DUN, DUN, DAH! I'm sorry this took so long. I hit a bump and I fell really hard, but I'm doing better. I'm also finishing up my middle school stuff, and then I'm on Summer Vacation! And then I start Highschool...anywhosit, here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer-I do not own Kuroko No Basket, as that would mean I know about basketball.

Warnings-Rated T for my language, future language in the story, future trauma, and might go up to M because of adult content if I feel up to the challenge and you guys want to read that. Also, I'm slightly messed up and that comes out in my writing, so disturbing things will arise. So if you have bad memories, tread carefully because things may get really messed up and I don't want to harm you.

Chapter Two-I'm Back

~ Shade ~

I looked up at Akashi as I pulled away. I quickly whipped away my tears and looked up at my friend. I gave a sad smile and a little wave.

"...It's been a while, hasn't it, Sei." I said softly. Unexpectedly, he pulled my into a tight hug.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were leaving the day before, and why didn't you keep in touch!" He said.

"I would have if I could! Sei, these past three years have been more hell than the rest of it because you weren't there!" My eyes widened and I covered my mouth.

'Go ahead, tell him. Tell him about your scars. You want to, don't you?'

'NO! I can't, if I do, they'll kill me for sure this time!'

"Shade, what do you mean?" Akashi asked.

"I...I shouldn't have said that. Just forget about it." I said backing away slightly. He grabbed my wrist and I winced.

"Don't pull that crap on me, what do you mean by living in hell!" He yelled. I began to cry again.

"Sei...please don't. I promise I'll tell you someday, but not right now...it's to painful..." I whispered as I looked into his eyes. His eyes widened and he pulled me into a tight hug.

"I'll keep you to that...but in the mean time? Don't ever leave me again..." he said quietly. I gave a silent nod.

"I promise..." Suddenly two people appeared behind Akashi.

"Seijuro! Don't tell me you made another one cry!" the woman said. Akashi rolled his eyes.

"It's not like that." he grumbled.

"Well, who is she, son?" the man asked

"Mother, Father, this is Shade Winter, my friend from second grade. Shade, this is my mom and dad." Akashi said gesturing to each person. I whipped my eyes and gave a small bow.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Akashi." I said smiling. His mother had brown hair and red eyes and his father had red hair with icy blue eyes.

"It's a pleasure to meet you to, now come in dear, we were just about to sit down and eat diner." his mother said taking my arm and pulling me into the house. Akashi sweat dropped.

"Um...I wish I could Ma'am but I shouldn't. I need to find a place to stay, so I should get going." I said.

"Nonsense. If you need a place to stay, you can stay here. I you're friends with Seijuro, that must mean you're special. So you can stay here as long as you want." his father said.

"Although I must ask dear, where are you're parents?" Mrs. Akashi asked. I stiffened, I felt myself start to black out.

'No, NO! Oh God no...please don't make me remember!' I begged, suddenly I came back.

'We may disagree a lot, but I'll protect you from painful memories. I'll stop them from surfacing, and if you ever get lost should you choose to revisit them, I'll pull you out.'

'...Thank you...'

I shook my head. "My mom and dad separated. My mom decided to go with my aunt when she left and my dad has other stuff he needs to do." I said. Mrs. Akashi looked at me a little skeptically, but gave a nod.

"Well you're perfectly welcome to stay here, where are your things?" she asked. I froze again

Oh yeah...should have thought about that...

"I don't have any." I said quietly. "I'll go by some stuff tomorrow though." I said.

"I'll go with you dear, I'll make sure you get everything you need." she said with a smile.

"Thank you, Mrs. Akashi." I said. I looked over at Akashi and realized his hair was wet. "Did you recently get out of the shower, Sei? You're hair's still kind of wet. I thought you didn't take showers at night." I said. Mrs. Akashi laughed.

"I started playing basketball, practice is in the evening. After you left I was a bit frustrated so I just played. And also...I thought that if you ever came back we could play together. You told me one day that you wanted to learn, remember?"

I jumped forward and tackled him with a hug. "Thank you, Sei...thank you so much..." I whispered.

"Well I'm sure everyone's hungry, so let's go eat." Mrs. Akashi said. I gave a nod and got off Akashi. He led me to the dining room sat down at the table.

"Here, come sit next to me." he said patting the seat. I gave a nod and slowly walked over. I sat down silently with my hands folded in my lap. This was all so new to me...

A minute later Mr. and Mrs. Akashi brought out plates of food, small plates and chopsticks. I gulped, this was soooo new. Akashi noticed that I was feeling uncomfortable.

"Shade? Whats wrong?" he asked.

"I've never used chopsticks before..." I said quietly.

"How have you never used chopsticks before?" he asked.

"Well I never had to use them before I moved, and when I did move, it was to America, and they didn't really exist in America..." I said "I've never eaten food this way either." Mrs. Akashi gave a small chuckle.

"Don't worry, dear. Seijuro can show you." she said. I gave an embarrassed nod.

As dinner started, Akashi showed me how to use the chopsticks. And then he showed me that you took some food of the plates at put it on the smaller one to eat. I gave a nod and tried, it was a little hard at first, but I got the hang of it. It was pleasant to actually converse while eating. I felt nice to be with a family.

"This is so nice..." I said after we were finished eating.

"Of course it is, dear! A family makes almost anything better." Mrs. Akashi said

"My family and I were never really close..." I said. Akashi's mom came over and pulled me into a tight hug.

"I don't know what happened with your family, and don't say it wasn't anything, I know that's bull, and I may have just met you but you can lean on us. If you didn't have a family before, than we'll be you're family. We'll protect you from your demons. So from now on, you'll stay with us, and you'll be part of a real family." she said. My eyes widened, and then I started to cry.

"Thank you so much..." I said quietly.

'So this is what a caring mother feels like...it's so nice...'

'It is, I'm sure you'll be able to heal nicely here, so for now, I'll leave you alone.'

'Thank you for everything...'

"So, since we don't have an extra room set up at the moment, you can sleep with Seijuro!" his mother said. Both of us blushed.

"I'm sorry...what?" I asked

"Well you two are still young so I figured it would be alright for a few nights, no funny business though!" she said. I looked over at Akashi and he gave a shrug.

"Well, Mother, if we may be excused. I'll show Shade where my room is." Akashi said coughing slightly.

"It's fine dear, your father and I will take care of the dishes." as the two of us stood up, I gave a bow.

"Thank you for everything Mr. and Mrs. Akashi. I don't know how I'll ever repay you both." I said.

"Don't worry about it dear, and you can call us by our first names if you like. I'm Sasha Akashi, and my husband's name is Connie Akashi." she said. I gave a nod, then Akashi took my hand and led me away. I followed him through multiple halls until we reached a closed-door. He opened it and pulled me inside, shutting it behind us. I examined the room impressed. It was extremely tidy, one might even say that it was extremely OCD friendly. I giggled a little.

"Sei, did you become OCD while I was gone?" I asked jokingly. He held up his fingers.

"A little bit." he said blushing a little.

"Well, I'll try not to mess anything up. I'm not messy, but I'm not clean either." I said chuckling. Akashi suddenly pulled me into a hug.

"I'm glad you're back. You're my one and only friend. You are the only one that gets me. And when you left, I felt so alone...I may not know everything about you, but I want to. I want to protect you from your demons but I can't do that if I don't know what they are. I don't know what's happened to you, but I hope you'll tell me someday so that I can help you..." he said quietly. I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Sei...thank you so much for everything. And I'll tell you someday, it's just to fresh right now..." I whispered back. I felt him nod.

"Whenever you need to talk...just find me, okay?" I nodded. He pulled away and went over to his dresser, pulling out a black t-shit and black basketball shorts. He handed them to me. "The bathrooms across the hall, you can go change in there." he said pointing. I gave a nod, taking the clothing and walking out the door and into the bathroom. I stripped of my cloths, only leaving myself in my undergarments, then I pulled the shirt. I came down to just a little above my knees. It wasn't surprising, Akashi was about half a foot taller than I was. I tried on the shorts, but they were to loose and were slipping down my hips. I took them off and neatly folded them. I went back across the hall and closed the door behind me. When Akashi turned around, he turned bright red.

"W-What are you doing?" he asked.

"The shorts were to big and the shirt is rather long, so I figured this would be alright." I said turning my head away and blushing a little. He cleared his throat and gave a nod. He gave a nod and then hopped into his bed. I slowly walked over and sat a little on the edge. Suddenly I was pulled down. I close my eyes but opened them when I felt arms wrap around my middle and the covers come over my body. My head was resting on Akashi's shoulder and his arms were resting on my hips. I rested my hands on his chest.

"Seijuro?" I asked

"Let's get some sleep. I'll start teaching you how to play basketball tomorrow after you do some shopping with my mom." he mumbled. I smiled and gave a nod.

"Goodnight, Sei." I said

"Night', Shade."

I closed my eyes and relaxed in his embrace, I knew somehow that the nightmares wouldn't be coming tonight, and I was grateful.

'Thank you for everything you've ever done, Sei.'

~Sasha~

I pulled away from the door and cracked it open to peek inside. The two were curled up in each other's arms. I closed the door and smiled. I turned around and saw Connie.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?" he said

"Of course I did. They're perfect for each other." I said smiling "They'll protect each other in the future."

"You're crazy, you know."

"Yes, but you love me anyway."

"Yes I do."

Okay, yay or nay? Next chapter Shade will learn how to play basketball! So can someone give me a little run down so I don't have a major screw up? So next update will probably be after I post the next chapter for 'The Weakest Hearts' and maybe after I edit the first chapter of this story a bit. Also, I'll give who ever gets the Shingeki no Kyojin reference a digital cookie (and not the bad ones that take up space on your computer...the little bastards...)

Well, love you guys for being my awesome readers, and see you next time!

~Forever in Solitude~