Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke
A/N: I took the "Gami-chin" from potionwine on tumblr, they have a great post explaining Murasakibara's nicknaming system with a guess of how Kagami'd be addressed. It made sense to me so I went with it.
Well, posting this chapter means that this is my first completed multi-chapter story, so that's a milestone I'm pretty happy about. I hope you liked it :)
The Pastry Predicament
Chapter 4
Not long after Murasakibara's birthday, things began to change. Aomine's talent bloomed to an incredible height and gradually, the others' did too. They continued to play and to win, but their outlook turned cold and soon they began relying on premediated scoring quotas and competitions among each other to stay motivated. They were a team only in that they wore the same uniform, but they played separately, and soon they didn't even truly consider Kuroko to be a necessary part of their strategy.
By November, Aomine had stopped coming to practice and Murasakibara wanted to skip as well. He had a one-on-one with Akashi over the matter and while Akashi won, he allowed Murasakibara to miss practice if he continued to score in games. But something was different now, and it was more than just the color of Akashi's eyes which had become heterochromatic, along with eerily calm and dispassionately assessing. That December, Murasakibara did not make anything for Akashi's birthday. Nor for Kuroko's in January, and one by one as the months wore on, it became clear the tradition was lost. Then they all dispersed to different high schools and the fleeting memory of happy birthdays celebrated with each other was buried under their respective goals for becoming champions.
The Inter High Tournament saw a further fragmentation of the group as Aomine taunted and defeated both Kuroko and Kise. Then Momoi reported Aomine's injury to the coach and he wasn't allowed to play in the remainder of the tournament, and so Too was also overpowered. Finally Akashi's team won over Yosen, with neither Murasakibara nor Akashi competing. It set the events in motion to raise their rivalry and after the fierce qualifiers; all six of their teams were entered into the Winter Cup.
The Winter Cup arrived with all of their sights set on the top spot. It was with a tremendous display of willpower and teamwork, but Kuroko and Seirin managed to defeat the Generation of Miracles. Each of the prodigies recovered their love of basketball and a respect for their teammates, but it was a harsh lesson that caused them personal embarrassment as they reflected on their actions. Kuroko was accordingly surprised, then, to receive a phone call from Murasakibara in mid-December as it was only a few days following the tournament.
"Kuro-chin, let's all get together for Aka-chin's birthday next week."
Kuroko's smile at that moment could have powered all of Tokyo he was so happy. It was true he loved basketball, but he had also missed their friendship and this signaled a return, or at least a start, to the comradery they'd first enjoyed at Teiko.
And when they reunited for Akashi's birthday, Murasakibara remembered the tradition and he brought dessert. They smiled at his choice – a sculpted sugar and cake model of Akashi's white horse wearing a garland of flowers that had been carefully crafted from fondant and crystalized sugar. They'd all had training in Hanakotoba, the Japanese language of flowers, and recognized the yellow and white chrysanthemums (imperial and truth), daffodils (respect), pink roses (trust), and zinnias (loyalty). These flowers were indicative of Murasakibara's ideas about Akashi, but it was a reminder of the bonds between all of them as well. His Rakuzan teammates had been suitably impressed by Murasakibara's talent and by the end of the celebration they'd tentatively formed friendships with the others. They were invited to attend Kuroko's birthday the following month and they accepted.
In January, they all gathered along with Seirin and several representatives from their various rival teams to celebrate Kuroko's birthday. Murasakibara had grudgingly allowed Kagami to assist him with preparing Kuroko's surprise, but only because of the increased crowd they would have. The two worked together mostly in silence, however their mutual culinary aptitude was clear and by the end, Murasakibara was calling the redhead Gami-chin, much to Kagami's disgust. At least he'd earned inclusion in Kise's "–cchi" system through basketball, it took dessert to earn Murasakibara's respect? Tch.
Still, the look of shy pleasure on Kuroko's face as he took in the giant cake that had been shaped to look like a library tower with all of Kuroko's favorite books meticulously pipped in neat rows made it worth it. There was even a library-ladder with a small replica of Nigou posed to look like he was climbing up the stacks built-in. When Murasakibara pointed out that including Nigou had been Kagami's idea, there was an astonished silence from all of Seirin as they knew the tall redhead's discomfort with the small canine.
At the post-dessert game, a new picture of their group was taken to complement the one taken during their Teiko days. It showed them together in street clothes, but their location and a tell-tale basketball were clearly discernible. A copy of the photo would eventually find its way to Kuroko's locker along with the first one. It marked a significant turn in the relationship between not only the Generation of Miracles themselves, but with each other's teams. Although they'd had hints of it with Akashi's birthday, the gathering for Kuroko more solidly cemented the idea they could all be both friends and opponents, and many of them found they had common interests and concerns beyond their shared love of basketball. Kuroko smiled to see it; this would make all their future competitions even better.
The months sped by, and they all made efforts to see one another, sometimes with various teammates in tow, sometimes with just their middle school crowd. The pattern for birthday celebrations was firmly reestablished though – dessert from Murasakibara followed by a game of basketball with whoever attended.
Momoi's birthday celebration included several members from Too along with the Generation of Miracles, Kuroko and Kagami. Murasakibara had carefully arranged a series of faux-bath powder jars made from cake and pastry creations filled with cherry cream in a basket sculpted from chocolate. It was remarkably feminine and beautiful. Momoi teared up at the attention to detail and it took the joint efforts of Aomine and Kuroko together to get her to calm down.
When summer break came and they gathered in late June for Kise's birthday, it was another larger group with Seirin joining members from Kaijo and the Generation of Miracles. Although they were rivals, Seirin and Kaijo had come to respect and like one another and so they were more than happy to celebrate the blond's birthday together. They all laughed to see the airplane model with a figure of Kise standing on top in a pilot's uniform singing karaoke that Murasakibara created. Kise preened from the attention and they had all smiled at his antics - he was allowed to be conceited on his birthday, at least.
Midorima's birthday was originally meant to be a smaller affair as the green haired teen was fairly reserved, but when his Shutoko teammates caught wind of his plans to exclude them from his birthday they reached out to the Generation of Miracles for help, and they were invited despite Midorima's intentions. Yosen's ace delivered another masterpiece with a large zodiac wheel. In the Cancer section, Murasakibara had placed small fondant figures of Midorima's lucky pencil and a can of the red bean soup he enjoyed drinking. Takao had teased Midorima about his being a creature of habit but the shooting guard had refused to rise to the bait – he was aware of his own preferences and saw nothing that needed to change.
Sakurai had timidly offered to help with Aomine's birthday surprise but he ended up being too intimidated by Murasakibara to follow through. He apologized profusely and received numerous looks ranging from annoyance to puzzlement. Murasakibara showed his playful side this time and he brought in two boxes. The first he gave to Aomine apart from the others who'd gathered – but Aomine's spurt of surprised laughter upon opening the box drew them all over. The purple haired teen had made Fragomammella– strawberry breasts – and they'd been constructed to quite a large scale. Murasakibara had slyly, but lazily teased, "Mine-chin's tastes are infamous."
The second box had a tamer, but still interesting, option. Murasakibara had painstakingly crafted a teriyaki 'burger' from the sesame seed bun down to the partial wrapper out of sweets, cake, and candy. It showed off several skills from cake making, icing, and all the little decorative touches to give the impression it was actually a savory meal rather than a sweet dessert. Aomine grinned, he was definitely pleased, this was much more his style than the artsy design he'd gotten last time (although he'd never admit it, he had thought they were pretty).
It was a curious thing, then, to survey the gathering of eight in mid-September. Everyone was aware of the difficulty they were facing to respond in kind to the intricate creations Murasakibara had presented to each of them. Akashi's red eyes went from person to person, resting thoughtfully on the two newcomers, Himuro Tatsuya and Kagami Taiga. He switched to look at Kuroko and the question was clearly implied for all that nothing was said.
"Himuro-san looks after Murasakibara-kun at Yosen, and his birthday is in late October. I thought he would want to be included." Kuroko's mild response was offered with the logic of knowing that Himuro had a responsibility similar to the one Akashi had at Teiko. "And although he couldn't come for the celebration, Murasakibara-kun sent Kagami-kun a box of small cakes designed to look like surfboards for his birthday, so he wanted to participate as well." Kagami flushed a truly unflattering shade of red but he couldn't deny his teammmate's words.
Akashi nodded in understanding before clearing his throat lightly and beginning. "As we're all aware, Murasakibara's birthday is coming up in a few weeks. I imagine I am not alone in admitting that the skills we learned in middle school are probably rusty, at best."
Kise, Midorima, Aomine, Kuroko, and Momoi all nodded guiltily. Himuro and Kagami shrugged, they weren't part of that endeavor but they were willing to try now.
"In light of that, I have recruited Sugimoto-sensei again. But he will only help us if we have a stronger idea of what we want to do before we start this time and he's insisted we review our notes or otherwise refresh some of the training prior to when we meet with him. So, let's figure out our design. I've made a packet for everyone with the lessons from before, we can review them later. Kuroko, you'll need to share yours with Kagami. Himuro, you may take mine as I have the original at home."
Kagami started to ask a question but Kuroko shook his head. "It's better not to ask, Kagami-kun. We were successful in the end, but it didn't start well."
The veterans shuddered at the memory of some of their first efforts but by collective agreement that they were all in this together, nobody pointed out anyone's particular failings.
Himuro's soft voice was heard next. "Well, what did you do last time? We need to know the precedent."
Midorima shot him a look. "We created an edible model of the solar system out of cake, spun sugar and homemade candy, and pastry that was situated on a meringue cake with cookies as stars."
Kagami's eyebrows ascended and he looked at his teammate in shock, who shrugged and offered only, "We all worked together."
Murasakibara's teammate whistled and looked amused. "You certainly don't do anything by half measures! So what beats something on that scale?"
Aomine sighed. "I guess we didn't really think about a future effort. Tetsu found a picture of something like it in one of our teacher's books and we just went with it."
"What do you mean you 'just went with it'? That's not exactly easy!" Kagami was looking like he regretted signing up for this project.
Aomine gave a lazy wave toward his former shadow. "Blame Tetsu, then. You know what he's like when he starts with the teamwork talk, we had to do it or risk looking like cowards."
"Aomine-kun, that's not nice. Nobody protested at the time." Kuroko's deadpan response was true, but it didn't really resolve matters now.
A quiet snort escaped Himuro and they all turned to look at him in question. "Are you telling me that you were bullied into making such an elaborate confection? By Kuroko?" He was clearly entertained by this idea and it took several minutes before he got himself under control because he was sent back into peals of laughter as they all assured him that Kuroko was much more difficult to handle than he might appear. It didn't help matters that Kuroko was blinking innocently and looking as capable of pushing these larger-than-life figures around as Murasakibara would be of turning down a sweet. But finally, with a great deal of effort, Himuro managed to settle down and they resumed their planning.
Kagami eyed them all, "It seems part of the problem is that Murasakibara's desserts are all, well, personal. I get the solar system from before, but what do you think would best represent him now?"
"An excellent point, Kagami." Akashi's tone was almost congratulatory and it definitely annoyed Kagami to hear it, but the taller redhead ignored the jibe.
As it turned out, Himuro would soon see Kuroko in action, as his quiet voice was heard, "Excuse me…but I think I have an idea." Those that had more familiarity with him, namely everyone except Himuro, groaned in near-unison. They were well aware this meant he'd already decided what they were going to make and from the scrupulously innocent look on his face, it wasn't going to be easy. But they listened anyway, and ultimately agreed with Kuroko's plan.
"Since Kise, Himuro, and I all live outside Tokyo there will be additional time constraints, but with some effort and schedule-juggling, we should be able to manage this. I'll present our idea to Sugimoto-sensei and we'll meet tomorrow to begin." Akashi's comment signaled the end of today's meeting.
As they gathered up their belongings, Himuro shot Kuroko a speculative look. "It would seem I owe everyone an apology. You do have a talent for managing to get others to do what you want."
Kuroko smiled. "I merely suggested the idea. It's a team effort and everyone agreed." There might have been a series of scoffs and choked laughter in response to Kuroko's statement. But nobody actually denied his words.
Pastry Training, the High School Version
Sugimoto stood at the front of the kitchen and looked at his students. He was amazed by how much they had grown since the last time he'd seen them. Even the two newcomers were such large specimens; he had a thought that they'd need to significantly adjust the scale of their proposed project if they intended to have enough to feed everyone. Unfortunately, it would appear none of them had practiced the skills they'd learned in middle school, it was more or less starting from scratch. He was pleased that both Himuro and Kagami appeared to have training and aptitude; he wouldn't need to fret about them.
He sighed. "As before, let's start with a review of kitchen safety."
Kagami's head whipped around in disbelief. They were going to begin there? When they had such a monstrous project in mind and such a tight deadline? They'd never finish! But it would appear nobody else had an issue with such a rudimentary lesson as they listened attentively. Was Midorima actually taking notes that one should not walk away from a pot of boiling sugar…? Did Kise and Momoi seriously both blush at the pointed reminder of where the fire extinguishers were? Was Aomine muttering to himself the difference between types of oil you can safely use for frying dough? Horrified, he looked at Kuroko who shrugged. "We will all do our best, Kagami-kun."
It turned out they'd remembered more than they thought, and with some reminders and frantic consultations of their notes, they began making practice versions of their design. That didn't mean there weren't several moments when they came dangerously close to tears, or fighting, and there might have been a noticeable panic when Aomine forgot to temper his eggs before adding them to the large pot of custard he'd been preparing. But they worked hard and made a determined effort to be supportive of their relative ups and downs. Their real progress though, was made by Himuro and Kagami, who took to the lessons easily and showed mastery far ahead of the others.
Himuro was working beside Kagami and looked at him in amusement. "Did you ever think, Taiga, that you'd be more or less babysitting all of them in a kitchen while working to make something for Atsushi?"
Kagami scoffed. "You'd never suspect they inspired such terror on the court, would you? But…" and here he glanced at Kuroko who had somehow managed to get both flour and cocoa powder on his face and in his hair while he worked, looking adorably disheveled and earnest at the same time, "…you can bet if he has his way, we'll be doing this type of shit for the rest of our lives." Himuro murmured a soft agreement and they returned to their tasks.
Murasakibara's Birthday
If the truth were told, it would have to be admitted that Murasakibara was sometimes very childlike and he could easily be bribed with snacks and sweets, which is exactly what Himuro did to get the reluctant teen to leave his apartment early one Saturday morning in October. If Murasakibara had really thought about it, an unlikely event, it might have occurred to him that today was his birthday. But all he was really interested in was getting to try the new treats Himuro had promised if he went with him on this errand.
Which is why he was not in the least prepared for the surprise waiting for him when they finally arrived at Murasakibara's favorite restaurant, the owners of the establishment had been more than happy to let them use the space as the hungry athlete was such a frequent and generous customer. Inside, not only had Yosen's basketball team gathered, but so had the other Generation of Miracles and several of their teammates. Since so many of them had partaken of, and thoroughly enjoyed, the elaborate desserts Murasakibara had prepared for his various former teammates, they'd all pitched in to festively decorate the restaurant, secure additional food and snacks, and set up for the party.
Murasakibara was speechless, he had no idea such a plan had been in the works and he was unexpectedly bashful to be the center of so much attention. But then his eyes saw the dessert situated on a long table and he laughed.
Kuroko's idea, as it turned out, had been inspired by Kagami's remark that Murasakibara's creations reflected each of them. He didn't show it often, but Murasakibara possessed a keen awareness of those he acknowledged, which is how he'd so perfectly captured something about each of them in what he had made. So Kuroko'd taken that as an inspiration for his idea and suggested they create 'memory boxes' that highlighted their relationship with the tall purple haired teen this time. The result was highly personal and showed the deep respect and affection that tied all of them together.
They'd made one box out of cake to look like an opened basketball – in this one, each person had recreated from cookies, pastry, or fondant, something that reminded them of Murasakibara's athleticism. This ranged from the humorous in the form of a hair-tie, a token of when Murasakibara finally got serious in the Winter Cup, to copies of the medals and trophies they'd acquired in the championships at Teiko. Akashi had even recreated the scoresheet from that fateful day when he'd changed personalities but left it with the score showing Murasakibara ahead of the point guard. Murasakibara knew it was meant as an apology, and an acknowledgment that while Akashi had won the match between them, he'd failed to be the true leader they needed.
The second box was made from a combination of colored taffy, caramel, fondant, and marshmallows and was shaped like a giant Nerunerunerune candy. They'd included replicas of Murasakibara's favorite candies and snacks inside of it. Himuro had wisely pointed out this might cause cravings for the real versions of these treats and they had a supply in reserve just in case. Which turned out to be a good thing, as one should not ever underestimate Murasakibara's appetite.
The third box was one from just the Generation of Miracles, including Kuroko and Momoi, and was a large-scale goldfish bowl made from sugared 'glass' - an homage to his talent for goldfish scooping. They'd filled it with edible models of some of their favorite elements of their time at Teiko – such as a deranged looking stuffed animal from the prize gallery, a photo-booth from when they'd all squeezed in, a recreation of Murasakibara in dress and makeup from the middle-school fair, a box of umaibo from when they'd captured the purse-thief, a crepe-coupon from the riddle race…and so on, making it quite clear that they valued the tall teen beyond his basketball skills.
There was a brief moment when it looked like he needed to collect himself, but soon Murasakibara was demanding to sample the creations and they all laughed in response. Over the course of the afternoon, they all found themselves exchanging hugs, despite it not being something they usually did. It was clear though, that in this full circle of events they all remembered what had happened before. The festive pastry boxes hinted to their separation from one another just as obviously as they did to the happy memories and there was an unspoken promise to not let themselves drift apart again. They didn't let themselves drown in the bittersweet sentiment though; instead they threw themselves wholeheartedly into celebrating Mukkun's birthday with karaoke, lots of food, and games.
When it came time for the traditional basketball game afterwards, those from Teiko each paused without really thinking about it and a secret smile crossed their faces as they looked at each other. Their new teammates were surprised to see it and wondered at the cause, but it would take a surprising flash of insight from Kagami to translate the expressions.
"They're finally ready to forgive themselves, I guess." He spoke softly to Himuro who looked shocked that the abrasive athlete was capable of picking up on the nuance.
"Yes, it seems that way. Atsushi's birthday marks the end of the cycle for them from what I understand."
Kagami glanced back at him, "You know what it also means though, don't you?"
Himuro's lips quirked up. "Obviously, they're planning to absolutely crush the rest of us in this game."
And they did, overwhelmingly so, but in good spirits that still left everyone laughing and having a good time. It was a reunion of their strength, of their friendship, and perhaps most importantly, their trust that victory didn't mean one couldn't have fun with, and respect for, others. Well, unless you asked Murasakibara, he might have added something a little sweeter to the list, but he didn't really need to – the desserts, or what was left of them, had said enough on their own.