"Don't you think Kagami-kun is taking his time a little too long?" Kuroko mumbled after he swallowed a bite of small-sized pork rice, in contrast to Kagami's five bowls of large-sized beef rice.
"Probably he ate too much so his stomach got upset," Aida, the young coach answered without even thinking for a second, her mouth busy munching on her food. "It's annoying how he manages to stay normal-weight despite being a glutton," she continued as she stirred the pork rice covered with half-cooked eggs.
Kuroko nodded silently as he scooped another spoonful of his pork rice. Despite Aida's words, he was still having this unsettling feeling. As far as he knew, Kagami wasn't the type to get sick easily, more so when it involved foods (except everything that Aida made). He kept pondering whether he should go check on Kagami or not, but in the end he decided to do just that because everyone else didn't look like they care one bit.
"…I will go check on him," Kuroko insisted as he put back his spoon and rose up from his chair.
"Kagami-kun?" Kuroko called as soon as he reached the toilet. "Kagami-kun? Are you o… kay?"
His eyes widened for at most a millimeter when he saw Kagami and Akashi bickering. He wouldn't be this shocked if it was just Kagami and Akashi fighting; it was the sound of a cat hissing and growling and the disappearance of Akashi's human ears, which were replaced with a pair of cat-like, furry animal ears that of the same shade of Akashi's hair color (he wondered if Akashi actually has a secret hobby of cosplaying and somehow found a new technique to conceal his ears). And a tail. A tail.
"Would you calm down!? Hey, Akashi! I just want to take a closer look!" Kagami struggled to keep the resisting Akashi—who kept hissing and meowing, his ears and tail stood up sharply—down. The latter kept refusing to be held down, despite having already marred Kagami's bronze skin with bite marks and scratches.
'You stop bothering me.' Akashi wished he could get his message across. It disturbed so much to have this giant neanderthal sticking so close to him, to have his freedom snitched, and worse, to have someone loomed over him, trying to hold him down.
"I SAID, STOP IT!" Kagami finally snapped and pinned Akashi on the cold wall made of tiles, his big hands secured Akashi's smaller ones.
It was when the heavy pressure finally came down that Kagami started to feel pain coming from the fresh wounds Akashi just inflicted. He narrowed his eyes when he saw a long scratch on his arm, alongside a fresh bite mark on the crook between his thumb and wrist. He should give Akashi some score for wounding him a lot despite his lithe body.
"…So you really can't speak human anymore?" Kagami sighed tiredly as he looked down to the panting Akashi. He noticed that beside a pair of cat ears and tail, Akashi also grew two pairs of sharp canine teeth on his upper and bottom jaws, which made all the deep bite marks possible.
"Just what the fuck happened?" Kagami asked again, not caring whether Akashi hasn't even answered his previous question yet. Instead, the smaller boy glared menacingly at Kagami—as if throwing daggers—with his heterochromatic eyes.
"Now, now. You don't look scary anymore with those cute ears, you know?" Kagami grinned, his chest filled with pride, feeling superior. He finally has the redhead right under his skin. Wait, that sounded lewd… Whatever. He didn't even care why and how Akashi has become like this, as long as this midget snobby brat stopped blurting out foul remarks of him.
He could still hear Akashi hissing and struggling, although it seemed like he already has lost his strength from all the brawling earlier.
"Kagami-kun, what happened?" a serene voice suddenly popped from behind.
"WHOA! KUUUROOOKOOO! YOU NEARLY GAVE ME A HEART-ATTACK!" Kagami jumped.
"But… I was here a long time ago…" Kuroko replied as his tepid eyes watched Akashi's small body trapped between Kagami and the wall. He really looked like a midget, standing side-by-side with Kagami. Oops, he shouldn't let his ex-captain know he just let in such thoughts to his brain.
Kagami cleared his throat and exhaled, his heartbeat that has barely went down after the fight with Akashi flied high again due to the shock of Kuroko's appearance. That nearly-transparent boy definitely should learn how to make a proper entrance.
"So… About Akashi-kun…" Kuroko started once more.
"I don't know, and we'll never know since this punk can't speak human anymore," Kagami snickered. He knew he was being really mean, considering how Akashi—without having Kagami interfering—nearly died in shock after finding out that he could only meow and that he grew a pair of cat ears and tail (his expression was priceless to Kagami). To top it off, Akashi didn't really pick a fight with him since he remained silent all the time. But in his defense, it was Akashi's attitude that screamed 'I don't give a fuck about idiots like you so get out of my sight' that annoyed him to no end.
Kuroko studied the situation for a brief second before saying, "That's enough, Kagami-kun… Tomorrow we're having our match. The most important thing is to cure Akashi-kun, somehow."
Kagami scoffed, not wanting to stop pinning Akashi down, but let go of his hands anyway. He fixed his jersey, sweeping off strands of Akashi's red hair with his hand as he made his way to the mirror across of them. Despite being small, Akashi sure made a mess out of him. It annoyed Kagami all over again, but when he saw the redhead remained motionless on the same spot, he sighed, withdrawing.
"Let's go, Kuroko," Kagami called as he walked out of the toilet.
"But, tomorrow…"
Kagami wanted to ignore Akashi since it was Akashi, the boy who always treated him like garbage with his ruthless words, thrusting scissors right toward him, and shamed him on the court full of people by pushing him down so graciously. Overlooking the match tomorrow, Akashi did deserve to be turned into a cat. Half-cat.
But on the other hand, Kagami has been looking forward to having a match with the ex-captain of Teikō Junior High basketball team, and it only made him even more eager to face Akashi after he saw him executing the match with Midorima skillfully.
"…But all these aside, you sure take this reality easily, Kuroko," Kagami didn't even care if his words made sense. Nevertheless, he walked back toward Akashi who again, glared at him sharply.
"How did it come to this?" Kagami asked Akashi, this time he tried to lower down his voice, making everything as peaceful as he could.
Akashi stayed silent. His pride refused to be helped by someone he would face tomorrow, but if things remained the same, he would have no choice but to step down from tomorrow's match.
So, swallowing his pride like a very bitter medicine, he raised his arms and stick his index fingers and thumbs together into two circles, and drew his hands to his eyes. When Kagami and Kuroko nodded, Akashi tapped the sides of his hair, and then pointed out to a green caution sticker attached on the stall door.
"Midorima-kun?" Kuroko guessed.
Akashi nodded.
"Whoa, Kuroko… You should get a job as a mentalist in the future." Kagami gaped in surprise.
"No, Kagami-kun. I don't want to. If I were to have an alternate job, that would be a kindergarten teacher."
"HUH!? Kindergarten teacher!? That's so uncool!" Kagami scoffed. "Me, I wanna be a fireman!"
"…Kagami-kun, that's a cool occupation, but I doubt you can do it…"
"WHAT!? SAY THAT AGAIN!?" Kagami roared, feeling underestimated.
"…" Akashi face-palmed inwardly.
"Ahem. Yes, so, what's this Midorima guy doing?" Kagami turned back into the topic.
Akashi wondered how to gesture a bottle, but before he could even move his hands, Kuroko said, "I'm sorry if I got this wrong, but maybe Akashi-kun ate something given by Midorima-kun? Midorima-kun always brings strange things…"
Akashi nodded in relief. Actually he drank something and Midorima didn't give it to him, but betraying his strict personality, he let it pass. As long as the point wasn't too far off.
"…Then we should go to Midorima, right?" Kagami pondered. "Hmmm… But, Kuroko. You said you wanted to say something about… Uh…" Kagami stopped when he realized that the boy in question was with them right now.
"We can go back to your apartment after that," Kuroko answered.
"My apartment!? You can't just decide things by yourself! That's my apartment! Mine!" Kagami roared again.
"Kagami-kun, it's not healthy to get angry so easily." Kuroko warned the fuming taller boy. "The more time we spend here, the less time we have left. Let's go, Akashi-kun."
Akashi remained silent as he peeled off his jersey and used it to cover his ears, and put in his tail into his pants. He realized Kuroko has become more… cheerful, if that was how to put it. And stupider. Akashi wondered if it was really true that if one spent their time with stupid people, they would become stupid as well.
Which would be very dangerous for him. He shouldn't associate too much with Kagami.
He got out of the toilet first, followed by Kuroko. Kagami was being reluctant at first, but he followed anyway.
When they got back into the crowded restaurant, Kuroko and Kagami stopped by their team's table and said that they would leave first because Akashi wasn't feeling too well.
"This is the first time I've ever heard someone would take care of the one they're fighting with the day after just because he's sick!" Hyūga exclaimed, flabbergasted.
"But we want to win a fair match, don't we?" Kuroko reasoned, to which the rest of the team reluctantly nodded in agreement.
"But why it has to be you?" Koganei piped in.
"…Don't worry. Kagami said it's okay for us to stop by his apartment and have the second dinner there," Kuroko smiled thinly.
"Don't put words in my mouth, Kuroko."
"Kagami's home-cooked foods…" the rest of the team drooled, imagining how delicious Kagami's foods were the last time he cooked for them. After eating the deadly delicacies Aida made, it was only normal for them to rave on Kagami's delicious foods. "We always have another stomach for Kagami's foods…"
"Then, we're meeting at his apartment," Kiyoshi grinned.
"Don't say it so professionally when you're only looking forward to the second dinner, Kiyoshi."
"I'm sorry." Kiyoshi apologized, though his face remained the same.
"Well then, it seems Akashi-kun has finished talking with his teammates as well…" Kuroko said as he peeked toward Akashi who was already walking out of the restaurant. He wondered how Akashi managed to talk with his teammates although he could only meow.
"We'll see you there. Bye," Kagami finally said his goodbye, giving up. It was his apartment but he felt like it belonged to his teammates instead.
"Akashi-kun, sorry for waiting." Kuroko called as they got out of the restaurant. "I've been wondering, but… did your teammates get suspicious?"
Silently, Akashi put out a small notebook out of the pocket of his pants and wrote on it.
[I told them my throat got hurt because I drank Midorima's lucky item.]
Before Kagami could even peek from behind their short backs, Akashi has already closed the notebook and looked back, glaring toward Kagami as if wanting to rip him into pieces.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Kagami shrugged, before whispering to himself. "Damn midgets."
Akashi was about to stab Kagami with his pen, but Kuroko has already grabbed his arm and tried to calm him down, "A—Akashi-kun, we need to find Midorima-kun now. I'll call him right away."
Akashi relented and put his pen into the pocket of his pants, and they resumed their walking.
They were walking slowly as Kuroko talked with Midorima over the phone. It actually made the hair all over Akashi's body stood up endlessly to have Kagami walking right behind him, his big figure looming over, covering every source of light and made everything near him looked darker. Akashi tried to walk faster but Kagami's long legs could always catch up to him.
It didn't take too long until the heterochromatic-eyed boy couldn't take it anymore. He turned his back and roared angrily, trying to tell Kagami to back off and stay away from him. "Rawr! Rawr! Rawr!"
Kagami paused for a second. Akashi stopped roaring, thinking that the taller boy finally got his share of scolding. In contrary, though, the taller boy laughed so hard he squatted on the ground, holding his hurting stomach.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! GOD, YOU'RE SO FUNNY!"
Akashi bit his lips angrily. It was so embarrassing he could die!
"Ah, Akashi-kun, Midorima-kun said we could meet up at the park near here… Akashi-kun?" Kuroko said after cutting the call as he turned his back slowly, only to find Akashi bashing his bag repeatedly onto Kagami's head, and the latter could only curled up like a turtle.
No one but Kagami and Akashi knew how heavy Akashi's bag was.
Kagami decided he would get an x-ray checkup later.
The transparent bottle with thick tosca green liquid inside was brought up for a clear view. The fingers that were holding the bottle up in the air were wrapped tightly with ivory bandages. The hand twirled slowly, moving the bottle, so the green eyes of the bottle holder could see it from as many angle as possible.
"Honestly I just bought it from a random second-hand shop near my house," Midorima, who barely reached his house by the time Kuroko called, had to go back all the way to the park near the restaurant. "Who would have known this could turn you into this?"
Him, Kagami, Akashi, and Kuroko, were sitting facing each other in the dimly-lit park. It was so cold they felt like freezing, but the problem of the matter was far more important than getting cold. After all, one of the four, the short boy with heterochromatic eyes, suddenly grew cat ears and tail, lost the ability to speak human, and should be on the final match of Winter Cup in just a few hours.
"Are you saying that there's nothing we can do?" Kagami sighed. Akashi's behavior up to this point was anything but benefiting to him, but even the last drop of his conscience gave him this tickling feeling of pity. It moved his soft heart even more when he peeked toward Akashi and found the pale boy with his back curled, his hands covering his face. Kagami wondered what kind of face Akashi was making right now.
"Well, I do remember the seller said not to play around with this potion, but…" Midorima fixed his glasses. "I can go to the store tomorrow, though. It's already so late."
"But the match…" Kagami's shoulders drooped.
Akashi, who remained silent up until now finally uncovered his face. Due to his curiosity, Kagami quickly turned his head to see Akashi's face, only to be disappointed because the redhead's face was still as tough as ever. He watched as Akashi took out the small notebook and pen of his pocket and wrote something on it, before shoving it up to Midorima's face.
[Your match is not until 4PM, so we should have enough time if we move fast from the morning. Sorry to trouble you, but show me the second-hand shop you bought this from.]
"Although it's hardly my fault," Midorima shrugged after he read Akashi's message. "That's why I've been telling you many times before, right? Don't let your curiosity gets the better of you."
"Midorima-kun…" Kuroko tried to pacify Midorima. Up to this point, Akashi only got scolding after scolding instead of support that everything would be alright. He couldn't deny that he felt amazed by how Akashi remained his cool and didn't seem to be disheartened one bit. After all, even after knowing Akashi for so many years, Kuroko has yet to find out Akashi's weakness.
"Tomorrow morning we'll meet at this park again. That second-hand shop's owner is a morning person; last time I met him was at five in the morning. We should be fine if we go to the store around that time." Midorima said as he stood up and put his bag strap on his shoulder.
"Okay," Kuroko nodded as he stood up as well.
They watched as Midorima turned his back and left. It was Kagami's turn to stand up.
"So we're leaving now?" he asked Kuroko.
Both of them turned their heads toward Akashi in unison.
"Akashi-kun, could it possibly that you're staying with your teammates together?"
Akashi nodded silently.
"I wonder if it's okay for you…" Kuroko mumbled, before his eyes brightened as if an idea just popped inside his head. "Ah, Kagami-kun, since your apartment is so big, why don't you—"
"NO." Kagami refused flatly. "If you think you can come up with another crazy idea involving my apartment, then sorry, but find another person that wants to have this snobby stray cat in their house."
'As if I want to stay at your apartment,' Akashi rolled his eyes.
"But, then, where are you staying tonight, Akashi-kun?" Kuroko asked Akashi politely.
Akashi scribbled some more message on his notebook which has became his tool of communication. [I can stay a night at a hotel.]
'I totally forgot that Akashi-kun is very rich,' Kuroko exhaled inwardly.
"Then, we'll meet tomorrow morning at the same place."
Author's Note - Hello! Bubble here! It was so hard to write this chapter since my story and the manga are overlapping. I've been like, typing and deleting and typing, just so that the story remains as canon as possible. I know, I shouldn't have set the timeline like this… I'm only torturing myself… But! With this chapter, I hope you can read the manga and imagine that Akashi just turned into a half-cat the night before the final match. LOL.
And, and, and, have you guys read the newest chapteeers!? OMG. BABY AKASHI! He was so short! HAHAHAHAHA. I'm sorry, Akashi, but I see you as anything but cool during your junior high days. Your narrow shoulders, big head, and tiny body didn't match your cool words at all.
Also, I'm very happy that this story gets good reviews and response! Thank you for reading and see you on the next chapter! Tell me what you think in your reviews!