A/N: Thanks to to all the readers out there! Also thanks for all of the reviews, alerts and favourites. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
You Were Conceived Next to a Tortoise Enclosure
The Tortoise
Tsukino Kame.
A name full of love.
An amalgamation of different versions of love.
And every version grossed her the hell out.
The day that her older brothers revealed that the real reason behind her name was most definitely not that she was named after a combination of Mama Tsukino's favourite characters Tsukino Usagi and Tuxedo Kamen, was perhaps the day it all started to go terribly wrong.
"You named me after a tortoise, so I'm going to move really, really slow," said seven-year-old Kame, staring wide-eyed and pursed lipped at her mother as she dragged her pen with excruciating slowness across her homework sheet. "I'm never gonna do anything quickly ever again."
Mama Tsukino had smiled and placed a bowl of ice cream in front of her. And it was finished in a matter of seconds.
"You named me after a tortoise, so that means I can stay in my room all day," said nine-year-old Kame, balling herself into her covers so that only the top of her head could be seen. "I'm never coming out! This is my home now! THIS IS MY LIFE!"
Again, Mama Tsukino had smiled and placed a bowl of ice cream at the bottom of the stairs. And it was finished in a matter of seconds.
"You named me after a tortoise," said eleven-year-old Kame, glaring at her brother as he clutched his finger to his chest and wailed. "Tortoises bite. BAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Again, Mama Tsukino had smiled, but this time she placed a tub of ice cream in her son's hands and said that he was in charge of it until further notice. Mama Tsukino could be a devious witch when she wanted to be.
"I'm going out," said thirteen-year-old Kame, disappearing out the door.
And, Mama Tsukino had smiled and placed a bowl of ice cream on the table.
But in the morning when she came down, the bowl was still there and all the ice cream had melted.
Book in one hand, eyes still focused on the text, Kuroko Tetsuya lifted his leg up and delivered a swift kick to the lump under the covers. There was a moan, some movement, and then stillness. Kuroko raised his leg again.
"I'm up, you bastard," came a voice from under the covers. "I'm also naked. Want to take a look?"
Tucking his book into his shoulder bag, Kuroko grabbed a corner of the quilt in each hand and swept it back. Tsukino lay curled in the foetal position in the centre of the bed, eyes scrunched tightly as if by not looking at him she made it so that he didn't exist.
"I'm relieved you're wearing clothes," said Kuroko.
"Not for long if you don't give that back!" said Tsukino, trying to claw back the covers. Kuroko merely inched away until she was stretching over the edge of the bed at him, swiping the air, reluctant to leave the warmth of her bed.
"If you're not changed in ten minutes, Kame-san, I'm going to throw it away."
As Tsukino furiously started unbuttoning her nightshirt to make good on her threat, Kuroko bundled the quilt under his arm and headed towards the ladder leading down from the attic.
"AHAH!"
She ripped open her nightshirt and exposed her naked chest, a look of triumph burning in her eyes. Except Kuroko had already left. Well, it wasn't like anything had changed since the baths they used to take together when they were small. Mama Tsukino kept reassuring her that she was a late bloomer, like her, but Tsukino had long since given up on inheriting her mother's cup size, or anything else from either parent for that matter.
Having grown up surrounded by redheaded giants, naturally she, with her black hair, thin brown eyes, and below average height, was the odd one out. Even Shiro, who was only six months old, was growing at an unprecedented rate.
Rolling out of bed, Tsukino started collecting the discarded articles of her school uniform, which had been rotting in her room since the beginning of spring, and changed into them as fast as she could. Sniffing an armpit, she nodded her approval and climbed down the ladder, dropping onto the second floor landing.
"Is that you, Kame-chan?"
The house echoed with the wails of the newest and most unexpected addition to their family as he demanded succour from their mother's ample breasts. Tsukino sped downstairs before Mama Tsukino could see her and rope her into diaper changing or spit up duty. By the look of the shoe rack her older brothers must have had the same idea. It appeared the new baby had exponentially improved the timekeeping abilities of all the males in the family. Tsukino being a rebel would not be cowed so easily and continued to be tardy on principle.
Glancing at the family portrait hanging in the entrance hall, Tsukino made a face at her twelve-year-old self standing in the centre like a puss oozing sore-thumb. Really, the only thing that tied her together with her brothers was the curls. They all shared the same corkscrew curls that seemed to withstand almost anything, be it rain, wind, snow or straighteners. In a fit of prepubescent rebellion, Kame had shaved her head clean during the summer before entering junior high and had kept it short ever since.
Walking past the downstairs toilet, she heard a high-pitched, slightly hysterical hum emanating from it. Younger brother Saburo, who didn't start school for another week, had apparently locked himself inside again to hide from the sight of their mother openly breastfeeding. Sighing, she thumped the door. There was a squeal and splash from inside that she prayed wasn't him falling into the toilet... again.
"You know everyone thinks you're touching yourself," said Tsukino.
There was a groan.
"Making sounds like that doesn't help your case, Buro."
From the kitchen, she heard Papa Tsukino say something about needing to buy more milk, but crawling on her hands and knees, she managed to sneak out the backdoor without being seen. The lady who lived next door was in her garden pruning the hedges and seeing Tsukino kneeling in the dirt, she shot her a disapproving glare.
The lack of resemblance between Tsukino and her siblings often raised statements from the neighbours; 'she must be adopted' or 'Mama Tsukino probably fooled around with the milkman'. In response, the unruly child would often knock over their garden gnomes and pee on their flowers with surprising accuracy considering the anatomical disadvantage.
With a nasty grin, Tsukino flipped the neighbour off and earned herself a look of scandalised outrage.
Kuroko was already halfway down the street when she caught up with him, nose still buried in one of his stupid books. She pulled her fist back and aimed a punch at the back of his head.
"If you do that, you will never see your quilt again, Kame-san."
And so began their second year of Teiko Middle School.
"Are you joining any clubs this year?" Kuroko asked her as they walked around the quad.
The calm expression on Tsukino's face was rapidly deteriorating as more and more fliers were thrust in her face, unheeding of the twitch in her eye.
"Not if I can help it," said Tsukino, slapping the hand of a senior recruiting for the lacrosse team.
In Teiko, the first day of the year was usually apportioned between the opening ceremony, club sign up and try-outs. For some reason, Kuroko had used his leverage to force her to attend the opening ceremony and was now dragging her through the quad where all the club representatives had set up their stands, perhaps with the misguided hope of socialising her and turning her into a valued member of the school. Maybe he was high.
"You know the girls' basketball club is holding try-outs right now-"
"I'd rather die."
Kuroko shut his book. "You're going to have to make up with Oshiro-san one day."
Tsukino nodded. "The day I die."
"Kame-san, you're being childish."
"On my deathbed, as I lay shrivelled and weak, I will call her to my side and I will… nope I'll spit in her face. And then, with my last breath, I will curse all future generations of her line to fart uncontrollably in public."
"Did your TV break again?"
"Two weeks ago."
Kuroko ducked out of the way just as a girl swung her arm to clap Tsukino on the shoulder. She must have been someone Tsukino had met before because she was staring at her with a formidable expression. Looked like this one wouldn't be so easy to shake off.
"Tsukino-san," said the girl. "I ask again, please consider joining the Swim Club."
With a frown, Tsukino watched as Kuroko's already weak presence was swallowed up by the crowd of students. When had he become so unabashed about abandoning her? Then she recalled how she had spent the entire walk to school describing in detail the various ways she would use her quilt to end his life when she got her hands on it again.
"Your broad shoulders, muscular arms and streamlined chest make you a perfect contender."
Tsukino blinked at the girl in front of her. "I feel like I've just been insulted somehow."
"We've been watching you for a while," said the girl, hands on both shoulders now, steely gaze unwavering. "And despite your delinquent background we would be honoured to take on the lofty task of rehabilitating you through the power of determination and friendship. Our uniform is also very cute."
"You're really skilled at the backhanded compliment," Tsukino said, genuinely in awe of the girl.
"Thank you," said the girl, nodding her mutual respect. "For a delinquent you are unexpectedly astute at recognising such nuanced methods. Were you to join the Swim Club, I would also extend my services as a tutor to assist in bringing your grades up so that you have a chance in hell in the future."
It was strange, but Tsukino had the wild, masochistic urge to make friends. It was starting to make sense why she was so fond of Kuroko. And formerly Oshiro.
"What's your name?" asked Tsukino.
For the first time in their encounter, the girl seemed to falter. "My name is Sakata Riyeko. We're in the same class, Tsukino-san. I sit behind you."
"We never did a history project together did we?" asked Tsukino, quickly scanning the quad for a sign of dark blue hair, eyes narrowing. "Where I came over to your house, we made sweet, sweet love and I was very tender."
She wouldn't put it past Aomine to come up with such an obvious prank, although it would have been pretty bold of him to try something now. After what happened when they ran into each other at the canal during spring break, she imagined he'd want to steer clear of her for the next hundred years. Who would have thought Aomine Daiki was so protective of his crayfish? She still had to make him pay for that.
"I'm sorry," said Sakata. "Being that I am only interested in the opposite sex, that scenario is impossible. However, if you are trying to place me, I did lend you a pencil for a test once, which you never returned. Again, if you were to join the Swim Club, Tsukino-san, you would have your pick of pencils. Would you like one now? I have several."
Reaching into her bag, she took out a pencil and presented it in both hands to Tsukino.
"Oh my."
"It's Parrot King," said Sakata, "which is a very expensive and prestigious brand used by sketch artists. I think you will enjoy balancing it on the tip of your nose during class like a trained seal."
"I think I'm in love," said Tsukino, taking the pencil and twirling it between her fingers.
"I reiterate. I am only interested in the opposite sex, although I am admittedly flattered. You are not unattractive."
"Did they build you in a factory?" Tsukino asked, leaning forward and peering closely at Sakata as if she might find a Made in Taiwan stamp concealed beneath the bangs of her fringe. "You're very lifelike."
"Tsukino-san," said Sakata, an earnest fire in her eyes. "Do I have your consent to add you to the Swim Club's mailing list? You may write your name down with your new pencil, which I have just gifted you."
Opportunities like this rarely arose for Tsukino in this school, where most people steered clear of her, and she wasn't about to squander it by telling Sakata-san something so trivial like how she couldn't actually swim.
"First, I have a condition."
This time Sakata took out the entire pack of Parrot King Pencils from her bag, evidently prepared, but Tsukino waved her off, throwing an arm over her shoulder and dragging her into step with her.
"How good would you say you are at climbing trees…?"
A shiver ran up the back of Aomine's spine as they walked through the hallway towards the gymnasium. What was that saying, that feeling as though someone had just walked over your grave? He tried to shake it off.
"Something wrong, Aomine-kun?" asked Satsuki.
Satsuki had insisted on going to watch the try-outs for the basketball team this year because she wanted to start her data collection packs for the newbies right away, to see who would rise through the ranks or alternatively need to be thinned from the herd. As usual, he had been dragged along against his will.
"Guess not," said Aomine, clasping both hands behind his neck, a puzzled look on his face.
As they entered through the gym's double doors, Aomine bumped shoulders with someone standing on the side and raised his hand in apology. He almost leapt out of his skin when he realised who it was.
"Aomine-Kun, Momoi-san," said Kuroko, nodding at them both.
"Tetsu, you're here to watch the try-outs as well," said Aomine, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. He didn't think he'd ever get used to the guy popping out of nowhere, although he was a little proud of himself for not screaming this time.
"It's good to see you, Kuroko-kun," said Momoi, smiling a little too brightly. "How was your spring?"
As they talked, Aomine saw that Satsuki was just as embarrassed as he was for not recognising the recent addition to the team. In their defence, the only person Aomine knew of that was immune to his lack of presence was…
Scanning the gymnasium, Aomine looked for the familiar shock of curly black hair that usually accompanied Kuroko, the earlier feeling of dread resurfacing.
"Kame-san is deathly afraid of the captain," said Kuroko, having sensed what was troubling him. "She won't show up here, so you're safe Aomine-kun."
Aomine's shoulders visibly relaxed and Momoi looked between the two boys curiously.
"Kame-san?" she asked, unfamiliar with the name.
"That girl in my class I was telling you about," Aomine said darkly. "Tsukino."
"Aomine-kun pushed her into the canal over spring," Kuroko dutifully explained.
"It was an accident!"
Momoi gasped. "Aomine-kun!"
"She kept trying to steal my crayfish and I must have used too much force," said Aomine, bristling under Satsuki's undeserved scrutiny. "How was I supposed to know she couldn't swim?"
"She couldn't swim!"
"I pulled her out the second I realised she wasn't faking."
Satsuki gave him the look, the look he knew well, the kind of look that said 'why am I friends with such a crayfish loving, boobs obsessed, basketball idiot, who has no appreciation for the delicate feelings of women'. Though he couldn't imagine words like 'delicate' or 'feelings' being applied to Tsukino, who had still managed to swear bloody vengeance on him amidst a violent coughing fit while he sprinted away, crayfish basket in hand so that he could set them free in a safe place, away from curly haired psychopaths.
"I saved her, didn't?"
Momoi scowled.
"Aomine-kun really has no appreciation for the delicate feelings of women. Sometimes I don't know why I put up with you. Crayfish loving, boobs obsessed, basketball idiot."
Aomine stared at her and then in a grave voice said, "Satsuki, I think I'm a mind-reader."
She went to smack his arm but he ran behind Kuroko, holding the shorter boy in front of him like an inept shield. This was where Murasakibara would have come in handy, although knowing him, he probably would have just grabbed Aomine by the collar and offered him up to Sachin in exchange for the chocolate bars he knew she kept in her bag for just such an occasion.
"Please calm down, Momoi-san," said Kuroko. "From what Kame-san told me, Aomine-kun acted reasonably."
"Kuroko-kun, not you too. Defending this idiot," said Momoi, trying to swing her bag at Aomine. Kuroko moved out of the way and it connected with Aomine's head, knocking him off balance.
"Satsuki!"
"Serves you right," said Momoi, hands on hips as Aomine knelt at her feet, gripping his sore head. "Instead of hiding from this girl, maybe you should apologise to her. A sincere apology from the heart goes a long way, you know."
"Fine," muttered Aomine, standing up. "I'll apologise to her when I see her in class. Happy?"
"Hmph."
At the end of try-outs, Momoi went over to the assistant coach leaving Kuroko and Aomine alone to head to their respective classes.
"I didn't want to say anything in front of Momoi-san," said Kuroko, as they walked through the hallway, "but a little drowning probably did Kame-san some good."
Aomine grinned. "Remind me never to get on your bad side, Tetsu."
"Saying that," said Kuroko. "It was nice knowing you, Aomine-kun."
Balancing her fancy new pencil on the tip of her nose like a trained seal, Tsukino paid little attention as the teacher went around the room asking everyone to stand up and say what they had done during their spring break, safe in the knowledge that Midorima's broad back would hide her antics from discovery.
"Uhhh... for my spring break I guess I spent most of my time playing basketball..." said a gravelly voice two rows across. Eyes moving slyly to the side, still balancing the pencil, she watched as Aomine stood and regaled the class with his holiday activities. "... and then I spent a week with the basketball team at a mountain resort training, and when I came back-" Here, Aomine made eye contact with Tsukino, gulping. "-I also went fishing by the canal."
"I hope there was some studying, also, Aomine-kun, amongst all the basketball," said Hasegawa-senpai, eyes narrowing suggestively behind his spectacles.
"Sure."
"You may sit down."
When it was Midorima's turn, he stood up quickly, knocking his chair back into her desk and causing the pencil to fall off her nose. Glaring angrily at the back of his head, Tsukino grabbed the pencil and stabbed him in the butt with the pointy end while he was speaking. To his credit, he barely tensed up, perhaps used to it by now.
"You did that on purpose," she hissed in his ear when he sat back down.
"I assure you I have no idea what you're babbling about," said Midorima, still facing front.
"Tsukino-kun," said Hasegawa-sensei. "Could you please stand up and inform the class about what you did over spring break?"
Their stocky slave driver of a teacher, Hasegawa-sensei, had hit seventy last year and celebrated by falling down a flight of steps and breaking his hip. Of course, the school tried to convince, or rather force the stubborn powerhouse to take the year off for recovery and while he was at it, maybe take a look at some of these retirement packages we have here for you, colour coded and ranked in order of price, but Hasegawa wouldn't hear of it. Apparently determined to take one more member of the Tsukino family all the way through to graduation, having taught both her father and her eldest brother, he had managed to go through his physical therapy in half the time and get back for her enrolment.
Tsukino had yet to figure out if this was a good thing.
Prodding Midorima one last time for good measure, she rose from her chair.
"During my spring, I visited my grandparents in Akita," she said, about to sit back down again when Hasegawa-sensei raised his hand.
"And what did you do in Akita?"
Unlike the other teachers, Hasegawa-sensei, undeterred by her spotty record, always insisted on her full participation, which meant he would keep dragging her into the spotlight against her will.
"Hung out," Tsukino said dully, and tried to sit down again.
"Doing what?"
"Stuff."
"What stuff?"
"You know, stuff."
"Elaborate on stuff, please."
Frustrated, Tsukino blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "We baked cupcakes!"
There was silence.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Aomine bury his face into his arms, his shoulders shaking, and she twitched, lowering herself slowly into her seat. Good thing she didn't mention the crocheting.
"Thank you, Tsukino-san. Perhaps you might think about providing cakes for the school's annual bake sale," said Hasegawa.
Unlikely, Tsukino inwardly scoffed, grabbing her pencil and stabbing Midorima in the shoulder, just in case he was thinking of deriving any amusement from the revelation.
There was a sound of a chair scraping back behind her and Tsukino cocked her head round to see the girl from the Swim Club standing behind her desk.
"Good Day. My name is Sakata Riyeko."
"Ah, Sakata-kun, these aren't introductions," said Hasegawa-sensei.
"I'm just being thorough. Tsukino-san was not aware of my existence up until this morning."
Tsukino grinned up at her new best friend. "Sakata Riyeko, right."
"That means nothing. I just said my name."
"If you hadn't said it, I would have remembered."
"Perhaps I should write my name on my forehead in permanent ink."
"That's not a bad idea."
Hasegawa-sensei interrupted before the discussion could get into full swing. "Your spring, Sakata-kun, please."
The next whole minute, down to the second, was spent listening to a detailed account of Sakata's spring activities. Apparently, she visited the states with her family where she rode horses, took a tour of Universal Studios and had a brief, possibly romantic encounter with a weird Japanese boy who on their first meeting stuffed his face full of cheeseburgers to avoid having to speak.
"Sounds like true love," said Tsukino, eyes wide.
"Please don't be jealous, Tsukino-san," said Sakata. "As I have said before, while I am flattered by your interest in me, I cannot return your feelings. Perhaps if you had a sex change, I might consider it."
"It's decided. I'll start saving up right away."
"You may sit down, Sakata-kun," said Hasegawa-sensei, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Thank you," said Sakata, bowing and taking her seat. There she took a piece of paper, wrote down her name in thick black ink and folded it into a stand at the top of her desk. "For your benefit, Tsukino-san."
When the last of the students finished talking about their breaks, Hasegawa opened up the class representative elections. Of course, Tsukino never put her name forward for these things, begrudging school spirit like the aunty who smells like cheap wine and kisses you on the mouth with her bright red lipstick. However, she was surprised that her new best friend didn't nominate herself, having pegged her as the type. All Sakata-san needed was a pair of glasses and a tsundere complex.
Tsukino looked at Midorima, the cogs in her head turning, before poking him with her favourite pencil.
"What?"
She decided to test her theory. "You should run for class representative."
"Do not make suggestions like we're friends, Tsukino," Midorima said without turning round.
"I guess it's better if someone weak-minded and easy to push around becomes class rep," said Tsukino, eyes glinting madly as she stared at Midorima's back. "That way I can do what I want for a whole other year." She punctuated the point by stabbing him with her pencil.
A moment later, he had stood up and nominated himself for the position.
"I did it because you can't be allowed to roam free," Midorima told her. "The class requires a firm hand and if that is what is required of me, so be it."
"Tsundere."
"What did you say?"
"You heard what I said you tsundere."
When the bell rang for lunch, Midorima went to the front of the class with his fellow female representative perhaps to discuss disciplinary methods for the wayward and unruly, while Sakata Riyeko excused herself to go run an errand, leaving Tsukino alone in the middle of the classroom, attempting to re-balance the pencil.
Normally Tsukino would take lunch in the cafeteria with Kuroko, but she was still annoyed with him for dragging her all the way to the quad only to ditch her. When she saw him next, she intended to parade her new best friend (Tsukino glanced at the piece of paper) Sakata Riyeko around like a prize-winning Shi Tzu and inform him that he had been demoted to the classless rank of a bad acquaintance that stuck. As she contemplated this rather childish and likely ineffective form of revenge, someone pulled up a seat next to her desk and whipped the pencil off her nose.
She glared at Aomine.
"Peace offering?" said Aomine, laying his bento on her desk.
Tsukino eyed the bento hungrily. That is until he lifted the lid off. They stared at it in stunned silence.
"A friend made it," he said darkly, replacing the lid, not to open it again until it was held upside down over the garbage disposal at home.
"First you drown me, now you're trying to poison me," said Tsukino. "I'm starting to think you don't like me, Aomine-kun."
"Yeah, about the canal," said Aomine, reminding himself of the sincere apology he was meant to be giving, otherwise Satsuki might hunt him down and beat him with his own shoe. "I'm sorry, okay. It was an accident. I sincerely apologise."
"You took your sweet time rescuing me. Did you have a moment of moral crisis?" asked Tsukino, eyes narrowing suspiciously as she leaned forward and invaded his personal space. "If I let her die… who would even know? That sort of thing."
"I thought you were faking."
"Why would anyone fake something like that?"
Aomine gave her a look. "You faked a heart attack to get out of gym last year."
"It was either that or cramps."
"What thirteen year old doesn't know how to swim, anyway?"
"The kind whose father died in a horrific boating accident you insensitive bastard," Tsukino cried out, burying her face in her hands.
Aomine's mouth fell open in shock, then he remembered that he had met Tsukino's father last year when he had come to see the principal for a disciplinary action meeting.
"Just accept the apology, idiot!" he yelled, drawing awkward stares from his classmates.
"I'll accept your apology if you bring me the head of one of your pet crayfish," said Tsukino, grinning at him. "Oooooh, or maybe a necklace made of cicadas. I'll also accept a pair of your Jordans. Full disclosure; I plan on burning them in front of you."
Getting up from his seat, resisting the urge to kick his chair back like a petulant child, Aomine snatched his bag up and stalked out of the classroom. Screw apologising. Satsuki had no idea what she was talking about and if she asked, Aomine would just lie and pray that all that crap she spouted about women's intuition was a load of rubbish.
Going over to his locker so that he could dump the bento before heading to the cafeteria, he entered the combination into his padlock and unhooked it. Distracted after his encounter with Tsukino, he didn't hear the buzzing until it was too late.
"I said a bee," said Tsukino, unable to tear her eyes away. "Put a bee in his locker. As in singular."
From behind the protective shielding of the window, Tsukino stared wide-eyed at the pandemonium currently unfurling in the hallway outside of Aomine's locker. Students screamed as they scrambled frantically to find an exit, some escaping into classrooms, other, less unfortunate beings, curling into balls to expose as little skin as possible.
Next to her, Sakata Riyeko crossed her arms over her chest. "Yes. That does make more sense."
After much searching, Tsukino discovered Aomine cowering in a maintenance closet, arms wrapped around his head as he muttered prayers to himself in the darkness. When she opened the door, he let out a small yelp, flying backwards into the shelves.
"Did you think bees could open doors, now?" asked Tsukino. "This isn't a cartoon, moron."
But the insult fell flat. Despite her prank's unexpectedly epic success, seeing Aomine in this state was not as satisfying as she thought it would be. Perhaps because she knew it was one of those 'too far' moments. Kuroko had warned her about her 'too far' moments, and how their excess robbed her of any sense of accomplishment. Also how they would inevitably land her in jail one day.
"Are they gone?" Aomine asked, starting to gain a semblance of composure as he took his hands away from his head and peered behind her into the empty hallway.
"Yeah. Did you know we had a beekeeping society?" said Tsukino, holding out her hand to help him up. But he just stared at it, perhaps still traumatised. "They rolled up to the scene like ghostbusters in those weird outfits of theirs. Surprisingly very cool. Uh... it should be safe now."
There was a awkward silence.
"Hey, Tsukino, tell me something," said Aomine, voice chillingly low. "Were you responsible for the beehive in my locker?"
Her hand curled back and she dropped it to her side. "If I say yes, are you going to beat the crap out of me?"
"Ahh, that depends," said Aomine, standing unaided and cracking his neck. The scared Aomine that she had walked in on only moments ago seemed never to have existed, now in his place stood a monster whose aura was dyed black with the threat of things to come. Tsukino edged backwards. "How fast can you run?"
For a tortoise, surprisingly fast.
Author's Note:
So I wrote this fic a long, long time ago, maybe over a year ago, but it just ended up kicking around my laptop this whole time. Recently, I got back into KNB and I looked back at it and realised it had a bit of potential so I reworked it, properly developing Tsukino's character. I think at the beginning, I was just writing it for fun because I was in love with Aomine, but now with distance there might actually be a plot here and proper character development!
The amount of brothers Tsukino has is based on Murasakibara actually, since I read he has four siblings and I thought, damn that's enough for a basketball team. For me I based her name on the whole phonetics thing of Tuxedo Kamen/Tsukino Usagi, being a massive fan of Sailor Moon, but it managed to spout out this bizarre backstory. The captain of the boy's basketball team at the moment is still Nijimura, as he has yet to pass on the baton. Err... what else, Midorima is my favourite character and I am very, very happy that he's in the same class as Aomine.
The fic will eventually reach high school and angsty Aomine, but hopefully keep with the tone of humour throughout, although I can't deny there will be occasional moments of 'REAL LIFE' slipping in. The major reason for starting this fic up again was humour, it's one of the hardest genres and I wanted to get all the practise and feedback on it as I could. There's quite a bit of exposition at the beginning of the chapter, talking about her family, and I'm not a hundred percent sure on it working, although they are integral in their own way.
Also, does anyone know more about Aomine's crayfish thing? I think I read somewhere that he used to think they grew up to be lobsters, but I don't know if that was from something canon or a fanfiction. I really hope its true because that's amazing.
Again thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I am available by PM if anyone wants to discuss anything and look forward to feedback :) Updates may be slow because I am generally quite rubbish, so apologies in advance for that.