A/N: I'm so sorry for the longer periods of time between updates lately. Last week was Finals week for my school and I couldn't find the time to write anything. Along with that, I find myself writing paragraphs for every story and then going back to another. I really need to make up my mind... XD Anyway, hope you enjoy :D
A/N 2: Thank you for all of the reviews! Reazthie, clarit, Blume -San, Killua, sunflora263, Guest, Puncakegoddess, Sarekkandarikulover, maybe143, sofsof2015, deLovelyBones, 2nd guest, 3rd Guest, Rika Tone, Akatsuki1210, duanengo2, destiny6100, and YiskaXIII! :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or Magi
Chapter 8
Shutoku Academy
Takao let out a yawn as he made his way through the darkened corridors towards his room. The halls were empty since both teachers and students were sleeping by this time. He hadn't realized how late it had become while he was in the dining hall with Kuroko and his friends.
After the dinner he had situated them all in the unused rooms that were near the infirmary before deciding to retire for the night as well.
He let out a little chuckle, remembering their antics. That brunette obviously was in charge despite Kagami's label as 'King' and she seemed to have quite a temper... He was vaguely reminded of Momoi; thoughtful, strong, and caring. And the rest of them had unique qualities about them as well that would make for a good balance to Kagami's and Kuroko's lack of experience so far.
They were a bit strange, but amusing to say the least and he enjoyed doing things besides teaching for once.
He turned right to head towards bedroom, when out of the corner of his eye he saw light coming from a room to the left.
'Someone's awake at this time?' He debated on ignoring it and going to sleep, but decided to make sure in case some student was wandering around without permission. If Midorima knew he'd just walked along and something happened, then he'd be getting the scolding of a lifetime...
The black-haired man headed towards the light until he came in front of the large doors that belonged to the library. He opened the doors quietly and stepped inside.
The library was enormous and it needed to be since Shutoku had one of the largest information basis in the world. Books lined almost every inch of the walls, ranging from spell books to journals written by travelers. But, those weren't the most important of them. In the basement there were many rare tomes and other books that dated many centuries in the past. They were extremely valuable and if it weren't for the force fields and other safety measures, he was sure many people would try to get inside just to obtain them.
His eyes scanned the room and landed on the back of the person who was inside of the room, seated at one of the many wooden tables that had a huge stack of books on it. From the familiar green hair and robes, he knew it was none other than Midorima.
'What's he doing up?' He wondered.
Takao was about to go up and greet the man, when he realized something. There Midorima was, completely unaware and distracted. A wide smile went on his face at the prospect of getting back at Midorima for spelling the chair from underneath him during that meeting! Yes...
Takao slowly made his way towards the middle of the room, making sure to keep quiet and stay out of any light sources so they wouldn't cast a shadow. He was mere feet away when a voice broke through the silence.
"What are you doing here, Takao?" Midorima grumbled.
'Darn it...' He frowned at his loss of chance and with a sigh stopped sneaking around and walked towards the table his friend was at.
"How'd you know..?" Takao asked. Midorima simply rose a brow at the question. "Right, right... the Rukh..." Takao gave a short, embarrassed laugh at his mistake.
"Where are they?" Midorima asked, not seeing the group with Takao. He told him to keep an eye on them...
"Sleeping. I put them in the rooms near the infirmary."
"Did they do anything that could cause concern?"
"Other than a little slip up in the infirmary, nothing suspicious." The black-haired man reported.
Midorima nodded. He didn't completely trust the group, but as long as they weren't causing trouble it was fine.
"How about your meeting?" Takao asked, remembering the reason for Midorima's absence. Taking in the irritated and exhausted that came onto the green-haired mans face when he asked the question, he knew it hadn't went well.
"That bad, huh?"
"Miyaji..." Came the muttered response as Midorima closed the book he was looking at and returned it to the pile on the table.
Takao nodded in understanding. Miyaji and himself were the only ones who dared to speak up against Midorima sometimes. Takao because of his friendship with the green-haired man and Miyaji because of his temper. And with the news Midorima went to announce at the meeting, he knew there was going to be some trouble.
"I'm guessing he was against the whole letting the future King of Seirin and bandits stay in the academy." Midorima nodded.
"He will just have to deal with it, just as I have."
Takao rolled his eyes at his friends attitude. He could have very well just denied them but had let them come anyway. Normally he would've vocalized it, but seeing how tired the man was, he decided to cut his friend a break and change the subject.
"How's the research going?" Takao asked, looking at the dozens of books on the wooden surface.
"Nothing yet... Only theories were written in the journal and the books on Magi's are all vague stuff that anyone would know about..." Midorima stated with a sigh. "I'll have to search the tomes tomorrow."
"Do you... really think they'll have information on a way to restore Tet-chan's memories?"
"I'm not sure..." He didn't like admitting it, but some things were a mystery to the world and information on different beings were limited. There are ways to restore normal peoples memories and even manipulate them. But Magi's are not classified as normal and he dared not tempt with the boys life after all he'd done for him in the past...
Takao just stayed silent and processed the answer. He didn't know if he should feel glad that he hadn't found anything or not, remembering the happiness on the bluenette's face when he was with his friends and especially Kagami.
"You're sure that nothing happened?" The green-haired man asked, noticing the silence and hesitance that was coming from the usual calm and easy-going man. Had the Seirin group done something while he was gone?
"No, nothing bad." Takao reassured.
"Then..?" He knew something was amiss and wanted to know what.
"It's just that... they all seemed...happy." Takao said. "Maybe we could just...leave it as it is..?"
Midorima frowned at what he was insinuating. Takao had a bad habit of being overly friendly to people, but he knew it was more than just that. He could see where Takao was coming from. He noticed the differences in the bluenette's mood during the carriage ride as well, how unburdened and carefree he looked was a change from the teen he knew. However, they couldn't risk this, especially after what happened almost a year ago.
"If Kuroko really lost his memories, then eventually Aomine will find out about it. And what do you think he will do when he hears that some new King has possession of him?"
Takao knew the answer. Aomine and Kuroko were really close to each other despite their few disagreements. And the navy-haired man was extremely possessive of him, so he had no doubt that he'd do whatever he could to get him back...
But, he had a feeling...a feeling that everything wasn't simply a matter of memory loss... Aomine's lack of response over the past few months, Kuroko's change of appearance... Something strange was going on and to be honest Takao sort of liked the Seirin bunch. They seemed like such a caring group of people, and he had no doubt that when they made their Kingdom that it'd be a good one.
"You know that we can't just turn a blind eye now." He said. Not only does that loud-mouthed Kise know about Kuroko's condition, but Aomine was bound to know about a new Kingdom sooner or later.
"Yeah, you're right." Takao sighed resignedly. "Anyway, I'm turning in for the night." Takao said, feeling the tiredness from before resurface. "What about you, Shin-chan?"
"I guess." There wasn't much he could do today without checking the tomes and asking Kuroko for more details. Midorima stood from the chair and looked at the mountain of books with disdain. He didn't have the energy to deal with them now...
Takao noticed and with a wave of the hand, the books floated into the air and went into their respective places on the shelves. Midorima sent him a nod of thanks and the two of them quietly exited the library and headed in the direction of their rooms. Both too exhausted to hold a conversation after everything that happened today.
As they neared Takao's room, Midorima remembered something that had been discussed at the meeting that concerned the person he was walking with.
"Oh, you were chosen to supervise the exams tomorrow." He said.
"Eh!? Why me?!" Takao shouted. Normally he'd be happy with this chance, but he had wanted to hang out with Kuroko tomorrow... "I thought Otsubo and Kimura were supposed to."
"Nakatani is busy creating the potion for Kuroko's friend, and Otsubo took over your class today. So, you're taking his place for this."
"Then...Miyaji!"
"No." Midorima said firmly, remembering the chaos that ensued the last time the strict teacher had administered the test to the students. He promised himself to never allow the man to do that again...
"Fine..." Takao said with a frown halfheartedly. "See you in the morning then."
Midorima nodded and when his friend disappeared behind the closed door, he went to his own rooms and settled down.
'Forgot to check the fortunes...' The green-haired man thought ruefully. They had been here for less than a day, and his schedule was already being thrown out of whack...
Normally he'd go back, but it was late and he was too exhausted to go back now... He'd just have to wake up earlier and check in the morning. With a sigh he relaxed, planning to do just that as soon as he caught up with some sleep...
Morning arrived and the group of Seirin plus Kagami and Kuroko were once again in the infirmary. Last night Takao had graciously changed the runes to temporarily allow them to have access to the room, and as soon as Riko and Hyuuga woke up they immediately went inside to check up on Kiyoshi. Gradually everyone else awoke and also gathered together inside of the room.
Without free reign of the castle, they didn't have much to do and decided to just lounge around until told otherwise.
Kagami was seated on one of the unoccupied beds, looking out of the window and gently patting Kuroko's head that was laying on his lap. For some reason the blue-haired boy was still tired after waking up this morning and despite his urges, he was adamant to stay awake.
"You sure you don't want to go back to sleep, Kuroko?" Kagami asked.
Kuroko shook his head, not wanting to leave the presence of his friend. Besides that reason, there were too many thoughts in the bluenette's head to fall asleep. All night he couldn't help but attempt to do as Tsugawa had said; turning Rukh into wind and other stuff. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn't do anything with the Rukh besides spheres.
Kagami was about to advise Kuroko to at least take a nap here, but he was interrupted when two people walked inside.
"Morning." Takao greeted the group, receiving similar acknowledgement.
"Did you all have a good sleep?" Takao asked.
"Yes, the rooms were very comfortable." Riko replied. The rooms had been much better than their own worn out ones in their base at Seirin. "Are you sure we won't be in the way?"
"The student dormitories are on a different area of the building, so you can all stay here without any problems." Takao said.
"Thank you both for allowing us to stay." Riko said gratefully. They had allow them to stay on such short notice and she appreciated it.
"It's nothing." The black-haired man smiled at the group. "I'm just glad that I can see Tet-chan again after so long!" Takao ruffled Kuroko's hair with a huge smile on his face.
Kagami discreetly moved Kuroko a little further from the mans reach so he would stop patting him. But, it didn't fool anyone. They knew what and why he did it.
"Haha, sorry?" Takao said, unaffected by the possessive action.
Kuroko looked up at the two from his position and noticed somthing different about the green-haired man today.
"What?" Midorima asked, uncomfortable with the stare he was recieving.
"Your eyes..." Kuroko said, realizing what was different. The man had been wearing one glass on his eye before, but now there were two...
"Huh?"
"I think he means your glasses, Shin-chan." Takao said, with a chuckle.
"Oh. Yes, they are necessary for today."
"What do you mean?" Kagami asked, raising a brow.
"If you must know, these glasses are an item that will counteract the bad fortune that should be happening today." He explained.
They all looked at him weirdly at the answer. Was he paranoid..? It would make sense with all of the securities they had around the building... But, one person didn't mind it.
"Midorima-san is cool." Kuroko commented. He wasn't sure what the man meant by bad fortune, but he thought the 'glasses' fitted the man more than the monocle.
Midorima blushed, but before he could be found out, he covered the look by making it look like he was adjusting his glasses further up. "They are not meant to be 'cool'..."
Takao shook his head and smiled wide. It amused him how much the bluenette could catch his stoic friend off-guard.
"So, what are you all planning to do today?" Takao asked.
"This..?" Hyuuga responded, raising a brow.
"Haha, I suppose there really isn't much for you to do here..." Takao said. Most places in the academy were only accessible to magicians.
Silvery-blue eyes brightened, coming up with a solution. "I know! I'll give you all a tour!"
Kuroko's eyes widened at the prospect of seeing new things. The others in the group looked at the man for a while before deciding that it wouldn't be such a bad idea. But one person was totally against the idea.
"No you won't Takao." Midorima spoke up. "You were chosen to supervise today, remember?"
"Oh yeah..." Takao muttered. He was about to grudgingly drop the matter when he caught the hint of disappointment in the bluenette's eyes. With a grin he decided upon a resolution. "How about they come with us, Shin-chan!"
"What? Why?" A green eyebrow rose, not seeing the point of them attending the ceremony.
"They're going to be here for a while, and..." Takao looked at the group for a second before whispering. "They could use a distraction from...this."
Midorima didn't see his logic. They had let them stay, and agreed to heal their friend, now Takao wanted to give them even more privileges?!
"You already showed them the dining hall, right?" Takao nodded. "Then there's no need for them to see other places of the school."
"You expect them to stay in this section of the school for a whole month?!" The black-haired man accused. "Just let them come, Shin-chan. Do you really want them in here all day?"
Midorima's eye twitched at his friends persistence. He definitely told the man last night about his plans to search the library for those ancient tomes today...
"It's okay if you don't want to, Midorima-san." Kuroko said, drawing the green-haired mans attention to him.
Midorima looked down, appreciating that someone had the right of mind to stop Takao's pressuring, but when he did he froze. Seeing the disheartened look on the boys face and feeling a slight pang of guilt.
'They will be here for a while...' He sighed. Figuring that one day wouldn't interfere with his research.
"I suppose you all can..." He watched as the saddened blue eyes turned hopeful again and quickly looked away, and adjusting his glasses. "Only because it would be problematic for you all to take up this space in the infirmary..."
Takao smiled, excited to spend a little more time with Kuroko and his friends.
"If we want to make it there in time we'll have to leave now." Midorima said.
"Let's go Tet-chan!" The black-haired man said, grabbing the boys hand and leading the way out of the room. As he was pulled along, Kuroko stared at him and tilted his head, wondering why were people calling him weird names. First 'Kurokocchi' and now 'Tet-chan'. Did he have different names in the past..?
Midorima shook his head at the mans actions and followed. Seeing they were going to be left behind, everyone else rose from their places as well and trailed after the three, one red-haired person lagging behind a little.
'That guy...' Kagami glared in the direction of the man who took Kuroko from him. These past acquaintances of Kuroko's were starting to get on his nerves with the way they touched and talked to his friend so familiarly. He was just glad that the green-haired one wasn't as smitten by the bluenette as the others...
He grudgingly caught up with the bluenette and black-haired man and walked on the other side of Kuroko, who sent a smile at him when he felt his friends Rukh near him.
"So, where are we going?" Hyuuga asked.
"The evaluations are being held in the arena outside." Midorima said vaguely.
"An arena?" Kagami raised a brow, not expecting such actions from a magic school. "You let the students fight each other?"
"Sometimes. But, today is an exam day, so there will be no fighting."
"What are exams?" Kuroko asked the man.
"Every month students take these evaluations." Midorima said. "Depending on how much magic potential they show will determine what class they will be sorted to."
'Is that the class Tsugawa-kun mentioned?' Kuroko's interest escalated. He remembered what Tsugawa had said the other day and was curious about what the other meant about the different types of magic.
They continued down the hall until they reached a slip off area with a flight of stairs to the right. Midorima kept walking forward, but Takao finally let go of the bluenette's hand and headed towards them.
"Well, I have to go this way. See you all later!" Takao announced, waving and disappearing down a flight of stairs.
"Where's he going?" Kagami asked. Not that he was complaining about the man relinquishing his grip on Kuroko, but he thought they were all going to the same place.
"There are two entrances to the arena. We are going to the stands to watch, while Takao and the other teachers need to go to the ground floor to administer the test."
They all nodded in understanding and continued to follow the man until they reached a door. Midorima opened it and Kuroko squinted against the brightness of the sun that streamed through the doorway.
When their eyes adjusted to the light, they all stared at the area around them with wide eyes. Unlike the hallways, this place was anything but empty. There were at least hundreds of people wearing similar robes and other strange clothing seated on the many benches that lined the outer edges of the arena.
"There are this many people in the school?" Izuki asked, shocked by the sheer number of people.
"Some of these people are civilians that come to watch the evaluations." Midorima said, walking through the crowd of people, stopping when he realized they were all too astounded to notice him leaving. "Are you coming?"
Snapping from their stupor, they quickly caught up. Kuroko made sure to stick even closer to Kagami as best he could since there were so many people around.
Eventually they came upon a boxed off area where two people were sitting. The man with black hair was one they recognized from the time they first entered the building and the other one had long blonde hair.
Midorima sat down beside the blonde one and the rest of them, seeing that this was their destination sat on the empty parts of the seats.
"This is Otsubo Taisuke and Kiyoshi Miyaji." He introduced the two.
"It's nice to meet you. We are-."
"The group from Seirin..." The blonde one finished off.
"Yeah." Hyuuga said. Had Midorima informed everyone about their coming here?
"You all better not cause any trouble here." Miyaji said and sent them a glare before turning away. They just met the man and he was acting this way..?
Riko felt her irritation growing from the continual disregard they were getting from these people. Was it so hard to act civil?!
"Calm down Riko." Hyuuga said, seeing the bench starting to splinter where the brunette was gripping it.
"I. Am. Calm." She said, with a painfully forced looking smile.
"Please refrain from damaging the school..." Midorima mumbled, casting the irate woman a glance.
Sighing to calm herself down, the brunette turned her attention to the activities that were happening below. Seeing many students just standing there in two uniform lines.
"What are they doing?" Riko asked.
"When they get called up by Takao and Kimura they will demonstrate their strongest spell, and depending on their skills, they will be sorted into different ranks. 6 being the lowest and 1 being the highest."
While Midorima was explaining Kuroko looked at the many people in black robes that were standing in the middle of the 'arena'. Eventually his eyes landed on the podium in the center and he saw Takao standing behind it. Next to him was a man with short black hair.
He wanted to wave to Takao, but he doubted the man would see him in the middle of this whole crowd.
Nothing happened for a minute or two as they got ready. When everything was set, the back-haired man began the examinations.
"We will now begin the Kodor Exam." Takao shouted, causing everyone in the audience to quiet down almost immediately and direct their attention to the ground below.
The group were surprised by the professionalism the man used. It was so unlike his cheerful self. But, it wasn't a surprise to Midorima or the other teachers. Say what you want about Sure Takao was easy-going and lenient about some things, but when he had a job to do he took it seriously.
Takao and Kimura called up some students and they stood beside weird circles on the ground before waving the staffs in their hands. Kuroko watched with wide eyes as the empty space was replaced with an orb of fire and he realized that Tsugawa had been right about turning the Rukh into fire and other spells. He wanted to learn how to do tricks like these and show them to the Furihata and the others!
"Sixth Kodor." Takao replied at the same time Kimura announced. "Fifth Kodor."
"So, I'm guessing they didn't do good?" Izuki asked, noticing the high numbers they received.
Midorima nodded in confirmation.
Minutes later, everything was going well and when the bluenette heard the name of the person he met yesterday he got smiled.
"Tsugawa Tomoki."
"Kagami-kun, it's Tsugawa-kun." Kuroko said, smiling at the familiar person below. Kagami however had different feelings for the teen and scowled.
"Yeah..." He watched as the student stood in front of the array on the ground with an excited posture before pointing his staff at it and summoning the magic.
A much smaller fireball appeared and Kagami watched with guilty satisfaction as the obnoxious smile was replaced with a frown.
"Pffft..." Kagami couldn't keep in the laugh that escaped from his mouth. That brat had been so rude and cocky the other day that he couldn't help but feel a little happy that he was the one being embarrassed now.
"Sixth Kodor." Takao said with a smile. Tsugawa's shoulders slumped and he walked back into the line.
Kuroko didn't know why it got such a bad grade. Tsugawa had done more than he could and yet got sent so low... he couldn't help but feel bad for the shaved haired teen.
"Kamata Akio." Takao called out and a smug looking light brown-haired teen stood forward.
"Kamata Aito." Kimura called, and a person with similar features to the other went up to the man.
"Why are there two of them, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked the red-head, who looked in the direction the bluenette was to see what he was talking about.
"Oh, they're just twins." Kagami said, seeing the people the blue-haired boy was referring to.
"What's a...twin?" Kuroko asked as the two of them produced a medium-sized fireball before Takao announce that they would be in 4th Kodor.
"Well..." Kagami scratched the back of his head, thinking of a way to explain. "Twins are people who look alike. Not always though..."
Midorima raised a brow at the lame explanation, but kept quiet and focused on the exam.
Everything was going well, and Midorima was starting to think that the fortune he received today wasn't going to occur here.
There was only one student remaining. He had brown hair and eyes and seemed to have a very timid posture. The students around him looked disinterested at the teen. They didn't believe for a second that he could do anything higher than sixth Kodor. But they were proved wrong when he received one of the highest marks so far despite his weak appearance.
"Third Kodor." Takao said, handing the student a metal, who shyly accepted it before heading back in to line.
"That's all?" Kagami asked, seeing it was the last of the people.
"Yes, Takao just needs to announce the results then it's over." Otsubo said.
Kuroko watched as there seemed to be an argument between the student who had just passed his exam and one of the 'twins'. It seemed to be a simple argument, but when their faces changed from mocking to angered, Kuroko could feel something was wrong.
"Midorima-san..?" He tried to warn the man when he saw the Rukh starting to move differently. But, a moment later, the Rukh gathered at the end of the amplifier one of the twins had in his hand before a strange blue flame came out of it and towards the student.
The brown-haired teen tried to produce a shield at the sudden attack, but was a second too late when the blue fire caught on his sleeve and slowly started to travel up.
"Holy..." Kagami stared at the scene in shock.
Takao immediately muttered a spell to stop the fast spreading fire and then set to healing the burns on the students skin. He had been ready for something to happen, since even if Midorima's accusations about fortunes was suspicious, they did seem to come true more than not, but he hadn't expected one of the students to use such a spell...
"I trust that you'll all be able to make it back to your rooms yourself." Midorima said before he and the other two teachers headed to the center of the structure to deal with the students responsible.
"That was..." Hyuuga hadn't expecting things to escalate that quickly. And he was once again reminded how powerful magicians were.
The entire audience was shocked by the disturbance the two boys had caused. But none more than the blue-haired boy who had seen something entirely different...something worse...
However, during all the commotion no one was aware of the boys inner turmoil except Kagami who was only alerted when the boy spoke.
"Blue...flames..." He heard Kuroko's voice whisper from beside him. It wasn't the words that made him look over, but the tone of voice the boy had used while saying it.
When he saw the state the bluenette was in he froze. Kuroko was sitting on the bench in a rigid position, hands gripping the edge of the seat tightly and slightly glazed blue eyes staring forward. But what affected him most was the trail of wetness flowing down Kuroko's pale cheeks. He'd never seen the boy cry before... and it hurt to see him like this.
"Kuroko?" Kagami said. Kuroko made no indication of hearing him, so he spoke louder and put a hand on the bluenette's shoulder. "Kuroko!"
"I-I'm sorry, Kagami-kun." Kuroko said, voice shaking. He hadn't heard his friend calling him before...
"What's the matter?" Blue eyes stared up at his friend for a while before the owner of them answered in such a distress voice.
"I...don't know." The confusion was evident on the boys face that Kagami pulled the boy into a hug, ignoring the fact that others were looking.
Kuroko sighed and even though his friends Rukh was comforting, he still couldn't shake the images from his head.
"Are you both ready to go?" Riko asked.
Kagami looked up and saw that the others of the group had stood already and were getting ready to leave. He reluctantly unraveled his arms from around the bluenette and stood, keeping a comforting arm draped over the boys shoulder to reassure him.
"Yeah..." He responded. When Riko nodded and started walking he kept the firm but gentle hold on Kuroko while he steered him through the crowd, wondering what could have happened...
After the whole incident was cleared up and people started exiting the stands, the group made their way back to their respective rooms. Unlike the excited walk towards the arena, the trek back was sullen.
Their blue-haired Magi was silent and withdrawn for the walk back and despite Izuki's, Mitobe's and Kagami's attempts to cheer him up, nothing worked. It was weird seeing the cheerful boy this sad...
"What happened to him?" Riko asked, watching as the boy went into his and Kagami's room without a sound.
Kagami shook his head sadly. He didnt' know, and felt horrible at the fact he didn't.
"Well, let us know if you find anything out, okay?" Riko said, going into her own room.
Kagami went inside of the room and shut the door behind him. He hoped he'd feel better once they were alone, but the way Kuroko was sitting on the bed with the same far away look in his eyes was disheartening.
"You sure you're alright, Kuroko?" Kagami asked. The boy had been awfully quiet since the 'Kodor Exam', and it was starting to worry him.
"Yes, I'm fine, Kagami-kun." Kuroko said.
Kagami wasn't fooled one bit by the statement. He had grown used to Kuroko's behavior over the time he'd been with him and something was definitely off. But, as he was about to ask, a knock sounded from the other side of the door.
'Who?' Had Riko changed her mind and decided to find out herself..? Kagami wouldn't put it past her since she did seem like the type to do that.
Casting the bluenette a last look he headed for the door and opened it. But, he wasn't met with the brown hair that belonged to the Fanalis. Instead it was the dark green hair of the headmaster.
'They finished that up quickly.' He commented.
"What are you doing here?" Kagami asked Midorima.
"I'm here to speak to Kuroko." The green-haired man said. "Alone..."
Kagami did nothing. He didn't want to leave Kuroko alone when he was like this... When the red-head made no move to show it was okay, Midorima sighed and elaborated.
"I need more information about what he remembers in order to do more in-depth research on what happened." He explained.
Midorima saw the red-head glance back towards the bed, before speaking.
"I don't think he's up for it right now." Kagami said lowly.
"What do you mean?" The bluenette seemed fine to him before he left to take care of things.
"I don't know, he won't talk about it. Something happened to him when he saw that kid get hurt I guess."
Despite Midorima's supposed reluctant acceptance of the boy, he found himself worrying for him. But, he definitely wouldn't admit it to this moron...
"It will just be a moment." He persisted.
"I'll be right outside, okay Kuroko?" The red-head said. When he received a nod he left the room with one glance back at the two before closing the door.
Now that Kagami was gone, Midorima focused his attention to Kuroko. The boy was sitting on the bed closest to the door with his knees pulled to his chest and a darkened look in his eyes as if he were deeply contemplating something. Even when the bluenette had his memories, they had never really spent much time alone together. Clearing his throat, and pushing aside his discomfort, he started.
"Kagami said something...happened to you." He started lamely.
The bluenette looked up at the man, giving him a better look at his face. It was so different from the carefree look he had on it earlier today.
"Do you, uh, want to talk about it..?" He asked, sitting on the edge of the bed stiffly.
Kuroko slowly shook his head. He didn't mean to be rude, but he really didn't feel up to it...
"Is it about what happened today in the arena?" Midorima asked. He knew this wasn't only about what the boy had witnessed today, sure the accident had been unexpected, but Takao had managed to put out the fire within seconds and the student's arm had been completely healed afterwards.
"I..." Kuroko paused. "I saw something..."
'Saw something..?' Midorima raised a brow at the answer. "What'd you see?"
The bluenette was reminded of what he saw at the arena...
A tanned teen standing in front of blue fire.
The person waved a weapon and more flames shot out.
Someone shouting for the person to stop but being ignored.
Multiple unmistakenable human figures of different sizes, covered by the flames followed by screams of horror and pain.
Almost as soon as they started, the flashes had stopped. It wasn't as long as the other thing he saw that day at Seirin. But, even if it had been nothing but flashes, Kuroko could see that the scene had been a horrible one.
"Kuroko?" Midorima asked, making the bluenette snap from his thoughts. He then remembered that the man had asked him a question.
"A tanned person... He was... There were so many blue flames around and people were hurt..."
The green-haired man stared at the boy for a moment before it clicked. Kuroko claiming he saw images, and his reaction to seeing the blue colored flames. 'Could he be remembering events on his own..?'
"Have you seen anything else?"
Kuroko thought back, and remembered the time he had seen the same person before.
"One time in Seirin. We were playing peachball and that person was there."
"Hm..." Midorima narrowed his eyes in contemplation. A memory of peachball and one of flames... It seemed that the memories weren't constant with one another since the gap in time was huge. And because Kuroko didn't recognize the person in them he assumed that they only showed the boy what happened, rather than giving him clarity of the situations. It wasn't unusual for memories to come back this way, but it was worrisome that the bluenette would have no idea how to process such images.
"What were those blue flames?" The boy asked. When he saw them before, they felt both familiar to him and dangerous. He didn't know what to feel about them.
"Blue flames are said to be the strongest type of fire. The heat produced from it outweighs that of orange flames." Midorima explained."The only person you could have known in the past who used that power is Aomine."
'Aomine...' Then that tanned man he saw in the daydreams he had was the same one Kise had mentioned before. He was glad that he finally could place the name with someone, even if he could never see the persons face clearly in the visions. Kise had said that he and Aomine were close in the past, but if he really was the same person they were talking about, then why did he feel so sad just thinking about him..? And why had he hurt all those people?
Kuroko was just even more confused now than before.
"Have you ever tried magic before, Kuroko?" Midorima asked.
"Only spheres." He answered, confused as to why the man had suddenly changed the conversation. "Tsugawa-kun said there were different types of magic, but I couldn't do it..."
'Ah...' If that was all the bluenette knew about magic, then it was no wonder how the events of today and the memories may have caused him to react this way...
"Maybe if you were to learn how to do magic, you'd understand."
The bluenette shook his head adamantly at the suggestion. After everything that he's seen with magic, he didn't think he wanted to learn it anymore. So far just using the shields were useful and he didn't want to harm anyone like Kise, the twins and Aomine had...
'So troublesome.' The man thought. He wasn't good at this sort of stuff. Usually this was something that Takao would handle.
However, it wouldn't do for a Magi to be afraid of such things, but Kuroko always was different from normal people. He had such an earnest nature about him and genuinely cared for people's safety, be it enemy or friend. But, this was the way the world was. Total peace was just an illusion and he needed to understand, especially with the road ahead of both him and Kagami.
"What if Kagami was in danger?" Midorima asked, feeling bad about using this method to make the boy see sense, but knowing it had to be done.
"I'd use the Rukh to shield him from it." The blue-haired boy said bluntly.
"And if that shield were to break..? Magoi shields may be able to block physical attacks efficiently, but if someone were to use a powerful Djinn weapon or a high enough spell like the flames you saw before then there would be no chance of it staying intact."
Kuroko listened to the words and thought about what would happen if that were true. If the shields became useless, then he wouldn't have any way to help Kagami, just like in the dungeon when he couldn't produce enough Rukh to stop that monster from hurting his friend. Even if Ogiwara had saved him, he didn't like the feeling he had when he could do nothing but watch as it had lunged towards the red-head.
"I'd want to help Kagami-kun still." Kuroko said.
"That's why people need to learn magic such as the ones you saw today. Sometimes people want to... protect others." Midorima said, remembering the words that the very same person had said to him years ago when they first met.
'Protect...' Kuroko thought about it and remembered the day when they first met Riko and the rest of Seirin. How the brunette was about to hurt Kagami and he had stopped her. And when Kise attacked Kagami with those yellow lights, he saw how much the red-head had been hurt. He wanted to help his red-haired friend, but did he really want to hurt others in the process..? He didn't know if he could do what Kise had done to someone...
"I don't want to hurt anyone." The bluenette whispered.
"Not all magic will harm people. It just depends on how you use it." Kuroko still looked dubious, so he continued. "What you did to help your friend in the infirmary was called life magic. That type of magic can create life. Be it animals, or other life forms. Some use it for evil to create monsters, but you yourself chose to use it to save someone. Magic depends solely on the person wielding it."
The bluenette took the information in. Kagami had done so much for him and if what Midorima said was true, that he could save someone without having anyone hurt then...
'If I can get better at magic, then I can protect Kagami-kun.' He wanted to help his friend and protect him just as he had done for him!
"Can I learn magic too, Midorima-san?" Kuroko asked, eyes hopeful.
"Well, I suppose you can... It's not easy though." Midorima looked down to see the boys reaction at the news, but when he saw he wasn't dissuaded by it he allowed a small smile to come onto his face.
'Just like before...' He let out a little chuckle. Kuroko never ceased to amaze him, even with amnesia and lack of experience, he still had such a strong resolution to help his friends. He didn't know what the blue-haired boy saw in the red-head, but it would be good if at least one of them was competent...
"I shall see what I can do." Midorima said. There were other matters to see to if the blue-haired boy were to enter the academy with so little time left.
"Thank you, Midorima-san." Kuroko gave the man a grateful smile.
"I-It is nothing, Kuroko." Midorima said awkwardly, not used to being shown so much gratitude, especially from the usually emotionless person he knew.
"W-Well, I've got to get going now. Make sure you get some sleep." He wanted to get some questioning done today, but he decided to not do it since he recieved even more valuable information and even if Kuroko was feeling better now, he didn't want to push it.
"Ah, yes." The bluenette agreed. He stared at the boy for a moment before reaching down and patting his head.
Midorima got up from his spot on the bed and headed for the door. With a final nod he opened it and exited the room, giving the red-head who was standing outside a glance before going on his way.
Kagami glared at the mans back for a moment, assuming Midorima had questioned his friend despite his off mood. But when he walked inside of the room and saw the difference in the bluenette's mood, he wondered what the man had done.
"Feeling better?" Kagami asked.
"Yes." Kuroko replied. The talk with Midorima had really helped, and he couldn't wait to learn how to get strong enough to help his friend.
Kagami was a little disappointed that he hadn't been the one to do so, but glad nonetheless that he was feeling better.
With the excitement and worry of the day Kuroko was unable to stop the yawn that left his mouth. Kagami looked from his spot near the door towards the bluenette and saw the sleepy state he was in, remembering how tired the boy was in the morning he figured that by now the other must be exhausted.
"You should sleep." He said, walking up to the bed and situating his friend underneath the covers.
"But..." Kuroko didn't want to sleep without his friend...
"I'll be right here." Kagami promised, patting the boys hair and sitting on the bed by the window. Even if he could go somewhere, he would never leave the bluenette alone.
Reluctantly nodding, Kuroko complied and laid back down.
Seeing the bluenette's eyes shut, Kagami leaned back against the pillow and sighed. It had been an eventful day... After a few minutes of silence, he felt eyes on him and turned around to look in the direction, catching sight of blue eyes before they closed again.
'He didn't sleep...' A minute or two later when the looks persisted, Kagami decided to speak up.
"I know you're awake, Kuroko." He said, looking straight at the boy as one eye peeked open.
He could guess what the other wanted just from the looks he was getting and let out a laugh. Kuroko was too adorable... And although he was surprised the first few times he had woke up to find the bluenette in his bed, he was used to it. Pulling up the sheets of his own bed, Kagami motioned for Kuroko to come.
"Come on..." Kagami said. Smiling in amusement when the bluenette immediately got up from the bed and joined him in his own.
"Going to sleep now?" He asked when Kuroko stopped moving and laid down still beside him.
"Yes." Kuroko said, smiling up at him. "Kagami-kun?"
"Hm?" A red eye opened and looked at the other. Seeing half lidded blue eyes staring at him. The boy was clearly tired, so why wasn't he sleeping?
"Thank you..." Came the soft reply as Kuroko finally dozed off.
Kagami blushed at the sincereness that the bluenette had said it with, even the tired tone didn't lessen it a bit. He smiled and patted the boys blue locks and laid down as well, facing Kuroko.
He still didn't know what caused his episode today, but Kagami knew one thing for sure. He never wanted to see such a kind and innocent face like his. Whatever happened back then had obviously effected him more than he let on, and he felt so helpless not knowing what caused it. He wanted to know more about Kuroko, what made him happy to see him smile more, and what made him sad to prevent things from happening...
As he stared down at the peaceful look on the sleeping boys face, he promised himself to do whatever he could to make it so it'd never happen again.
A/N 3: Anyone know who the twins are? =) Just so you know, they didn't have names in the manga so the Akio and Aito are ones I made up for them. XD
