He passed through the empty hallway of the traditional Japanese house with heavy steps, making the wood under his feet creak with unpleasant sounds. Then, he stopped in front of the right door and took a deep breath before opening it.

The door opened with a light swoosh and the first thing that captured his attention was a pair of heterochromatic eyes staring at him as if they saw through his very soul.

"Mine-chin, you're late." the purple haired giant beside the owner of piercing gaze said, his head dropping into one of his equally big hands as a childish pout formed on his lips "Aka-chin didn't let me snack until you come."

"Daiki." Akashi moved his gaze to his side briefly before looking back into those blue eyes.

Everyone in the room turned their heads in his direction and Aomine's gaze dropped to the floor.

"Sit down." Akashi spoke again, his voice not betraying any emotion he currently felt. It made Aomine even more uneasy.

Golden eyes rose from the mobile phone in the arms of their owner and he chirped "Aominecchi!" then they narrowed dangerously as he added in a serious tone "Good that you're still breathing."

Kise put on his fake smile as he always did when he wanted to make the atmosphere less tense. It never helped.

"Akashi." the green haired bespectacled man spoke, his voice raising as he continued, looking sternly at Aomine "Don't tell me you're going to let it slip! What he did is beyond just merely fault or stupidity!"

Akashi sighed "Calm down, Shintarou."

"B-But…!"

Akashi glared back at Midorima, silencing him in a split second. Midorima gritted his teeth, annoyed beyond limit, but didn't push his luck further.

"Aomine-kun, you were wounded." the last person in the room spoke, causing almost everyone to shiver slightly.

"Tetsu…" Aomine finally found his voice as he looked into light blue expressionless eyes "How did you know?"

"You look pale" Kuroko answered "and your body language says so."

Aomine's lips quirked up a bit "Observant as ever."

He looked back at Akashi, whose appearance didn't change since Aomine entered the room. Unreadable. It made Aomine nervous, when he couldn't tell what his interlocutor was thinking about. Usually, he felt at loss, because he was almost sure that his own emotions were written all over his face. But now, he wanted to use this to his advantage, to make Akashi believe his sincerity.

"Yes, I was shot and almost died in streets, but this doctor saved my life. I know, I did a very stupid, unforgivable thing, and I'm ready for whatever punishment-" Aomine blurted out barely stopping to take a breath.

"Daiki, stop. That's enough."

Blue eyes widened and raised their gaze from the floor he didn't realize he still was looking at, and stared into heterochromatic ones for a moment, before glancing to the side. Aomine bit his bottom lip in frustration.

"I can't say you did well, and it's good that you realize the importance of the situation you put all of us in."

Aomine was holding his breath unconsciously, waiting for their boss' sentence, but none came. Instead Akashi's eyes softened as he continued "I'm glad that you're alive, Daiki."

Aomine couldn't believe his eyes and ears, and the baffled looks on other guys' faces told him that they neither could believe it. Well, everyone except Kuroko's, which didn't change at all.

"You know, I'm not going to cut you into pieces." Akashi almost rolled his eyes. "You all are my family, Daiki."

"But Akashi-!"

"Cut it, Shintarou. I'm not in the mood for that."

In the meantime, Murasakibara opened a bag of chips and munched silently looking back and forth at the ones who spoke. It bored him to death, these meetings.

Kise, who observed the situation with his sharp gaze, dropped his serious mask and put the carefree one on.

"So, Aominecchi! You mentioned a doctor before. Who's this mysterious person you owe your life to?"

Aomine's clicked his tongue "His name is Kagami. Kagami-"

"Taiga." Akashi finished for him.

"Do you know him?" Aomine asked, curious.

Akashi seemed to recall some old memories for a moment "Yes, I remember Taiga. We used to play together when we were children."

"Yeah, wait- what?" Aomine was shocked, but so were others.

"His father, who was our family's doctor, used to bring him along when he visited to check on mother's condition back then. I believe we were five when I saw him the last time. I heard he became a doc as well." Akashi said, slightly amused by his subordinates' reaction.

"That's quite… surprising." Aomine said, opening his mouth to say more, but nothing came out as he didn't really know what to say. Kagami and Akashi? Childhood friends? Playground buddies? He wanted to laugh at the absurdity, seriously. But if he thought a bit, both Akashi and Kagami had this weird aura around them, so maybe they got along as kids.

"Why don't you invite Taiga to the party we have next week?" Akashi spoke after a moment "I'd like to thank him for saving my subordinate's life."

"Y-yeah, sure." Aomine replied and wiped his sweaty palms off his suit pants.

He didn't expect to see the other man that soon. He didn't expect to see him again at all. Not like he wasn't thankful or anything, he was, but Kagami gave him the creeps whenever they were within a two-meter radius, with all his gestures and looks, and the smirk… the voice… The tanned man slightly shivered at the thought.


Footsteps made his crimson eyes move from the newspaper in his hands and land on the front door. When they stopped but their owner didn't knock or ring the doorbell, his lips quirked up in a smug smile. He took the knife he used to peel an apple earlier and tiptoed to the door.

His smile widened while he listened to other person's breath. It almost felt like he could hear other's heartbeat, the way their blood ran through their veins. He felt like a predator listening to his prey.

A cough and a soft knock made him snap out of his small moment.

Kagami sighed and hiding the knife behind his back, he cracked the door open only to see a familiar face.

"Aomine Daiki?"

The man cringed and groaned "Yeah. Don't say you already forgot me… in three days."

Kagami raised an eyebrow "What is it? Did your wound open again or what?"

"Actually…" Aomine looked somewhere behind Kagami "no. I came here to invite you somewhere."

Okay, this was a new one and Kagami didn't expect such a thing. It caught him off guard completely. He dropped the knife and it landed on the floor making unwanted noise.

Aomine furrowed his brows "What was that? I'm sure I heard something."

"Never… mind that. You were saying…?" Kagami said, leaning on the door-frame, his expression unchanged.

Aomine looked behind the man one more time, but saw nothing suspicious, so he continued "Our boss invites you to a party we hold next week, on Saturday night. He said he wants to thank you personally."

"Thank? For what?"

"For saving me, I guess." Aomine shrugged nonchalantly "I can tell him you're busy and couldn't show up or something."

"Oh, no, I'll be there. Just name the place." Kagami smiled and there was a sparkle in his eyes which made Aomine, a member of a powerful yakuza clan, the man who killed people when it was necessary, shiver. "It will be nice to see Akashi again."

As Aomine started dictating the address of the bar, Kagami excused himself for a moment to get his phone to type the info somewhere.

Aomine stayed there, waiting, when his eyes spotted something glinting on the floor. His breath caught in his throat as he saw the small knife. Recalling the sound he heard earlier, he understood what caused it. Kagami wasn't scared when he opened the door, even a slight bit, so why he needed a knife to begin with?

When he heard footsteps, Aomine raised his gaze and pretended to look bored and annoyed. He wasn't quite sure if the curiosity wasn't written on his face.

This man was both interesting and disturbing. Kagami both attracted him and repelled. This clash made Aomine feel weird, in a way he never felt before.