Aida Riko was a softer touch than she seemed, or Nigou really was pulling his weight in their group. They got the attic.
Kiyoshi beamed at them as they spread out over the space to examine it. Riko had not exaggerated its charms, but beggars, as Kuroko had penetratingly observed, could not be choosers. Aomine and Kuroko had gone back to the island to pick up their bags, mostly because Kuroko wanted another look at the flying bison calves, and he obviously thought Aomine was his best ally in this matter. Kagami did not see why; Kise was the airbender, and surely he was past the age when most airbenders were deemed responsible enough for a bison of their own. Kise was going to fly back over once he'd seen enough of the attic, and help them.
"I like this," said Momoi. She walked over to the large glass windows, looking out over the bay, looking out onto Air Temple Island, and smiled at their reflections in the window. Well, what of it she could see. They were dirty, and stuck when she tried to open it. Kagami walked over and helped her, and a wash of salt-scented air entered the attic. "Yes," she said. "I think we can make this work."
"I'll show you guys a bit of what you need to learn for pro-bending if you want," offered Kiyoshi. "Hyuuga, too! He's a ref, he should know what works in the ring."
Kise looked up at him surprised. "You're a pro-bender?" he said. Somehow, it was clear that in the Avatar's worldview, benders did not become terrible janitors.
"I used to," said Kiyoshi. "I'm an earthbender. In fact, I'm named after a famous earthbender. The Avatar Kiyoshi! You know her?"
"Um," said her reincarnation. "Yes?"
"I was born on Kiyoshi Island," said Momoi, rescuing him. "We used to live there."
"Ooo," said Kiyoshi. "You've come a long way."
Hyuuga had followed them up to the attic, watching closely as Kiyoshi slowly navigated the ladder and now he sighed and said, "Well, you're stuck here. Don't get into trouble, don't involve us in trouble, and in general do not cause trouble, or we will end you slowly. We'll see about reserving your slot, but you really do have to come up with the money."
Kagami had been staring at the earthbender, and now he cleared his throat. "Are you Kiyoshi, as in Kiyoshi Teppei, Iron Heart, one of the best earthbenders in the world?" said Kagami. "I thought you lived in Ba Sing Se."
Kiyoshi blinked at him exactly once, and then said, "But I don't. I live here in Republic City."
'That's- clear," said Kagami. "That's very clear."
Kiyoshi grinned at him. "Of course it is!" he said. "You're a firebender, but you don't live in the Fire Nation!"
Hyuuga smacked Kiyoshi on the back of the head. "That's enough out of you," he said. "What's with this volunteering me for training? We don't have time to babysit rookies who might not even make a team."
"Hey," said Kise, pausing on his way out of the window.
"Welcome to Republic City," said Kiyoshi, smiling as his head vanished down the stairwell.
.0.
Kise fell out of the air almost at their feet, dodging as he came the flying bison still locking horns in the air.
"You're still not allowed to have one," he said to Kuroko. "Kagamichi is mean." A calf floated over to him, attracted by the bright yellow of the robe draped over Kise's shoulder. It headbutted Kise, who ran his hand over it's soft head before blowing it back to the herd.
Kuroko sighed, but passed Kise a pack. They filed onto the ferry and divided their gazes between the golden glow of the Arena and the heaving shadows of Air Temple Island, the lights sharp and bright in the temple.
Kise looked back at the island. There was an edge of abstraction to his gaze. Other airbenders floated at the heads of their beasts and soothed them, bedding them down for the night. Third Caravan should have been well on their way to the Fire Nation by now, or docked at the Western Air Temple. What business had been so urgent that Takeuchi had been called straight to the Council meeting and not let out even by dinner time? Kise knew from experience that the United Republic Council didn't like to do all-nighters. And he hadn't known that the Aida family was branching out into the pro-bending business. Useful stuff. He'd have to remember to mention it to Representative Kagetora.
Aomine shrugged out his shoulders and sighed. Satsuki was probably already planning on decorating the attic. She liked pretty things. They didn't have much space, but that was all right because they didn't have many things. Aomine looked at the splash of the waves on the ferry, then out over the water. He eyed the docks- ships came and went from there didn't they? He could find work there, easy. It was always easy for a waterbender to find work anywhere there was water. Waterbender like him, even easier. He should look up that guy, too, that Mako.
Kuroko looked up at the oval of white moon-face, shining down from the sky. It was fatter now than it had been since they set out, and the stars, to his eye, were different. The moon was turning her face to Republic City.
.0.
After pooling their money, they discovered that they did in fact have enough for the pot, but only if they no longer had to worry about things such as food, lodging or essentials. The Avatar was of no help at all when it came to these things. Like any airbender, he was typically unconcerned about such things. Food was food. They could in fact have gotten fed every day at Air Temple Island, but this was not a state of affairs that was likely to last them any length of time at all. Kagami and Aomine ate like starving moose-lions, and even if Kuroko and Kise looked like they ate like birds, they still...consumed matter.
So they went hunting for work. Kagami almost immediately picked up some shifts at the power station, generating electricity with lightning bending. He could pick up a shift here and there, and Republic City always needed more power. Kuroko had spoken to Hyuuga, and through him contacted the Arena's announcer, and through him, managed to get a job working at Republic City Times, one of the smaller newspapers, doing something he refused to elaborate on. Though it was likely to be steady money, it wasn't ready money. They needed the cash on hand.
The Avatar's business was... being the Avatar. The United Republic City council was in session, and Kise disappeared into it, reappearing at the end of everyday slightly less perfect than the day before, and ready for practice. He did, however, manage to scourge favours to make the attic more comfortable, getting them furniture and cast-offs. Momoi quite quickly found a night waitressing job, and made predictably plentiful tips. Living day-to-day wasn't going to be comfortable, but they were going to make it in time to qualify for this year's tournaments. Kagami didn't want to admit it, but if he was going to do this thing- and Aomine certainly meant to do it- they really were probably going to be better at it than anyone. Kagami had his pride, after all. As long as they won, everything would be alright. Somehow.
They had practice.
.0.
"This is fucking ridiculous," said Kagami, after Riko squirted him with the hose for the fifth time.
"What part of 'one-second burst' do you not understand?" she said. "Honestly, if you guys are going to be this bad, you should just save your money and drop out."
Kise made sheep's eyes at her. "Thank you so much for taking the time to coach us," he said. "We really appreciate your help."
"I'm not coaching you," she said. Nigou wriggled and panted on her feet. "I needed a break from work down the hall and I came to point and laugh. Honestly, you guys are probably good benders-" her eyes flicked up their bodies, and she mentally corrected herself; great benders. Kise was the Avatar, and Kagami and Aomine- she'd never seen a waterbender like Aomine, ever. Something about Kagami's bending pricked her in her brain, though the thought always faded before Riko could catch it. "-but you are going to be absolute shit at pro-bending. It's a sport, you know. There are rules and points and everything." She dropped the hose on the floor. "That's the difference between pro-bending," she said. "And fighting."
Kiyoshi sent another couple of discs into the net. Kise mirrored him exactly, pop-pop. He had the timing of it now, he thought. Kiyoshi was patiently going over the basics, and Kise was enjoying this kind of earthbending, less mountains, more missiles. He didn't like the uniforms, though. Kise preferred being free and mobile. The practice uniforms had so much padding that it was hard to move as much as he might like to. Kagamichi and Aominechi were adjusting better. What they were having problems with was-
"NO ICE," roared Hyuuga at Aomine. "NO STEAM, NO FOG, NO BLASTS, NO ICE. WHAT PART OF THIS IS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND?"
-everything else.
"I have to take this?" said Aomine, grimly pulling water from his ears.
"You take it now or you take it in the ring," said Kuroko severely. He had obtained a copy of the rulebook, and as an extra precaution to keep from losing all their money, was following all three of them around reading the rules to them over and over again. Whenever Kuroko had to go to work, Momoi did it instead. Hyuuga had ended up coming to shout at them more often than not, and it was badly needed. Aomine hadn't known pro-bending would need so many rules. "Do you know that you can lose a match based entirely on fouls? Do you know how many fouls you've committed?"
"Too many," said Riko. "You're nice boys. Really you are. But I don't see how you're going to do this."
Kagami spat blood. That last medicine ball to the head- spirits, this woman was merciless. Unless that had been Kuroko. It was two in the morning. Or maybe three. Kagami was no longer quite certain of the concept of time. "We are going to do this," he said, a little unsteadily. Ten thousand yuan down the hole. "We are."
"Right," said Aomine, grimly.
"That's the spirit, Aominechi," said Kise. Kiyoshi bent another couple of discs at him, and Kise backflipped, pushing himself back up with a blast of air.
"NO AIRBENDING DURING A MATCH," yelled Hyuuga. Refereeing these idiots was going to be a nightmare.
.0.
Aomine asked for Mako while wandering around Dragonflats and got weird looks- expected- and pretty good directions, which was less so. 'That weird-looking building with the really ugly thugs out front', however, was pretty unmistakable. They were pretty much really ugly thugs.
They pulled a gush of water out from the handy barrel they had standing by, and then aimed it at him in deadly shards. Aomine... countered. His hands took control of the ice before it reached his face, and the bits melted and flowed around his hands in one long torrent, slamming them into the wall. People on the streets muttered and cleared away, but no one screamed. Instead, they moved quickly and quietly. They did not expect the police to care much about this place and what went on here.
In retrospect, when everyone was shouting at him later, this should have been Aomine's first clue.
When he tried the door and found that it was locked, his patience gave way and he just blasted open the door.
The door had not in fact been locked, but it had been fastened. Aomine had to give the guys outside their props; they stood up and rushed wildly for his back. He seized by the back of their clothes and cracked their heads together. Aomine walked into the gym, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dim light. It was full of waterbenders, rough-looking men sparring or drilling next to barrels of water. Aomine could see that these were, at least, a cut above the street benders, the sorry lot that Aomine had found lining up for work by the docks. He chucked the small fry away from him.
"Heard I could find someone named Mako here?" Aomine called.
The waterbender standing by the barrels watching the rest of them go at it looked up. "I'm Mako," he said. "Who are you?" No one else so much as looked up, even as the guys Aomine had thrown against the wall made bubbling noises. Disciplined. Aomine appreciated that.
Aomine shrugged. "Got told I could come here for benders actually worth their weight. Koala-sloth's water dude." He slanted a look across the gym. "Gotta say, thought he was wasting my time."
Mako cast an amused look at the unlucky bouncers. "There's a reason they were out there instead of in here. You want to train here?"
"Apparently there's no fucking other place," said Aomine.
"That's true," said Mako placidly. "We do turn out some of the best waterbenders in the city."
Aomine snorted. "I don't give a shit," he said. "All I want to know is, any of you capable of giving me any kind of fight?" He thought for a moment. "Also if there's any work going for a waterbender in this town."
Mako studied Aomine for another long moment. Aomine let him. He'd come into another man's gym and beat up his bully boys, after all.
Finally, Mako nodded. "What's your name?" he said.
"Aomine Daiki."
"Well, Aomine Daiki," said Mako. "I'm Hanamiya Makoto. These fuckers behind me are the Red Monsoons."
END OF BOOK ONE.