Tears brimmed his eyes as the putrid stench seemed to sting his eyes just by the stench it gave off. Every single child that had been with him throughout the short time they had been captives together, were dead. Each of them were sprawled or curled up in what seemed to be a highly uncomfortable position but he deduced that they must be that way due to the nearly unfathomable pain they each had been put through.

Dead.

They were all dead.

It was at the tender age of 7, Kuroko had discovered exactly what a mass murder is, by experiencing it firsthand.

That of course, did not serve well for his mentality.

'they're all dead they're all dead they're all dead they're all dead' The thought repeated in an never ending cycle as he tried to wrap his head around the situation.

Hi breathing became erratic as the prospect of death took over his thoughts and became engraved into his mind's eye as a constant reminder.

He didn't notice that someone was shaking him until he felt the embrace. It was warm and so comforting it made him temporarily forget the situation he was currently stuck in. Kuroko let the person hug him, while doing so he felt as if all of the negative emotions he had been harboring being sucked out of him and it left him with this light, warm, and fuzzy feeling inside.

The person which had hugged him blurred out of his vision and Kuroko could not clearly make out his surroundings, but he didn't really care. Suddenly, shouting from outside seemed to break him out of the dreamy state he was previously in. Alarmed he looked towards where the sound was coming from... the entrance.

The negative emotions that had disappeared from his being seeped back inside and hit him full force. Kuroko started to tremble and he felt his legs go weak when he realized exactly who was behind all of this, their captors.

The person who had comforted him earlier and when they appeared in his line of site, Kuroko felt of huge wave of relief rush over him.

"Akashi" his best friend was alive, he wasn't dead.

A huge weight seemed t be lifted from his shoulders at the thought but the burden remained when he remembered those that had perished.

He shut his eyes and shook his head and his friend peered at him.

"Are you ok Kuroko...? The question seemed to hang in the air awkwardly, because it was obvious that in this situation no one , in their right mind of course, would be ok.

Kuroko opened his eyes to look at Akashi and he could barely see his bright red hair in the dimly lit tent. It seemed that it was dampened with sweat and his best friend looked filthier than he usually seemed to be (Akashi always tried to clean off whatever he could whenever the opportunity arises due to his immense pride). The excess dirt probably had come from when everyone had fallen to the ground when the pain hit, but with how prideful Kuroko saw his friend to be, it was hard imagining someone like him groveling on the ground in pain.

"I'm fine." His voice came out as a whisper but his friend seemed to have heard his nearly inaudible words and looked over Kuroko's shoulder.

Light pooled inside of the tent and Kuroko managed to hear a snippet of what the men were saying.

"Pity most of 'em died," the voice was emotionless as he surveyed the area.

"I suppose none of them were worthy." A second voice seemed to accompany the first as the men took a few steps inside of the tent.

"Or perhaps a few were..." The second voice sounded like he was smirking and Kuroko was about to turn around to look at the men who were responsible for everything that had happened. The thought seemed to spark something within him and he barely took note of how the temperature of the interior of the tent seemed to plummet and his eyes hardened as he sight turned red.

'These people are responsible for everything..' His hand itched and he was about to turn around his twitching body in order to let loose his rage when a hand stopped him.

Steam came off where the hand had made a contact with his pale freezing skin and he snapped out of his bloodlust when a familiar voice spoke up.

"Don't," Kuroko eyes widened as he stared at the boy in front of him. Akashi, his best friend that tried hard not to ruin the scraps that were once suitable clothing, who always remained calm and calculating (although fun to mess around with), and one of the most confident and prideful person he knew... he was... off. The voice which had just spoken sounded casual but with a barely evident dark undertone.

One of Akashi's eyes glowed a bright yellow color and it started to give Kuroko the chills as an almost.. Psychotic gleam entered his friends heterochromic eyes and Kuroko unconsciously took a step back from him.

"I'll take care of the garbage."

As Akashi neared the men, Kuroko watched in fascination as the room took a drastic turn and became almost sweltering in the new heat and Akashi's hands seemed to glow and he watched as small flames seemed to grow from a newly formed fire before it increased in size and coat his hands.

Kuroko didn't doubt him for a second, and he knew that their tormentors would be nothing more than dust when Akashi was through with them.

Although his friend seemed to take it slow with the men and Kuroko felt no empathy towards their screams of agony, he had after all, just gone through worse.

It took His best friend around 10 minutes until he finally decided to finish them off. After doing so, he seemed to disappear for a moment outside before reappearing inside if but a split second later.

When he approached Kuroko again, Kuroko took note of how his eyes seemed back to normal with it's original red color and Akashi offered him a small comforting smile. "I think it's high time that we finally left this place."

Kuroko couldn't agree more. Taking a step forward with his bare foot, Kuroko accepted the offered hand and followed Akashi outside of the tent. The wind gently blew towards them giving Kuroko a sense of comfort and thankfully blew away the sickening stench of burnt flesh.

He blinked away his thoughts on the events that occurred so rapidly and tried to steady his rapid heartbeat. They were safe, free, and they could finally live.

The train of thought left a small serine smile on his face and Kuroko looked up towards the sky as the wind ruffled his hair. They had reached a reasonable distance away from their prison and Akashi had decided to slow down his fast pace and let go of Kuroko's hand.

Had he ever noticed how beautiful the sky truly was? HE supposed when he was trapped there he never had a clear view of the breathtaking display. Where they had stopped the grass was thriving and felt cool on their feet. The dirt was soft and Kuroko finally felt free of the ashes that was once his village. He felt truly at peace.

"Akashi?" A thought suddenly protruded his mind.

"What is it?" His friend seemed to be confused as to what Kuroko had to ask.

"What... are we?"

HI friend remained silent as his question interrupted the peaceful mood.

"A nickname they used for the monsters in the myths would be Rogues, but we are essentially something akin to vampires I suppose."

Kuroko remained silent for a moment.

"Rogues?"

"Yes."

Kuroko hummed in response to the new information.

"We should probably find my contacts,"

Fin