Akari: I have no words. Really. I don't know what to say right now. Just, inspired by three series of books that I wrote this out. I don't even know myself anymore.

Summary: Stripped off from their families and friends, two boys are forced into a death game. With the maze unsolved, creatures lurking around the corner, and people driven mad by a decease, the clock is ticking. Can both of them solve the maze with a couple of new found friends before competition becomes priority. Survival is essential. And hope of escaping hangs on a single thread.

Genre: Adventure, horror, mystery, romance, friendship.

Disclaimer: Don't own Kuroko no Basuke. If I do, *grins* you don't want to know. (YAOI! XD)

The Trials

Chapter 1 Take Me Back

Kuroko internally groaned as he shifted uncomfortably, his eyes fluttered opened, cold darkness welcoming him. He sat up, moaning when his body protested. He glanced around, frantically searching for light, but he only saw an endless tomb. If it wasn't for some drug—because the dizziness was overwhelming—he would have panicked like a squealing pig that witnessed a butcher coming right at him. Crossing his legs together, he shook his head, slapping his cheeks to focus, no point freaking out in a box. Was he in a box?

There was the soft rattling of chains, squealing gears beneath him and the thunks of metal clashing together. He tapped the floor and traced four corners of walls, confirming his suspicious that nothing was getting out nor in with this metal junk in his way. By his judgement, he guessed the box he was trapped in was no bigger than a bed, but he was still able to pace around frustratingly, stomping his feet loudly to let whoever was out there he wasn't please.

Recalling back, he was walking back home after a couple of hours working on an assignment with a friend when he heard the screeching of tires from a van. Caught off guard by the noise, five well-built men in black suits jumped on him, pinning him down. He struggled and almost slipped away with his low presence until a woman exited from the driver's seat and knocked him out with a cloth over his nose, probably drugged him into sleep. Then, he woke up in this stupid dump with no absolute idea where he was. Was this prison? He kicked the walls. Hard.

"Ouch!" He yelped, massaging his foot as he backtracked a couple of steps, wary of the wall being solid incased like a cage. "If this is some kind of joke, I don't like it one bit," he murmured to himself, sure that no one in particular was listening to his rants. If someone was, he'd love to annoy the heck of them, being as difficult as possible.

Sighing, he dropped down by a corner and rested his head on the wall, feeling every nerve tingled in anticipation and horror. He was surprised how calm and collected he felt. Being trapped in darkness with no possible evidence that light would shed on him, the uneasy feeling of being away from his family. His parents and his sister and his siberian husky dog. The four most dearest to him. Far away. With no hope of contacting them or letting them know he was alright, at least he thought so. "Hope that Yuki-nee is feeding Nigou," he blurted out, finding words to replace the emptiness in him, but his train of thought stopped, cutting off.

And there went the loneliness swarming around him.

Holding on the last thread of sanity, he drifted off, hoping that all this was a nightmare.

Akashi glared menacingly at the wall in front of him, determined that that was the exit out of this box. He scanned the whole area, thinking that someone would put trapdoors or hints, but he only managed to confirm a few things. One, he was locked in a box with no light. Two, whoever put him here must be desperate, because the walls were perfectly shaped and steeled like a prison for a sea of sharks. Jaws would have break from the momentum and boy, how he hated to think that the sharks would weep like a baby. Three, the box was connected to gears and chains, meaning transportation was easy.

And four…

"There is no escape," he admitted, saying it out loud.

How did he wake up in the middle of a box? Much less when? Skimming through thoughts, he remembered helping his father finished up some papers and participated in a few interviews with his father's colleagues on some business discussion about the company's future. Then had a little talk with his mother about looking for a future bride. Apparently, she was being repulsive over his decision on staying single, running his father's company as the sole heir. His sister giving advice on actually looking at some guys or girls, someone he could be with in the future. But no matter what, it was still his decision to make.

He couldn't see how he could look at anyone when his future was already set. Being a successor to the most influence and biggest corporation was enough. Why go through the trouble of dragging him down? Sure, it might be a little bit lonely in his days and stress might consumed him with no one beside him. Brushing the matter away, he exhaled, dropping down on a graceful manner. He didn't want to even think about it.

Back to the topic. After everything had happened, he went for stroll to clear his mind. He was aware of people following him before they attacked him, around five well-built men in black suits. He defended off the attacks easily, but before he could register anything else, some chick sprayed sleeping gas onto his face. He collapsed and managed to overhear a bit of what they were saying. Something about 'being out of time' or 'his toughness ain't going to last long during the Trials'. Whatever that meant, but at least he had a clue that he was going to be involved in something big, and he wouldn't like it.

Just then, gears and chains started running in a frenzy. He pressed his hands over his ears, afraid it might deafened him, but the sound only intensified. He heard hinges being clicked off, safety locks turned off as the box zoomed upwards. He held onto the wall, eyes still not adjusted to the darkness. His mind spun, feet dug into the concrete floor as he maintained his balance. Finally, a burst of energy exploded from the box as the thing lurked forward into a stop, throwing him to the other end of the wall. His back aching from the impact.

Kuroko shuddered as the thing lurked into a stop, his body huddled in a corner, hands still pressed onto his ears to shut out the disturbing screeching of gears and chains. He had been asleep, until the noise woke him up and began it's ascend, startling him as he nearly knocked into a wall in the makeshift roller coster. He stood up after a few minutes of silence. If the thing began to move again, he'll be sure he would die from it.

One of the walls to his right opened, parting like an elevator door, except he wasn't in a luxuries hotel where he could forget everything. The light blinding his vision. After so long in the darkness, his eyes burned from the fury of the light. Squinting, he stepped into the light, arms went over his head for more protection, feet landing on a rougher surface with sharp ends of rocks protruding out in a deadly way. He was standing on the end of a bridge made out of stone that headed straight for a small island right in the middle of a canyon of water. The bridge was no more bigger for his feet to run and he was afraid he might fall in the pool.

Similar bridges were spread out around the island, each having someone on top looking as confused as he was. He counted twenty, him included. Piles of colourful backpacks and food sources with refreshments were stacked up in the middle of the island. He narrowed his eyes to get a better look and paled a few shades lighter when he saw weaponry being laid out casually in between the backpacks. Guns, knifes, daggers, grenades… you name it. How could people allowed these kinds of weapons to be out in the open when people could get seriously injured, or worse, dead. The others seemed to share the same look.

He was sixteen, being the youngest in the group. Others were men and women over the age of twenty-one. it took him awhile to realize his clothes had changed, wearing a black tracksuit, running shoes and snow goggles strapped onto his head. He looked around to find the same thing everyone wore, with their own sizes and shapes. Over ahead, a long stone bridge connected the island to a door, transpiring with colours of rainbows eating away the white.

When everyone was thinking this was a prank, a screen floated in the air with a man's face. The man's calm expression only ignited fire in the pit of Kuroko's stomach. He cleared his throat, drinking a glass of water before staring back at them with that stoic gaze. He broke out into a grin and spread his arms out, announcing, "Welcome to the 25th Trials! All of you have been chosen prior to your talents and potential!"

Shouts of argument erupted, protesting and demanding questions.

"Now, now, settle down, the excitement should be save for the Trials. Don't waste those muscles and brains when you can test them out in the Trials!" He laughed heartily, almost happy that everyone was clueless on his statements. "A thousand of you are separated into fifty tiny island floats, twenty of you in each. Backpacks, food and drinks are placed on the island. And of course! Delicious weapons! You can't wait to get your hands on these babies, right?" He threw a suggestive look to the crowd.

"Everything you need for surviving is in the backpacks, but just to inform you ahead, there are twenty of you in each of the islands and only fifteen for each, meaning five of you will have to survive with nothing. So, be swift when you hear the gunshot! Objective is to pass through all the Flat Trans that has been laid out in the different stages of the Trials which will transport you into the next stage, but the problem is finding it. Whoever managers to get through the last Flat Trans wins! Now, there is such thing as winners. This Trials isn't in for speed, it's in for surviving until the end. So, you have one problem to set aside, but please do be as competitive as you desire!

"But because of this year's special rule, instead of three stages, there will be five stages! The more the merrier! But just a little hint in winning, food and water resources are limited, you need a lot more to survive through the weeks, so start kicking people out or no one wins."

Everyone looked so scared out of their wits that they couldn't even argue back. Some were crying, others gaped at the man twiddling his fingers in the screen, checking his fingernails like he was some fashion model, waiting to have his face plastered on the magazines.

After a moment of silence, a man finally broke it with a cry that everyone was thinking of saying. "Quit with the jokes! Get us out of this!"

"Yeah," another cried, a woman. "You have no right!"

More joined in on the party, but quiet and calculated ones like Akashi and Kuroko and a few others, gathered their thoughts, coming up an explanation for this madness the man was telling them to do. No one signed up for the Trials, whatever that was, but they were certain it was a death game. Chances of the Trials never been heard frightened them, what was the point of this? No one knew. And as far as anyone knew, blood may be shed for those backpacks that the man warned them that survival tool kits were in there. That was what the functions of the weapons were. To survive and to kill. The guilt of actually ending another person's life for oneself's survival was brutal and would linger in their hearts.

Everyone didn't have much time to think.

The gunshot…it went off.

The Trials has begun.

"Let the 25th Trials begin!"