Title: Aomine's Line of Thinking

Characters/Pairing: Aomine/Momoi, Kuroko Tetsuya, Aomine Daiki

Summary: It was weird. He really expected that out of all the people he knew, Aomine would be the one to love manga like these. Even more peculiar was the fact that the best answer the man could come up with as to why he didn't like it was Momoi's name.

Notes: Did this for Challenge 72 on The Basketball Poet's Society. Hope you like it! :) And anybody got any ideas why my dashes (I use them for line breaks) disappear once I upload the docx file? D:

The scenery outside the window blurred itself as the train whizzed by. Calm, afternoon light managed to pass through and came resting on the side of Aomine Daiki's head. His face was angled to the right as his dark blue eyes stared at the window, expectantly waiting for something interesting to look at. His long arms were bare as they lay on top of the slim backrest and his even longer pants-covered legs were stretched out before him.

He sighed and turned his attention to the Nike shoes donning his crossed feet instead. They were simple dark green low-cut ones that exposed his grey ankle socks.

'Good shoes,' he thought. 'A nice color too.' And that was that, before he was back to basking in boredom again.

He was actually on his way to Kise's 'going-away' beach party. The blonde was going to America to immediately pursue basketball over there, alongside Kagami who was going to help him find a place and settle in. He was doing quite well in supporting himself with the money he earned and will continue to earn from modelling. It was unfair to University students like Aomine who had to study some more before getting anywhere.

That lucky bastard.

And why did that bastard choose a beach that was somewhat far anyway?

The train was quiet as he looked around. He could hear the air conditioner humming and the subtle turning of a page from his left. His eyed widened as he stared at the person sitting beside him.

Tsk. He had forgotten that Kuroko was with him! Years have passed and yet he still gets caught up by the blue-haired man's lack of presence. It was irritating and yet comfortably familiar, which was actually a weird feeling by itself.

"Hey," Aomine called out and looked at what the other boy is reading. "What is that?"

"A manga," replied Tetsu plainly. His finger thumbed the edge of the page and turned to the next one.

After rolling his eyes at his old teammate's tone, Aomine drawled out, "Of course it is, Tetsu. But what is it about?"

As he scanned the current page they were on, he suddenly noticed the blushing woman with an upturned skirt somewhere in the left page. She looked about as surprised as Aomine was.

"Eh?" He exclaimed incredously. "You're reading an Ecchi manga?"

This was new. He knew that Tetsu liked to read –be it manga or novel –but it was not to his knowledge that his longtime friend was into this type and so he was genuinely taken aback. His longtime so-called friend did not seem to want to bother with a reply. Nonetheless, he prodded for one until it was given.

"Yes, Aomine-kun. It is an Ecchi manga and it is actually quite funny. I recommend that you read it some time."

Aomine's brows furrowed as a haughty "Hm!" escaped him. A disgruntled look came across his face as he considered this. He never exactly liked manga like those. Sure, they were funny –sometimes –but the way the girls were drawn bothered him.

At his sudden silence and unresponsiveness, his companion stopped reading and looked at him. His curiosity was evident as he tilted his head to the side, light-colored eyes shining with a question.

"Aomine-kun, you don't like manga like this? I thought that you would be the one to enjoy Ecchi manga the most."

"Yeah, it surprised me too," he said with a light laugh. "Anyway, the girls in it bothered me. Still do, actually."

"Really?" Tetsu looked surprised. Probably because girls in Ecchi manga were actually drawn really well. It was mainly the hook to lure the readers, and yet this was the very same reason that repelled Aomine. "Why? Could it be that they were not realistic enough for you?"

It wasn't that. The last time Aomine Daiki ever read an Ecchi was back in high school, because well –it was high school. At first he didn't know what exactly about it grated on his nerves. What's there not to like? It made him laugh –sometimes –and was full of girls 'accidentally' showing something off. Plus, more often than not, they had big boobs! Dismissing it as mere pickiness, he read on.

It took him a few chapters and a light-haired female character getting her ass and tits stared at during a P.E. class to realize just why he didn't like it.

"Not that! It's just that..." He trailed off and let his statement hang in the air. It was at this point that Tetsu closed his book and gave him his undivided attention.

"What is it, Aomine-kun?"

"They remind me of Satsuki because they all sort of look like Satsuki."

"So? What's wrong with that? Momoi-san is a very pretty girl. She might even be able to inspire an author to write or draw something like this."

Aomine's shoulders slightly went up as he fixed a frustrated frown at Tetsu to show that he reallydidn't get it. "Isn't that the problem? 'Cause it's Satsuki,Tetsu. Satsuki! It's weird!" He explained helplessly.

The deadpan eyes of Tetsu bore at his own in reply and askance; "Do you think Momoi-san is ugly?"

He groaned in exasperation and shook his head. He racked his brain for words on how to verbalize what was bothering him, because no, Satsuki is not by any means ugly. She had a good-looking face and seriously, have you seen that rack? Moreover, have you seen her and what she does? Because Aomine has, for quite a very, very long time now. And ugly was definitely not on his list of words to describe Momoi Satsuki.

Not that she'd know that, of course.

Tetsu stared at his friend's conflicted face. It was weird. He really expected that out of all the people he knew, Aomine would be the one to love manga like these. Even more peculiar was the fact that the best answer the man could come up with as to why he didn't like it was Momoi's name. He knew that they were still very close. But what did that have to with manga?

Was it that maybe he'd rather imagine Momoi in a different setting? One wherein she is teased even more? Or maybe it was the opposite...

Would he have liked to imagine Momoi in a romantic setting?

With all of his years knowing the two childhood friends, Tetsu couldn't say that he'd be surprised if the two decided to pursue a romantic relationship with each other. In fact, he'd even go as far as to say it's about time for the blurred lines between them to go and—

A sudden low mumble interrupted his thoughts. He didn't understand anything from that. At all. "Sorry Aomine-kun, but what did you say?"

"Maybe it just kinda, sorta bothers me to imagine Satsuki being treated like those common Ecchi manga girls, you know? Like getting groped and shit." mumbled a weird small voice coming from the normally loud and aggressive Aomine who was presently looking away from him while scratching his neck.

With a small chuckle, it was at this that Tetsu kinda, sorta understood.

Satsuki looked like a generic, peeped-at girl from an Ecchi manga.

But she was absolutely not 'generic'. She's an extremely good analyst and she loved basketball with all her heart. She can give you a play by play of the next opponent or maybe even the way they might improve in a game and she'll do it with charts and graphs or color-coded notes. She can't cook to save her life but she would try to do it with all the good intentions she can muster, as long as it's for someone she cares about. She always likes to help her friends in any way she can; she'll update herself with how they're doing, watch their games, take care of them and support them thoroughly with everything she's got.

Especially her childhood one.

Yeah, most definitely that one.

And said childhood friend has probably had his own share of unpleasant conflicts against some of Satsuki's more perverted followers.

Satsuki looked like a generic, peeped-at girl from an Ecchi manga.

But she was so, so much more than that.

And this weird, tall, basketball nut sitting beside Kuroko knew that.

...Perhaps even more than anyone else.

And when you follow that line of thinking, it's not really that hard to understand why Aomine didn't like Ecchi manga.

Fin