Shin-chan was still seething. Takao felt a little out of temper himself, but after a night of watching Midorima rage up and down the police station at being arrested like the rest of the plebeians the lieutenant was more exhausted than anything else. Even Shin-chan had lost steam as the sun had come up, going from ranting against the hold that gangs still had in the poorer parts of Republic City and demanding some accountability to grumbling over a cup of tea while- huh.
Actually, Takao wasn't sure what Midorima was doing now. Little whirlpools formed and dissipated in the untouched third cup of tea, and Shin-chan stared unseeing at the statue of Avatar Kiyoshi on the table in front of him. He'd rarely seen Shin-chan like this. His coat was off again in deference to the stifling heat of the underground waiting room, and through the open collar of his undershirt Takao could see the dark shapes of bruising. Their elevated status had granted them a separate room in which to wait for the representative of the Northern Water Tribe to be roused to fetch them. Takao didn't expect Nakatani to even hurry his breakfast. Boys who got themselves in trouble brawling in the streets of Republic City would elicit none of his sympathy, and deserved everything they got. Takao, all of twenty, generally felt five again under Nakatani's cold blue stare, icy enough to quell even Midorima mid-complaint.
"We'll be out in a bit," Takao lied, gripping Midorima by the shoulder. "Don't mind, Shin-chan."
"I don't mind," said Midorima, but the tea stopped moving. "It was obvious we were not the cause of the disturbance. There were plenty of eyewitness accounts to that effect."
"Then what is it?" said Takao, who had learned early on it was best to press Shin-chan for direct answers with direct questions. "Is it that guy you threw down with?"
Shin-chan's eyes narrowed behind his glasses, but his silence was answer enough.
Takao stepped back and stretched. "He was a shock," he said. "But there're a lot of benders in Republic City, Shin-chan. Some of them had to be good. He was just really good."
Midorima looked down at his tea again. Two distinct waves formed and chased each other around and around in an endless cycle, push, pull.
"You're still the strongest waterbender I know," said Takao.
Midorima said nothing. Takao peered at his face. "You think he's stronger than you," said Takao, with disbelief.
"He could be," said Midorima, his voice colored with faint distaste. "Neither of us exerted ourselves yesterday. And he's sloppy. There's no training there to speak of, he must be self-taught." But he had stood his ground against Midorima Shintarou, and he had held it. Midorima was matchless among the Northern Tribe, where he had been born, and the best waterbenders of the Southern Tribe. He had tried himself against Fleet-trained waterbenders who handled hurricanes and was considered a master in his own right, a natural-born genius. Takao sometimes had the feeling that this proud, prickly kid was better than even his own opinion of himself. But like recognizes like, even brawling in a noodle shop with a gangster who moved like bottled lightning, who had dragged on Midorima's bending like fighting the ocean-tide. Like had gone snarling for Shin-chan without a pause, the stranger arrowing in him, and known like, Midorima practically ready to drag him out into the street to settle their conflict.
Takao was not sure it would be comfortable to believe in fate.
"The benders are all going to go to ground now," said Takao, soothingly. Midorima let the tea lapse back in stillness. "You two fucked up the sewer system with all that water, and it was noisy enough that they had to drag out the air patrols and shut down that district. They're stepping up security for the conference, too, so we'll have fleet soldiers along soon watching to see that no one even breathes hard on our VIPs. If he has any sense, he'll lay low for a nice long while until they forget about him. You don't need to worry about him, Shin-chan."
"I'm not worried," said Midorima, acidly, but was diverted. "The Fleet is returning?"
"They've only been talking about it all month," said Takao. When he'd been serving, he'd looked forward to the three weeks of land-leave back in Republic City, with people. Food worth eating. And the sensation of solid ground under his feet. Now, Takao would have given anything to be out there again, on patrol up and down the eastern coastline.
"Akashi will be returning, then," said Midorima, and drummed long fingers on the table.
"Akashi?" said Takao. "Er, do you mean-"
"Commander Akashi of the Second Division of the United Republic Fleet," said Midorima, patiently as though to a very small child. "I thought you served in the Second Division."
"You know him?" said Takao, a little weakly. He'd known Midorima was a big-shot, but Commander Akashi...
"We play pai-sho by telegraph," said Midorima. "You've seen me transmit the messages."
Takao gaped. "I thought-" that was just something else weird you did, Takao did not say. Instead he said, "You two are friends?" That would be about right, actually. Midorima was seventeen, and the commander a year older, and- no, it was still weird.
Somehow Shin-chan looked put out. "We're acquainted," he said. He tipped his head forward and his eyes narrowed behind his glasses, and Takao thought, for a second, a wild unreasoned unthinking second, if I could talk to the commander, if I could just talk to him and make him understand-
"I need to find today's lucky item," Midorima said. Takao bit down on the words.
"Fine," he said to the waterbender. "What is it today?"
.0.
Hyuuga kicked the last of the would-be pro-benders from the office and glared in satisfaction at the finally completed wall chart. It was always the same with these jackasses. They thought they could come in and wave a lot of cash around, buy themselves a better place or their match an easier judgement. Hyuuga didn't mind, really. He regarded it as a kind of vocal warm-up. Even Imayoshi's visit yesterday after the disturbance hadn't done anything to quell them.
That had put Riko and Kiyoshi into a bad mood. But the gossip was that some bigwig's son had been mixed up in it, and that Red Monsoons weren't being too vocal about disclaiming their involvement, and if any of the pro-benders had been stupid enough to get mixed up with stone-cold psychos like the Red Monsoons Hyuuga was going to find some way to rip their intestines out through their nostrils. And they would end up disqualified and banned from the league. Riko had been very clear on that, when she'd started. You stayed out of trouble or you stayed out of the Arena.
Hyuuga hadn't anticipated much trouble with this year's batch, to be honest. The Rabba-Roo's shit-starting waterbender had gone off to have a baby, and by and large the remainder who'd qualified this far had their eyes firmly fixed on the prize. They also knew better than to get mixed up with gangs. But the new team... Hyuuga's eyes slid to their name written on the chart. The Lion-Dogs. Living in the Arena's attic, of all places. Kiyoshi had taken an immediate liking to them, somehow managing to offer them the attic and a slot and his services as a trainer in the space of five minutes, smiling all the while like butter wouldn't melt in mouth.
"They're good kids," said Kiyoshi, doing his mind-reading thing. Hyuuga jumped, and glared. He'd been staring fixedly at the Lion-Dog's slot as his thoughts raced.
Kiyoshi smiled at him. "They're good kids," he repeated. "They'll do fine. They've been doing much better in practice."
Hyuuga glared at him some more, seeking to drill holes into Kiyoshi's empty brain with the sheer power of his mind. Some day, it would work. Some day. "You've been at all their practices?' he said. The referee had gone to a few himself- first to see where Kiyoshi had run off to and then mainly to spare himself some pain later, when he'd seen how... bad, probably, wasn't the word. Hyuuga had been watching benders for long enough he could fancy he had an eye for talent, and they were certainly better than him, or at least Kagami was. If Hyuuga had had half his training, maybe two years ago they wouldn't have been- well. Maybe the word was green, so new to this way of bending. Hyuuga had seen fifty ways to roll them up in the first round, ways that had nothing to do with bending and everything to do with skill. It had irritated him.
"You don't have enough work to do keeping this place clean? What do we even pay you for?" Why them, he did not ask. You don't bend in two years, and suddenly you're all over the Avatar and his little friends, acting like nothing's changed. What changed, Kiyoshi? He did not ask any of these things, because he knew he would get no answer, and only give Kiyoshi the mingled pain and satisfaction of being asked.
"But Hyuuga," said Kiyoshi, earnestly. "I think nurturing the young may be my calling."
"They're three years younger than us at most," pointed out Hyuuga. "And one of them is, though I am aware you may not have noticed, the Avatar."
"Yes," said Kiyoshi. "Their earthbender. Hyuuga, don't you know this?"
Hyuuga punched the table. His hat wobbled on the edge of it.
"Are we still keeping quiet on that?" said Izuki, who had come in to survey tonight's line-up and devise his puns ahead of time. He sat curled into the sofa in the corner, scribbling madly in his notebook. The hot honey-lemon drink Mitobe made for him on match nights sat steaming at his hand. "His manifestation could be manifestly be good for us."
"We won't be able to avoid it down the road if they get through to quarters and semis," said Hyuuga. "But he asked us to keep it quiet for now and I agree. If he loses, fine, they're out of the tournament. If he wins, that's a shining endorsement of us and so many people will want to see what happens they can't shut us down."
"Aren't Air Nomads pacifists?" said Izuki, thoughtfully.
"We're going to find out," said Hyuuga. "Do you really think-"
"I think they'll do great," said Kiyoshi. "They're very talented benders, you know."
"Yes," said Hyuuga, drily. "So you've said."
.0.
Kise went quiet as the evening wore on and turned into night, gathering up his legs into the lotus position and meditating to calm his nerves. To Aomine's surprise, Kagami did so too, mirroring him on the other side of the attic, back against the wall. At first Aomine just thought Kagami had gone to sleep, but he was hot to the touch, and he breathed deep and even, in a regular pattern.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Kagami waited to push out his breath before replying. "Firebending comes from the breath," he said. In, expanding with it, and out. "I'm breathing."
Aomine watched him for a moment before looking at Kise. "And you?" he said.
Kise opened one eye. "Mou, Aominechi," he said. "Don't you ever get nervous? We're just calming down, that's all."
Aomine lifted an eyebrow. "Is that all?" he said. "There's nothing to be worried about." Nigou, the only energetic one, chattered and bounced in puppy-talk, attacking the bit of knotted rope he had as one of his toys and occasionally making one of his repeated attempts to reach the upper level of the sleeping platforms, and thus Kise and Kagami. His doggy legs, however, could not manage ladders, much to his clear disgust.
"Look how sad he is," said Aomine, after the fifth such attempt. He stretched his long arm down from the bunk, and watched Nigou leap higher and higher in an attempt to catch it. Aomine stole Kagami's pillow and dangled that too. Kise laughed, watching them go at it. Kagami just kept his eyes closed.
Aomine lifted the pillow up. Nigou hung on the edge of it, jaws clamped and growling. "Good dog," he said to the puppy. "Aren't you a good boy."
Nigou wagged his tail, then let go and dropped to the floor, landing on his feet. He ran to the ladder and barked at it. When he judged the time was right, he belly-flopped down once more. Momoi squealed.
"Dai-chan!" she called.
Aomine, sniggering, dropped over the side of the bunk and reached down the hole to grab Nigou off Satsuki's face. She passed him a few bundles while she was at it, heavy ones which he carried to the table.
"Thank you, Aomine-kun," said Tetsu, bringing up the rear with yet more.
Kagami set out their dinner, while Kise and Aomine helped haul all the packages up the stairs.
"What's this," said Aomine, already scrabbling at the wrappings, "Where've you two been, anyway-" he fell silent as he uncovered brand-new pro-bending uniforms, black and red and blue, the helmets with tempered glass faceplates tinted blue and an embroidered lion-dog silhouette on the chest in white. There was even a vest for Nigou, with in the Lion-Dog colours. Aomine lifted up the uniforms and stared at them and stared.
"Riko-san helped us," said Momoi, looking pleased. "I forgot to tell you yesterday, but I got a sign-on bonus from my new- oh, stop staring and put them on. I can see you want to."
Kise was already stripping out of his shirt, Tetsu fitting Nigou with his mascot uniform. Satsuki helped Aomine bandage his hands while he put on the padding. It fit perfectly.
"Now you have to win," she remarked, adjusting the helmet on Aomine's head. "Can't let all this go to waste."
Aomine flexed his hands in the gloves and curled them around her elbows, inexpressibly happy. Kise's golden hair shone against the black, his arrow hidden under the headpiece, and Kagami stretched out on the floor, sleek and strong. Tetsu fed Nigou tidbits off his plate and petted the puppy as it tried over and over again to bite at the vest, astonished at discovering this strange thing called clothing.
"We're going to win," he said to her.
"I know," she said, and smoothed her hand over his hair, easy and familiar.
.0.
Tonight was the last of the qualifiers. The teams who'd left it until now to try for their slots were those newer and less exciting teams who didn't have generous sponsors or the skill to settle their participation early and then train to match up with the best. Consequently, the Arena didn't expect the best crowd tonight. Only the friends and family of such teams tended to show up, mostly for moral support.
Even then, they were loud. Aomine had forgotten, in the one week since the last match, the massive curving glass roof and hundreds of lights, the way that the announcer's voice rolled off the walls and the water and bounced back in a solid wall of sound. The Lion-Dogs were ignored as they walked into the waiting area.
Qualifier rules were simple. Teams fought in rotations, and it wouldn't be uncommon to come up against another team at least twice. Each team had an allowance of two losses before they were kicked out, and the winners went on fighting. Strategies began to tell in the later rounds, when you could find yourselves playing three matches in quick succession, enough to tire even the hardiest benders. There was very little of the flashy moves and combos which might end up displayed at a regular match- here, what counted was your ability to stay in the ring and keep going. You could get lucky in a qualifier- if you were very lucky. To simply forfeit when a teammate dropped from exhaustion wasn't uncommon. Ten teams would become one pretty fast.
Some of the rookie teams had no stamina worth speaking of. Two rounds of fast-paced action was enough to tire them out, and by their third match they were exhausted, even after sucking down energy drinks and taking frequent rests while the other teams played. The Lion-Dogs' more traditional bending roots showed here to best advantage. After only a short break, they were up again and raring, with no substantial loss of concentration and power. Hyuuga's shouting had taken some effect- Aomine kept himself in check, losing himself in the one-two rhythm of the Arena, flinging one shot and then the next with deadly accuracy. They took out their first opponents that way: a mixed trio with some fancy combos and a steady firebender who was the foundation of their team play. Aomine went for her without blinking. Kise followed suit and soon she fell into the drink, leaving the other two blinking desperately at each other and unable to pick who they should have ganged up on. Kagami knocked the earthbender back two zones- he wobbled and fell, calling for his teammate- and then Aomine knocked the last one out with a feint and duck. Sparring with the Red Monsoons hadn't been a waste of time. All the pro-benders fought like this, in this same way. Aomine almost felt sorry for them. The Lion-Dogs won by knockout in the third round. Hyuuga breathed a sigh of relief and waved the next two in.
"Lion-Dogs not going to take this lion down," said Izuki. "Next up, Buffalo-Yaks and Swamp-Cats, digging in!"
Buffalo-Yaks were wily. An older team up for their second shot at a qualifier, they'd learned enough to let the youngsters punch themselves out trying to get them out of the way early and then just had to outlast them. They had a new waterbender, Tsugawa, and he had the spark that steady Iwamura and clever Kasuga needed to pep up a steady combination that was the foundation of their success in previous years. Their bending wasn't beautiful, but it was solid, every hit well-placed, not a teammate out of step. They traded blows carefully with the Lion-Dogs in the first round of their second match of the night, knocking them back one by one to win the round. Kise made them pay for this in the next round, pounding Iwamura until the other earthbender slid into their second zone, sounding the buzzer.
In the third round Kagami rolled across the zone chased by Iwamura's earth discs and into Kise's line of vision. Tsugawa saw his chance in the split second of distraction and whammied Kise straight-on. Kise, no featherweight, was blasted back two zones in an instant, teetering right on the edge, his arms pinwheeling. Aomine felt the rush of air- that idiot was going to air bend, and get them disqualified-
"KISE," Aomine shouted. Kise, startled, went limp and toppled off the side with a cry.
"LION-DOGS DOWN AN EARTHBENDER," roared Izuki over the splash. "THEY'RE WITHOUT A ROCK NOW!"
Aomine ground his teeth and tried a blast at Tsugawa, but dunking Kise had broken the Lion-Dog's rhythm, and Buffalo-Yaks won on points, two rounds to one.
Kise was waiting for them, wincing, with a bag of ice pressed against his shin. He'd asked another waterbender to make it, to preserve his fiction of being just an earthbender. Aomine melted it at once and set to work, drawing the heat off the muscle while Kise sighed in relief.
"That's going to slow me down," he said. Kise didn't earthbend as much as he bent- well, anything else. "Dammit, I thought only the lousy teams were left."
"That's what makes it fun, right?" said Kagami, gulping down whole lemons floating in honey, Momoi's idea of an energizing snack. No one except the teams were allowed into the waiting areas during the Qualifiers, more out of space concerns than anything else. Five teams had already been eliminated, and some of them were crying quietly in the corridor outside. Momoi and Kuroko sat in the stands with Nigou and Kuroko's friends from work, who cheered gamely for the Lion-Dogs.
"We can't afford another loss," said Aomine. "The rest of the teams are shit-" the next waiting team gave him a dirty look "-but those Buffalo-Yaks knew what they were doing. Their fucking waterbender likes to play with his targets."
Kagami was watching the continuing fights. "The firebender is saving himself," he reported. "They know they've got to last the night to the final match and they're lining us up before he strikes so they count for two of us at a time. We won't have it easy if we burn out before we see them again."
"I'm still fresh," said Aomine.
"Same," said Kise, determinedly. "He won't get me like that next time."
"You almost bent yourself back up," said Kagami.
Kise waved his hands in the universal gesture for forget it. "It won't happen again," he said. "That water hurts, though." He pouted, which probably meant he was feeling better.
"Don't fall into it," Aomine said. Nothing was broken; Kise was just going to be sore and bruised, even with what Aomine could do for him.
"NEXT MATCH OTTER-DOGS AND LION-DOGS WHO'S GOING TO BE BARKING TONIGHT?"
"Does he ever stop," said Kagami, looking pained.
"Apparently not," said Kise. "It's nice, though. Usually the commentary is so boring."
"Let's go," said Aomine, and pulled his gloves back on.
As the night wore on and teams were eliminated, Kagami's prediction came true. The Lion-Dogs once again faced up against the Buffalo-Yaks for the final round of the night. Buffalo-Yaks had forfeited a round earlier, leaving the Elbow-Leeches to go up against the Lion-Dogs for the chance to fight Buffalo-Yaks at the final instead of the other way around. As a result, they were refreshed from sitting out, while the Lion-Dogs faced the last match of the night as their third fight in a row, still panting from beating the Elbow-Leeches. True to their name, they hung on and did not let go.
"Damn canny bastards," said Aomine, rolling out his shoulders. He'd been bounced off the ropes a few times and hit the drink twice. The frenetic pace of being battered all night was beginning to tell on him. The crowd was whooping for the Lion-Dogs. Their matches had been well-fought, and Buffalo-Yaks had gone from being the favourites to in imminent danger- if the Lion-Dogs could sustain their pace.
"Second time," said Kise, grimly. He glared at Tsugawa, grinning at them across the line. "Okay, let's go."
Buffalo-Yaks hit the ground running. You could hear the crowd pepping up, and not just because it was the last match, either. Kagami alone of the Lion-Dogs hadn't yet taken a splashing- 'WATER AFRAID OF THIS FIRE BOY FOR ONCE', Izuki yowled- mostly due to a downright supernatural ability to keep his feet, rarely being outright downed by a strike and quick to regain his footing when he did. But that also meant he'd had to cover for his teammates while they were absent from the ring, and with his heavy attacking style and encroaching fatigue he was falling into the rhythms of bending kata, sharp, clean, regular and altogether predictable. Kise's leg was hurting again too, from three matches in a row without a pause; he couldn't cover Kagami and Aomine while they attacked as quickly or as cleanly as before.
Kasuga dodged Kagami's four hits and came in with a strong fire blast just shy of the neck, knocking Kagami into Aomine just as Aomine flipped away from Iwamura's attack. As they wobbled, Tsugawa sent a hit which rolled them into the third zone, dangerous territory. BZZT. Aomine dragged himself up, wincing. They were damn close to the edge.
"FIRST ROUND TO THE BUFFALO-YAKS," cried the announcer, somehow still chipper. "VETERANS VS ROOKIES, WHO'S GOT THE TEETH TO LAST OUT THE NIGHT?"
"Bakgami," Aomine hissed, grabbing Kagami's collar as they reassembled at the centre. Kise was limping; the last few stomps had taken it out of him hard. He even starting to lead with his uninjured foot. Anyone could see Kise's hits coming from a mile away.
"He's not holding back anymore," said Kagami. "We're going to have to block har- look, let's take out Iwamura first thing next round. He's holding them down, if we drop him out they'll be wide open the whole round."
"Sounds like a plan," said Kise. He stretched out his leg. Above them, another ref debated with Hyuuga if that Kasuga's strike had been close enough to the head to count, an argument that raged across the empty space with the power of two excellent pairs of lungs.
Tsugawa chose this moment to say, "Does it hurt? Does your leg hurt? Does it really really hurt?"
"...Of course it does," said Kise.
Tsugawa's face split into a wide smile. "That's great," he said. "You know, if you want to forfeit, I'm sure you could be resting that foot with a nice healer in no time."
"We're not going to forfeit," growled Kagami.
"Yeah!" said Kise.
"Well, if you don't want to," said Tsugawa. "Earthbenders are really dependant on their legs, though, so if you push yourself too hard, you might effect your bending ability forev- OW, what was that for."
"You're an obnoxious little twerp," said Kasuga, shaking out his hand.
"Mean!" whined Tsugawa.
"We're going to kick your asses," said Kagami, bristling at the Buffalo-Yaks.
Iwamura said nothing, which Aomine was beginning to appreciate in an opponent. He heard Kagami's strategy clear as day: act pissed at Tsugawa. Look like you're about to take down Tsugawa. Smack Iwamura out of the ring instead.
Kasuga got the yellow fan for his infraction, and they lined up for the second round. As the buzzer sounded, Kagami and Kise threw his punches at Tsugawa, which Iwamura expected. He mounted a quick defense, solid and well-placed- and then Kise's earth discs veered sharply in mid-air, shattering against Iwamura's breastplate in the same breath as Aomine's water blast, sending him ricocheting off the ropes and onto the ground. Kasuga tried to get in the way of Kagami's follow-up strike, but was unprepared for the sheer power of it; it sent them both into the water in one devastating hit. Tsugawa gaped and stared, twisting his head around in confusion, but his teammates were both gone, and now all the Lion-Dogs seized their chance, driving him back one zone, two, until he stumbled into the third zone and they advanced for the knockout blow. Aomine had to give it to the obnoxious little twerp: he was good. But now Kagami and Kise, seeing a quick end to the fighting, were throwing their best without holding back, and they battered him backwards in one final burst of energy, relentless. Aomine finished it with a shot to Tsugawa's head, and the sound of the splash was sweet music to Aomine's ears.
"LION-DOGS WIN BY A KNOCKOUT," yelled Izuki; even a tired and sparse crowd were on their feet, shouting and cheering; and Satsuki and Tetsu loudest of all, even though Aomine couldn't hear them, over being crushed by Kagami and Kise and crushing them back, looking at the red lights signifying their win on the scoreboard, over the roar of victory. "LION-DOGS ARE GOING TO THE TOURNAMENT, WHAT A MATCH, THE LEAGUE BETTER LOOK OUT FOR THEIR LOOKOUT! WHAT A MATCH!"