Chapter 9 :

Kuroko stared at the groups of numbers being separated by hyphens in confusion. What were they?

Suddenly, he heard a knock at the door. Sighed, he moved towards it and just to rest assured, he did not open it and simply voiced out:

" Who is it?"

" Akashi-sama has a message for you, Kuroko-sama."

Feeling relatively unsafe and worried, he cut to the chase:

"What does he want?"

Apparently, the girl was taken back by the unusual straightforwardness of the seemingly polite man but she proceeded anyway:

" He would like you to go outside and have some fresh air."

" Is that it?"

" Yes."

From Kuroko's point of view, Akashi could never stop being strange and unpredictable. Just the day before, he had Kuroko locked up and at the moment, he wanted Kuroko to go outside?

" Do I have to do it now?"

" ' The sooner the better' he said, but it would be the best if you could do it today."

Kuroko stayed quiet for a while. He was wondering. What if this was another weird and somewhat illegal thing that Akashi set up? That would seriously be unpleasant.

However, he had been stucking inside the mansion for two days, already. The lack of fresh air and sunlight were killing him.

" Are you still there?"

He uttered loud enough for her to hear.

" Yes, I am."

"..." He was slightly undecided." Wait for me."


" Um... Thank you for the set of clothes."

Kuroko reluctantly said to the girl who was walking next to him. They were going downstairs and towards the entrance.

" You're welcome. Akashi-sama also sent you an apology on behalf of the unprofessional arranger who had left your wardrobe empty."

" Was he or she the same person who placed this phone in it?"

Kuroko asked while showing the girl the said object. All of the sudden, the girl halted which also caused him to stop moving and averted his gaze to her.

"Tetsuya."

Standing by the open door, Akashi eyed Kuroko while holding a key in his hand. By a hand gesture, he dismissed the unneeded girl, leaving the two men alone in the wide living room. As she went away and was completely out of sight, Kuroko, as expected, was nervous. The way Akashi is always looking at him hungrily and openly never fail to give Kuroko a fright. That time was not an exception.

" So..."

Akashi finally broke the utter silence and by a glance, he drew the blue-haired man's attention to the beautiful scenery outside. And the first thing to appear in his field of vision was a red Audi A5 Cabriolet, waiting to be driven.

"... I'll drive" he said as he played with the key." Shall we?"

Despite Akashi's appealing offer, Kuroko did not show any sign of excitement.

" I don't want to go, anymore."

" Tetsuya... I insist."

Kuroko just frowned at that and looked downwards, not wanting to meet the radiant irises.

" Just now, you have expressed objection for being excessively protected, so-"

" What an interesting way to say you imprisoned someone! Akashi-san!"

"Tetsuya dear, I made a mistake, OK? And right now, I'm trying to compensate for that..."

Kuroko's cautiousness was unwavering throughout. His disbelief in Akashi never stopped increasing day by day.

"... And really, what better way to recover from what happened than to have a ride outside, as long as you like."

Akashi waited. He waited for something that was bound to appear no matter what, upon those blue eyes, a softness.

"How about this?"

Kuroko looked up and saw the redhead took steps towards him. In a brief second, they found themselves face to face.

" I guarantee I'll do you no harm. Is that fine by you, Tetsuya?"

The other person was astonished. It never occured to him that Akashi would actually say that. But he needed to make sure.

" Then... Akashi-san, would you cross your heart?"


Besides Akashi's immense mansion, there were not many habitations located in the area. Apparently, this suburb was rather new and seeing its distance to the city, it was understandable to have such a small amount of residents. The view was exceptional, though. It was so rare to have an unpolluted environment where he could freely inhale the air without feeling nauseous because of exhaust fumes.

The cool wind went through the gaps of his powder blue hair and was followed with a handful of leaves and white petals of the Yoshino cherry trees in flower. Some petals stuck in his locks. He slowly removed and gently sniffed at them.

" They have a nice fragnance, don't they?"

The man who was sitting next to him and was also holding the steering wheel commented. Kuroko agreed and nodded.

" It has been nearly an hour."

Akashi said and Kuroko simply answered with a 'yes'.

" Do you want to return? It's going to get dark, soon."

"Well..."

He was having difficulty in making up his mind.

" Perhaps... Five more minutes?"

He turned to Akashi and asked with longing eyes. Akashi glimpsed aside and just smiled at that.

"Sure."


Akashi arrived home at about 6 o'clock with a undeniably satisfied Kuroko. The redhead got out of the car and gave the key to a footman to park the car. As they went to the entrance and were greeted by Akashi's hired people, Kuroko occasionally looked at the person by him, wanting to say something.

" What is it, Tetsuya?"

" I...want to thank you for the enjoyable ride."

Akashi snickered.

" You're welcome."

When they reached the door, the redhead glanced at Kuroko, still having the smile on his face and whispered:

"It's your last, though."

Kuroko, after having his two feet came in contact with the floor inside the mansion, could not make sense of his inaudible voice and therefore asked:

"Did you say something?"

Akashi looked at Kuroko and walked past him.

" Nothing."


Which one is crueler? The one who takes your hope away abruptly? Or the one who shows you what its beauty is before taking it away?

The calm before the storm, indeed.

End chapter 9.