to the Winter Cup."

"Thanks," said Hyuuga curtly.

Imayoshi doesn't seem deterred by Hyuuga's cold tone. "You seem to have improved dramatically since this summer. I didn't recognise you," he commented.

"That's not what you came to talk about." Hyuuga growled, turning his attention towards the Touou captain. "It's too much of a coincidence for us to run into each other here." He narrowed his eyes. "What are you up to?"

"It's true that we were practicing around here, but it's not a coincidence either." Imayoshi said calmly. "We knew you were here and dropped in to say hi." He then unfolded a piece of paper that he had somehow kept with him and handed it to Hyuuga. "Our manager got her hands on these Winter Cup matchups. The official announcement isn't until later." He explained, his grin widening further as he saw Hyuuga's eyes widened as he read the paper.

"What? Schools from the same prefecture shouldn't play each other in the first round." Hyuuga spluttered, eyes going to the names of two particular schools.

Imayoshi nodded at Hyuuga's words. "Normally, they don't," he said. "But schools from the special bracket are an exception." A wide smirk spread across Imayoshi's face. "I look forward to playing you. Your first opponent in the Winter Cup is us." He announced, much to Seirin's shock.

"What did you say?" Riko said dangerously.

"I like Tamaki-chan. She's been my best friend since middle school after all. But it is also because she's my best friend that I won't hold back this time," said Satsuki with a smile. She wonders for a moment how Tamaki is going to handle her team this time. In certain ways, her talent over planning tactics and strategies is actually a step above Satsuki. If Seirin had been facing Touou on equal terms the first time around, Touou might even have lost. "It's too bad that you'll be out after the first day though." Satsuki stood up slowly, the water dripping from her body as she did so. "Let's have a good match."

Riko's eye twitched dangerously at the superior tone that she could hear in Satsuki's voice. Just because Touou had beaten them during the Inter High, even doubling their score, they think that the same thing will happen again?

"You're acting pretty superior, aren't you?" Riko said dangerously as she got up from the water as well, pressing her chest against Satsuki's. "Don't underestimate us! My boys aren't that weak!" She snarled at a surprised Satsuki who was almost taken aback by Riko's ferocity.

"You just wait! We'll show you!" Hyuuga snarled, already in full clutch mode.

Imayoshi chuckled, finding it almost amusing. "Such courage," he remarked, only pissing Hyuuga off more. "I'm not impressed though. You sound like you think you've gotten stronger and closed the gap between us. But aren't you forgetting something?"

"Forgetting something?" Koganei echoed.

Imayoshi's smirk only spread further. "By the way, we played against Josei at our practice game today," he informed Seirin. As one, Seirin twitched as they remembered that loudmouth freshman on that team during their match against Josei during the preliminaries, and what he had said about their coach. "We beat them soundly at 170 to 39." He announced, much to Seirin's shock. "It's so simple, a child would understand. It's been six months since the Inter High. Everyone's practiced and become stronger during that time. It's another national tournament, but every team will be several degrees stronger at the Winter Cup. Don't think we haven't changed since last time." Imayoshi grinned.

"Fine by me." Hyuuga growled. "To begin with, not one of us had ever thought that winning will be easy. Besides, if we win enough games, we're bound to end up facing you sooner or later."

"Nothing beats repaying a debt quickly." Izuki smirked. "Just remember…"

"Bring it on." Hyuuga finished with a smirk of his own.

XXXXXX

"You're quite clingy today." Aomine remarked with amusement as he sat on the bench next to the vending machine in the hallway, with Tamaki leaning against him, her head against his shoulder. He had gotten Satsuki to dress Tamaki before the pink haired girl had entered the springs herself, reassuring his childhood friend that he'll take care of Tamaki.

"Is it bad?" Tamaki mumbled, resting her head against Aomine's bicep. "I hadn't seen you for some time now because of team training and matches."

"Yeah, it's the same for me." Aomine said before he felt Tamaki shivering slightly next to him, probably because she had just gotten out from the springs. "Come on." He removed his team jacket, leaving him in just a black shirt and pants, draping his jacket around Tamaki's shoulders.

"Thank you." Tamaki snuggled close to him.

Aomine smiled a small smile down at her. "I saw your game," he remarked. "Is that your new move?" Tamaki nodded next to him. "Satsuki gathered the data for the Winter Cup. Seirin's next opponent is—"

"Touou Academy." Tamaki finished, looking up at Aomine. "I know. I can do statistics as well as Satsuki could."

"He's not entertainment enough." Aomine said curtly, and Tamaki knew who he's talking about immediately. "It is true that he did open the Door. All of us could sense it that day. But he's merely standing at the entrance. He's not even close enough to our level yet—the Generation of Miracles." He glanced at Tamaki. "And you know it."

"He will make it someday." Tamaki said with confidence. "I believe in him."

"What is so good about that idiot anyway?" Aomine grumbled, not liking how Tamaki had so much faith in him. "He's only good in basketball."

"Isn't this the pot calling the kettle black, Daiki?" Tamaki raised an eyebrow, and Aomine flushed. "Tell me, how did you do on your last exams?"

Aomine muttered something, scratching at his cheek with one finger. "Well enough," he mumbled.

"By that, I'm assuming that you just scraped through with last minute studying by using Satsuki's notes." Tamaki sighed, since it's the same old story every single time. She wonder for the hundredth time how Aomine even got into Teiko back during their middle school years, with how bad that his academics had been.

"Be quiet." Aomine grumbled, and Tamaki giggled. The tanned teen then smiled as he rested his forehead against Tamaki's. "I missed you so much," he whispered. "I could have killed Hanamiya when he had tried to hurt you again."

XXXXXX

"Ah! The hot springs feel so good." Koganei sighed in contentment as the two teams of Touou and Seirin walked down the halls, with Seirin having won the bet against Touou. "Hmm?" He then raised a brow as he saw a certain redhead peering around the corner cautiously.

"Isn't that Kagami?" Wakamatsu asked curiously, seeing a petrified Kagami huddled by the wall, acting almost as if he'd just seen a large Doberman around the corner.

"Kagami, what's wrong?" Hyuuga called out to his freshman, and the redhead turned towards his captain with a pale face, placing one finger at his lips.

"Shh!"

"Huh?"

The bell-like giggle of a certain girl reaches the ears of the two teams just then, and as one, the boys huddled behind the wall, peeping around it only to see a certain Touou ace and a certain teal haired girl huddled together on the bench, sitting particularly close with each other.

"Wha…?" Hyuuga's face was beet red as he saw the two freshmen on the bench, behaving particularly intimately. Those two are younger than him, right? "W-W-When did that happen?" He demanded. "And what do they think that they are doing in a public place like this?"

"Don't ask me." Izuki was just as surprised and confused as he was. "Tamaki had never said anything about it."

"Who the hell could put up with a guy like that for a boyfriend?" Wakamatsu almost howled, but was careful to keep his voice low. "Though I guess that explains why she came up in almost all of Aomine's conversations with Momoi…" He mumbled.

Imayoshi adjusted his glasses, not giving away just how surprised he was. Though he really should have guessed, since Kuroko Tamaki is the only person whom Aomine regularly talks about, though only with Momoi. "…I really have to learn her secret to controlling Aomine," he drawled. "I wonder if she'll be interested in transferring to Touou if we beat you during our next game?" He grinned at Hyuuga who scowled back at him.

"Don't even dream of it." Hyuuga barked. "She's ours. She's Seirin. And there is no way in Hell that we're giving Tamaki up! Besides, it's like what we've said earlier: we won't know a match's outcome until it comes. We won't lose this time. That's why…" Hyuuga smirked as he adjusted his glasses. "Bring it on." He challenged.

A/N: I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review! Reviews give me inspiration to update!