Happy Christmas! Sorry if the chapter's shorter than usual. It was meant to be the final one but there's more to write than I initially thought so I decided to split it.

...

The following list can be read as:

Original Character – Inhabited Body

Kagami - Aomine

Kuroko – Midorima

Kise – Kagami

Takao - Kuroko

Midorima – Takao

Aomine – Akashi

Murasakibara – Kise

Akashi – Murasakibara

…

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Let's see – the first thing on the list is cabbages," Takao informed his teammate.

"Y-you mean this one nanodayo?" Midorima tentatively picked up a round green and white vegetable and studied it uncertainly.

"Shin-chan, that's a lettuce."

Midorima stared at the lettuce in his hand, and then at Takao. "Takao, do you cook a lot?"

Takao shot him a beaming grin. "I'm part of the health committee, remember? Next to basketball, knowing all the greens is my specialty."

"I don't see the connection nanodayo," frowned Midorima.

"You don't have to. Next one's onions."

Midorima picked up a long vegetable.

Takao eyed him dubiously."Shin-chan, that's a leek."

Midorima turned red. All of them looked the same, for crying out loud.

Takao had to hold his ribs; he was laughing too hard. "This is priceless! I know you're not great at cooking from what I've seen at home ec, Shin-chan, but I totally thought you'd have mastered it in theory!"

"Be quiet nanodayo!" snapped Midorima, turning even redder. Were it not for his incompetency in home ec, his grades would have been perfect. It was something he held a grudge about.

Takao patted him consolingly, but he was clearly still on the verge of hysterics. "Don't you worry, Shin-chan! I'll teach you all there is to know about greens. Shall I start with the As?"

"Die, Takao," growled Midorima.

Over at the deli, Akashi was searching for pork cuts. Aomine was leaning against the glass counter like he was about to fall asleep.

The elderly clerk glared at him sternly. "Now don't make me heave this T-bone at you, boy. Come on – on your feet!"

She rapped on the counter sharply. Annoyed, Aomine reluctantly peeled himself off.

Two days until the preliminaries, and here we are shopping for groceries like a gaggle of housewives, he reflected moodily. It wouldn't be so bad if I had some magazines to pass the time. I should have asked that idiot if there were any shops selling them around here.

"Hey, Akashi," he said loudly, as the Rakuzan captain collected the packaged meat from the deli clerk. "Do you know a shop that sells porn magazines in this area?"

The clerk stared at Aomine, scandalised. Several shoppers in the vicinity also turned to gawk at them.

Akashi sighed quietly.

…

Himuro and Murasakibara were already waiting near the checkout counters. Murasakibara was munching on a chocolate bar.

When Aomine and Akashi showed up, the former immediately pointed at Murasakibara's chocolate bar.

"Did you pay for that?" he demanded.

"Eh? Of course," drawled Murasakibara.

"Atsushi couldn't wait any longer, so he went ahead and bought it first," explained Himuro.

Midorima and Takao came along next.

"… and some people think tomatoes are vegetables, but fundamentally they're fruits… "

"I appreciate the lecture, Takao, but I suggest that you find a different audience nanodayo," said Midorima tiredly.

Then he stopped short at the sight of Murasakibara chewing on his chocolate bar.

"Did you pay for that nanodayo?" he demanded, stabbing a finger in the direction of the chocolate

Murasakibara eyed him petulantly. "What makes you think I didn't?"

Last to join them were Kise and Kuroko.

Kise instantly pointed at Murasakibara's chocolate bar. "Murasakibara-cchi, tell me you already paid for that!"

"I'm not a thief!" exclaimed Murasakibara indignantly, but his words were garbled by all the chocolate in his mouth.

"What? You'll brush your teeth?" frowned Kise. "That's totally not the point! And how many calories are in that thing? Give me the wrapper!"

"It's a hundred percent sugar-free and paid for," said Himuro. "I won't let him get into any trouble, Kise. Don't worry."

"They had my favourite butterscotch, too," said Murasakibara sulkily.

"How about we stop marking time and check out so we can go back and have a good night's sleep?" suggested Aomine.

"Huh?" cried Kise, looking around in bewilderment. "Kuroko-cchi is gone!"

So were Takao and Akashi. The Miracles looked around until they spotted the three missing people, who were already paying at one of the counters.

"They beat us to it," said Aomine, scratching his head.

"I thought 'beat' wasn't in your vocabulary nanodayo," said Midorima. "But I suppose Seirin has already beat you once."

"Oh shut up. It's a wonder no one's mistaken you for a vegetable and fried you up."

"What did you say nanodayo?!"

"Hahahaha! You took the words right out of my mouth, Aomine-cchi," guffawed Kise.

…

Thanks to Akashi- and Himuro's instructions, the Miracles could get down to work quickly.

"Our objective is to have the table set and and the food ready before Taiga comes back," announced Himuro.

"Can I help?" offered Kuroko. "I can make a mean boiled egg."

"Thanks, Kuroko, but I think it'd be best if you set the table."

"I'll help with the set up too!" volunteered Kise.

"If anyone needs me, I'll be napping in the corner," said Aomine, already slouching off.

"Takao, Midorima, it'd be great if you could assist us with the preparations," smiled Akashi.

"I can be your taste tester, Aka-chin," said Murasakibara.

"No, you won't," said Himuro. "You're going to sit there and watch us. Here, have some yogurt. It's fat-free."

"Gonna wear some tape, Shin-chan?" asked Takao, as he and Midorima laid out the knives and chopping boards.

"No. But that's what gloves are for nanodayo," said Midorima, with a neat snap of his rubbery gloves.

"Oho! Seems like Shin-chan's all warmed up."

"You have to put them on too, Takao. It's for hygiene nanodayo."

"They sure grow up fast," sighed Takao happily as he slipped on his own pair.

Himuro was already mixing up the ingredients in a large bowl while Akashi heated up the frying pan. When the batter was ready and everything was tossed in, Akashi began frying. His hands moved deftly, neatening the edges of the pancake with the spatula and flipping it like a professional.

"With Akashi at the stove, there is no need to watch out for an okonomiyaki landing on my head nanodayo," said Midorima curtly.

Takao coughed into his fist as Himuro looked at them curiously.

When the first batch was done, Himuro transferred it to a plate and set it on the counter.

"Kuroko, Kise! Food's ready. You can start dishing out."

Murasakibara was eyeing the steaming okonomiyaki like a starving bear.

"Ah! Kuroko-cchi, you'd better Misdirect Murasakibara-cchi's attention away from the food," warned Kise, as Kuroko picked up the plate.

"It doesn't work that way, Kise-kun. Besides, I think nothing on earth can steal Murasakibara-kun's attention when he's that hungry."

"The million dollar question is how he can maintain that humongous appetite when he's in my body and why Akashi-cchi's appetite doesn't change when he's in Murasakibara-cchi's body."

"This is absolute proof that Murasakibara's hunger is a psychologically-driven symptom," stated Midorima. "In other words, it's nothing but a mental disorder nanodayo."

"Mido-chin, don't you think taping your fingers is better proof of a mental disorder?" pointed out Murasakibara.

Aomine suddenly got up.

"I smell food," he said. "Finally. I'm ready to eat a whole cow."

"Just a sec," called Himuro. "Akashi's frying up the last batch."

"What? But he just finished the first one!" exclaimed Kise in amazement. "Is he a god or something?"

"Akashi-kun could run a restaurant by himself," remarked Kuroko.

"And Midorima could serve as one of his decorative plants," yawned Aomine.

An eggshell exploded on his head.

"Damn you, Midorima!" exclaimed Aomine furiously, snatching broken bits of eggshell off his hair. "Don't you know whose body you just mucked?"

"Hence the empty shell," said Midorima, pushing up his glasses unconcernedly. "You're lucky nanodayo, Aomine. If it was any other body you were in, it would have been the full ammo."

"Please stop it, you two," said Kuroko. "Fighting won't solve anything."

The door opened. Kagami had returned, dragging along two new futons and a bag of toiletries.

"Phew," he said, setting down his burden and rolling his aching arms. "This is just like that secret training the coach put me through in summer camp."

"Thank you for going to the trouble, Kagami-kun," said Akashi. "We really appreciate it."

"Er… no problem," muttered Kagami. It was weird to be thanked by a guy who had formerly thought of himself as 'the absolute'.

"Tired, Taiga?" smiled Himuro. "We made dinner. Gratitude for putting us up."

Kagami stared at the spread. "Whoa. You made this?"

"Everyone pitched in."

Kagami looked at him in shock. "Even Aomine and Murasakibara?"

"Don't bother hiding your amazement," said Aomine.

"Aomine helped us… with the shopping," said Himuro. "So did Atsushi."

"Murasakibara-kun helped by refraining from eating everyone's share," said Kuroko.

"Which means I've earned double helpings," said Murasakibara.

"No, Atsushi. But you can have more yogurt afterwards."

"…Fine."

They tucked in to their savoury meal. The okonomomiyaki was cooked to perfection. No one could find any criticism for the meal, except perhaps for the loud munching noises coming from Murasakibara's tirelessly-moving mouth.

"Murasakibara-cchi, you're embarrassing me," groaned Kise. "Can't you eat more like a human?"

"That's like asking you to stop Copying people," pointed out Aomine.

"Shin-chan, what's it like to taste the cabbage you sliced with your own hands?" asked Takao eagerly.

"It's good nanodayo," said Midorima indifferently. "Akashi knew what he was doing."

"Kise and Kuroko laid the table for us too," Himuro told Kagami.

"Well, I wanted to help, but the minute I had my back turned to get the utensils, Kuroko-cchi had already set everything," laughed Kise. "It was just like magic."

"You know what's magic? The fact that Murasakibara finished his food five minutes before we started talking," said Aomine.

"You mean it's a curse," said Kise, wincing when he saw Murasakibara's clean plate. "Wait – so what was all that chewing just now?"

"Gum… " said Murasakibara lazily. "Muro-chin said it helps to stave off the hunger."

Takao chortled. Meanwhile, Himuro stood up.

"All done?" he enquired. "Great. I'll start on the dishes."

"Do you need a hand?" asked Kuroko.

"I'd appreciate that. Thanks, Kuroko."

"It's funny. I thought I'd be sleepy after a good meal, but I'm wide awake," mused Aomine.

"Maybe it's a sign," said Kise.

"That, or the fact that it's half past seven nanodayo," said Midorima.

As if Kise's words were a cue, the doorbell rang at that moment.

"Were you expecting guests?" asked Akashi, turning to look at Kagami, who shook his head, looking puzzled, and went to answer the door.

Even from the back, Akashi could see Kagami's jaw drop; standing in front of him after he'd opened the door, was the most unlikely group – Hyuuga, Izuki, Kasamatsu, Miyaji and Wakamatsu.

"Uh…" uttered Kagami. "Mind telling me what brings you here at this hour?"

"We know you swapped," said Izuki, sounding a little breathless.

No one saw the light smile form on Akashi's face; they were too busy gaping at the visitors.

Kagami stared at Izuki blankly. "You… know…?"

"We kind of overheard you talking," explained Miyaji. "Back at the changing room."

"The door was open," added Kasamatsu. "The five of us, plus the Rakuzans, were summoned by the coaches for a pep talk. That's when we heard what you were saying. After that, the coaches didn't have a choice but to tell us the truth."

"You mean the part where I was talking about tomorrow being our last chance to shuffle ourselves back," said Akashi, striding over to the doorway.

All eyes were on him now.

"Akashi?" said Hyuuga.

"That's me," nodded Akashi. "Why don't you come in?"