Disclaimer: Tadatoshi Fujimaki owns Kurobasu and its characters. Luna only owns the plot and the OCs.
Warning: as usual *lol*
A/N: Yosh, everyone! I'm back from my tournament! Too bad, got defeated in best 8, but it's okay for a national level tournament, yeah.
Sorry for the delay in updating! I actually had this one typed up at Monday, but had to get it checked first before I could post it! Now, thanks a LOT for tora-chan83 for the help! Can't really do this without you, dear! Also thanks a bunch for readers' reviews, faves and alerts! Saa, no need to wait any longer! ENJOY!
Signal
Part 7
Setsuna was drinking a cup of coffee inside a certain maid café at Akihabara. She was humming as she looked at her cell phone and smiled happily when she got a text from her beloved husband in the States.
"Aww, Taira is such a sweetie," she giggled as she read the overly affectionate text from the usually awkward man. Her husband could be so passionate when he was in the mood to be lovey-dovey, even though he was usually gruff and gauche, just like her adorable son.
Really, Kagami must have gotten that personality trait from his father. Though, Setsuna had to admit that she was surprised at first when she found out her son was actually in love with a boy. However, judging from the way Kuroko acts towards her son, she believed that he loved Kagami as much as Kagami did him, if not more. Kagami was serious too about his relationship with Kuroko.
Setsuna had no problem whatsoever with her son being gay or bi or whatever. As long as Kagami treated his relationship seriously, she wouldn't complain. The problem at hand now was…Kuroko and his friends being involved with Akashi Family, even though it was only with Akashi Seijuurou, the eldest son.
Although Setsuna had vowed that she would never come back to the Akashi Family, it seemed that she would have to do something since if Akashi Seijuurou was in it, then her sister would have her eyes on them too.
Setsuna actually didn't want Kagami to know about their relation with Akashi Family, even when she sent him back to Japan three years ago. She just hoped that Kagami would stay off the radar of Kurenai's Eyes. Three years ago, Kurenai's contact finally caught up with Setsuna's whereabouts after she disappeared for almost 14 years. To think that Kurenai would find her and her husband for real was very surprising.
The Akashi Family had grown so much more under Kurenai and Seiji's care. Her father and grandfather must have been very proud of them. But seriously… Setsuna didn't think that Kurenai was serious when she declared that she would chase her down and catch her no matter how far she ran away with Taira.
"Nee-sama is also a part of my Akashi Family. This time you can get away, but I swear I will get you no matter what… and that child in your womb as well. Everyone in this family belongs to me. Remember that."
Setsuna lowered her gaze as she felt a pang in her heart. "Such level of possessiveness is definitely unhealthy, dear sister…" she whispered, feeling rather poignant.
And she carelessly passes that trait down to her child… poor Seijuurou. No wonder Seiji-san sounded so desperate when he called me…—Setsuna sighed deeply.
Setsuna never thought that the problem from the past would become so huge. After all, she ended her relation with her old family fair and square, but apparently she had underestimated her sister's tenacity. To think that Kurenai was even capable of using her own children to get what she wanted….
A sound of a chiming bell from the maid café entrance, followed by the voices of the maids greeting "Welcome home, Master," brought Setsuna out of her musing. She looked upward as a tall man with reddish brown hair and dark brown eyes entered the shop.
Setsuna smiled slightly and raised her hand, waving at the man, which immediately caused him to notice her. He approached the redhead before saying, "I'm sorry for being late, Setsuna-san," he showed her a sheepish look before taking the seat across from her at the same round white table.
"No problem. I know you are busy, so it's fine, Seiji-san," Setsuna said, smiling fondly at the man called Akashi Seiji.
"As usual, you are very easy going," Seiji smiled back at her nostalgically and Setsuna giggled at that.
"Is that a compliment or sarcasm?" Setsuna grinned mischievously.
"Of course it's a compliment. I like that part about you most after all," Seiji said, laughing lightly as well.
They fell into comfortable silence for a brief moment before Setsuna decided to call for the maid so Seiji could order. The man coughed slightly, and awkwardly tried to order the least cute item on menu to Setsuna's amusement. She shook her head, taking a pity, and ordered a cup of black coffee for him.
"They sell black coffee here?" Seiji asked, looking surprised.
"This is a maid café. Of course they sell coffee here. Only the name is different," Setsuna rolled her eyes, giggling. Seiji's face reddened at her statement.
"You know I'm not good with these kinds of places," the man was almost pouting, but he was more embarrassed than annoyed.
"That's exactly why I chose this place to meet," Setsuna grinned cheekily.
"You are still a tease too, Setsuna-san," Seiji looked kind of nostalgic again as he continued, "If you didn't run off with that man, I wonder if you'd still be like this…"
"…married to you, you mean?" Setsuna closed her eyes, imagining how it would be like if she really went through with the marriage that was planned for her by her father. Seiji was originally her fiancé before she fell in love with Taira and decided to elope with him.
At first, Setsuna thought Seiji would hold a grudge because she left him for Taira, but she was wrong. Both Seji and Setsuna were like brother and sister since they grew up together as childhood friends. There was no romantic feeling between them at all because their engagement was for political purposes, courtesy of their respective parents.
Setsuna later knew that Seiji was actually glad when she ran away to be with her beloved one because Seiji had fallen in love with her sister instead of her.
Then, three years ago, Seiji was the one who warned Setsuna about Kurenai finding her whereabouts, and suggested that she send Kagami back to Japan before she and Taira dealt with the Akashi's Family's disturbance. He even inconspicuously made Kagami keep a low profile during his middle school days in Japan after he transferred back, knowing his son, Seijuurou, also had eyes in basketball world. He made sure Kagami's school wasn't well known for its basketball team so they wouldn't cross paths.
Though, Seiji didn't seem to think that Kagami entering Seirin would be such a huge deal since Seirin was a brand new high school. It could be because Seiji didn't know that the Seirin basketball team was a black horse that could go to Championship Game despite the members being still all freshmen, and certainly didn't expect that Kagami entering that school a year later would bring the Seirin team to battle against the Generation of Miracles, including Akashi.
Well, there was a limit to how a person could do something about it. Setsuna was already very grateful for his help up until now. Seiji was really a great person after all. If she wasn't so in love with Taira, she didn't mind marrying Seiji.
Seiji snorted at her comment. "We, married?" he actually laughed while shaking his head nonsensically. "That would be very interesting, though. We would be arguing all the time that we wouldn't even have a lovey-dovey moment," he was still chuckling afterwards.
"Exactly," Setsuna couldn't help laughing again, following suit.
After feeling quite satisfied with their –what if- speculation and, of course, their laughing at funny moments in the past, they went back to the relatively quiet, contented atmosphere. The maid brought Seiji his black coffee a few minutes later, and he added a cube of sugar before starting to stir the hot beverage.
"So… what do you want to discuss with me, Seiji-san?" Setsuna started the real conversation, the actual purpose of their meeting that day.
Seiji was still silent, stirring the coffee until all the sugar melted and mixed with the coffee. He stopped and put down the spoon before looking upward at Setsuna's face, setting a serious expression. "It's about Seijuurou…" he said slowly, almost sounding worried.
Setsuna huffed ruefully. "Did Kurenai do something to him?" she asked.
Seiji nodded. "I'm afraid so, but it's more… about Seijuurou rather than about her," he let out a long suffering sigh.
"I can guess that much. I met the GoM members that became my son's acquaintances. I can see why Seijuurou wants them to be his. Knowing Kurenai and her traits, I can almost see her in your son's personality as well," Setsuna commented slowly, rather resigned. "But… he's rather different from her. That much I realized."
"Yes, but he doesn't seem to understand his own feelings and emotions," Seiji gazed down at the table, looking slightly dejected. "I was at the wrong too for letting Kurenai have too much influence in raising Seijuurou. I feel even more responsible because his brother even adopted Kurenai's exact personality as his own."
"So, what do you want me to do?" Setsuna asked.
Seiji looked slightly hesitant before voicing his request, "Could you… bring Seijuurou away from the Akashi Family for awhile? At least until I can convince Kurenai to let him live his own life without her interfering with it every single time."
Setsuna was surprised at his request. "Are you sure? Won't you need your son's consent first? It will be a kidnapping if I just take him away against his will," she raised her eyebrows at him wonderingly. What was Seiji thinking?
"Uh… I got a vibe that Seijuurou wants to leave. He just doesn't think he can without endangering his friends… somehow, I think Kurenai uses them as a leverage to bind Seijuurou to her," Seiji sighed again, looking rather depressed. "Why does she think she has to do that to keep Seijuurou close? He's her own child," he mumbled weakly, looking slightly annoyed as well.
Setsuna got a feeling that it was actually her fault. Well, she did leave Kurenai to take over the Akashi Family's 'back face'. She must have held quite an enormous grudge towards her. Her distrust towards a family member could be because of that too. Kurenai thought she had to get a hold of at least one weakness of her own family members', just to make sure they wouldn't betray her.
Setsuna wouldn't tell Seiji all of that, though. After all, she was quite sure that Kurenai loved Seiji as he was to some degrees. Or else, she wouldn't even think about marrying him at all, even though it was for the Akashi Family.
"Okay then, if you are sure," Setsuna accepted the request. "Though… I may have to ask my son's help for that. Children should be dealing with children. We, the adults will deal with the adults using our own way while silently protecting them. It's our main job as parents, right?" She winked confidently at Seiji.
Seiji was stunned for a moment before he huffed out a small laugh. "Taira taught you that, huh?" He seemed to be very amused now.
Setsuna just widened her grin, completely showing a positive reaction and answer to that clarifying remark.
~Akashi x Furihata~
"Bring it on," Akashi dared and Kagami turned very serious at his claim.
"Do you know that your mother has a sister?" Kagami asked. Akashi shook his head in a negative response. "As I thought, my mother was already crossed out from the list of Akashi Family members. Well, she did run away from home to elope, so it wouldn't be strange to treat her as a disgrace, especially for a family like the Akashi Group's caliber. I heard from my mother that she used to be a successor, but because she fell in love with my dad, she decided to leave everything behind so they could be together despite the Akashi's Family disapproval," he continued.
Akashi snorted slightly at this. "An Akashi… eloping? What a joke. No one from the Akashi Family would do something as scandalous as that," he said, distrust clearly displayed in his cold expression, his dichromatic eyes narrowing in disgust.
"Well, believe it or not, my mother did," Kagami shrugged. "She's like… what do you call it? The 'odd one' in the family?"
"Nonsense. It's simply because your mother didn't belong in the Akashi Family from the start. I never heard of such a person existing in my family," Akashi sneered, downright underestimating that it irked Kagami slightly, but he held his temper in check in favor of convincing the smaller teen.
"Then, why don't you try to ask your parents?" Kagami dared, narrowing his crimson eyes as well. "Or check your family tree or something. You will find a crossed out name there. Akashi Setsuna is my mother's name. It will prove enough that we are cousins," he continued, looking deeply into Akashi's unreadable eyes meaningfully.
Akashi frowned deeply at his point. He didn't look shaken, but the surprise and displeasure were quite clear in his expression as Kagami actually challenged Akashi to prove the truth of the story.
"So?" Akashi finally said, for some reasons appearing slightly indifferent. He seemed to be unable to comprehend why Kagami was telling him this.
Kagami sighed, "Don't you get it? Even in the Akashi Family, there's someone like my mother," he said, stressing the 'Akashi Family' words. He hoped Akashi caught up. He couldn't spell it one by one that he might have an idea why Akashi did what he did, but like Kuroko said before, Akashi might have no idea about it at all because he didn't realize it.
Because of the way Akashi was brought up in the family, there would be no meaning if Akashi didn't realize it himself.
"That's why, what about it? Let's say that it was true, which it clearly isn't, it will only prove our relation. That doesn't change the fact that you endanger my family," he said gravely, precariously, and Kagami had to heave out a long sigh at his response.
"You really don't get it, do you?" Kagami looked at Akashi, slightly sympathetic.
Akashi seemed to notice Kagami's look and hissed at him angrily. "I dare you to look at me with those eyes longer, Kagami Taiga. I'll make sure your body will never be found again."
There again, Akashi's pride and temper got the better of him. It was just like how Setsuna told Kagami and all the other GoM members that Akashi Seijuurou was… a prisoner.
"The Akashi Family has two faces: 'white', the front face, a powerful corporate group involved in giant business industry, and 'black', the back face, a politically powerful family that controls the underworld business. Akashi Seiji, the father, deals with the front face, while Akashi Kurenai, the mother, deals with the back one. They don't always work together or eye to eye, but their existence is absolute in the eye of the world for complementing each other. Not many ordinary people know about the back face of the Akashi Family, but everyone in underworld business knows them. Messing with them equals to a death penalty. That's why they shut their mouths whenever people ask around about them.
"Of course, such a big family always has principles and doctrines to guarantee their success and safety. The Akashi Family's doctrine is a very powerful one-sided weapon. It makes all the members of the family lose their sight in their actual 'feelings'. Akashi Seijuurou was raised with those doctrines of absolute victory, absolute truth, an absolute white and black world, and an absolute rational thought which disregards human's feeling. They are taught to always have plans, to move ten steps ahead their opponents and even their comrades, to make sure they always get what they want and need. However, it costs them greatly in the matter of their 'hearts' because they don't always have time to deal with what they 'feel' when they run those schemes, to make sure everything goes according to plans smoothly, to absolutely gain their objective.
"Kurenai also taught her children this way, including Seijuurou. He must have been pressured his whole life to live up her expectations. Even though he found something that he can actually 'feel' or 'like', he must have been so busy planning to keep it together, to make sure that it's safe and in order that he doesn't realize he's disregarding the feelings of the 'people' involved in it, especially when his family sees that 'something' as a distraction from his main 'duty' as an heir.
"Akashi Seijuurou isn't taught how to 'love' that something, but to absolutely 'possess' it, to make sure that it's protected from any harm, including the 'personal feelings' of the people involved in that something.
"That boy doesn't know how to show affection normally, especially to people. 'You guys', are something that is precious to him, unbelievably very much, so much that he's even willing to hurt himself just to make sure that you'll stay. But I can assure you, he did what he did because he tried to protect you from the Akashi Family that sees you as a 'distraction' for him. He might act that he planned everything until the smallest detail, he might even convince himself that he actually did, but despite being exceptionally clever, he is just a boy, trying desperately to 'preserve' what he thought was his, from being taken away from him."
"You… you just don't realize it, but you are actually scared, aren't you, Akashi?" Kagami asked, still looking at Akashi compassionately. Akashi, on the other hand, looked like he was ready to kill him.
The shorter teen approached Kagami in a fast movement, still glaring at him so hard and deadly that Kagami could almost see his pupils slit even thinner and sharper than usual.
Kagami was sure the smaller redhead even held a pair of scissors in his hand (despite not yet seeing it since the sleeve of his yukata was quite long) and that Akashi would stab Kagami with it, but Kagami didn't intend to dodge or back down.
Kagami even let Akashi attack him with that strange ability to make people bigger than him fall down on their butt. Not even flinching when Akashi grabbed his collar, slammed him down on the ground and then made a stabbing motion with his scissors. The edges were a half centimeter away from his cheek when it suddenly sank on the ground beside his head.
Akashi looked down at Kagami with widened eyes, clearly surprised when Kagami didn't blink and only stared back at him bravely under his lethal gaze. Akashi seemed to realize that Kagami didn't even want to dodge his attack, from the lack of muscle movement or micro-gestures observed through his Emperor Eye. He gritted his teeth afterwards, once again narrowing his eyes accusingly.
"What in the world are you planning, Kagami Taiga?" Akashi hissed again, tightening his hold on Kagami's collar. "Spouting such bullshit to me… are you trying to infuriate me?" he growled, looking very furious.
"I do want to rile you up," Kagami admitted, his gaze never straying from Akashi's mismatched eyes at all. "Don't you see it? You can lose control once in awhile too. You don't have to be perfect all the time. There's a reason why those guys stick close to you even after you parted ways. They respect you, and more, despite your tyranny. Don't you understand how they feel about you? How you feel about them?"
"SHUT UP!" Akashi shouted now. He actually raised his voice and his expression was slightly distraught at this point. "You bring nothing but trouble…! Ever since you became Tetsuya's light, everything seems to go down the wrong way. Right, you even tried to pull Ryouta, Shintarou and Daiki away from my grasp. Such insolence…! How dare you lay your fingers on what's mine. Even Atsushi started to act strange after you guys defeated him…. You are the root of all those problems. I won't let you do as you please. The Generation of Miracles is mine. Don't think you can distract me with such a ridiculous story about us being related to try to snatch them away from me. Know your damn place, you good for nothing! In the end, they will choose me over you… you and your team…!"
Akashi looked very volatile at that moment, seriously terrifying when he glared with such intensity and ferocity. If looks could kill, Kagami would be dead ten times by now for getting stabbed by those knife-like mismatched glare repeatedly.
Moreover, Akashi's first shout already alerted the guards and they immediately came running towards their direction. SHIT!—Kagami thought in panic, gasping when he was freed from Akashi's killer eyes.
"Get him out of my face," Akashi ordered the guards after he got off of Kagami's body, already looking calm again. In record time, Kagami was kicked out of the Akashi Family main house.
Luckily, Kagami wasn't beaten to a pulp, which was miraculous by the way. He was actually ready if it turned to the worst and he had to fight. He was quite confident that he could take them (yakuza or not), but he didn't want to risk hurting himself, which could end his basketball career on the spot.
Well, at least Kagami's mission in riling Akashi up was done. Although Akashi seemed unable to accept the fact (and totally blamed Kagami for it), the seed of doubt was definitely planted in his consciousness. He would be asking himself about it. He would be thinking about it and Kagami was sure it wasn't hard for the smaller red haired genius to realize it.
Yes, even Akashi Seijuurou can be freed… from the Akashi Family doctrine.
~Akashi x Furihata~
"Ah, welcome back, Sei-nii," Soujirou greeted Akashi when he entered the house again, still fuming and infuriated at his previous conversation with Kagami Taiga.
How dare he! Trying to claim himself as one of the Akashi's…! There's no way such a person existed in the Akashi Family! Our perfect family…!—Akashi bit his lower lip slightly.
"Her name is Akashi Setsuna."
"Sei-nii?"
"SHUT UP! I am thinking!" Akashi snapped at his little brother, who blinked at him in surprise. Akashi slapped his mouth shut immediately at his temporary loss of control.
…
…
"Sei-nii…?" Soujirou widened his eyes in disbelief as Akashi gritted his teeth again.
"I'm tired," Akashi said more composedly now. "I will return to my room. Tell mother I won't be joining dinner," he said, before resuming his walk down the corridor to his room.
Unknown to him, Soujirou was still looking at his retreating back. His expression was slowly turning to the coldest expression that even rivaled Akashi's when he was pissed.
"You are breaking… Seijuurou-niisama," Soujirou whispered. "Such a miserable look… it's the Eye's fault…" he muttered lowly, lowering his gaze before smirking. "You're failing… as an Akashi…."
~Akashi x Furihata~
A few hours after the confrontation between Kagami and Akashi…
"So… why are you guys here again?" Kagami twitched as he was suddenly faced with all the GoM members (except Akashi), their respective boyfriends: Takao and Himuro, plus Mibuchi Reo, Hayama Kotarou and Nebuya Eikichi who seemed to have just arrived from Kyoto, in front of his apartment.
"Kagamin!" Momoi waved at the redhead with a sheepish smile on her face.
"What are they doing here?" Kagami asked loudly while pointing at the Rakuzan basketball team's starting members in protest. It was bad enough that he had to house the entire GoM and their partners whenever they were in Tokyo, but adding another team in the mix, moreover, the team that belonged to Akashi Seijuurou, was definitely crossing the line in Kagami's standard, seriously.
"We are here to pick up Sei-chan," Mibuchi said, huffing and frowning slightly at the way Kagami pointed at them so rudely.
"Sei-chan?" Kagami looked at the black haired guy whose body built, face, and air looked similar to Himuro's, ridiculously. Who the hell was Sei-chan?
"He's talking about Akashi," Hayama, the light-brown haired one, supplied helpfully.
Kagami scrunched up his face, totally disturbed. Akashi Seijuurou actually allowed someone else to call him Sei-chan? Was the world at the brink of an apocalypse and he was the only one who didn't know?
"There's an absurd rumor about Akashi transferring back to Tokyo. We just want to straighten it up by asking him directly," Nebuya, the tan muscular boy, said gruffly, grimacing.
"It's not just a rumor. Your coach said he got the withdrawal notice from Akashi-kun via email," Momoi said.
"That can't be true! Why did he suddenly decide to transfer?!" Mibuchi held his head, looking almost panicking.
"That's right! Akashi wouldn't abandon us just like that without explanation!" Hayama exclaimed loudly, not sure if he was complaining or just trying to reassure himself.
"You guys… the GoM members must have known something about this! What happened to him here?" Nebuya demanded at the five other males in front of them, who could only stare at them with equally bothered expression.
"Akashi is transferring… that's news to me too," Midorima tried to act cool by fixing his glasses' position. Moreover, it was possible that he didn't know a damn thing about that as well. After all, there were only Kagami and Aomine present when Momoi broke the news.
"What the hell does that mean?" Takao looked perplexed beside the green haired teen, clearly very surprised as well. He turned to Himuro and the dark haired male shook his head, having no clue as well.
Murasakibara bit at his snack a little too hard, telling everyone that he was also slightly on edge despite the bored look he showed. Kuroko looked at Kagami with his dull, curious eyes.
"Kagami-kun… you know about this," Kuroko concluded a few minutes later as Kagami just sighed in exasperation. Aomine looked another way and Kise stared at the dark skinned ace with widened shocked eyes.
"Aomine-chi, you know about it as well!" the blond exclaimed, sounding rather accusing as he pointed and looked at him in disbelief.
Aomine made a protesting noise at that. "Satsuki broke the news when I played one on one with Kagami," he said defensively.
"And you didn't have any decency to inform us at all?" Midorima glared at Aomine and Kagami as if they had committed a horrible crime under his nose.
"Hey! That wasn't my intention! Kagami said he wanted to at least talk to Akashi first before telling you guys!" Aomine complained again for being blamed.
Takao and Himuro visibly gasped at that. "Kagami! You went to talk to Akashi alone?" the Shuutoku point guard asked, gawking at Kagami in shock and disbelief.
"Why didn't you wait for us first? I thought we would have that conversation with Akashi Seijuurou together," Himuro scolded Kagami as well, frowning at him with worried look.
"Well, what I wanted to tell Akashi in this conversation is different from what we wanted to tell him regarding our respective partners," Kagami said, scratching his cheek with his index finger slightly, feeling rather bad for not telling everyone first about it. "I meant, with the latest development… I couldn't help feeling that his transfer had something to do with his family's doing… and Mom even said she needed my help to drive some sense into Akashi because he is the one who must have the desire to be free," he continued.
"Wait, wait, wait! Hold on a second! What the hell are you guys talking about?" Nebuya suddenly interrupted, looking very confused.
"About Akashi transferring to Tokyo," Kagami faced the tall bulky boy now, looking at him and his comrades concernedly. "There's a possibility… no, I'm sure it isn't his wish. Akashi's family has done something, somehow, and Akashi has a sense of duty to fulfill his family's wishes, orders. He doesn't realize that he can object if he doesn't want to, but apparently, his family seemed to have gotten a hold on his 'weakness'," he continued explaining.
The GoM flinched slightly at that, completely aware that the 'weakness' Kagami was talking about was actually the GoM themselves. Before the redhead could go on, Kuroko opened his mouth to speak, "So you went there to tell him that he doesn't need to worry about us," he asked in an even tone.
Kagami glanced at Kuroko, slightly apologetic. "I didn't specifically say that. I just told him about my mother, that there was someone like her in the Akashi Family," he looked down. "I wanted to just tell him without being so cryptic, but unless he realizes it himself, there's no meaning to it. Because of the way he was raised, he won't accept whatever we say unless he thinks and finds it in himself that he can be whatever he wants to be," he continued slowly.
Kuroko moved closer, looking upward at Kagami, who felt rather disheartened for not being able to fully help, with a tinge of sadness in his sky blue eyes. He reached for Kagami's arm and noticed that his jacket was a bit torn and dirty. "You're hurt…" he said, a hint of worry in his quiet voice.
Kagami looked at his state of clothes and blinked. "No, well… there was struggle, since the guards in his house are ridiculously strong," he said, giving Kuroko a small reassuring smile. "I'm fine. I managed to talk to him."
"But still… charging alone in a Yakuza HQ was very reckless of you," Kuroko said, tentatively touching his arm, a displeased frown adorning his usually emotionless face. Kuroko must have been very worried if he even showed it in his expression.
"Wait, WHAT?!" Now Hayama widened his eyes as he heard their conversation.
"Yakuza?!" Mibuchi looked like fish out of water as he reacted to the news as well.
The others nodded. "The Akashi Family… or Akashi Group, is a very big family which has two faces. A very rich successful business corporate family at the front and a politically powerful yakuza family at the back," Momoi informed the three Rakuzan boys. "We also had just learned about it recently. But apparently, Akashi-kun's admission to Rakuzan was his way to release himself from his family's hold, although…" she looked down sadly afterwards, looking somehow regretful.
"Is it our fault?" Murasakibara suddenly asked, alerting the others of his presence since it was the first time he said something after Kagami showed up earlier. "Is Aka-chin unhappy because of us?" the purple haired boy actually put down his snack as he said this, his expression looking rather helpless as well.
A pang of guilt seemed to strike the other GoM as they winced in reaction to the question, but Himuro's reassuring words while holding Murasakibara's hand a moment later seemed to lessen the ache, somehow.
"It's not your fault at all. You guys trust and love him, but he just doesn't realize it yet. But we will make him realize it."
Kagami smiled at Himuro and the others looked relieved as they heard his words. Takao added soon after, "We just have to make him realize that we will protect our respective partners with our lives, so he doesn't have to 'sacrifice' his freedom for it!" He grasped Midorima's arm tightly with a confident smile on his face.
"Yeah!" Kagami held Kuroko's shoulder closer to his body and grinned widely, feeling his spirit lifted along with his confidence.
Kagami, Takao, and Himuro looked at one another, nodding surely before they looked at their respective partners with promise. Aomine, Kise and Momoi also looked at each other and smiled positively afterwards.
Mibuchi, Hayama and Nebuya still looked slightly confused, but at least they knew that Akashi didn't purposely try to leave the Rakuzan basketball team. There was a situation, and they wanted to help anyway they could to get Akashi back, even though they had to deal with Yakuza for that matter.
"So, what should we do to get Sei-chan back?" Mibuchi asked a few minutes later.
"We wait," Kagami answered. "I already planted a seed of doubt. Akashi is smart. He will catch on fast enough. When that time comes, we'll be there to catch him."
~Akashi x Furihata~
"Mother, do you have a sister?" Akashi asked one morning when the Akashi Family had breakfast together.
"Ah, are you talking about Setsuna-san, Seijuurou?"
Before Kurenai had a chance to react to Akashi's sudden question, Seiji asked back with a nostalgic grin on his face.
Akashi was surprised that his father was the one recognizing who he was talking about. He looked upward at Seiji with raised eyebrows. "Father knew." He concluded after seeing the easy smile in Seiji's face.
"Yes, Setsuna-san is your mother's sister, my former fiancée," Seiji nodded, he didn't seem to be uncomfortable talking about a woman whose name had already been crossed out from the list of family members in the Akashi Family.
Moreover, a former fiancée?—Akashi couldn't help frowning slightly.
"Our parents arranged our marriage, but I fell in love with your mother instead of her," Seiji grinned, looking somehow melancholy as he began to reminiscence about the past.
Kurenai coughed slightly, "Anata (1)," she called her husband while narrowing her eye at him, her face colored slightly.
Akashi blinked and stared at his mother, the leader of the GoM would be almost gaping if he wasn't able to control his expression better. Did Kurenai just blush? His mother? Blushing?
"Ah," Seiji seemed to realize that he somehow had embarrassed his wife in front of their son. "My bad, I just felt that Seijuurou deserved to know about his aunt. Did I offend you, honey?"
Kurenai hid her lower face with her red furry fan, her eye still narrowed at Seiji, but she just coughed once and said, "Talking about a woman who abandoned her family to be with a low-life at breakfast time is offensive." She tilted her chin up regally after her statement.
A bead of sweat rolled down Seiji's face even though he was still smiling. "You are just still mad at her for choosing Taira over you," he mumbled quietly, but she didn't seem to hear that.
Or, Kurenai just ignored the offhand comment, but Seijuurou heard it just fine. What does that even mean?—he wanted to ask.
But then again, there really was a woman named Setsuna in the Akashi Family. A woman who got away from the Family and succeeded to live freely with her beloved one… and even made a new family…
Kagami Taiga's mother.
Akashi suddenly remembered that he saw a woman with long red hair, with a face very similar to his own mother's, but she wore modern and stylish clothes. The day when he was picked up by his family…
Was she Setsuna-san?
"Why did you suddenly ask about it, Seijuurou-san?"
Akashi snapped back from his train of thought at the sudden question thrown by his mother. He blinked once before shifting his gaze at Kurenai. She was looking at him with a hint of curiosity in her visible golden eye.
"Ah, I was just curious. For a long time, the main members of the Akashi Family were just father, mother, and me after grandfather passed away. I just want to know if there are others… Who knows? Maybe someone like Soujirou, who came out of nowhere so suddenly, is hidden as well," Akashi shrugged slightly, looking down at his bowl of rice.
Seiji flinched slightly at that. "Soujirou didn't come out of nowhere, Seijuurou. Your mother gave birth to him," Seiji said, smiling ruefully.
"I never knew his existence before I graduated from elementary school. Until now I still don't get why he wasn't raised in the main house together with me," Akashi said again, averting his gaze slightly before looking back at his father and mother again. "I still don't recognize him as a family member," he said seriously.
"Well, his body was quite weak when he was a child, Seijuurou-san. He had to be raised in a specific controlled environment until he could live normally as a boy," Kurenai said, smiling slightly. "Too bad he doesn't have the same qualities as you, and because of that, he has to be treated differently as well."
Seiji looked at Kurenai with a frown on his face. "Don't talk about our children like they are goods, Kurenai," he said, a tint of disproval in his tone.
"Oh, yes, pardon me. That merely slipped out. I just meant that Soujirou needed special education, that's all," Kurenai said, while smiling at her husband gently.
A damaged good. That's what Soujirou is for mother,—Akashi looked another way. But it doesn't change the fact that he exists. He's dangerous because he's starving for attention…. His ambition… his desire… he isn't rational enough to deal with logically. Mother let a brainless monster loose in this house.
But then again, why do I feel this way to that damaged good? He isn't my brother. I don't acknowledge him as one, and yet… while I know he isn't qualified to be the Akashi's successor… why can't he be the one instead of me?
Akashi closed his eyes.
"Even in the Akashi Family, there's someone like my mother."
Kagami's words rang stridently inside his head. Akashi frowned again. Why did he keep thinking about that? What was this unpleasant feeling squirming in his chest? He wasn't supposed to feel this way. There was something wrong with him.
"You are actually scared, aren't you?"
Ridiculous. Akashi Seijuurou didn't fear anything. He possessed the GoM as his belonging and he took care of what was his. He wouldn't let anyone steal them from him. Not even those new partners, not even his family. He just had to plan everything correctly, and he would set this right.
A little sacrifice is nothing to get the big fish.
~Akashi x Furihata~
Furihata was feeling rather insecure.
Well, of course he would feel odd if he met all the GoM members one by one when he was out in town after the winter break just started. First, he ran into Murasakibara Atsushi, the tallest Yousen center, at department store when he was helping his mother shop.
Furihata couldn't help staring ludicrously at the amount of sweets and snacks Murasakibara put in the shopping cart. Himuro Tatsuya, his partner, looked at the purple haired boy with exasperation in his expression, but he let the tall guy buy them all as long as he used his own money.
"Taiga will kill you if we spend all his money to buy your snacks. He needs real food," Himuro said, sighing as he took another shopping bag to fill with vegetables and meats. "He will cook, so you can expect a delicious lunch and dinner," he continued with a smile.
Murasakibara just shrugged and put more snacks in the cart.
Why are Yousen players here in Tokyo when they are supposed to be in Akita?—Furihata couldn't help wondering, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek as he stared at the two taller guys peculiarly.
Himuro seemed to notice that someone was staring at them as he turned his face and accidentally met Furihata's eyes.
Ah, crap!—Furihata averted his gaze immediately while inconspicuously trying to glance at them once in awhile. Himuro smiled at him and Furihata was embarrassed that he was found out.
It seemed that Himuro recognized Furihata. He was approaching him now and Furihata panicked slightly.
"You are from the Seirin basketball team, right? Taiga's teammate," Himuro greeted.
"Eh, err… ye-yes," Furihata laughed sheepishly. "Sorry to intrude," he bowed slightly and politely, trying hard not to offend the taller, dark haired guy, even though he was caught staring.
Himuro smiled amusedly at Furihata. "Why are you apologizing? You didn't intrude at all." He seemed to be rather puzzled.
"Eh, well… I just couldn't help staring because it's rare to see you… I meant, Yousen's players, in Tokyo, you know," Furihata scratched his head. "Ah, I'm Furihata Kouki, by the way," he introduced himself after remembering that he hadn't done so before.
"Good to know you, Furihata-kun, I'm Himuro Tatsuya, and you must know that big baby over there," Himuro thumbed at Murasakibara behind him, who was calling his name with a bored look.
"Muro-chin~ come on~ let's pay these~. Wanna eat my snack soon~," the purple haired boy whined.
"Sheesh, he's such an impatient kid," Himuro sighed again.
"Ah, don't let me delay your activity, please," Furihata bowed again slightly, gesturing that Himuro should go to Murasakibara quickly.
"Alright then, see you around, Furihata-kun," Himuro bowed slightly at him in turn, before he went back to tend to Murasakibara.
"Eh? See me around? Then they will be here for awhile?" Furihata couldn't help asking himself that while sweating profoundly.
It didn't stop there, because when Furihata was out during the afternoon, he saw Aomine, Kise and Momoi at the park.
Kise had a modeling job, and it shouldn't be strange to see Aomine and Momoi in Tokyo because they lived there. However, the three hanging around together… or more like, Aomine seeming to be guarding Kise and Momoi while looking around, narrowing his eyes dangerously at everyone and everything that looked at their way for some reason, was.
It was honestly intimidating and Furihata yelped when Aomine's sharp gaze landed on him. The scary tanned guy then approached him suddenly and Furihata panicked again while pointing at himself, exclaiming "Eh? EH?"
"Oi! You over there!" Aomine shouted at him.
"Yes!" Furihata reacted involuntarily, standing straight while facing Aomine fearfully.
"I have seen you somewhere before. Who are you? Kise's stalker? Or is it Satsuki's?" Aomine glared down at him furiously.
"Eh? Wha—? Stalker—?!" Furihata didn't understand what was happening. His eyes spun as Aomine grabbed his collar roughly.
"Aomine-chi! Stop!" Kise shouted in horror at the forceful action and Momoi also yelled at him to stop before he could get violent.
"But I've seen him before!" Aomine protested angrily.
"Of course you've seen him before! He's on Kagami-chi and Kuroko-chi's team!" Kise slapped Aomine's back hard. "Jeez! Quit being so paranoid!" he scolded Aomine, huffing in annoyance.
"Eh, is that so?" Aomine turned to squint at the shivering Furihata who nodded frantically, speechless and almost crying in the tan ace's grasp. "Ah, my bad then…" he immediately released him, looking rather sheepish while Furihata immediately scrambled away, holding his chest in fright.
Furihata thought he was going to get beaten up. So scary!
"Are you okay?" Momoi asked Furihata with worried look after reprimanding Dai-chan to stop his 'punch first, ask later' habit.
"Y-yes… I think," Furihata gulped, trying to pace his fast shallow breathing while glancing tentatively at Aomine, who was speaking with Kise now, looking somehow bored while Kise was still whining at him to stop threatening everyone around them.
"I'm sorry about his behavior. He's kind of on edge these days since we are expecting… some kind of bad people to come after us," Momoi smiled ruefully at Furihata. "You are Furihata Kouki, right? Seirin High, Class 1-D, basketball club member, Tetsu-kun's friend!" she continued, looking somehow enthusiastic after she mentioned Kuroko's name.
"A-ah, yeah," Furihata smiled awkwardly at the very pretty and sexy pink haired girl in front of him. "Nice to see you too, Momoi Satsuki-san," he greeted Momoi politely.
"Oh, my! You know me, how nice!" Momoi grinned friendlily.
"Yes, I recognize Aomine Daiki-san and Kise Ryouta-san as well," Furihata said, feeling reasonably calmer now after Momoi talked to him so nicely. He was still rather wary of Aomine, but Kise seemed to be keeping him busy.
"Now, Aomine-chi, apologize properly!" Kise huffed again while pushing Aomine to Furihata's direction. Furihata yelped slightly as he was faced with Aomine once again.
"Hey, sorry about just now," Aomine actually apologized, though he looked rather reluctant.
"I-it's fine, Aomine-san," Furihata stuttered and fidgeted slightly. "Uh… it-it's nice to see all of you here, I mean… unless we have an official match or practice match, we don't see each other much, so…" he kind of rambled lamely.
Kise chuckled slightly at him. "Well, we don't actually know each other personally after all," he said with a bright shining smile on his face.
"Ah, that's true. Then, I was just passing by, so… I'll just go away so as not to be in your way," Furihata said before bowing and leaving.
"Yeah, see you around, Furihata-kun!" Momoi waved at him and Furihata waved back at their party while smiling nervously before getting the hell away from there.
Sheesh, can today get even weirder?—Furihata thought as he decided to go straight home, lest more strange events decided to destroy the start of his winter vacation.
~Akashi x Furihata~
Akashi looked at the family tree to make sure that Setsuna's name was there. Then he proceeded to ask a few people, older members of the Akashi Group for some information regarding her as well.
"It's too bad that Setsuna-ojousama decided to go away, though in our world it's quite common. Well, it's very strange for an Akashi, though." An old man who worked as the Akashi Group informant said while puffing out his smoke, "She was very clever and pretty, too. If only that man didn't seduce her…!" he growled, seeming to remember something disconcerting.
"Setsuna-neesan? I know her. Awesome woman. She could have been a very incredible leader too if only she had stayed. Well, she chose her own happiness over the family. I guess she was just a woman after all."
"She ran away from her fate! Such a person didn't belong in the Akashi Group!"
"But pulling out that kind of stunt was a very brave move. She was lucky that she attended home-schooling instead of going to school normally. Or else when she ran away, we would have torn apart her school, friends, and teachers trying to look for her."
"She must have some kind of help from the outside though, or else she wouldn't have been able to do it so smoothly. I think Kurenai-sama somehow helped her escape at some points, but she clearly pledged that she would get her back someday."
Akashi slammed his knight on his King with such force that the chess board trembled slightly, all the chess pieces rattling before collapsing. He stared thoughtfully at the knight that was still standing.
Help from the outside…—Akashi contemplated it carefully.
"Don't you understand how they feel about you?"
Akashi gritted his teeth. That didn't matter at all. He didn't care about what they felt. They only needed to obey him and that was good enough.
They are mine…—Akashi let go of the knight and repeated those words over and over in his mind, like a chant.
Mine.
~Akashi x Furihata~
Furihata couldn't help thinking that the universe was playing a trick on his life. After all, the weirdness that happened during the first day of the winter break repeated the next day, and even the following days.
Furihata kept bumping into strange people. Midorima Shintarou and Takao Kazunari were first. When he got out of the arcade, he saw the two entering the toy store that opened just across the arcade.
They were arguing about something. Apparently, Midorima was insisting that Takao wear a strange-looking bracelet he had just purchased or something, saying that it was his lucky item for the day and they needed it just to make sure that they were safe.
"Shin-chan, this looks hideous!" Takao protested.
"Shut it. It's necessary," Midorima ignored all his complaints afterwards as he turned around and seemed to notice Furihata staring at them. He narrowed his eyes at him and Furihata only chuckled nervously while bowing before moving away, not wanting to deal with them at all.
Afterwards, he saw some Rakuzan guys in town as well, debating in front of a building about taking self defense lessons if they were about to try to get Sei-chan back, or something along that line.
Furihata didn't bother to stick around to know more since he had to meet Sasaki-chan after this. She finally agreed to go on a date with him. Though, in reality she probably just needed some muscles to help her bring the shopping bags.
Well, a date is still a date even if it's like that.
However, Furihata didn't realize yet that this outing was going to be the last date he would ever have with Sasaki-chan….
End of Part 7
Tbc…
Additional Notes:
1)Anata: the most formal way to call 'you', but in this 'husband and wife' context, it has equal meaning with 'dear', 'darling', 'honey' or so.
A/N: Hmm… this chapter is supposed to reveal the climax, but I guess I can put that in the possibly last chapter… or not. Aka/Furi portion is lacking. I will have to add one more chapter to make sure this fic has plenty of them together *lol* Anyway, what do you think? I hope it's not too lame or too confusing, about the things Akashi have to realize (sorry for making him rather clueless here, despite being genius *ugh*). Now, I will be waiting for your feedback *bows*