Fast update, since I had time today :D

Language: English is not my first language.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke or any of its characters.

Chapter 18

Daiki rolled his fur blanket together and put it on the already full basket. He lashed it down tightly and stepped up to his sister. "Satsuki, isn't that too heavy for you?" He pointed at the huge basket the pink-haired girl had shouldered and cracked an eyebrow. "Nah~ Dai-chan, it's fine. Look Tetsu-kun has the same amount." They both looked over to their older brother, who was apparently swaying under his heavy basket. "Tch, I think his stamina will run out pretty fast with that load on his back."

"Then he needs to train more." Their father's deep voice came from behind them. "I think he does enough training everyday, Masahiro." Haruna stepped up beside her husband and watched over the citizens of the Aomine clan, who all had packed up their belongings and were about to move to their new destination.

"I think we are done here." Masahiro stepped forward and raised one of his long muscled arms. "We will move out. Everyone follow behind me. Watch out for the elders and children." His voice boomed over his tribe and he moved with a steady pace into the thick jungle.

"He certainly likes to show off." Haruna sighed and winked at her daughter. Satsuki giggled and followed close behind their mother. They had a rather harsh way to go. Not long but strenuous and the girls pink eyes, looked a bit concerned at her older brother, as he wobbled along the way between Daiki and their father.

"Sachin, he will be fine. I can take his basket if he needs a break." A lazy voice came far from above her head, as Atsushi caught up to them with his unbelievable long legs. "That is nice of you, A-kun. I think sooner or later you really need to do that."

"Tch, he should have taken his lucky item for today." Shintarou scoffed and rolled the little cotton branch between his fingers. "People born on the first month of the year, have bad luck today." He let the branch fall into the basket on his back and held up a small fruit to his shoulder with his other hand. "Shintorin, is that …" Satsuki and Atsushi ogled the weird animal sitting comfortably on the greenettes left shoulder. "You really have a weird taste." The purple giant mused lazily, took a step away from him and bit into the sweetpotato he was holding. "Don't belittle my lucky item. I got early up to find it." Huge brown eyes peered at them from beside the green-haired males face, as the tarsier pleasurable bit into the red fruit. "Aww~ what a cute little ape. How did you tame it?" Satsuki was fast by his side and wriggled her forefinger before the maki's little nose. "I coaxed him with fruits, nanodayo." The greenette deadpanned and ignored the pinkettes squealing at his site.

Further up, Daiki rolled his eyes. 'This whole tribe is full of weirdos, beside Tetsu. Can't wait to get away from them.'

Somewhere else, deep in the jungle, a certain redhead had almost the same thoughts. Taiga was walking behind Teppei, Junpei and Riko and could only shake his head.

"Teppei how did you get the idea, that taking a honeycomb for food supply with you, wouldn't attract the bees to come after you?" Junpei growled at the brunettes side while rubbing over the stitch on his cheek. "Mah~ I thought they wouldn't miss that small bit." The taller boy grinned and squeezed his eyes, as the stitches on his nose and lip stung.

"Teppei, you really should think before you do something so stupid. Here!" Riko sighed and held two small leafs out to the two boys. "Squish it a bit and put the juice on your stitches. It will ease the pain."

"What's up, Taiga?" Kazunari popped up beside the redhead and bumped their shoulders together. Taiga grunted, "Why are there so many weird people in our tribe?" and pointed with his chin towards his three friends in front of them. The raven chuckled, "Well, it's more fun that way, right? And look at Ryou, I think he is more weird with all those chicks clinging to him." They both looked over at the golden-haired boy and simultaneously rolled their eyes, as three girls squealed in delight over something the blonde had said.

"Urg, I would go nuts, if I had to deal with that every day." Taiga mused out. Kazunari looked, with a mischievous gleam in his silver-blue eyes, at his best friend. "Oh, I think if a certain someone would show you all his attention, you wouldn't go nuts. Or should I say, you would go nuts, but not because you get annoyed, more like aroused from it." He tried to suppress his chuckle, as Taiga instantly got red like a pomegranate. "S-shut up! Daiki would annoy the fuck out of me. You can't imaging how pesky it is, if you get groped everywhere you stand and walk."

"Hmm~, so it's like that between you two. Anyway, I never said anything about who I meant." Kazunari grinned like mad and ducked, as suddenly a tall hand came flying at the back of his head. "Uhhhh~ … Kaz could you not?" Taiga averted his eyes. His blush spread further down his neck and he facepalmed that he instantly had thought about the bluenette. "Ah, come on. A little teasing is allowed. I'm certain, you will see each other again." The raven clapped the redheads shoulder and smiled at him. "How can you be so certain? You don't know how thick headed my father can be.", he sighed and hung his head.

"Oh, I think, I know. You are the same." Kazunari raised an eyebrow at him and winked. Taiga scoffed, "I'm not. Nowhere near."

"Who is near?" Suddenly an arm was slung around his neck, as Ryouta popped up on his other site. "Geh! Get away from me!" Taiga recoiled and shivering, as he remembered how weird the blonde had reacted on the day they brought him back to his tribe. "Ehh~ Taigacchi, that's mean." Ryouta wailed and looked with teary eyes at Kazunari. "He hates me!"

"He doesn't." The raven nudged his best friend with his elbow. "Yeah, I don't hate you. But don't cling to me. It weirds me out." Taiga glanced at the blonde and couldn't suppress to step even further away from him. "Lies! You just took another step away!"

"Ryouta, calm down. He just didn't get that you were acting last time." The raven chuckled, "It was only to jelly the Aomine's guy. Don't take it so serious, Taiga."

"Wha… Why would you even think of doing something like that? There is nothing between us, that he has a reason to get jealous over!" The hothead spurted and the just vanished blush was back on his face in full bloom. "Oh man, stop denying it, will you?" Kazunari rolled his eyes at him. "Yeah, Taigacchi. We saw you." The blonde topped and got instantly swatted on the back of his head by the raven. "Can't you just shut your trap for once?" He glared with is silver-blue eyes at Ryouta, until the noticed that the redhead wasn't at their side anymore. Infact, Taiga had frozen on the spot and stared wide eyed at his friends. "Uhm, Taigacchi?"

"What … what exactly did you see?", he asked in a low voice, gaze to the ground and trembled slightly. He feared that perhaps his friends were onlookers, in what he had done with the blue-haired male.

"We only saw you kissing him out of your own free will and didn't peep on you, when you were claimed." Suddenly Teppei was in front of him and showed him an innocent smile. Kazunari instead, groaned in despair at his overly straightforward friends.

Taiga stumbled back and spluttered red faced, "I didn't get claimed. What the fuck?"

"Huh? I assumed that it happened, since he said something about officially claiming you. You did too, right?" The brunette glanced over at Kazunari and Ryouta with a quizzical look on his face.

When both nodded with a slight smirk to their faces, Taiga wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole. 'Please let me just die. This is too embarrassing.'

But he didn't die yet, since he was saved by Riko, even if it was just as mortifying. "Boys, you should stop that conversation about him being claimed or not. The chieftain shots looks at us and I don't think any of you are up for a bashing."

The group didn't dissolve, but they all shut up and glanced at the chieftains back. Shudders were running down their spine, when they even only thought about what they would get into, if their conversation was overheard. Silently they continued to walk and once in a while, their eyes would glance at the redhead in their middle, who was currently closed up in his own oblivious thoughts.

'Getting claimed … that would mean … no no no … I don't have THAT down there … but wait … there would be …. nononononono … doesn't fit … can't … urg … would I even want that?' He clutched at his hair and a silent groan escaped his throat, when indeed the answer to his own question was, 'Yes!'.

Thinking about something like that, shouldn't make his lower region twitch with joyful anticipation. Taiga was a bit horrified, that the image didn't repel him as much as he thought it would. Rather, it was the opposite and if he wouldn't quit thinking about it, he would walk the long way to their monsun camp, breeding boners.

"This is a good place. Seijuuro, please build the tents while I go and fetch us some dry branches for the fire." The old woman put her basket on the ground and stretched her back a bit before she walked off. The magenta-haired male put the stacks and leather covers down from his back and got to work. Till the sun set, everything should be in place and he anyway never asked questions, he already knew the answers to.

His great grandmother, had behaved excited in the past two days, the closer they came to their current location. He could tell that something big was coming, but he wasn't so sure about what it was, that the old woman was smiling more than normally. He still had much to learn from her, but currently his task was more urgent.

When the camp was set and a small fire was placed in the middle of a stone circle, both sat down and ate the soup the old woman prepared. "You will meet your second cousin in a few days. And the girl would like a daylily in the colors of your eyes. You should have it with you, when you meet. Also the purple giant will listen to you, but don't over do it, or his significant other will get mad, what will lead to a quarrel with your second cousin, since they as close as brothers. The colors of the rainbow will be useful to you, if you consider their needs and don't demand too much out of them. Don't be unwilled to learn something new from the shadow, it will come in handy when you need it most."

Seijuuro looked on as his great grandmothers eyes cleared out of their hazy state, but he didn't ask questions. He got used to her mysterious speaking over the years. Sometimes she would still on the spot, her eyes going from golden to almost white. When he asked her once about it, she told him that the cosmos was communicating with her. In the beginning, when it first happened in his present, he couldn't quite believe it. But soon found out that it was true when whatever she told him, actually happened. Since then he was determined and trained hard under her, to achieve the same state of mind. Absolute safety that he was right, was his goal and he certainly was on a good way to success with it soon.

"We should lay down and rest." She got up with cracking joints and waddled over to her tent. Seijuuro poured some dirt over the fire to put it out and also got into his blankets. They had a long day and sometime soon, his somewhat monotonous life would be filled with new challenges. Looking forward to it, he closed his heterochromic magenta and yellow eyes, content that he would succeed with everything life would throw at him from now on.

TBC