Tetsuya didn't know what to expect when his twin dragged him out the next day to go shopping with her team. He just knew he wasn't expecting to be asked about what looked good on Annie.
"Do you think this outfit looks good on me, Tetsuya?" She asked, twirling around. "I think it shows off my…" She jut out a hip. "Figure well~"
"I suppose it does." Tetsuya gave a small nod. "Momoi-san owns a similar outfit, I think."
Annie froze. "I see…I doubt she has a figure as great as mine." She ran her hands down the curves of her body.
Tetsuya shrugged. "I really haven't paid any attention to either of your bodies."
It wasn't a lie. He had no reason to be looking at their bodies, so why would he? Satsuki was just his friend and he barely knew Annie at this point. Besides, she reminded him of Ryouta (a nicer Ryouta, but still). He didn't need more Ryouta in his life.
"Oh, you're such a tease, Tetsuya!" Annie gave a pout. Okay, so her pout was cuter that Ryouta's, if only because he didn't know if she was hiding an inner-asshole like the blond he knew. "Mavis! What do you think."
Mavis shrugged, obviously having no real opinion on the matter. Tetsuya didn't even understand asking her, she was wearing sweats and a baggy t-shirt, so it was likely she knew nothing of fashion.
"Mavis…" Annie tapped her foot against the ground. "Give an answer…"
"...I'm hungry…" Was all the freckled girl mumbled in reply.
"You and your stress-eating…" Annie sighed. "Oh well, I'll just get the outfit anyway, I look cute in it, so why not?"
"That's what you needed to decide." Tetsuya gave her a small smile. "Buy things you like, not what others like."
He didn't seem to notice the blush that spread to Annie's face as she nodded. "A-Ah, yeah…!"
He gave a small smile before turning to Mavis. "You're hungry, huh?"
She gave a nod. "Let's go get food."
"Wait until I buy the clothes, Mavis!" Annie said with a sigh and roll of her eyes. "Besides, the others are meeting us here."
"Okay." Mavis let out a sigh and sat back. She'd just have to wait for her food. If Tetsuya had a candy bar or something, he'd offer it...But he didn't.
"Hang in there, Ackerman-san. It shouldn't be too long now." He offered her a small smile and she gave a weak one back.
She didn't seem to really care about anything but getting food in that moment. Tetsuya had to be glad he'd dealt with that in middle school before… Otherwise it'd peeve him a lot more.
"Tetsuya!" Tetsumi's voice came and he sighed in relief. The silence that had hit when Annie went to check out and Mavis fell silent was about to end.
"There you are." Tetsuya gave her a small smile. "Are we going to move on now?"
"Sure, you can choose where next." Tetsumi gave him a small smile. "The least we can let you do after you saw all of this."
"Yes…" Tetsuya looked over at Mavis for a moment. "Let's go somewhere to eat. Do you have a Maji Burger here?"
"Maji...what?" Sasha furrowed her brows. "What's that?"
"A burger joint in Japan…" Tetsuya forgot they wouldn't have that in America. "How about a McDonald's?" America had those, right?
"Oh... " Tetsumi blinked before giving her brother a smile. "Why not? Let's go."
Tetsuya was kind of glad he ended up sitting near Mavis and Levy. They were both being quiet and letting him enjoy his vanilla shake in peace. It was better than his twin doting on him or Annie's constant chattering, at least.
Not that he could say he exactly hated the girls, though. They were an odd bunch, but so were his friends. He'd be kind of...hypocritical if he said he didn't at least tolerate them.
"So…" Levy finally broke the silence and Tetsuya looked up. "Have to ever gotten a tarot card reading…?"
"Oh, no." Tetsuya replied with a shrug. "Have you before?"
"Yes and...and I do it myself sometimes." Levy replied with a small nod. "W-would you...want one?"
"Maybe some other time, when we're less busy." Tetsuya gave her a small smile. "I wouldn't turn down a new experience."
Besides it'd help him separate the girl from Shintarou some. The green haired boy never did tarot cards, at least… Well, Levy didn't carry around her lucky item of the day, so he guessed it was even enough.
"Alright…" Levy gave a nod and looked down. Hopefully Tetsuya hadn't made things too awkward…
"Heyyyy!" Annie called from halfway across the table, making Tetsuya turn his attention to her. "Tetsuya, I have a question."
"Please don't yell, Heart-san." He replied with a small sigh. "What is it that you need?"
"What's this Momoi girl like, anyway?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. "You mentioned her a bunch, so I'm curious now!"
"Oh hey!" Sasha turned to look at Tetsuya. "I had a question about-"
"Wait your turn, Sasha!" Annie replied with a sigh. "Mavis wouldn't cut me off like that."
"Yeah, well Mavis is quiet." Sasha replied.
"She wouldn't argue either~!" Annie sang out.
"Mavis doesn't argue-"
"Now now, let Annie get an answer." Tetsumi said, her tone slightly chiding. "You can ask after that, Sasha… Unless it's too late."
"What if it is too late?" Sasha asked, a pout on her face.
"Simple." Tetsumi gave a small smile. "You ask Tetsuya tomorrow. We're going shopping again, anyway!"
Sasha thought for a moment before sighing. "Fiiine! I'll wait to ask him of it comes to that. But I get dibs on him first thing tomorrow!"
"Sasha!" Annie whined out. "I can't believe you-"
"Not like that!" Sasha rolled her eyes. "Now listen to Tetsuya so I have a chance to ask a question."
"What about?" Annie asked. "If Japan is like the animes?"
"Maybe…"
"Oh…" Tetsuya's face scrunched up a bit. "Otaku…?"
"You know it!" Sasha gave a proud smile.
"That's...not a good thing in Japan…" Tetsuya replied. "Please do some research, alright? Call yourself an anime fan instead." He gave her a small smile.
It wasn't actually that bad a word, not anymore, but he was still going to try and keep her from using it. He had a feeling she didn't really know everything behind the word. She should at least know all the negative history it originally had before it became more positive… Or know more Japanese first, he had a feeling she didn't know that much.
"Ah...okay…" Sasha's brow furrowed. "I didn't know otaku wasn't a good term…"
"Anyway!" Annie jumped up and just about knocked Nico over. "Tetsuya, can you-"
"Wait…" Mavis stood and walked over to the redhead. "Are you okay?"
"Fine, Mavis. Just a bit peeved…" Nico sent Annie a glare. "Someone should really respect their vice-captain more."
"At least you're not Yosen's captain from the last Winter Cup. Poor Okamura-san was always called a gorilla…" Tetsuya let out a small sigh. The things he'd heard from Atsushi were odd sometimes...
"Really?" Nico scoffed. "I'd never stand for that."
"Well you aren't a 'giant teddy bear in a human body' as Murasakibara-kun would put it, so that's fair." Tetsuya shrugged a little.
"Well whatever!" Annie sighed. "We're not talking about this Yosen guy-"
"That's actually the name of his school…"
"We're talking about this Momoi girl! How useful was she as a manager?" Annie finished, ignoring what Tetsuya said.
"Well, Momoi-san was a good friend to us all…" Tetsuya sighed, eyes cluding a bit in memory. "She's very smart and analytical. She helped give Teikou and edge and helps Touou now…"
"How does she give them an edge?" Sasha asked, a glint in her eye.
"Oh, she gets data on the other teams and their players…" Tetsuya looked at all the girls. "She's a force to be reckoned with for any basketball player. If she can gather data on you… She can guess your growth and defeat you...usually."
With that, Tetsuya went back to his vanilla shake.
"U-usually?" Levy asked. "What do you mean usually?"
Tetsuya shrugged. "I was an anomaly with my play type. Himuro Tatsuya-kun from Yosen was too, since he'd moved back from America halfway through the year."
"Oh! Would we know him?" Annie asked, tilting her head to the side.
"No, he lived in…" Tetsuya let out a small yawn, it was getting late. "Los Angeles…"
"I think that's enough chatting for the day." Tetsumi stood and made her way to her twin. "Come on, Tetsuya, let's get you to bed."
Tetsuya let out a small yawn and nodded. "Alright...See the rest of you tomorrow." He gave them a small bow. "It was a pleasure getting to know you all some more."
"Sure! Just remember you have more to hear from me tomorrow!" Sasha replied with a grin "I still have a question for you, you know?"
"Ah of course…" Tetsuya gave a small nod. "I'll be ready to answer it tomorrow, then."