Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Kuroko No Basuke. All rights belong to the creator and producers of the Manga.
Rated T for the following contents: Minor Language, Torture, Gore, etc.…
A/N I do apologize for the long wait as I have been quite busy with classes and have been unable to upload my newest chapter. However, I am now done with classes until August, so, I should have plenty of time to update.
Warning: This story is you want to complain about it, then please find me a beta whom will work with my hectic schedule and eccentric personality!
Sunday 7:30 A.M.
Kagami woke to a sharp pain that blossomed throughout his bruised side and caused him to release a pained cry as his eyes instinctively slithered open to stare up at Shogo's malignant smile.
"Waky, waky." He said in a sardonic tone. "I'm glad that you finally decided to join me after our little game of 'Cat and Mouse'."
However, Taiga did not fathom what the boy was saying, as his gaze quickly fell to Kuroko whom laid only a few feet away from him. The teen appeared to have been unharmed, aside from his previous wounds, and the small gash across the side of his ghostly white face.
Haizaki released a light sigh, as he delivered another hit to Taiga's side, drawing his attention from his shadow and back to the malicious psychopath.
"I didn't think that I would have a lot of trouble with you Kagami, but apparently I was wrong. You're more stubborn than Kuroko here. But, since I really can't have you running off like that, it seems that I am going to have to just take some drastic measures, and make sure that this doesn't happen again." Haizaki explained with a wide sneer while making his way across the room, where he grabbed a hold of a wood like handle to something that was fairly long and began dragging it across the floor.
The redhead's eyes widened once the object was bought into his line of view and he was able to see the sledgehammer that the boy was so gleefully hauling.
Slowly Haizaki came to a halt just beside Taiga, watching malevolently as the teen's features quickly went from bewildered to appalled.
"Makes your courage seem out of place, doesn't it?" Haizaki queried in a sarcastic tone. "Well, don't worry. In a few seconds, something else is going to be out of place."
The redhead's skin grew pale, as his heart began to palpitate against his aching chest whilst his horror filled eyes searched around the room, heedlessly looking for a way out of this profound situation.
"Haizaki! What the hell do you think you're doing?! You can't do this!" Kagami screamed, his eyes then falling back to the brazen teen where he could see the boy take a slow step back, with a virulent grin tugging at his lips.
A light chuckle escaped Haizaki, as he placed his foot firmly on the boy's right hip, while he then pulled the hammer back behind himself, nearly stumbling from the weight, before he brought it down hard into Taiga's right hip.
An anguished shriek expelled past the redheads vocals causing his throat to vibrate and his eyes to burn with tears, as agonizing pain tore through his right leg and coursed through his upper side.
"Does that hurt?" Haizaki queried while loosening his foot on the boy's hip. "Hmm?"
Shogo took a step back and released a long and amused sigh; while then lugging the sledgehammer over his shoulder and smiling malevolently at the young player.
Swiftly he brought the hammer down into the redhead's hipbone and quickly raised it back over his shoulder once again while listening jubilantly to Taiga's excruciating screams that echoed through the room. "Don't worry, it's not over yet. Just hang in there, will ya?" He teased while laughing at the teen's pained cries.
Taiga could feel the hard metal collide into his hip yet again, additionally, adding a cacophonous shriek to slither past his parted lips.
However, it didn't stop there. Haizaki continued to bring the object down into his hip two times more before he heard the desired cracking through the teenager's screeches, that had now turned to forced breaths and silent wails of pain.
Haizaki brought his thumb up to his lips and gave it a slow lick, before he placed the hammer off to his side and leaned down to Taiga's levels where he reached his hand out and cupped it around Kagami's cheek and then gave it a hard pull to the side so that they were meeting eye-to-eye.
Tears were sliding freely down Taiga's cheeks, as he began to close his eyes wanting so desperately to fall into a deep sleep in order to escape this hell. Thus, Haizaki would not allow it.
"I guess we won't be trying a stunt like that again." Haizaki teased, while slowly tracing his thumb over Taiga's trembling lips. "But, tell me, Kagami. Why would you try to save such a pathetic piece of shit like Kuroko? Why not just run and leave him behind? I'm sure you could have made it if you had." He questioned while waiting for the boy's reply, in which did not seem to come do to the pain that the teen was experiencing. "Answer the question!" Shogo snapped while tightening his grip on the boy's chin.
"Be… because" Taiga breathed out through gritted teeth, while his eyes that once shown a look of pain were now filling with indisputable vehemence. "Unlike y…you, I wouldn't abandon him!"
A light chuckle left Shogo's lips, as he then closed his eyes and slowly loosened his grip around the teenager's chin.
Taiga watched attentively as the black haired psychopath dilatorily stood, and ran a hand over his face when suddenly the boy smacked his foot down on top of his injured hip and applied as much pressure that he could possibly manage to the wounded area.
Haizaki's actions immediately elicited an ear piercing scream to fill the momentarily still air, as jolts of intolerable pain tore through Taiga's leg and up his right side and causing his vision to blur due to the pain that surged throughout his injured frame.
"Haizaki-kun!" Kuroko forcefully called out, drawing the boy's attention to the teal whose glassy eyes locked on his lights trembling form.
"Ah, Kuroko. You're awake." Haizaki said, as he removed his foot from Taiga's hip and turned to stare at the other boy's unnaturally pale and exhausted features. "I'm glad that you could finally join us. Unless you have been awake for quite some time now and just chose to keep quiet. Hmm?"
Kagami wanted to scream at Kuroko for calling out to the psychopath. The redhead wanted to reprimand him for not being quiet as he was only endangering himself by making such a brash and impulsive move. What was he thinking? Kagami could take the beating when Tetsuya's body appeared to have reached its limit.
"God, you can really take a hit kid." Haizaki chipped, as he laggardly made his way over to the small child. "I'm surprised that you actually woke back up after all of our fun." He declared, whilst bringing his thumb toward his lip and giving it a leisure lick. "What, silence? After that whole "Haizaki-kun," bit?"
The teen remained quiet while continuing to stare intently at his friend's tremulous form until his eyes fell on the area that Haizaki had been resting his foot upon, where he could see the swelling that had begun to show through Taiga's exposed hip.
Taiga slowly peeled his eyes open to look ahead at Kuroko, only to realize that the small shadow's skin was deathly pale, and his little form was covered in dried blood, all while some of the newer wounds still continued to exude the warm crimson liquid. However, what seemed to perturb the redhead was the look in the phantoms once gleaming and lively eyes, that now looked dead and were filled with so much negative emotion in which they had lacked since the day that Taiga had first meant his Shadow.
A sharp pain coursed through Tetsuya's side, causing him to tear his gaze from his light and to release a silent yelp.
"You know, I banged into your old 'Light' on my way back here," Haizaki stated in a contemptuous tone, as he walked around the boy, watching as he slowly rolled over onto his side. "He's still as clueless as ever, though. I mean nothing I said even raised a red flag over that dense little head of his. Pathetic, right?"
Swiftly Haizaki delivered another hard kick to Kuroko's back, causing him to let out a soft moan, as a new round of pain sprouted through his body.
"But, I guess he isn't as pathetic as you," Haizaki said with a sneer, as he slowly knelt down beside the boy, and roughly grabbed a fist full of his teal locks and yanked his head upwards bringing them face to face. "You really are worthless. I mean, if Kagami had just left you behind he would have actually escaped. But, instead, he decided to try to play hero and save your sad little ass."
Kuroko stared back into Haizaki's piercing orbs that were glowing with malignant pleasure. For even Tetsuya knew that Shogo had the upper grounds in this inexplicable situation.
Thus, this particular thought caused the shadow to feel feeble, and vulnerable within the hands of his former teammate.
"Wow, no Hai…Haizaki-kun?" Shogo mimicked in a teasing tone, while slowly trailing his other hand across the child's bruised and bloodied cheek, only to have him withdraw from his touch. "Come on, Kuroko. I know you have something to say." He said, as he roughly grabbed the boy's chin, becoming irritated at the teenager's stillness. "So, that's how it is? That's alright, I can fix this. If you don't want to talk, then I'll just have to make you plead."
Kuroko could feel himself fall back to the ground with a hard shove that caused his head to collide into the cold concrete, sending a round of pain through his skull.
Dilatorily Tetsuya looked back to Haizaki whom had walked across the room and was kneeling down next to a duffle that was lying near the door and began digging through its contents.
Trepidation filled the boy's diminutive body, as he watched the teen gleefully dig through the tools in which continued to make an unpleasantly loud ringing that reverberated through the hollow room.
Kagami watched with dismay shimmering within his red eyes as the teen pulled out a long titanium bat, causing a blissfully appealing look to form across Haizaki's youthful features.
Slowly Taiga's gaze fell back to Kuroko, whose body shook tremulously with consternation from the horrifying feeling that had begun to form within the pit of his stomach. However, what seemed to have caught the redhead's awareness, was the moister that had begun to form within his eyes and the look of fear that caused his facial appearance to materialize into the face akin to that of a child.
Kuroko watched Shogo turned around with a jovial like gleam to him, as he began to make his way towards him, while purposely dragging the long rod across the ground.
A long laugh expelled past Haizaki's sinister lips, as he came to a halt in front of the small boy; in whom had begun to breathe at a fast and unsteady pase, as his heart began palpitating against his chest.
"Let's just see how far I can take this," Haizaki began, while consciously bringing the metallic baseball bat over his head, while a depraved look flashed in his dark orbs. "before you've had enough."
Kuroko heard Taiga's distant shriek as he pleaded for the boy to stop, causing Kuroko to self-consciously avert his gaze from the ominous teen, to stare into Kagami's horror filled eyes.
Haizaki brought the thick weapon down into the teens-upper chest, earning a distressed grunt that was quickly followed by a cry in which pierced through the room.
"Ah, that is what I want to hear!" Haizaki stated with malice laughter, as he drove the bat into the boy's ribcage, and repeated the action over and over again until the child's screams filled their ears.
Haizaki slowly allowed the baseball bat to rest at his side, while he placed his foot onto the boy's ribcage earning another screech.
However, Kuroko's light cries were not enough to appease the boy's cruel thirst for the boys indisputable pain; therefore, forcing him to take a different approach.
Kuroko heard the titanium bat strike the floor and he watched uneasily as the teen dropped to his knees beside him, while pulling a pocket knife from his back pocket and tentatively extending the blade from its holder.
"I just want one thing, Kuroko. " Haizaki began while bringing the blade down towards the side of the teen's chest, right above his seventh rib. "I just want to hear one last scream! One last cry! Just one last time, before I kill you."
Kuroko could feel the burning moisture brimming in his eyes, as he struggled to keep his attention on Haizaki.
Without any hesitation Haizaki dug the knife through the fragile epidermal until he saw a decent amount of blood seeping through the extended flesh that slowly sashaying down Kuroko's side.
Suddenly the boy removed the knife from the area, and without warning he pierced the blade through the boy's side, watching attentively as the crimson liquid began to ooze at an accelerating pace from the newly founded wound.
"Do you see this, Kagami?" Haizaki questioned in exhilaration, as he listened to the delightful sounds of the teals whimpers. "This is how a shadow dies."
A delighted laughter filled the air, as Haizaki removed the knife from the boy's flesh, watching only for a moment as blood began dripping from its sharp edge at a rhythmic pace. Then, without another moment of hesitance, the boy pierced the knife back into the fatty part of his flesh, rewarding him with yet, another pain filled screech.
Kagami's voice could not be heard over the boy's shrieks, for the only sound to be registered throughout the desolation of this nightmare was the broken and doleful pleas from the shadow.
Tears glided down either side of Kuroko's face, as pain tore through his beaten form. Tetsuya could no longer feel the screams that once caused his throat to vibrate from expelling such agonizingly torturous shouts.
Therefore, the small boy knew that his body could no longer withstand this brutal outburst and the tragic conclusion of this was rather demoralizing; for even Taiga had to have known that this was the last time that the Shadow and Light would get to say their goodbyes.
This would be Kuroko's last pleads, his last words, his last exclamations. This would be the last time that Kagami would be able to see the boy whom changed everything for him. Whom opened his eyes to the true meaning of things, and after everything, this was how the phantom would be repaid.
Kagami was supposed to save him, he was supposed to protect him from this; and yet, he failed, and the only thing that seemed to seep into the redhead's foreboding horrors, were the last words in which Haizaki had spoken.
"This is how a shadow dies…"
To Be Continued…
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