pika318: Frankly, I actually wrote this one shot about six weeks ago, but could not decide if I should publish this or not. Since the first chapter is primarily humour and a bit of heart-warming and the second chapter is mostly heart-warming and about patching up, I'm going with a more depressing theme this time. It can be seen as a sequel to "Moving On". (Yes, for those who asked for a sequel in your reviews for Moving On, this would be my version of a sequel).
Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.
Chapter 3: Consequences
No one thought anything was out of the ordinary when Akashi Seijuuro checked his phone, then got out of his seat at the dining table and left the cafeteria before he even touched one bite of his dinner. Everyone had assumed he simply needed to attend a call.
However, when he did not return even after dinner had ended, that was when everyone, especially the ones sharing the same table, his former teammates at Teikou, and his current Regulars at Rakuzan, started to worry.
"Akashi-cchi is really late, isn't he?" Kise commented.
"It's really not like Akashi-kun to miss his meal." Momoi agreed.
"I think we should look for Aka-chin, maybe he got lost." Murasakibara suggested, even as he was eating his after meal snack.
"Akashi isn't like you." Midorima rebutted, then added, "But we should look for him. This is rather unusual behaviour."
As the former Teikou group were discussing about this, those in the Rakuzan team had already stood up, planning to execute the "Let's find our captain" plan.
Since there had been nothing immediate planned after dinner, somehow everyone had been roped in to some extent, and everyone started looking for the redhead.
When they did find him, they were greeted with the most shocking scene in their lives, something that they wouldn't forget for a while.
The ones that found him first were the Teikou group, thanks to Kuroko's good instincts. They had wandered off to a really secluded corner in the camp, which had only been isolated since the gate to this particular section of the camp had been covered by ivy.
There, they found their ex-captain lying on the ground, struggling to breathe as he winced in pain.
The reason for it was the boot that was harshly pressed onto his chest by a middle aged man.
Momoi was the one who exclaimed first.
"Akashi-kun!"
Akashi, hearing the cry, turned his head slightly in their direction, but the boot only applied more pressure and he gasped in pain.
"Why you!" Aomine shouted, and he rushed forward, his hand made into a fist. Murasakibara appeared to do the same.
But just as Aomine was about to make contact with the middle aged man,
"Daiki...Atsushi...stop."
Aomine and Murasakibara paused, then turned to Akashi in disbelief. The middle aged man removed his boot, allowing Akashi to recover his breathing and sit up slightly.
"Why did you ask me to stop, damn it! This bastard here is hurting you!" Aomine shouted.
"Daiki, this 'bastard', as you put it, happens to be my father."
"What?" Aomine said in surprise and the shocked faces on the other people present mirrored his feelings as well. The only one who remained expressionless was Kuroko.
That was when the middle aged man spoke,
"I see you have at least been able to retain some control over the uncultured people you like to call your teammates, Seijuuro."
Akashi said nothing, but Aomine only flared up.
"Uncultured?! I demand you take that back!"
"And why should I? Your behaviour right now is simply unacceptable. And I would like to let you know that if you even laid a finger on me, I could easily sue your family bankrupt. You should be thankful that my son stopped you when he had."
"Grr…" Aomine growled.
"Daiki." Akashi said in warning, and Aomine could only stay silent.
"Now, like I said before Seijuuro, I am not that cruel of a father. Since this is only a club activity, I will let you off only with this. But if anything happens to your academics, things will not be so simple."
And without even waiting for any reply, Akashi's father simply turned and walked towards the gate. For a while, Kise and Midorima contemplated the idea of blocking his way and not allowing him to leave, but with one look from Akashi, they stepped aside, allowing their captain's 'attacker' to walk free.
It was only when Akashi's father was no longer anywhere to be seen when Akashi finally relaxed, which also meant collapsing back onto the ground.
"Akashi-kun!" Momoi ran up worriedly as the rest also gathered around their fallen ex-captain.
"I don't think Akashi-kun can breathe properly." Kuroko analysed calmly, though everyone can see the slight tinge of worry on his face. It was true, already, they could see Akashi slowly losing consciousness.
"We need to call an ambulance!" Momoi exclaimed and just as she was about to pull out her cellphone, Kuroko stopped her.
"No, we can't."
"Why not?!" This time it was Kise who shouted.
"Because Akashi-kun wouldn't want it." Then before anyone could argue any further, Kuroko reached into Akashi's pockets, pulling out a red flip phone. Opening it, he appeared to scroll down a list of contacts until he finally dialed a number and put the phone to his ear. After a while,
"Hello, is this Tanaka-sensei?"
Somehow, everyone had become quiet, and so they could hear the other party's voice quite clearly.
"Hmm? You're not Young Master, are you? Who is this?"
"It's Kuroko Tetsuya."
"Ah! Tetsuya-sama! It's been quite a while, how has Madam been doing?"
"She's doing well. Listen, Akashi-kun is hurt."
"Young, young Master is hurt?" They could clearly hear the panic in his voice. Kuroko continued to speak,
"I need you to come to Sunrise Holiday Camp now, I will message you the address. Please come quick."
"Yes, of course."
With that, he hung up the phone, and after appearing to send a message, turned to Murasakibara.
"Murasakibara-kun, I need you to get Akashi-kun an empty room. Ask the owner to find one."
Murasakibara, who had been stunned by just what had happened just like the rest, could only nod and do as he was told.
When the former students of Teikou finally made sure Akashi was comfortable, Kuroko stayed in the room to watch over him. The rest took turns watching the entrance of the camp so they would be able to guide the doctor in when he arrived.
At the same time, the other participants of the camp had also received the news. Naturally, it wasn't taken very well.
"Sei-chan was attacked and you just let the attacker go?!" Kotarou shouted. Being at the receiving end of the shout, Kise only winced.
"Well...that's because…" Kise started to say, then he shut up. Kuroko had given them express instructions not to tell anyone else that the attacker had been Akashi's own father.
"It's because his movements were too unpredictable and we couldn't catch him." Midorima supplied, covering up Kise's near slip up.
"Grrr...if I see that attacker at all, I'm gonna give it to him!" Kotatou said.
If only you knew who you're actually dealing with.
Midorima thought with a sigh.
I heard about what happened at the finals of your tournament.
I'm sorry.
*Slap
'Sorry' doesn't fix everything, Seijuuro. I do not remember raising such an incompetent son. In fact, I do not remember saying that you could join such a peasant sport in the first place.
It is not a peasant sport.
*Thump
It seems like I have not taught you well enough. You are turning ungrateful. Perhaps you need some re-education?
Akashi got up suddenly, and immediately regretted it when a dizzy spell suddenly hit him. He held a hand to his head.
"Akashi-kun, you should lie down."
Turning to the voice, Akashi saw a pair of concerned blue orbs staring back at him.
"Tetsuya."
"You should lie down." Kuroko repeated.
Akashi laid back into the futon.
"Tanaka-sensei has been here already. He told me to make sure you get sufficient rest, on top of getting your injuries treated, of course."
"You stopped them from calling an ambulance?" Akashi asked. Honestly, he had fully expected to end up in a hospital.
"Yes, it is what you wanted, right?" Kuroko asked.
"Thank you."
"I'm sorry."
Not expecting that kind of reply, Akashi stared at Kuroko, puzzled. Kuroko continued to speak,
"If we hadn't won during the Winter Cup, then you wouldn't have to suffer." Kuroko said, his voice small.
"You're being an idiot. There is nothing wrong about winning. If you're always worried about the losing side, you will end up impeding your progress." Akashi said with a scoff.
"But…"
"You're too kind, Tetsuya. It has always been your weak point." Akashi said.
Silence fell between them. Akashi continued, with a warm smile on his face,
"But it's also what makes you so endearing."
When Akashi was finally well enough to receive visitors, the only ones that were allowed into the room where his former Teikou teammates, and his current Rakuzan teammates. The rest were barred, simply because 'they are not involved', as Akashi put it.
"Sei-chan, are you alright?" Reo asked. The Generation of Miracles and Momoi shuddered, simply because they could not comprehend how anyone could call Akashi 'Sei-chan' and get away with it.
"I will be fine soon."
"Why we aren't calling the police? Isn't this assault?" Kotarou asked. Akashi looked at Kotarou, then turned to his former teammates.
"I told them not to tell your Rakuzan teammates who the assailant was." Kuroko supplied.
"Ah. But since they asked, it won't hurt to tell them. Promise me you won't tell anyone what you heard today." Akashi said to his three seniors.
"Of course." The three of them replied.
"The one who 'attacked' me was my father."
"Wha-"
"Now before you assume anything, it wasn't without reason." Akashi continued, shutting them up.
"It wasn't without reason, but it was certainly unreasonable, Akashi-kun." Kuroko pointed out.
"We will get to that later, Tetsuya." Akashi said, and continued his explanation.
"My father's philosophy is to excel in everything, and to be top in everything. Which also means, he doesn't tolerate losing."
After hearing that, Reo's eyes widened, like he had just comprehended something.
"He did this to you because we…"
"Because I lost in the Winter Cup, yes."
"That's just unreasonable!" Momoi exclaimed.
"To any outsiders, yes, it is unreasonable."
"Then why are you making it sound as if it is the most natural thing in the world?" Midorima said, obviously irritated.
"If you have been raised in this kind of environment since you were young, would you question it? And if you look at it another way, there are always parents who push and pressure their child into getting good results, or master a music instrument, amongst other things. Aren't your parents like that too, Shintarou?"
"Well, yes." Midorima agreed, grudgingly.
"My father is simply a slightly more extreme version of that."
"It's still abuse no matter how I look at it. You need to tell the police about this." Nebuya said gruffly.
"It's no use."
Everyone in the room gaped. Very rarely, no, this is the first time they have ever seen Akashi acting anywhere near defeatist.
Akashi continued to speak,
"My father is an influential person, if he wants the police to keep silent, they will. And no one can do anything about that."
"That's…" Reo started to say, but he was interrupted by Akashi.
"But enough of that, now that I have explained myself, I know what all of you are thinking, so I am making things clear now." Akashi turned to his Rakuzan team.
"I do not want to see any of you overworking yourselves beyond your limits. It is bad for your health and physical development. Understand?"
The Rakuzan team looked guilty at having their thoughts read so easily. But eventually agreed.
Then he turned to his former Teikou teammates.
"As for the rest of you, if I detect that any of you, or your teams, are going easy on my team in any way, I will make sure you regret it, because I obviously did not train all of you to be half hearted weaklings."
"Isn't there any other way we can help you?" Momoi asked.
"I will settle my own family problems by myself." Akashi replied.
"We'll always be here if you need someone to talk to." Kuroko offered.
"Of course." Akashi said, smiling a little. Everyone visibly relaxed when they saw this.
"Now, go back to your training."
Everyone paused, then slowly stood up and made their way to the door. Everyone except Kuroko.
"Tetsuya, you should go back to your training as well."
"Will you be alright by yourself?" Kuroko asked.
"Yes, now go."
Eventually, the light blue haired boy stood up and followed the rest out, giving Akashi one last glance before closing the door.
Finally left alone, Akashi opened up his phone, only to see a message from his servant, Mika.
'Master told us not to let you into the residence in Tokyo until he says otherwise. Did something happen?'
'It's nothing much, but if you really want to know, read the basketball magazines.'
After typing out the reply and sending it, Akashi closed his phone and leaned back with sigh,
HIs father had at least been kind enough to still allow him into the branch house in Kyoto. It was a nice place, the house itself was smaller than the Tokyo residence, but including the stables, it had a larger compound. He could even spend more time with his horse.
His vision starts to blur and he hastily wiped the tears away before they could fall.
After all, if he had time to cry, he would be better off using the time to devise ways to claim back his throne.
pika318: And that's it. Feel free to leave your comments because I'm curious to hear what you guys think about this. Is this even remotely possible or am I stretching the Canon boundaries too much? Is Akashi too OOC here or not? Things like that. Actually, these are the two questions which stopped me from publishing this, but Moko-chan (my sister) really liked it, so I'm taking chances here.
