"Maybe," said Kagami, after the third night of hard-boiled eggs, charred meat, and Kise munching on grass with every sign of enjoyment. "We should swap cooking duties."
"Tetsu doesn't like Fire Nation food," said Aomine, immediately. "And when you say cooking, do you mean firebending our food? Because we're already doing that."
"No, that's just you," said Kuroko, brushing charcoal crumbs off his fingers. No one knew where Kuroko was getting all these eggs from to hard-boil, but no one protested.
"Chucking meat onto the fire is not cooking," said Kagami. Aomine begged to differ.
"You always insist on too much spice, and then you can't handle it," said Momoi.
"No I don't," said Aomine. "I just don't like the taste. Tetsu doesn't like it either, it's not bland enough for him. And Kise doesn't cook, he chucks a few leaves and sticks in a bowl and calls it dinner."
"I can't do anything about spices now," said Kagami. "I'll try."
"I bet we won't like it," said Aomine. "Can't we-"
"I could cook," said Momoi, meaningfully resting her hand on her fans.
"Kagami good luck with dinner spirits rest your soul," said Aomine.
.0.
"Where's the meat?" demanded Aomine.
"Here," said Kagami.
"Is that- how many dishes did you make?" said Kise.
"We've got the buns from the village we passed today," said Kagami. "Er- the leftovers from lunch, I refried them with the eggs we had, and we had some soymilk so I mixed it up into a sort of custard and then Aomine was chucking it around in the ice all day, so-"
"We have ice cream," said Kise, eyes wide. "Kagamichi, you're amazing, we have ICE CREAM."
"Well, popsicles," said Kagami, and slanted them all an embarrassed, hesitant look. "For if the food really is too hot."
"I love this," said Momoi, sighing rapturously over her bowl.
"I helped," said Aomine, between stuffing his mouth. She reached out and patted him on the arm.
"Kagamin this is delicious," said Momoi.
Kagami looked hesitantly pleased, but said, "Well, it doesn't really compare to what some people can do, and the presentation-"
"You're not cooking for court," said Kise, smiling at his bowl for some reason. "This is very good especially considering you don't have a kitchen."
Aomine licked some sauce off his fingers, felt very smug that it had been him who dragged Kagami back home just in time for them to go off and have him feed them on the way, and said "What are you going to make tomorrow?"
.0.
"If you were a better Avatar," said Aomine to Kise after they'd arrived in a place large enough to have a port, "You would have had a spirit guide who could fly."
"Hey," said Kise.
"A spirit guide who could fly and carry us," said Aomine. Roughly five minutes into their Epic Journey it had become obvious that Aomine was going to be the problem, not so much because he set out to be any kind of problem, as much as that Aomine was always the problem.
They'd tried to deal with it. Kagami and Kise had worked overtime sparring with Aomine, while Kuroko alternatively backed them up when Kagami had to cook or bored Aomine stupid by discussing with Kise the flora, fauna and geography of the lands they were travelling through. Momoi and Aomine seemed to have an embargo on fighting each other ever, mostly because Momoi went straight for the chi-blocking and left Kagami or Kise flopping around yelping and waiting out the numbness, and Aomine would spend the entire time whining so loudly that people down the road asked them what had happened to the small child obviously travelling with them.
Kuroko did not grow onto Kagami as a fighter. Momoi was light and fast, with something of Aomine's ferocity in the single-mindedness of her attack, and Aomine and Kise remained Aomine and Kise, insurmountable. But Kuroko...
"We're here now," said Momoi. "We should see what the prices are like for passage to Republic City, and then we can be properly on our way- we're not going to get much further on foot, obviously." Not without killing each other, her tone implied.
Kise shrugged back his shoulders and said, "I'll go with you. We should see if we can get the Avatar discount." He twinkled at them on the words, 'Avatar discount'. Aomine punched him in the shoulder. Kuroko and Kagami just walked on.
"Aomine-kun," said Kuroko. "Momoi-san wanted us to get some supplies."
Momoi nodded. "Check out the prices first," she said. "I don't know how much the passage is going to cost. We'll decide when we meet back here in an hour or so. Kagamin? Who do you want to go with?"
"I've got some business I could take care of," said Kagami. "I'll see you in an hour."
.0.
Kise dragged a spitting Momoi out of the office over his shoulder. "THANK YOU WE'LL CONSIDER THAT SEE YOU AGAIN SIR," he called, kicking the door shut with his foot.
"The NERVE of him," said Momoi. "Saying you were lying about being the Avatar! Overcharging us like that! Staring at my chest!"
Kise refrained from saying that all these things were probably going to be common occurrences from now on, not least because Momoi had shed layers on their journey north, as the weather was turned warmer. He said, "Ma, ma, Momochi. We'll go ask someone else, okay? I'm sure that lots of people are going to be getting to Republic City. We can get a better price for sure!"
.0.
"Well?" said Aomine, squinting at a newspaper he had found on the ground, sounding out words slowly as Kuroko corrected him and looked, as far as Kuroko ever expressed any emotions, anxious. They'd gone back to their starting point and were now waiting for Kagami.
"We didn't get a better price," said Kise, watching Momoi stare off into the distance and mutter numbers to herself. "Or- we did, but not much better. They must be jacking up the prices because the sanctions and entry requirements. Factor in documents and the time of year-"
"The prices in port are also... expensive," said Kuroko, a slight furrow in his brow. "I knew there would be a difference, but I had not anticipated this much of one."
"We don't have enough," said Momoi, sadly, and Aomine looked up and watched her pace, looking at her small hands resting on the fans on her belt. "Even if we sell whatever we have left..."
"We can make more," he said. It couldn't be hard, right? Between them they'd be sure to make enough. He'd do it for sure.
Kagami arrived at this moment, fighting his way through the crowd. He looked at their sad faces and said, "What happened?"
"We're temporarily embarrassed," said Kise. "I... I'm sorry, guys. I didn't know it would be so expensive for people- for normal people-" he stopped.
"We don't have enough," said Momoi, turning sad eyes onto Kagami.
Kagami sucked at his teeth, and then took a bag from his bag, and said, "How about this?"
"We can't sell your-" said Momoi automatically, then actually opened it and gasped. Kuroko's eyebrows shot up his forehead.
"Where the hell did you get all that money?" demanded Aomine. He'd never seen that much money at one time in his life before. He'd never touched a coin this big, this heavy, its shine unmistakable.
In answer, Kagami fished out the chain on his neck, and showed them his pendant, as if that was supposed to mean anything. They'd seen it a few times before, but never paid that much attention to it, because it seemed to embarrass him.
Kise took one look at it, and creased up laughing, bent over, using his staff to prop himself up, choking and wheezing.
"I...forgot," said Kagami lamely to this response, while Momoi and Aomine looked at Kise like he was crazy and Kuroko leaned closer to examine it, the golden three-tongued flame symbol of the Fire Nation, on a background of scarlet, and bordered in black. "Look, it's not like it's been even remotely relevant to my life for a while now. Platypus-bears would eat me whether or not I was-"
"Of the Fire Nation nobility," completed Kuroko. "That is the seal of your family, no? I've seen similar designs in books."
"Nobility?" managed Kise, heaving in deep breaths. "Not bad, Kurokochi, but Kagamichi isn't just nobility. A member of the Fire Nation Royal family has been cooking our meals and warming us up at night. Kagamichi is a prince."
Kagami scowled, and Aomine and Momoi sputtered and pointed and gasped. People were beginning to stare, but Kuroko prudently wrapped up the money again before temptation struck.
"I'd had you pegged as a Fire Nation rich boy," said Kise, smiling in that sly way of his, "But I can't imagine why I didn't twig to this. It's not like I didn't know the other prince was named Kagami. I suppose it's because you're not much like your brother."
Kagami glared at them all. "Look, shut up about it," he said. "It's not like it matters, anyway. I mean, Kise is the Avatar, and no one here gives a shit."
"Hey," said Kise.
"True," said Kuroko, yet stared thoughtfully at the seal which Kagami tucked back into his shirt. "Still, we can't take your money."
Kagami shrugged, relieved to change the subject. "Look, you guys were feeding me back on the island," he said. "Besides, if the alternative is to sit around in a money-sponge port like this while we try to raise the money on our own, we're going to be here forever."
"If you're a prince," said Aomine, frowning at Kagami, "Then what were you doing, wandering around loose like a crazy person? Shouldn't they be keeping a tighter leash on you?"
Kagami made a face. "I write home regularly," he said. "I've got an allowance anyway, and I use it to feed myself and keep moving. They don't get too worried about me, I can take care of myself. It built up."
"Oh," said Aomine. "They've got another one, and so they don't care what you do?"
Momoi jabbed him in the side, and Kagami rolled his eyes. "Whatever. The point is, we can go to Republic City now, and we don't have to sell anything or listen to Aomine and Kise whinge about hurting their lily-soft bending hands with labour until then."
"I should have realised you talk like a rich boy," said Momoi, thoughtfully. "And you do make some beautifully persuasive points." Her hands tapped on the deadly fans tucked into her sash, gifts from the time Dai-chan had fought and killed a polarbear-dog, rare in their waters, and sold the remains. Any treasures that they had left, she did not want to sell. But still- to take from Kagamin...
"He does," agreed Kuroko, and cut his eyes meaningfully to Aomine and Kise, good at bending and absolutely nothing else. They stared back as though beetle-cow butter wouldn't melt in their mouths. "Once we're more settled we can think about paying him back."
"I don't care," said Kagami. "Well, I mean, this pretty much cleans me out, but I don't need much to keep going. We're all going together. I don't need to be paid back."
"Blah blah blah," said Aomine, "The point is, Republic City, here we come, right?"
"Right," said Kagami.