Soo this is the first part of a gift fic for the fabulous and wonderfully talented KNBSnklover who you guys should totally go check out as her stuff for KnB is absolutely amazing and she is an absolutely fantastic person herself so yeah...
Here is my attempt at her prompts of, of course, AkaKuro, and also 'island'. The island part may be a bit ambiguous but it's kind of there in spirit I suppose. Also this somehow turned into a GoM x Kuroko platonic thing but the AkaKuro is definitely #1!
My first time actually writing for KnB and posting it so please be kind. I probably could've made this more of a longer story but I feel like this comes in, says what it wants to say, and then throws itself back out the door. I hope you enjoy! Feedback is always appreciated and definitely look for more KnB from me in the future!
Have a very Merry Christmas!
Disclaimer: I don't own KnB.
~(*)~
When Kuroko first opens his eyes, he finds himself alone on a train.
It takes him a moment to slowly regain control of his senses as his fingers clench slightly on the red velvet armrests of the seat he was sitting on, his blue eyes taking in the luxurious compartment he was in. This was obviously a first-class section of the train: the entire compartment was brightly and warmly lit, the seats were large and cushy, covered in red velvet. The floor was covered with a thick red carpet that his shoes sink into as he slowly rises from his seat and moves to stand in the middle of the aisle, glancing up and down to either side of the compartment. There was nobody there. The floor beneath Kuroko suddenly sways slightly, forcing him to grab onto the nearest headrest for support. Leaning over the closest seat, he pushes open the crimson velvet curtains with gold trim, pulling the heavy fabric back in order to look outside. However, instead of being greeted with some kind of scenery, all Kuroko sees is a milky whiteness, a fog so thick that it defies penetration. He can feel the train moving beneath him, but there is no way you could tell from looking out the window. Staring out into the nothingness, he begins to be concerned that he was becoming blind himself so he quickly lets the curtain fall closed and steps back where he stands as still as he can, blue eyes focused straight ahead of him as he tells himself to take a deep breath.
The thing is, he can't remember ever getting on a train.
Kuroko thinks of the reasons why he should never have found himself in a place such as this. One, his family could never afford a first-class seat like these ones. Two, he had no one to visit who lived far enough away to warrant a train ride. This whole situation did not make much sense.
But Kuroko realizes that he wasn't panicked at all which sounds a bit strange to him as it probably would've made sense to be a little off-put by this turn of events. And yet, he remains perfectly calm, albeit a bit curious.
So, without sparing another glance out the covered windows, Kuroko makes his way down the aisle in the direction the train is travelling and slowly reaches for the handle that would slide the door to the next compartment open. As Kuroko opens the door, the sounds of the moving train assault his ears, the din only amplifying as the door slides shut behind him, leaving him in a shaking, grey, metal space that resounds with the noise of spinning wheels that hiss along steel tracks. Kuroko hurriedly steps forward and opens the next door, stepping through and letting the door trap the sounds behind it.
The first thing Kuroko notices about the next compartment is that it is entirely devoid of seats but for one in the very middle that differs from the relatively normal seats in the previous compartment. This seat resembles more of a throne than any train seat he had seen before, gold-engravings, rich velvet and all. The next thing he notices is that this section is much darker than the other room as well. In fact, the only source of light seems to come from the far right corner of the compartment where the curtains across half of the windows there had been thrown open, heavily shadowing the room in a milky-white light. It was there, standing in front of the windows, hands behind his back, staring out into the fog, that Kuroko sees him.
The young man has short, vibrantly red hair and as he slowly turns his head as Kuroko walks into the room, he sees that he also has very peculiar eyes: one is almost as red as his hair while the other one, his left eye, shines gold in the milky light coming through the window. Kuroko doesn't know who he is.
"Do you know where you are right now?" The other boy asks after a moment of tense silence wherein Kuroko had simply stared back into those strange eyes.
"No, I don't really…" Kuroko slowly says, watching as the slightest flicker of something goes through the other's eyes though he remains silent, continuing to regard Kuroko coolly from his spot beside the train window. Half of his face is shadowed, only the slightest glint of red coming from the side in darkness, while his gold eye seems to shine all the brighter with the almost ethereal light streaming through the window. "…Where am I?" Kuroko finally asks, as it doesn't seem as if he was going to get any explanation otherwise.
"This is my train," the other person promptly responds. "You cannot get off unless I say so." Kuroko frowns ever-so-slightly, trying his best to meet those cool eyes straight on.
"But I need to get off. I was on my way to do…something…" Kuroko trails off and drops his eyes to stare at the red carpet beneath his feet, his eyebrows scrunching slightly together. What had he been doing before this? Why couldn't he remember?
"That's not how things work around here." The cool assurance in the other's tone makes Kuroko raise his head back up. "You will get where and when you need to go, but you must do it my way."
Kuroko shifts his feet slightly as he finds he can't look away from the heterochromatic eyes. "Who are you?" He finally asks. The question makes the other boy's body finally turn away from the window to fully face him, creating a being that was entirely half shadow and half light. A small smile crosses his lips though his eyes remain cool.
"That is something for you to remember, Tetsuya."
With that, Kuroko's mind is suddenly covered by a wave of quiet blackness that makes him fall unconscious, the last thing he remembers being a sharp pain echoing through his head.
~(*)~
Kuroko is awakened by the feeling of someone frantically shaking him, which slightly aggravates the dull pain that is still reverberating through his head. He opens his eyes, squinting as they meet with bright, warm lights. He seems to be in the same compartment he had started out in, once again sitting in one of the seats.
"Oh, Kurokocchi you're awake. I was so worried about you!" Kuroko suddenly feels someone cling onto him and he realizes that that someone had been kneeling beside him, shaking him awake. Kuroko looks down at the blond head that is currently planted against his arm, reassuring themselves that he was okay.
"I'm fine," Kuroko says, ignoring the headache and smoothly drawing back his arm as if he has done it a thousand times. The fact that this person had called him by such a strange nickname also didn't escape his notice.
"I'm so glad," the man says, finally looking up at Kuroko with a blazing smile and warm golden eyes. Some part of Kuroko is hit with a jolt of recognition but his overarching confusion must be giving him away as the man smiles and gets to his feet, straightening the white dress shirt and black bowtie he's wearing.
"I apologize for my momentary loss of composure," he says, looking down at Kuroko with a winning smile and bowing a little. "I am the host on this train so it is my job to make sure that you are totally satisfied and comfortable. Though I also can do most every other job here whenever someone needs a sick day. So I suppose I'm more of a jack-of-all-trades. Anyways, are you? Satisfied and comfortable, I mean?"
Kuroko blinks up at the bright man as random images flash through his mind; blue and gold and flawless copies. "Yes, thank you," he says, though the reply is immediate and almost a muscle memory. He pauses for a moment, his hands tightening on the armrests. "Actually…who was that man with the red hair that I was just talking with? He said that he was the owner of this train."
The young man's golden eyes widen in shock, his mouth opening in dismay. "You don't know him?! Do you know me?" He demands, sounding very distressed at the prospect, his fear shining right through his expressive eyes.
Kuroko is on the verge of saying that he has no idea who he is when all of a sudden, the small flashes that had been dancing around in his mind come together in a clear picture. It's him, the one that some used to call the "copycat".
"…Kise-kun." With that simple word, Kise's entire face lights up.
"Kurokocchi remembers me! Oh, I'm so happy!" However, though Kuroko can remember his name, he honestly can't yet place why he knows it. It's almost as if someone had shown him a picture of Kise and told him "This is Kise Ryouta. Remember his name." Beyond that, there was nothing there.
"But who is that other man?" Kuroko persists in his questioning. "There's something…strange about him. Something that I shouldn't have forgotten." Kuroko stares evenly up at Kise who opens his mouth to respond, his warm eyes becoming slightly sadder. Kise is about to answer when he suddenly jumps, his head snapping around as if he heard a voice yelling at him, though Kuroko hears nothing but the faint sound of metal rushing along metal beneath them.
"Sorry, Kurokocchi," Kise says, stepping slowly backwards and giving Kuroko a small smile. "You should continue on to the next car now." And the next time that Kuroko blinks, Kise disappears.
~(*)~
The next compartment on the train is strange in a couple of different ways, the main ones being the impressive number knickknacks covering the shelves that took up one whole wall, ranging from a variety of snow globes to a veritable mountain of stuffed animals. There's also the strangeness of the large amount of clocks that cover the three remaining walls, all simultaneously ticking away the seconds one after the other.
Sitting behind a desk to his left, Kuroko sees a green-haired man writing something on a white piece of paper, holding a pen in his left hand though his long, slender fingers are meticulously wrapped in white bandages. Kuroko can't help but notice that the index finger on his right hand is keeping perfect time with the passing of the seconds as decreed by the clocks on the walls.
As Kuroko slowly approaches the desk, the man looks up and ceases to write, revealing sharp green eyes behind black-rimmed glasses that he pushes up higher on his nose with one finger.
"Ah, Kuroko. You are right on time." Kuroko doesn't respond, continuing to look at the other man, blue eyes steady, his mind trying to come up with a name. He was so close…those glasses, those bandages, the stuffed animals…The other person smirks slightly as he watches Kuroko struggling to remember who he is. "Akashi told me you would be coming soon." Akashi…
"Midorima-kun."
The smirk on Midorima's face slowly softens into a slight smile. "That took you less time than what I predicted." Midorima reaches into the pocket of his black vest and pulls out a gold pocket watch, flipping it open even though the walls are literally covered with clocks. "However, as I am the conductor, it's my job to make sure this train arrives, wherever it may be going, on time. And you and I both have somewhere different to be." He closes the pocket watch and stands up, running his non-bandaged hand through his green hair.
Kuroko's fists clench ever-so-slightly by his sides as he is still reeling from Midorima's use of that name as he knows exactly who it belongs to. How he knows this, however, still remains a mystery. "Akashi. That's him." Kuroko takes a step towards Midorima. "Please, you must tell me. What is wrong with him?"
Midorima's eyes narrow slightly behind his glasses. "He is never wrong…At least never when he is as he is now." Midorima steps out from behind the desk and stares down at Kuroko. "You need to keep trying to remember him, Kuroko. You need to remember both of them." And just like that, Midorima, too, disappears from the room, leaving Kuroko to sigh and reach up to massage his forehead, trying to rub away the headache that hasn't gone away.
~(*)~
The next car over is dark, smoky and almost unbelievably warm. He's apparently found the engine car, judging from the mountain of coals piled up next to a steadily burning furnace and the mass of bronze pipes that wind around the room. The flickering firelight only barely lights up the room so that, at first, Kuroko thinks he is alone. He soon sees, however, a man sitting slumped in the darkest corner, apparently fast asleep. His thin t-shirt is soaked through with sweat and his tanned skin is almost glistening with the sweat that's beading up on his forehead. A shovel is propped up against the wall beside him, sticking into a pile of coals, apparently abandoned in the middle of work. It seems he's found the stoker.
Kuroko gently puts a hand on the man's broad shoulder and shakes him until he finally slowly blinks open one eye which regards Kuroko blearily.
"Huh…? Oh, it's you Tetsu." The guy yawns loudly and raises his arms over his head, stretching like a feline, before settling back against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest.
"Aren't you supposed to be shovelling coals?" Kuroko asks, squatting down in front of the bigger boy so he can look him in the eyes. But the boy just shrugs, apparently still half-asleep.
"It's all working fine without me right now. There's no point in getting myself all tired out for nothing." Kuroko frowns slightly, an uneasy feeling of déjà-vu twisting in his stomach.
"If you're really the one that keeps the train moving, Aomine-kun," Kuroko firmly says, reaching out to grab the shovel lying next to him, the name coming to mind and rolling off of his tongue effortlessly, "then you have to work hard for the sake of not only yourself but also for everyone else." With that, Kuroko hands Aomine the shovel and stands up.
To his surprise, Aomine merely looks at the shovel in his hands and then looks up at Kuroko with a broad grin on his face.
"Thanks, Tetsu. I'll keep shovelling. You should keep going, though. Akashi is waiting." Akashi…that name brought back the images of the man he'd seen with that strange expression in his equally strange eyes.
However, even as Kuroko takes a step back as Aomine gets to his feet, the lights and shadows caused by the flickering firelight begin to melt together in a kaleidoscope that intensifies the pain in his head as his world goes, once again, black.
~(*)~
"Kuro-chin~" This time when Kuroko comes to, it's different. For one, he is in what looks to be the dining car, seated at a small red booth in one corner. Secondly – and this is the largest difference – he isn't surprised in the least to see a hulking, purple-headed individual looming over him.
"Here," the man – who is apparently the chef if his white suit is anything to go by – says, handing Kuroko a soft drink cup with a lid and a straw. "This will make you feel better." Kuroko takes a tentative sip from the cup but his expression visibly relaxes as his taste buds encounter a very familiar and pleasant taste. A vanilla shake.
"Thank you very much, Murasakibara-kun," Kuroko says gratefully, continuing to contentedly sip his drink as the hulking giant slides into the seat across from him and begins to munch on a sack of potato chips he's procured from his pocket.
Somewhere along the line, all of these familiar faces had begun to rewire the part of his mind that Kuroko had temporarily lost. Memories suddenly come rushing back of middle school with all of these talented basketball players and then high school with Seirin and Kagami, these same rainbow-haired people becoming his opponents on the court. How could he have forgotten basketball? It's almost ridiculous to think about now. Basketball is such a big part of who he is, as a person: the shadow. However, even as these memories come rushing back along with the cool sweetness of the vanilla shake, there is one constant darkness over it all: in these memories, there is always a lingering shadowy figure present in the background that presides over everything and Kuroko knows that this is Akashi. He has forgotten something important and he knows that he won't be able to rest until he remembers.
The two of them sit together eating in companionable silence for quite a while, Kuroko continuously pondering his newly-returned memories in his head as his headache begins to slowly subside, and Murasakibara devouring his bag of chips. This continues until Murasakibara suddenly cocks his head at a sound that Kuroko can't hear.
"Muro – Someone's calling me, Kuro-chin," Murasakibara says, slowly getting up from his seat and wiping his oily and salty hands on the front of his chef's outfit before putting one large hand on top of Kuroko's head and patting his light blue hair. "Go on. They're waiting for you."
They…Kuroko thinks as Murasakibara vanishes in the blink of an eye, leaving Kuroko to finish the remains of his vanilla shake all alone.
~(*)~
The car that Kuroko steps into next is the same one as the one he had been in when he first saw Akashi, only now all of the curtains on the right-hand side of the car were thrown open – Kuroko once again ascertaining that they were still travelling through a sea of whiteness – and now, Akashi was sitting on his throne.
"…Akashi-kun," Kuroko quietly says when Akashi doesn't say anything, allowing himself to be trapped by the heterochromatic eyes.
"Come closer, Tetsuya," Akashi finally says, his voice mild and yet persuading Kuroko's feet to move as Kuroko represses a small shiver caused by how he said his name. "You have been asking about me. What would you have me do?"
Kuroko takes a deep breath, having found no air in his windpipe when he remembered to breathe. "How do I get off of this train?" The red-and-gold eyes suddenly flash and before Kuroko realizes what is happening, his knees buckle and he falls to the ground at the base of the throne.
"I'm afraid that you cannot leave, Tetsuya," Akashi states, staring down at Kuroko with half a smile creeping across his lips. "Although this is my train and though I may control every single thing here from the gears in the wheels to the steam in the engine, I cannot make this train stop. That is for you to do." And as Kuroko stares up from that prostrate position at the Emperor on his throne that still cannot help him and who tells Kuroko that this is something only he can do, Kuroko remembers and the realization of what this is hits him like a wave of ice-cold water.
"This isn't real…" Kuroko murmurs, his voice sounding small to his own ears even as his lips form an almost non-existent, sad smile.
Akashi's expression suddenly freezes. "What do you remember?" He whispers.
Kuroko reaches up as a sharp pang streaks through just behind his eyes, rubbing his temples. "We beat you…you came back…you came back to me." The pain coupled with the memories make Kuroko's voice even quieter. Kuroko forces himself to look back just in time to see Akashi's one golden eye, the one on the half of his face that is touched by the ethereal white light, turns red to match the right one before his very eyes. The Emperor Eye becomes red once more.
"And?" Akashi demands, his voice becoming urgent as he leans down bringing his face closer to Kuroko's. "And?"
"…Years. It's been years. We were…happy." Kuroko hunches over, his hands clutching his head as his mind is pierced with excruciating agony. The words come faster now. "It's Christmas, you're coming to visit on the train. I'm supposed to meet you at the station, it's dark, the snow is falling, I'm crossing the street and -"
Gentle fingers slowly cup Kuroko's cheeks, tilting his head up to meet Akashi's gaze. Kuroko is almost overwhelmed to see a thin layer of tears covering Akashi's eyes. He slowly draws a thumb gently across Kuroko's lips before leaning down even further. "It's your turn now, Tetsuya," he whispers against his mouth. "Come back to me…"
~(*)~
Kuroko awakens slowly to an incessant beeping noise close to his head. He seems to be staring up at a ceiling that isn't his own and his eyes slowly follow a clear tube that's dangling above his head to an IV drip just off to the side. A hospital. Makes sense. He was just in an accident.
Kuroko can't shake the feeling that he's just woken up from a very strange but very real dream. However, his attempts to lose the feeling stop as soon as his eyes travel around the rest of the room. Just outside, in the hallway, through the glass windows, Kuroko can see the whole of Seirin on chairs in the waiting room along with a few other basketball players that he has played before. And, spread out across the small, private room are five heads with hair all the colours of the rainbow, their owners all fast asleep in their chairs. Kuroko doesn't know how they all got here but he has never felt so lucky in all his life. And, sitting slumped on a chair right beside his hospital bed, arms and head resting on the edge of bed, is the brightest, warmest red hair in existence. Kuroko smiles to himself, thinking about the train that probably doesn't really run on real tracks as he reaches out slowly with his good arm (his other one being held immobile in a cast) and gently runs his fingers through Akashi's feather-soft hair, a small sigh escaping his lips.
Akashi stirs and then jerks his head up to stare at Kuroko with two wide cherry eyes. With an expression of joy that Kuroko has honestly never seen before on Akashi's face, the captain of the Generation of Miracles takes Kuroko's hand in his own and kisses it tenderly, lovingly, as if he'd never let it go again. Kuroko squeezes Akashi's hand tightly, not wanting to look away from his own miracle.
"…I came back."
Thanks for reading!
(Also cheesy title is indeed cheesy but that's Christmas for ya. Also there's an anime with the same name if you wanna see a bunch of bishies that are the embodiment of Tokyo subway stations interact with each other. It's great)