Thank you for all the support! This is my first KnB fanfic, so I wasn't sure how it would be received. To everyone who has reviewed, favourited, and followed, a very sincere thank you! I hadn't honestly expected so much support. I'll try to keep updates coming as long as you guys keep reading.
Kise had called Kagamicchi back after speaking to Akashicchi and, finding out that they were currently in front of Emperor Enterprises, immediately suggested meeting Seirin at Maji Burger. Kise hadn't, in fact, been far from Emperor Enterprises himself, but he knew that traveling all the way back to Maji Burger would delay Seirin, and every delay gave Akashicchi and the others a better chance of discreetly finding Kurokocchi. Letting Seirin know about Kurokocchi's private life when he hadn't told them himself would feel too much like failing Kurokocchi, and that was the last thing Kise wanted to do.
"Over here!" Kise called out, waving vigorously, just in case they hadn't seen him behind his fans. Being an idol meant that he was visible everywhere he went, so Kise was in the midst of signing autographs when the Seirin team came in. "I'm sorry, ladies," he said, smiling professionally, "my friends have come to meet me, would you mind if I visit with them?" He saw the calculation in their eyes as the girls glanced at the group. Seeing that there was only one girl, they threw a few vicious glances at Riko-san, but agreed to leave. Kise kept his cynicism firmly hidden under a professional smile. "Thanks for the support, ladies!" He waved good bye, then turned to Seirin.
"What's going on, Kise-kun?" Riko-san asked, walking up. Well, wasn't that to the point? Kise thought.
"Eh? Aren't you happy to see me?" He made pleading eyes to the group, but seeing them look entirely unmoved, he changed tactics. "I was going to treat you all to some food!" As expected, Kagamicchi perked up at this.
"I'm a bit hungry," he said. "I could use a light snack." Kise argued about everyone's selections, deliberately made mistakes with the orders, and generally drew out the whole ordeal as long as he could. More than half an hour (and 25,000 yen later), they were all sitting at the booth. Kise glanced at Kagamicchi's stack of burgers. He hadn't realized that anyone other than Aominecchi considered a dozen burgers to be a light snack.
"So?" Riko-san asked, clearly undeterred. "Where's Kuroko-kun?"
"Aha," Kise replied, scratching his head nervously, "maybe you could tell me what has happened, first?"
Riko-san pursed her lips, glancing at Hyuga. Were they an item? Kise wondered. Well, it wasn't any of his business. Kise listened attentively as Riko-san spilled with the story, then spent the next half hour asking every question he could think of the keep them busy, hoping that someone would find Kurokocchi soon. He realized they must all consider him completely stupid, but this was for Kurokocchi, so he hung in there.
"Kise-kun," Riko-san interrupted. "Why is the Tokyo branch of Emperor Enterprises listed at the school as Kuroko-kun's home address?" Kise opened his mouth, but she continued. "We already know that it is part of the Akashi Corporation." Kise grimaced. Now what should he say? Akashicchi, help me!
Momoi spoke briefly to the concierge, and was unsurprised to find out that Akashi had already contacted him. Under Akashi's orders, he had always watched out for Kuroko, but he admitted that while it was becoming pretty rare, there were still days that he wasn't able to spot the phantom. He hadn't seen Kuroko since the morning four days ago, but couldn't guarantee that Kuroko hadn't slipped past him after that. Speaking about his phone call with Akashi, the concierge looked pale. Well, Akashi had that effect on people even over the phone.
Aomine and Momoi headed up to Kuroko's condo on the sixth floor. "Damn, this is nice," Aomine murmured, looking around. His feet sank soundlessly into the plush runner with every step he took. "Maybe I should get Akashi to buy me a condo, too," he continued.
"Dai-chan!" Momoi exclaimed, outraged.
"Joking!" Aomine said, raising his hands defensively. "It's a joke Satsuki! Akashi wouldn't buy a condo for anyone but Tetsu anyway!"
"This no time for jokes! Tetsu-kun is missing!" She replied, and Aomine saw her eyes fill with tears, before she turned away.
"Sorry," Aomine muttered as he pulled out his keys and flipped through them until he found Tetsu's. He'd never used it before, but all of the Generation of Miracles and Momoi had a copy in case of emergencies. Please don't let this be an emergency, Aomine thought as the door clicked open. Let this be a simple misunderstanding. He didn't want to find anything tragic inside.
"Let me go in first," he said, glancing at Momoi. When she nodded her understanding, he entered quietly; making sure each room was empty before moving to the next. "Clear!" He called out, once he was certain that there was no one in the apartment. Momoi entered, switching on all the lights as she went.
She took her time going through the rooms, looking for any clues as to where her beloved Tetsu-kun might be this time. Aomine stayed out of her way, knowing that she saw a lot more in the room than he did. He saw a few dishes piled up in the sink, and a carton of eggs in the fridge. Momoi spent a lot of time in the kitchen, going through the fridge (how much could you really learn from one carton of eggs, even if you were Satsuki?), and looking at the dishes in the sink. "Dai-chan," she finally said, once again forgetting to call him Aomine-kun, "The concierge was right; Tetsu-kun never made it home from school four days ago."
"Ok, seriously Satsuki, how do you know that? Women's intuition?" There was no way that a pile of dishes could tell her that.
"There's only one egg left," she replied glaring at him. Seeing more tears in her eyes Aomine felt like a real ass, but he hated being helpless when Tetsu might be in danger, and Momoi was so much better at this stuff then he was. He wanted just someone to beat up. Point him in the right direction and he'd take care of it. "Tetsu-kun likes to settle down and read once he finishes his homework, so he would pick up eggs on his way home from school."
"Because he only eats eggs?"
"The only thing Tetsu-kun can cook are boiled eggs," Satsuki explained with forced patience. Aomine kept his mouth shut on the words: it's better than anything you can cook, Satsuki. He could do this. "So he'll be eating that for all is meals, every day. He would need one egg for supper, and one for breakfast."
"How can one egg fill anyone up?" Aomine asked rhetorically.
Momoi didn't bother answering. Instead, she continued to prowl around, but there wasn't much to see. Even now, Tetsu didn't own much. In his bedroom he had some library books, a basketball on the floor, and a few photos and some homework on his desk. The furniture was all top quality; Akashi must have chosen it, and cornered Tetsu into accepting it. Tetsu was far too frugal for his own good. Normally they would have been careful about invading Tetsu's space, but they were desperate. Once they found him they would apologize. Aomine would get down on his goddamn knees and apologize as long as Tetsu was ok.
"Anything else?"
She shook her head. "There's incomplete homework due three days ago in his room, but that just confirms what we already knew."
"I'll text Akashi," Aomine said. Because as much as Aomine hated to admit it, if anyone would know what to do, it would be him.
Midorima had started by searching all of the local libraries, hoping that Kuroko was simply hiding in one of them. He went to every forgotten corner, walked down every isle, but found nothing. No Kuroko calmly reading. No one to suddenly scare him by popping out of nowhere. Considering three days had passed, it was a slim hope. Facing yet another empty corner, Midorima wondered, where are you, Kuroko?
His phone rang loudly in the silence. Midorima cringed, embarrassed that he had forgotten to turn down the volume, but ignored the pointed glare the librarian was giving him, and answered it. Oha Asa was right, as usual. His phone was his lucky item today; he'd feel awful if Akashi hadn't been able to contact him about Kuroko's disappearance.
"Aomine?" He asked, hoping that Aomine had news.
"Satsuki says that Tetsu never made it home from school four days ago," Aomine said, and Midorima's stomach sank. "We're heading to Tetsu's parents place, but Satsuki thinks we might need another person, just in case..." There was a pause as Aomine hesitated. "Just in case," he finished.
"Send me the address," Midorima replied. Midorima was already heading out the doors when the text came in. He'd never been to Kuroko's parents place, so he took a moment to pull up a map. Having quickly memorized the map, he began to run. The last thing they needed was for that idiot to go in on his own because he couldn't wait for Midorima. Not that he was worried about Aomine. It would just make things harder. That's all.
It took him nearly ten minutes to reach the entirely nondescript house where Kuroko's parents lived. As expected, Aomine was pacing restlessly outside.
"Finally!" He exclaimed, seeing Midorima. Midorima pushed his glasses back, feeling a little miffed by the reaction, but he hadn't expected any better from Aomine anyway.
"Thanks for coming," Momoi-san said instead. Midorima nodded to her as they followed Aomine to the door. Aomine didn't ring the bell, so much as hold it down and wait. With that annoying ring persisting, it didn't take long for a woman to come to the door.
"Hello?" She asked, sounding only very mildly irritated, and glancing between them with a smile. This was the first time Midorima was seeing her, and he was surprised by how... normal she looked. Except for the sky blue hair falling to her waist, she looked like an ordinary housewife. If Midorima didn't know better, he would have believed in the warmth of that smile.
"We're Kuroko-kun's friends from high school," Momoi-san said, stepping forward and smiling brightly, blithely ignoring the way the woman froze. Aomine was staring at Momoi-san as if she had finally gone crazy. Midorima trusted Momoi enough to follow her lead. "We wanted to drop off his homework since he hasn't been at school for the last few days."
"...How did you get this address?" The woman - Midorima couldn't let himself think of her as Kuroko's mother - asked carefully.
"The teacher asked us to drop off his homework, so he gave it to us." Momoi-san lied smoothly. Midorima promised himself never give Momoi-san cause to lie to him, because he'd never be able to tell if she did. Glancing between the two females, Midorima almost shivered. Women are scary, he thought. The woman looked like she wanted to call Momoi-san on the lie, but didn't want to risk revealing anything they didn't already know.
"I can pass it along," she replied instead. Momoi-san looked instantly crestfallen.
"I was hoping to see Kuroko-kun," she said, glancing down. Her acting could give Kise a run for his money. "We might be able to cheer him up since he's sick."
"He's not sick." The reply drew the undivided attention of all three teens. Apparently realizing that, the woman continued. "There's been a family emergency, and he had to go out of town for a few days. He should be home any time now."
"We understand," Momoi-san said. "Tell him to call us when he gets in. We'll bring the homework and visit then. Nice to meet you." Momoi-san continued smiling while she bowed slightly, before turning away. Midorima figured he would injure his back if tried bowing while he was this tense, so he nodded to the woman and followed after Momoi-san. Aomine made no effort to acknowledge the woman at all.
"She's not what I expected," Midorima commented once they were a block or so away.
"Tch," Aomine grunted. "No one would believe it, would they? She looks so harmless."
"Well," Momoi-san said, "at least we know he's not there." Midorima nodded. That, at least, was good news.
"We do?" Aomine asked, puzzled. Midorima sighed.
"She said that he wasn't in, but would be in soon," he answered.
"But she's a liar!" Aomine protested. "Why should we believe anything she says?!"
"Because she couldn't resist boasting," Midorima replied, frustrated. "Kuroko isn't there now, but they expect him to be soon. They think they know where he is, roughly."
"I bet that his father is out looking for him now," Momoi-san added. "There was only one pair of shoes at the entrance."
"We won't let them have Tetsu," Aomine spoke, almost trembling with rage. "We'll never let them have Tetsu." Momoi-san nodded.
"Obviously." Midorima confirmed.
Between his connections and his money, there was very little Akashi couldn't find out, especially when he was determined. During the train ride, Akashi diligently made calls, taking notes to piece together what had happened this time. By the time he got off the train in Tokyo, he had gotten all of the Tokyo libraries check and see if Kuroko had checked out any books, questioned Kuroko's neighbours, confirmed that no one matching Kuroko's description had been admitted to any of the Tokyo hospitals, spoken to Seirin's principle and the concierge at Kurkok's apartment, and asked discreet questions of the local police. Not bad for three hours work, but by the time he got to Tokyo he had very little to show for it.
It was dark when he left the train station, and that did nothing to brighten Akashi's mood. Now the search would need to take place in the dark. How do you find a shadow in the dark? Not that Kuroko was much of a shadow any more, but... Was this his fault? Akashi wondered, struggling with yet more guilt. If he had warned Kuroko about the danger of learning to dribble and shoot, would Kuroko still be safely at Seirin? Did Kuroko's flashy plays draw dangerous attention to him? Akashi forced the thoughts from his head. He needed to focus for now on finding out where everyone was, and what they were doing. Before he could call Aomine though, another call came through.
"Akashi-sama," the caller greeted. Finally, Akashi thought.
"What have you discovered?"
"The GPS's last location was on the west side of Millennium Park," the caller answered. "The signal was cut off 75 hours, 26 minutes ago."
"Why was I not notified when the signal was cut off?" Akashi's voice was perfectly calm.
"Ah. Akashi-sama... We, uh..." At least the caller was smart enough to understand that was an extremely bad sign.
"I believe I made it clear that the person carrying this GPS was at risk, and I was to be notified in the event of any unusual movements, or if the GPS failed," Akashi continued.
"Yes, sir," the man replied nervously.
"We will discuss this matter later," Akashi promised ominously.
"Yes, sir." Akashi hung up, not bothering with any further greetings. First the concierge, then this? Perhaps he needed to re-evaluate his staff. Once we find Kuroko, he promised himself. He called Aomine, heading to Millennium Park.
"Ne, Aka-chin?" Murasakibara said, "I'm here."
I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations! Again, thank you for the support!
