Author's Rant: I don't know how this chapter will go. A lot of things will be revealed here, so ready your mind processors. xD And yeah, this might seem an early update, but I have irregular update schedules. Anyway I GOT EXAMS then TERM PAPERS and MY THESIS. I'll be away for long.

Pairings heavy on AkaKuro and MuraAka, on the side are slight AoKuro, MidoKuro, KiseKuro and maybe even KagaKuro. Also, GoM x Akashi, because for Akashi is also an uke material if Kuroko's out of the picture. If, but he isn't. xD

Warnings: FWA, BWS and OOC moments might, correction, will occur. And I have an uncreative and twisted naming sense, so forgive me. Read at your own risk, you have been warned.

Disclaimer: Haha, you could skip this one if you'd like.

What is Happening?

"You're too restless." An annoyed gruff then a giggle. "Well… I'm excited." This time, an enthusiastic answer. Then a short chuckle, next a conceding tone. "I know what you mean." And the excited man perked up. "Right, right?" This grinning one seems way too happy. "I mean this was the boy we had been talking about ever since."

A set of silence till that conceding tone turned disappointed. "…Oh, you mean that." Two other people said the same.

"That wasn't it?" He questioned and stared. The other one simply shrugged. "I thought you were referring to the other thing." Then a moment of realization, another of acknowledgement. "Ah, that? I'm excited about that too but…"

And they all seem to agree. "We can't help wondering how this boy looks like. We never got to track him." A different voice, laced with apathy. "He also intrigues me since he was so obsessed with that boy." There was just a bit of venom in them.

Then the question was set in place. "But I wonder how he'll react to see us all acquainted like this?"

They looked at each other. The lively one gave his guess. "Probably surprised?" One just nodded, another commented. "We've been looking for a way to meet him for years now. He's also probably looking for us. "

A person decided to hum, the rest glanced at him. "Hope he's a nice kid." Someone tsk-ed, clearly frustrated. "He's no longer a kid. If numbers are right, he's sixteen already." Another person laughed and insisted. "Still a kid." Then he added a bit more solemnly. "But in the same situation as us, huh?"

Seirin felt like they were on the edge of their seats. Sure, it was good harvest to get two members in one go, but having Kagami carry the name Seirin around unattended and having a Kuro family descendant would get the Council's attention. They already had a fair share attention due to Kiyoshi's arrival in the guild, but with Kagami, they might just lose their license.

"Kagami-kun," Aida approached the red-haired individual who was stuffing himself with hifh-calorie food. "I want you to go to the Council yourself, explain partially your situation and get yourself a limiter before we all get screwed for upsetting the world's magic balance."

Kagami listened as he chews the meat in his mouth. After swallowing everything, both the food and the information, he went out and spoke for himself. "How could one person affect the world's balance? Besides, the world is booming with magic ever since I came back." Aida made a frown at that.

"Booming? The world's magic force is dwindling!" She said, as a matter of fact.

The redhead shook his head. "Really? If the world's force is diminishing now, then the magic before was almost completely spent. You should probably be thankful."

Kuroko, who had been both listening to the conversation and reading his book at the same time, decided that what Kagami was saying held much importance. It had almost been a week, and Kuroko spent more of his time either finding ways to break Akashi's seals or looking for any information regarding the Ao, Ki, Midori and Murasaki family. Tomorrow would be the start of the dimensional interference and he didn't know whether he should be happy or be scared. He still didn't have a way to break the seals but then, he was longing, aching to see Akashi all the same.

"Kagami-kun, are you saying that the magic force before was weaker than it is now?" Kuroko butted-in the conversation. Aida was able to hold her scream to a minimum, while the tall man almost fell from his seat.

When he properly regained his composure, Kagami nodded. "Yeah, more like I found it weird that everyone could use magic now."

If there was anything that Aida didn't like, it was not knowing things. "Are you saying that not everyone was entailed to magic usage before?" And another nod from Kagami. "Bloodline dictates whether you could use magic or not." He helpfully added.

Kuroko tried to ponder on that. "Is it the reason why the most prominent families were against halves?" If the flicker of emotions in Kagami's eyes were any indication, then the pale boy just hit right in the mark.

"So you're saying that the reason why prominent families stayed on top before the dissolution was because their bloodline spells magic users." Aida had wondered before why certain families were more influential than the others even though they all used magic arts. This could be the reason for that.

Though the tall man hardly does thinking, he did. "Rather, they were the only families before so they all just stayed on top."

"Name them all." Aida ordered with a glare. The redhead had no choice but to comply.

"Aka, Ao, Ki, Midori, Murasaki." He paused to recollect his memories. "And yeah, there was Kuro." Then suddenly he seemed to be in deep thought. "And they no longer existed in that time, but history books say something about Daidai* family."

There were no Daidai family in history books for as long as Aida remembers. Then does that mean the history books before were all replaced with false new ones? Or it was simply omitted for certain people's convenience? She might be sticking her nose in to dangerous territory, but if this was the truth, then the world has been lying to its people for years.

"Is there anything peculiar about Daidai family?" She inquired; there must be something why this family was forcibly removed from books. "Strange? Well, a rumour says that they were the one who attempted to create the ultimate magic but they failed at it and were sent to oblivion overnight." Then he sighed. "But that was just a rumour! Besides, it was pretty stupid of them to try if they couldn't even create their own arts unlike the Aka family." Kagami made a frown and spoke with an angry tone. "Not that Aka family were less stupid than they are." The last statement sounded personal in Kuroko's opinion.

Trying to process all the data, Aida then seem to get an idea. So she asked her question. "Then the rumoured ultimate magic suddenly came to the Aka family's hands to be completed, didn't it?"

Nevertheless, the tall man agreed. "How did you guess that?" And Aida's expression turned dark. "I think history repeated itself at least once, this is bad." The pale boy kind-of got the gist of what's in the girl's mind. "This Daidai family tried to create the ultimate magic then disappeared, and Aka family got their hands on it somehow. The Aka family did a forbidden ritual and was annihilated then the ultimate magic got mysteriously passed on to the Murasaki family…" She then trailed off.

"Um…" Kuroko decided to bring them out of their thoughts. "The Aka family didn't do anything relatively close to forbidden." She shot a questioning stare at the light blue-haired boy. "You mean?"

It was hard to talk, especially since Kuroko felt like he was siding with the Aka family with his statement, and there was that glare Kagami was sending him. "They were cornered by the other families for the ultimate magic and eventually fell to ruin."

A boisterous, arrogant laughter filled the room. "Like a coup d'état. And they were leading the others before then." Kagami sneered and Kuroko felt a bit irked that the man was speaking like it was good thing. He was about to retort something back when the girl beat him into speaking earlier.

"I think I had too much of information for today. For now, Kagami-kun should go to the Council. Forget about explaining your situation; just tell them you were living somewhere in the countryside or something. Also, don't let them know about what you do know; they might execute you in an instant. The higher-ups are scheming bastards after all." After a litany of reminders, she turned her attention to Kuroko. "Supervise him, Kuroko-kun. The Council adamantly requested." She had a lot to think for now, and finally left the two.

A few minutes of awkward silence between them before the redhead decided to break the ice. "So what? You're the chaperon?" Kagami inquired, finding the situation very incredulous. The smaller boy just stared at him with blank expression. "Shall we go, Kagami-kun?"

The Council.

They were placed in the position as the world's overseers after the forced dissolution of the families. Now, they held the utmost authority in Colours World.

The Council have their own private building in the Capital. It is their center of negotiations, and it is also where the guild heads come to report regularly. They have a library with all sorts of books and archives, and are open for viewing to anyone. Any particular distortions or issues to the Colours World are reported to the Council. In simple terms, the Council had the most power.

"Any news about the Murasaki family?" A woman in her prime inquired her Council co-members. She was wearing numerous jewels and obviously living a life of luxury. "Madame, as much as we all want to know where they are, we couldn't even be sure if there was anyone left." The man two seats away from her replied. He used quite a sarcastic tone at her that she was clearly displeased.

"By the way, that infamous guild got their hands on another piece of treasure." This time, a fairly old man stated. Despite his years, he rather displayed a good set of muscles, probably from rigorous training. "You mean Seirin?" A different man affirmed, he looked like someone from the military.

The old one nodded. "Yeah, they sent their member list yesterday and guess what? It seems that a boy from that Kuro family is still alive." He paused letting the others to absorb his information slowly. "And they requested our audience today, did they not?" A frivolous man shared. "Yes, they said about sending their new member for a limiter. I told them to send the Kuro descendant with their unusual catch. All that's left is to acquire the boy." Unexpectedly, someone snickered somewhere in the room. "Who's there?" With a definite commanding voice, the military-like man stood from his seat and stared from where the he heard the voice.

"That saves us the trouble looking for him then." A tall blond with topaz orbs emerged from the shadow. "Hello, Council. It's nice finally meeting you." He gracefully bowed and greeted. "You are…" 'from the Ki family!' The woman didn't think her voice will trail off, she was clearly surprised.

"Oi, Kise! Don't move on your own." Another voice resounded in the room referring to the blonde. A dark-skinned boy revealed himself while scratching the back of his head in annoyance. "Che, everything's messed up." The Council noted those blue hair and orbs; the Ao family.

The said blonde pouted. "But Aominecchi, they were going to take our target. What if they got to brainwash him?" Then another set of footsteps echoed in the room. "This is a Kuro were talking about. They specialized in black arts, Kise." A man of deep emerald eyes and green hair joined the group, someone surely from the Midori family. He was wearing glasses and held a small pot in his right hand.

Still, the Council was left in shock. The people they were searching far and wide have started gathering in the room in an instant. They had no choice but to make the first move!

With the same thoughts, the well-built old man tried to deliver a back blow towards Aomine. The latter dodged it with ease. "Surprise attack? That's pretty low even for you." The tanned boy muttered under his breath. "But doesn't mean you weren't low from the start." Hethen sent his own punches, and a rally of dodging and hitting started. The old man was physically good if Aomine should admit.

Kise seemed amused by the scene. "You could easily defeat him by using your magic, Aominecchi!" He taunted then glanced over a chanting Council member in the corner. "Or are you giving mercy?" He inquired in a darker tone, and the blonde then covered the distance between him and his prey in a snap. The Council member forgot the next lines to his mantra.

"You're acting like children." Midorima exclaimed in all annoyance. He sighed and not long after, his glasses glint with something akin to malice before he left the pot on the floor, green light surrounding it. Then moving vines started sprouting from the pot and attacked the nearest Council member. But then a sword came running after him. Well almost.

Almost since the sword suddenly fell lifeless to the ground as the manipulator lost consciousness after getting his head nearly crushed in the floor. "Oh, Murasakibara? You didn't have to do that." Midorima acknowledged a purple-haired individual who was responsible for the man down on the floor. And clearly, the green-haired male meant what he said; his left hand was holding some sort of seed ready to counter whatever that was coming after him until Murasakibara decided to intervene. The remaining Council members stared at the newcomer with wide-eyes; the guy was a part of Murasaki family.

The door to the room burst open and another individual appeared before the council. "Leaving me out of the fun?" This one had a very malicious, almost psychotic voice. "I told you to wait outside, Haizaki." Midorima pushed his spectacles up, obviously trying to fight an incoming headache. "Asking me to settle with small fries? That can't do right?" Without any warning, all pointed and sharp iron levitated from the floor and went flying towards different directions. Screams of pain and terror filled the room; some were slashed, some got a part of them mutilated and some didn't even get to react. It was a gruesome scene where blood splattered and pooled everywhere; only Midorima's plant protected the rest of them from getting blood in their clothes. The aftermath of it ended with hysterical laughter from Haizaki.

"You're sick," Kise whispered to himself. It didn't help that Haizaki seems to have hell ears and approached him. "No Kise, you're just too soft." And the blonde noted how nauseating Haizaki's voice was.

It was already dark when Kagami and Kuroko arrived at their destination. The eerie silence of the lobby unsettled Kuroko much more than he thought it could.

"This place seems abandoned. Are you sure this is where that Council is?" Kagami asked confused with the arrangement. "I'm sure but…" The pale boy looked around for any indication of recent human activities. They were startled when shouts and pleas were heard somewhere. "What the hell?" Kagami made a few swears before running towards the direction of the voices and Kuroko followed behind.

The things the light blue-haired boy passed unearthed a few memories of the burning phantom mansion. It twisted his insides painfully. He tried to shrug the thoughts as he concentrate on what he was supposed to do.

"Kagami-kun, please keep yourself hidden under your cloak." The tall man didn't understand what the boy meant but decided to comply anyway. And soon, there was the smell of blood in the air. Then there were injured people. The redhead kneeled beside one and tried to ask what happened. "Kuroko, I think they need immediate help." His companion nodded. "Get some help then. I'll see if there are more victims further ahead." Kuroko stated with finality as he parted with Kagami. He no longer got the redhead's warning as he turned around the corner.

As Kuroko came to the end of the hallway, the scent of death became stronger. It didn't help ease his nerves when he realized that there were people. The smaller one instinctively used Vanish, a phantom magic art in which all traces of life is hidden making it seem like the user is nothing, not even air. It is a simple magic that uses little force and takes advantage of his lack of presence. He had to speak if he wants to dispel the magic. He hid behind the doors as he tried to listen intently at the people inside the room.

"You're sick," Kuroko barely heard someone say. "No Kise, you're just too soft."

…Kise? Eventually, the pale boy realized it. Kise, a member of the Ki family. Now Kuroko had the urge to check it out. He cautiously entered the room, and the sight of hell was once again showed itself. But that isn't what surprised him, it was the people. Yellow, blue, green, and purple. The descendants of the prominent families that he had been looking for were all there. There was also one in the middle who he wasn't sure who. But nevertheless, it was nearing midnight and this chance wouldn't come to him for a second time.

"Soft? It's not about being so—" The blonde was in the middle of his retaliation when the giant raised his hand and cut him off. He pointed at something, and the rest followed his gaze. There was… nothing. Kuroko felt himself stiffen as he noticed that the purple-haired man was pointing at his direction.

"Murasakibara, I suggest you explain what you're trying to… point in here." Midorima was exasperated with everything. He made sure to emphasize on his idea.

"I feel his magic there." He briefly said in monotonous voice. "Who?" Aomine also felt irritated.

Haizaki just laughed. "You're saying someone is eavesdropping on us?" It meant more prey for him.

Murasakibara shook his head. "I said, I feel his force there." No one knew what he meant, neither did Kuroko. What the pale boy didn't realize that as midnight came near, the red stone in his chest faintly glowed.

The dark-skinned boy wanted to shout in frustration. Just why did Murasakibara have to go the roundabout way to it and not just say the name? Then it hit him. "You mean Akashi's?" There was more questioning tone to that than confidence.

At the mention of a familiar name, Kuroko forgot that he couldn't let his voice out. "You know Akashi?" As soon as he did, his magic broke and his presence was finally revealed to the other occupants of the room.

To be fair, when a pale boy suddenly appeared right before their eyes, they were honestly surprised, shocked and startled. How was it possible for someone to creep up that close to them and not feel a thing?

They all observed him with caution, well except for Haizaki who looked at the boy with glee. Light-blue hair and eyes, Aomine wondered if the boy was also from the Ao family. Pale skin and cute little face, Kise would be all over him if it wasn't confusing on which side the boy was. Stealth abilities and lack of presence was common to the Kuro family, but Midorima wasn't sure. Then a faint red glow and Murasakibara knew what it was. "Aka-chin's magic."

Tetsuya…?

As the clock strike midnight, the faint glow became a full blown blinding light. Kuroko found himself being consumed. The purple-haired giant ran towards the light, while the others were left confused on what was happening. But Murasakibara was too late and the light disappeared together with the boy.

He breathes in, and then lets it out. Kuroko could feel warmth completely surrounding him for a second then slowly it leaves his body. Then coldness assaulted his whole body until he felt a pair of hands that warmed his cheeks. He opened his blank powder blue eyes and met crying mismatched ones.

"Akashi-kun…" He got to trail off but he was sure of it. Akashi was hardly any different; he looked the same, as if they only parted yesterday. Those eyes that he loved, finally, he could see them again.

The redhead trembled at the sound of the pale boy's voice. Kuroko had grown and his voice was a little deeper than before. It has really been quite a few years.

"Tetsuya," he called out. Kuroko replied by putting his hands on top of his own. "I waited." Indeed, in a place where time can never be measured, waiting feels like an eternity. But he did, patiently, all for his Tetsuya.

"I hate to intrude between a heart-warming reunion," A female voice spoke; Kuroko then realized that they were not the only people here. A pink-haired girl came up from behind and smiled. Kuroko somehow felt deep inside him that this girl was connected to the Momo family. "But wouldn't it be better if we waited for everyone to come back?" The pale boy noticed how Akashi tensed and glared at the woman. "And who are you to order me around, Satsuki?" The redhead snarled at her, visibly seething.

"Come on, Akashi. I didn't order anything, I suggested." Still she smiled. Kuroko was now confused. Everything seems blurry. First someone else knows about Akashi, then now, somebody got in this dimension as well. Just… what is happening?

End Rant: Kyaa~! Finally they met! And finally the whole GoM and Momoi (with Haizaki, but I'm doing something about that)~! How did you find this chapter? It's getting more and more twisted right? Who's behind this set-up? Next chapter will include more of the story behind the gathering of GoM.

And yeah, I see that people found my idea of half/halves meaningful. Truth is, I just realized that there were inconsistencies with my plot when I was writing that chapter. I mean, I categorize them through colours, then I realized, Akashi and Kagami are both red! Not to mention Kuroko was light blue… I even thought of making it "(A)Kagami" xD.

Then this idea of half just popped in my head and there~ At least, Kagami's name got a similar syllable from the word Aka. Then it kind of bothered me as well, since Kagami is three syllables, and if you're following my thoughts just right, then the 'mi' in Kagami would stand for Midori… I can't choose between laughing and feeling nauseous about that. xD Also, did anyone think that this story will focus in that single week? Originally, that's the plan. But my mind tends to rewrite my plot when it's convenient. So this is what happened. Haha xD

Question: Would you like a yandere!Akashi or should I just stick with my own interpretation of Akashi?

End Notes:

*Daidai – Orange. People might argue with me that it should be "orenji" but since daidai is the traditional way of calling it, I used that instead.