My apologies for the wait. This was supposed to be finished sooner but I have finals coming up so I've been kinda stress-central. But it's here now! And it's a bit of a longer chapter, so there's that!


It's the pain that wakes him up. He doesn't process it at first, still dragging his consciousness back to him.

When it hits him, it tears a groan from somewhere deep in his chest.

Something is hammering away within his head, intent on splitting his skull.

Everything is too bright, and every noise is amplified. He tries to hide his head beneath his pillow, but moving even a little proves to be too much.

Kuroko resigns himself to his fate and moves himself in increments until he can at least lay on his side. Momoi is only just getting up, her ribbons hum softly and, for once, they don't seem to be the source of his migraine. It's possible he's having legitimate, physical head pain, non Empath related ailments always seem to catch him off guard, and he hates every minute of them.

Momoi knocks on his door eventually, concern breaking up the pink of her ribbons.

"Tetsu?"

He thinks she gets the message when her ribbons immediately stop humming.

"I'll make you something for the pain, and I'll spell the shop so the noise will be muffled, okay?"

He tries his best to nod, hopefully Momoi sees it.

When she leaves, Kuroko takes as deep a breath as he can manage before he starts to make himself sit up. After a few minutes of trying, he can only get himself slumped against the wall, about to fall to either side.

Momoi returns soon enough with a mug of coffee. Well, it smells like coffee but the whatever she'd mixed into has turned the liquid a pale blue.

"I upped the dose a little, but it will help more if you can sleep after you drink it," she says, sitting down on his bed and handing him the mug. "You don't have to come down if you're still feeling pain when you wake up. Just try and rest."

It doesn't taste like coffee, and it's thicker, he's not sure what it tastes like. Whatever it is though, it works, and it works quickly. A warmth spreads through his body and the though the pain still remains in his head, it's been taken down a few pegs.

"Sleep, I'll have another batch for you if it doesn't go away."

She helps him lay down and settles his blanket over him. Before she leaves, she smooths his hair down a little, and one of her ribbons loops around his wrist. She leaves, closing the door quietly. A slow ripple of magic travels through air but Kuroko's asleep before he knows how effective the spell is.

Lady Luck shows him mercy this once, and his sleep is blessedly void of dreams.

When he wakes for the second time that morning, the pain has faded to a dull throb at the base of his skull. He keeps his movements slow and sure as he gets dressed. One of Momoi's ribbons is still wrapped around his wrist and it only grips tighter when he tries to unwind it.

With a quiet chuckle, Kuroko pulls on his boots and makes his way downstairs. There are customers in the shop, about a dozen, but Momoi is handling everything well. It's not often that she's at the counter but she's smiling brightly, and her ribbons haven't changed at all. He moves behind the counter to join her, grabbing his bells from the shelf beneath the counter.

"Does your head feel better?" she asks.

"Much better, thank you. I can take the counter," he says, tying on the bells.

"You sure?"

"Very much so, go mingle with the customers."

Momoi kisses his head, a there's a faint spark where her lips touch his skin, and her ribbon finally leaves his wrist. She flits from customer to customer, helping them find what they need and writing notes to herself on items of interest. She doesn't have any clients today and she's always loved interacting with her customers face to face.

Kuroko mans the counter without issue. The atmosphere in the shop is light and the vast majority of the ribbons are on the positive side of the color spectrum.

It gets fairly busy by noon and, though it doesn't come back full force, Kuroko's migraine returns.

Momoi disappears for a few seconds to the kitchen and returns with a mug of the not-coffee from earlier. She's back in the middle of the shop in an instant, but Kuroko smiles anyway, taking a sip of the drink.

There's a lull in customers after a few hours so Momoi joins him behind the counter.

"Akashi wanted us to join everyone at the castle for dinner tomorrow night," she says, resting her elbow on the counter and propping her head on her fist, "and to spend the night then. Kise found some kind of spring on their trip back and he wanted to show us. He wants to make a camping trip out of it."

Kuroko pulls the stool close to the counter and drops himself down to st, already worrying his hands together.

"I'm not going to make you go though, you know that, right?"

It's going to be a lot of contact time. Dinner will entail all seven of them sitting together, ribbons snapping angrily as they attempt to reach Kuroko. Staying the night will be somewhat easier, none of their rooms are close enough to present an issue. Kuroko still has a room at the castle, he stayed there before he moved in with Momoi. He'd intentionally chosen a room far removed from the others, less ribbons meant less headaches. So he might have a reprieve there. But camping presents another issue entirely. Ribbons act differently when the person they're attached to is awake or asleep. The proximity itself will be an issue, the five of them all within reach, the ribbons straining. After what happened with Murasakibara's ribbons, he's not sure he wants to be that close.

Damn.

Kuroko rubs his face and sighs. He drops his head, closing his eyes as his mind starts to race.

"I'll think about it, I can give you an answer before the sun sets."

One of Momoi's hands closes around his and he looks up.

"Thank you," she says.

She returns to the center of the store as a new wave of customers rolls in.

Kuroko lets himself drift, his body acting on its own, going through the motions he's performed for the past year.

It's near the shop's closing time that Kuroko perks up. The ribbons coming down the road belong to Himuro and Kagami, Riko and Kiyoshi are with them as well. They're probably in a cart, seeing as Kagami still can't walk all that well yet. They're getting there though. During their last session he managed to take a few steps on his own before his legs buckled.

Kuroko's not sure why they've come out to the shop. There aren't any deliveries to pick up, and they don't have a session scheduled today. Even if they did, it wouldn't happen at the shop.

It's Kiyoshi who steps into the shop though, Momoi greets him with a smile.

"What can we do for you?"

"Ah, well, I'm afraid we're in need of a favor."

Kuroko finishes the last customer's purchase and just a few moments later, it's just the three of them in the shop.

"Okay, what is it?" Momoi and Kiyoshi walk to the counter before Kuroko can get up to join them.

"There's some high intensity drills on the practice grounds today. We were trying some basic drills with Kagami but he wasn't able to focus. Riko wanted to bring him here so Kuroko could keep an eye on his ribbons while he and Himuro practice, if that's okay."

"Tetsu?" Momoi turns to him, her eyes lingering on the empty mug before meeting his gaze.

"I don't have an issue with that," he says.

Kuroko helps Momoi clean up before heading out to the river where Riko's apparently set Kagami at. Momoi comes too, magic swirling to life in her ribbons in preparation for whatever she's asked to do.

"Hey, Kuroko! Momoi!" Kagami calls, waving from where he sits in the grass. Himuro sits beside him, training fatigues nearly drenched with sweat.

Kuroko has to wonder why Akashi's allowed Himuro to stay and train with the other knights. Himuro is from another kingdom, he wears another crest, yet no one's questioned him. Come to think of it, how had Himuro even gotten into the infirmary? Kuroko supposes it's none of his business, but he would very much like to know.

He looks over Kagami's ribbons, one of which is already floating over, not at all surprised to see them littered with roses and streaks of fatigue. It doesn't quite matter what Kagami says, or how he acts, ribbons don't lie. He's been overworking himself, likely when Himuro and Riko aren't around. This is part of the reason Kuroko is supposed to be around when they do the sessions.

Kagami does look a little guilty though once he sees Kuroko's pinpoint focus on the air around him. Momoi takes notice of it too and sighs.

"I'll take his weight," she says to Kuroko. They don't say anything to Riko, more for Kagami's sake than anything.

Speaking of Riko, she's setting up the walking beams, apparently having brought them along. She doesn't seem to be in the best of moods and Kuroko considers himself lucky for not verbally making Kagami's ribbon situation known.

Kuroko makes himself comfortable on the ground as one of Kagami's ribbons loops around his wrist. Kiyoshi sits down beside him as Himuro and Riko get started with the practice, Momoi's a little closer, hands glowing as she casts.

"Your ribbons look better," Kuroko says. There aren't so many roses dotting Kiyoshi's ribbons, and the grey streaks have faded somewhat. Kuroko figures, by this point, those streaks are permanently stained into the ribbons.

"I've been trying to take it easy," Kiyoshi says, "and Riko's started making me take care of paperwork, so I'm off my feet more than I was before."

"Good."

They don't say much else for the rest of the session because Kuroko puts his focus to Kagami's ribbons, calling for rests more than he usually does in. All the same, Kagami is progressing quickly, his upper body strength has improved and his lower body is on its way there. He'll be back to training with the others in no time at all.

The ribbon around his wrist tightens a little and he calls for a long rest.

It's strange, feeling another set of ribbons beside Momoi's. Initially, he'd thought Kagami was like Kise, born with a natural compatibility with Empaths. He's revised that thought now. Kagami is, simply put, very emotional. He's an open book, his ribbons reflect that tenfold. Of course, this does make it easier to mesh with an Empath, but it's simply because his ribbons are so accessible.

Still, they're different from standard ribbons.

They work for an hour more before Kuroko finds that Kagami is at his limit. He unwinds Kagami's ribbon from his wrist and stands up.

Kiyoshi and Himuro get Kagami back to the cart while Riko talks with Momoi about her next order.

Kuroko watches them go from the front of the shop, and he stays there until their ribbons pass beyond his reach. Already their absence causes a short flux before Momoi's ribbons even everything out.

He goes back inside to give Momoi his answer.


The castle dictates a sense of formal dress, though this is counterbalanced by the fact that the meal will be closed doors, just the seven of them. Kuroko slips into one of his nicer tunics, ignoring the emblem over the left breast. When he's dressed and Momoi's deemed his hair appropriate, they set out for the castle. Momoi's done away with her apron, instead wearing a simple dress in soft shades of blue and pink. Momoi had stumbled upon a charmed knapsack some time back, far before Kuroko had met her. It's spelled with an extended space inside allowing the knapsack to hold ten times what its size would dictate. It's useful for ventures like this, so both of they'd packed up their things and placed them inside the knapsack for the sake of ease.

"Thank you," she says, wrapping one of her arms around his shoulders, "for coming with me."

He'd taken a calming draught before they left, and there's a flask at his hip.

"Of course."

"Can I ask why? Usually you're much less agreeable."

She says it with a smile, and her ribbons are just as pink as ever, so Kuroko offers a smile in return.

He's spent most of his free time weighing the outcomes. Drawing their attention to their ribbons won't help, it will only make things worse because it gives them a physical target where there isn't one. But if he can approach this from the ground up, there's a chance he can at least weaken the locks and voided space enough to do away with the nausea.

If he fails, well, no one can say he didn't try.

They're both familiar faces around the castle, despite Kuroko not living there anymore, and Momoi not living there ever. They know their way around and Momoi politely declines the offer of assistance in finding the Baron's private dining room.

Akashi isn't the showy type, the castle portrays a quiet sort of power, why use artificial shows of strength when he can simply force his opposition into submission with a few decisive acts? Kuroko figures it's more intimidating this way. Only a fool would take this to mean Akashi is incapable.

Momoi pushes open the door, calling hello before it's even open all the way.

The table is circular, holding only three occupants at the moment, though all seven places are set. Akashi sits with Murasakibara to his right. There's a seat between Murasakibara and Kise.

"You made it," Akashi says, smiling. He stands up, pulling out a chair to the right of Kise for Momoi. Kise gestures for Kuroko to sit on his other side, between him and Murasakibara. Akashi returns to his place at the table, folding his hands and leaning in a short ways.

Kuroko scans his ribbons. They're as golden as ever, but they seem more active than usual. There aren't any other colors that Kuroko can see. They seem almost anticipatory.

"Shintarou and Daiki will be here shortly," Akashi says. "Satsuki, I wonder if I could ask a favor of you?"

Kuroko tunes out of their conversation to pay attention to Kise, who has half of his body on the table, propping his head on his hand and facing Kuroko.

"We were going to take you guys sooner, but stuff was so busy, there was so much to catch up on. Now that it's done though, we can go! I really think you'll like it, and I know Momoi will. We stopped to camp there on our way back. It's a small field but the spring leads up to a waterfall and- well, I want to keep it a surprise, but it's definitely magic. I figure you and Momoi will be able to make more sense of it than we could, but even if you don't, it'll still be fun."

"It certainly sounds like it, thank you for thinking to invite us."

He's making efforts, keeping part of his attention on Kise's ribbons. The grey film is still in place, they still produce a voided space, but the bright yellow glow just barely shines through. Each of the ribbons make attempts to reach out to Kuroko, stopping just shy of him before withdrawing and trying again a few moments later.

"Of course. It's a couple days out though, so we'll be camping in other places, but it'll be just like old times. Well, plus Momoi, but still," he says, smiling as he shrugs his shoulders. Momoi catches his last few words and rolls her eyes good naturedly before returning to her conversation with Akashi.

Murasakibara remains silent and it takes Kuroko a moment to realize that it's because he's half asleep?

"What happened?" he asks.

"Hm? Oh, Akashicchi actually made him join everyone for practice, that and he was up really early today."

Strange.

Aomine and Midorima arrive at the same time a few minutes later, the former freshly washed if his damp hair is anything to go by, and the latter looking as though he's ready to collapse. He does, in fact, falling into the chair on Akashi's other side, leaving Aomine to sit between him and Momoi. Murasakibara wakes up then, blinking slowly as he scans the room before sitting up straight.

Shortly after, they're eating, Kuroko pouring some of the calming draught from the flask into his cup. He doesn't really care if the others see him, for all they know it's alcohol. Momoi is angling herself toward Aomine as she talks to him so there's not an issue.

Midorima explains his tardiness, there were a fer clerical errors in the records that needed correcting. He'd also gone to pick up a few things at Akashi's requests. He presents them once he's finished speaking.

He holds up two books. One is bound in worn leather, about as thick as Kuroko's hand length. It's old, certainly, whatever had been etched or stamped into the cover has worn off to the point that it's impossible to make out. The second book is about a third as thick, also leatherbound but it's been stained a dark red. There's nothing on the cover to indicate what its contents are, but it's held shut by two straps stained the same dark red as the rest of it.

"We came across these while we were away, I figured this would be as good a time as any to present them," Akashi says. "Satsuki, we found an old spellbook that may be of use to you, none of our scholars could make anything of it, but I faith you'll figure it out."

Midorima hands the first book off to Aomine who passes it to Momoi.

The moment she touches it, the book glows a soft pink. A painful whine screeches through Kuroko's head as her ribbons flare out. They give out a few bolts of light, stretching out until they're taught.

Then it's over and her ribbons are back to normal.

Wait, not normal.

Her ribbons are still pink but they're now interrupted by a pulsing streak silver that runs the entire length of each ribbon. He can't sense any emotional distress, if he couldn't see the silver, he'd assume nothing had changed. Curious, he calls one over. There's no change in their response, and when it wraps around his wrist, it feels the same.

"And Tetsuya."

Kuroko's head snaps up, attention broken from Momoi's ribbons as Akashi begins speaking again.

"The second book is for you. As near as we can tell, it was written by a number of Empaths over the course of several years. It's practically nonsense to us, but you've told me before that the nature of Empaths is abstract, so I imagine it will make more sense to you."

Midorima passes the book down and, similar to what happened with Momoi, when Kuroko touches the book it glows faintly grey and the straps holding it shut loosen and fall right off.

He finds himself frozen, unable to even think about opening it for a few short moments. He knows if he does so now, they won't be getting his attention back until he's read cover to cover. With shaky hands, he fits the straps back on.

"Thank you very much for this, I'll read it once we've retired for the night."

As a whole, the meal is a partial success. For what it's worth, the atmosphere is light. But even with the calming draught, the five of them together prove to be something of a challenge. Kuroko doesn't get as nauseas as he usually does but his stomach is uncomfortably tight for the majority of the meal.

The conversation is fine though. Kise clues Kuroko and Momoi in to the castle gossip and in turn Momoi tells them some of the plans she has for the shop. They don't dig for deep topics, it's all rather surface level and Kuroko's rather grateful for that.

It ends eventually though.

Momoi digs in her knapsack for Kuroko's bag, handing it to him and kissing his forehead before Midorima walks her to her room.

"Kuroko," Aomine says.

"Hm?"

"Can I talk to you?"

Everything in him says 'no', but Kuroko's nodding before he can stop himself. He slips his bag over his shoulder and holds his newly acquired book to his chest, following Aomine out the door.

The castle is still fairly alive, though he imagines it will fall quiet soon enough.

Aomine is quiet for a short while as they walk the main hall.

"You can still see our ribbons, right?" he asks at last. "They haven't disappeared?"

"No, they have not. I can still see them." Kuroko isn't quite sure where this line of questioning is going. In the dim light he can't make out any other colors beneath the grey, so he's at a bit of a loss.

"Have they changed? Since you were with us, I mean."

Kuroko really doesn't want to answer. Giving the ribbons a physical body only muddies the water. For all intents and purposes, they're magic. It's never been the case that giving abstract things non-abstract descriptions has helped anything because it's an untrue representation. If he tells Aomine that the ribbons have changed then the next logical thought is that they have to make the ribbons change back.

"The ribbons do what they want, with few constraints."

Yes, constraints like idiots who've disillusioned themselves.

Aomine is quiet for a while. By this point they're climbing one of the further removed staircases to the upper levels of the castle.

"The ribbons are the reason you left, aren't they? I've tried to figure why you'd just stop all of a sudden and it's been a year and I still hadn't come up with anything. Then Satsuki brought up the ribbons and I thought- I don't even know."

They're fast approached Kuroko's room.

"Neither do I."

It's a lie, of course it is. Kuroko's spent many nights puzzling out just why his friends' ribbons had changed.

The answer is simple, but he hates it all the same.

In the beginning, their sync was based on the belief that Kuroko could help them attain levels of power they'd not yet been able to reach. In essence, their heightened abilities came from their belief in Kuroko himself. Then, as their power grew, they became confident in their own abilities. Their belief shifted to themselves.

This wouldn't have been a problem if they'd simply told him. Instead, they'd broken the sync, torn out the anchors, left him alone with an emotional deficit the size of the sky.

"Goodnight Aomine, I'll see you in the morning."

Kuroko opens the door and closes it behind him once Aomine's returned his 'goodnight'.

He blindly fishes in his bag for a marble and lights up the room

Akashi must have it cleaned in preparation for tonight. Everything is more less how he left it, he'd taken nearly everything with him to Momoi's so it's not as if there's much to disturb.

Once he's dressed in sleep clothes, he sits down on the bed, book in his lap.

His hands shake as he removes the straps.

He's never had a source of information on Empaths, let alone one directly from an Empath. That he has something like this now makes him feel giddy as a child.

Opening the front cover reveals a small symbol pressed into the center of the blank first page. It's a single vertical line, with a circle on both sides of the center. Equidistance from the right circle and the top of the vertical line are two horizontal lines angled up. It's the same on the left side, but the horizontal lines are angled down and are equidistant from the circle and the bottom of the line.

It's not something he's ever seen before.

Though, if this book was truly written by an Empath then that might be the key.

With a deep breath, Kuroko manifests his colors, stopping well enough away from broadcasting, and waves his hand over the symbol. Just as it had earlier, the book glows a faint grey.

Nothing happens so Kuroko stops manifesting and turns the page.

"Oh."

Kuroko makes himself comfortable against the pillows as he starts to read, unable to take his eyes from the page.

It's an account, an old one but he honestly does not care about the age. The Empath who started it gives no name for themself but starts off with a small introduction. They began the book as a project to conglomerate the knowledge of different magical types. This book was to be part of a larger collection spanning everything from the old magics to new age technique.

The first author writes at length about color bases and the various types of ribbons. It's very much a basic foundation. The next few chapters are dedicated to the altering of ribbons, detailing what degree an Empath can reach in their alteration.

The second author gives no introduction for themself either but it's clear they've started this many years after the first author. They explain the situation, how the project was abandoned due to rising fear of magic users. Still, they wanted to continue the work. The chapters belonging to the second author continue at length about Empaths themselves, particularly about broadcasting and manifestation. They confirm what Kuroko's always been somewhat uneasy about and that's the lack of his own ribbons. For Empaths it's more of a field around them, allowing them, among other things, to be identified by other Empaths.

The third, and final, author doesn't explain anything about themself, but writes about the climate surrounded Empaths as they write their portion of the book. This portion of the book provides Kuroko with the information he's been seeking since he found out what he was. It details what Empaths are capable of through other people. Kuroko had used his sync to empower his friends, allow them to work as a cohesive unit. He's never used his abilities for offensive reasons, and though he knows of the Empath who puppeteered their king, he's never figured out how they'd done it.

It's scare in a way, this newfound knowledge. He'd never thought of his abilities as a force for evil, if anything they're a force of good for him.

Kuroko finishes the book, surprised to find a few blank pages at the very end as well as space for more. Room for a fourth author, he figures.

He holds his hand out for the marble and the room is dark.


Kuroko doesn't sleep for the two and a half days it takes them to reach the spring.

He'd neglected to consider the fact that he could no longer interact with their ribbons so he stayed awake by sheer willpower alone.

They reach the spring as the sun sets and Kise all but leaps from his saddle, dragging Kuroko off his, and taking Momoi's hand once she's on the ground. He drags them around, showing them the flowers growing directly from below the water, breaking the surface. He starts to take them to the waterfall before Midorima stops him.

"Wait until tomorrow," he says. "It would be best to experience when they're not addled with fatigue."

Kise concedes and they set up camp.

Kuroko is asleep the moment he's vaguely horizontal.

Consequences be damned.


Momoi is reluctant to sleep.

Kuroko has done is best to explain the ribbons to her, and she's still a little uncertain in what she's been told. What she does know is that whatever happened a year ago has cut Kuroko off from Akashi, Midorima, Murasakibara, Kise, and Aomine's ribbons. She knows that it was a physical painful event, and that, when Kuroko arrived at the shop alone, he'd been surrounded by a grey tinge. He'd fallen into Momoi's arms and cried for a long while. She knows that Kise and Aomine's ribbons have been locked up somehow, to the point that Kuroko can't use visual clues to figure out their emotions but he can still touch them, and that he's simply unable to interact with the other three's ribbons.

She doesn't know how. She's not quite sure as to what caused the distinction, or what it all means on a detailed level.

Before they left, Kuroko expressed concern about being so close to the ribbons while he slept. Most of his explanation had made no sense but she's still worried.

Midorima is on the first watch and Momoi moves to sit beside him.

"How has he been?" Midorima asks after a while.

"Better, for the most part."

She knows that working with Kagami has definitely been helping. Kuroko's told her before that his own moods are somewhat influenced by that of those around him. He can draw on positive emotions and manipulate those easier than he can negative ones. She figures that exposing him to more ribbons than just her own is good for him.

"If I can ask something," Midorima begins. "The day we returned, something happened to him. What was it?"

"Oh, that."

Momoi bites her lip, thinking. It had been an anomaly, that much is for certain. Kuroko had manifested his colors, not of his own will she's sure. He'd sounded so scared, like he'd been exposed to a dark side of the world he'd been ignorant of the entire time. She knows the ribbons don't hurt him, he says hers often latch onto him at times. So for him to be hurt by a ribbon was something that was most definitely not supposed to happen.

She knows Kuroko wouldn't want her to tell their friends, but she has to say something or Midorima will come up with his own theories.

"It was an Empath thing," she says.

"An Empath thing," Midorima repeats, clasping his hands together. "He looked like he was in pain. Should we be worried?"

"No, it hasn't happened again, he's fine."

It's only for a second, one single second is all it takes.

Aomine, Murasakibara, Kise, and Akashi snap awake at the same time, Midorima goes rigid, and Momoi feels fire race inside her.

One second.

There are tears pouring down their faces. There's nausea swirling to life in their stomachs. But the worst part is the gaping hole they feel in their chest. It's cavernous, nothing but empty black and it aches.

Then it's gone and they catch a glimpse of the faintest film of grey vanish from around Kuroko's still sleeping body.


I'm not sure how many chapters are left, but I do have an end in mind so I'm going to work up another outline to see if I can at least ballpark for you about how long this story will be.

Thank you for being patient with me, let me know what you think!