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Vegetables

"Wooow! Murasakibara-cchi! That looks delicious!" Kise said at the sight of the food spread over the dining table.

"Domo," Murasakibara said, "It's mostly just vegetables though since we're out of groceries,"

"I'll go shop for groceries after dinner," Midorima said, "Where's Aomine and Tetsuya?"

"Here!" Aomine said, Tetsuya in his arms. "Sorry, Tetsu and I washed out hands first before eating,"

"Hmm? I didn't know you wash your hands, Aomine-cchi," Kise said.

"Oi, I wash my hands too you know," Aomine said then scratched his nape. "Just not that often,"

"Ne, Ne, Tetsuya-cchi! Come sit with me," Kise said.

"Are you kidding? Tetsu's going to sit with me, right Tetsu?" Aomine said.

"But Tetsuya-cchi and I are friends now, so he'll be sitting next to me," Kise said.

"Well we were friends first, Baka-Kise," Aomine glared.

"What was that, Aho-mine?!" Kise yelled.

"Stop it," Midorima growled, immediately silencing the two quarreling idiots. "Let Tetsuya decide where to sit,"

Aomine grumbled something about Kise being an idiot and Midorima being a kill joy, but no one seem to hear him except himself. He put Tetsuya down who looked up at them with his big, innocent eyes.

"So, Tetsuya," Midorima said, "Where would you like to sit?"

"Ne, here are some more if it's not enough," Murasakibara said as he placed a plateful of dinner.

Tetsuya walked towards the violet-haired chef giant and gripped his pants tightly.

"Arre?" Murasakibara said, "What is it Tetsu-cchin?"

"No fair," Kise whined.

"He must've remembered Murasakibara offering him a maiubo when he first arrived here," Midorima said.

"Up you go," Murasakibara said, putting Tetsuya down on a chair next to his. "Ne, Tetsu-cchin is so small. He should eat his vegetables to help him grow,"

Tetsuya's already pale face, paled some more upon hearing what Murasakibara said and he immediately covered his mouth with both his hands and shut his eyes tight.

"Arre? You don't eat vegetables, Tetsu-cchin?" Murasakibara asked.

"Ne, that's not good, Tetsuya-cchi," Kise said, helping himself with dinner. "You have to eat your vegetables if you want to grow strong,"

Aomine nodded. "You'll be able to play basketball and be strong if you eat your vegetables," he said.

"If you eat your vegetables, you won't get sick easily," Midorima said.

"Ne, Tetsu-cchin," Murasakibara called, holding a spoon at Tetsuya with a small brocolli in it. "If you eat this and finish your dinner, I promse to buy you more snacks in the future,"

Tetsuya looked at Murasakibara for a long time before removing his hands from his mouth and ate the brocolli.

"Wow, bribery always works, huh?" Aomine said.

"Ne, doesn't it taste good, Tetsu-cchin?" Murasakibara said.

Though Tetsuya nodded, he didn't display any kind of pleasure towards the green vegetable. But with the promise of snacks, he endured the disgusting taste and finished his dinner.

"Will you look at that," Aomine said, looking over Tetsuya's plate. "He really did finished it,"

"Children are really weak when it comes to snacks," Kise said.

"Arre?" Murasakibara said as he looked through his jar of snacks. "My maiubo's ran out,"

Devastated, Tetsuya looked up at Murasakibara, tears forming at the corner of his eyes.

"Ne, Tetsu-cchin, don't worry," Murasakibara said, "We'll buy some more. Midorin, would you mind if I do the groceries myself? I also need to buy some snacks,"

"Not at all," Midorima said, "But wait, are you taking Tetsuya with you?"

Murasakibara nodded. "I'll just be quick so he won't get cold," he said.

"Take care, Murasakibara-cchi!" Kise said after he helped Tetsuya put his coat and hat on before leaving.

***

"Hmm... let's see," Murasakibara said as he checked over the vegetable station. Tetsuya sitting down on the cart and stared at Murasakibara.

"Atsushi?" A voice called, causing Murasakibara to look back.

"Oh? Himuro-cchin," Murasakibara said.

"Doing your groceries?" Tatsuya Himuro, Murasakibara's former high school basketball teammate.

Murasakibara nodded. "We're out of supplies at home," he said.

"Hmm?" Himuro said, seeing Tetsuya. "And who's this?"

"Tetsu-cchin," Murasakibara said, "Aka-cchin's brother,"

"I didn't know Akashi-kun had a brother," Himuro said then smiled at Tetsuya. "Domo, it's nice to meet you Tetsuya-chan,"

Tetsuya looked at Himuro then at Murasakibara.

"Not much of a talker, huh?" Himuro said.

"Aka-cchin said that he suffered trauma, disabling him from speaking," Murasakibara said. "We haven't heard his voice either,"

"I see," Himuro said.

"By the way, how is your brother... Kagami?" Murasakibara asked.

"Oh, he's fine. Still a rookie at the NBA, you know how it is," Himuro said.

Tetsuya reached up and grabbed Murasakibara's sleeves, gripping on it.

"Hmm? What is it Tetsu-cchin?" Murasakibara asked.

Tetsuya pointed ahead where they saw the candy isle.

"Oh right, I promised, didn't I?" Murasakibara said.

"Promised?" Himuro asked.

"Well, I promised Tetsu-cchin that I'll give him some of my snacks if he ate his vegetables earlier during dinner," Murasakibara said then sighed. "This is troublesome,"

Himuro chuckled. "I didn't know you can share your snacks, Atsushi,"

"Only for today," Murasakibara said.

"Then, I'll be going now," Atsushi said, "Say hello to the guys for me, will you?"

"Haaai," Murasakibara said and they went on with their different ways.

When Himuro looked back, he saw Murasakibara lifting Tetsuya up to his shoulder which delighted the little boy.

Himuro smiled at the sight. "You've grown, Atsushi," he whispered.